Interesting deal...should I take it?

[Steven and Michelle]

Hard call. First instinct would be definitely, check his other work. Good points are made about possibly being hungry for work in a slack economy, BUT usually top notch guys stay pretty busy regardless.
We are having the wife's 78 K2500 Suburban done at the moment, good friend owns a top quality shop (does a lot of show cars and restorations). He is doing hers slowly, as a filler when not full busy. It looked at first glance like a solid truck, but is still going to be 15K as pricing for worst case scenario, as lowers of most doors have been repaired in the past, so likely all new doors, tailgate, rear floor repair, it goes on and on. Until the bare metal is exposed, you NEVER can predict what it will take...

[Kurt]

It is probably too cheap, BUT, I do about 1 antique tractor every other year. I get tons of grunt work, labor, etc. I get 100+ hours in my jobs, not counting the sandblasting that I farm out. I have a full time job and a very busy life. It takes on average a year and a half for me to comeplete a project. I don't charge much, do high quality work, but it WILL be slow getting comepleted. I don't do it for the money, I do it because I like to do it. Ask to see his work, or ask someone he has worked for.

[Aussie Hawk]

I was approached like that in the car park of a Transport Dept office a few years back when I was registering my '62 GT. Gave him a go, he dragged the job on for months, did 'extra' work like sand blasting the whole body without my approval, then sent the sand blasting bill to me. It got to the point where I had to get the car back to the point where I could get it out of his workshop. He did end up painting it after I got heavy, and what seemd to be a an alright job - for a few weeks then it started to bubble. By the time I went back to his shed he'd done a moonlight flit, heap of guys were chasing him. I heard a hot rod guy tracked him down, he was broke of course, but I think he was a bit more 'broke' when the hot rod guy left.

[barnlark]

I was approached like that in the car park of a Transport Dept office a few years back when I was registering my '62 GT. Gave him a go...

Sheesh, Matt, I have some investment ideas I'd like to discuss with you on the quick... Real estate in Florida is the wave of the future, you know.

Bad work reminds me of the line in Animal House after the road trip scene, "Kent, face it, you f'd up, you trusted us!"

[Bob Andrews]

True story: About 25 years ago I bought a clean, low-mileage Volare that was hit hard behind the rt. door, still drivable. I was driving it and lent it to my neighbor while his car was in my shop. One day he came out of work to find a note under the wiper that said 'For a estiment call bob experence body man 963-xxxx'. Just on a whim I called the number. Turned out to be a young kid with good references that had lost his job. He wanted to fix the car in his Mom's garage. I decided to try him in my home garage. He fixed the Volare and his work was impeccable. I ended up hiring him to work with me full-time. Turned out he had an alcohol problem that kept him from showing up for work a couple days a week. I tried everything I could to help him; that was in the days before I understood that no one can help them but themselves. Eventually I had to let him go. Saw him about 10 years ago, still bumming around looking for odd jobs here and there. I told him I'd give him a little work if he wanted and to call me, but he never did. Sad.

Point is, it is possible this is just a good deal from a good tech fallen on hard times. The trick is figuring out what the real deal is. Good luck!

[JimC]

While I stand by my call to use a lot of skepticism, I agree with what many have said, that it could really be a legitimate offer. My dad was a body man for years, until I was about 10 and he switched careers. Right now he's out of work living in Northern Florida, and I could just about guarantee that if someone offered him $1100 to do the sort of work described that he would do it, and that the quality would be incredible. So I wouldn't just jump on the deal without thinking, but I would definitely not throw it out altogether either.

[jcluvsu]

A lot of good points here. I'm still gonna get in touch with this guy talk with him and see his work. Of course get things in writing that will be done.

I'll keep ya'll posted in this continuing saga with the rest of the story. G'nite Chet. G'nite Dave. Good nite John Boy.

Good nite Mrs. Magillicutty where ever you are.

[1954khardtop]

If I remember the pictures you posted of your car the rust is not that severe, and no collision damage. Many of us from the rust belt are thinking what a pro would charge to fix one of our local cars. $1100 might not be out of line for yours.

[jcluvsu]

If I remember the pictures you posted of your car the rust is not that severe, and no collision damage. Many of us from the rust belt are thinking what a pro would charge to fix one of our local cars. $1100 might not be out of line for yours.

Just added some pictures to show some of the work he will do. Click on the link at the beginning of the thread.

[JBOYLE]

The concept of "too low to be any good" is a tough one. You don't always get what you pay for in this hobby.
Case 1. When I had my Bearcat painted, it was very reasonable..but I was living in a small city and the local custom/body shop wanted to say they had done a Barris car. It came out great (complete with lots of painted pinstripes) and still looks sharp 10 years later.
Case 2. When I wanted my Avanti painted I asked around and was given the name of the top Corvette/fiberglass painter around. Their price was silly...more than I paid for the car by a considerable margin. A local SDC member with a shop and Avanti experience offered to do it for half as much. It came out great.

Normally a 50% discount would set off alarm bells, but sometimes smaller shops without the overhead (or ego) can do a great job for much less than the other guys.

Check his work, ask around. It can't hurt. You might get a deal.

[Jim B PEI]

"Sometimes" and rarely it is the real deal. My mother had a Sky blue 67 Camaro that she babied (250 6 with Powerglide <g>) Every bit of rust or after parking lot crunches, (never her fault) she always had new GM metal put in, never any Bondo. Two young men approached her one time in about 1981 when it was getting a bit shabby in places. They offered to redo the body and repaint it the original colour for the base cost of the metal and paint itself (no labour cost). They had already had quite a bit of training and wanted to specialize in doing restorations of Charger, Mustangs, Challengers, Camaros, Firebirds and the like, and wanted to spend some time reconstructing some good examples before they really got heavily into the business. They knew that is was then my mother's second car and could be offline. She checked them out, and took them up on it, and while it took some time, it came back looking outside, underneath, and inside the trunk just like it had looked in 1967. Afterwards, they went over with it with my mom, and redid a few items to retweak them so that the car looked and felt exactly as it did before. As she had already had it for 14 years, she knew it inside out. My mom always liked a good deal!

[Corvanti]

let's be careful out there!!!

[jcluvsu]

let's be careful out there!!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]8636[/ATTACH]

ROFL ...Kerry. Thanks for the laugh.

[bob1944]

Remember it only cost a little bit more to get by cheap

[jcluvsu]

While driving my 62 GT last Saturday I was stopped by a fella that admired the car. He owns a car body shop and I guess he's looking for work. Anyways...he told me he would do my metal work on the outside (fix the rust holes, repair the right side rocker panel, and my two front floor pans ( I have the pans), remove all my trim, and get the car ready for paint for $1100.00 . I got his card and will look at some of the work he has done before I put out the cash. This is work I need to do but at this time I don't have the time as I am working on my house to get ready to sell it.





Maybe I can get the trunk fixed too.


Here are some pictures of what needs to be done. I am getting with the fella on Monday to discuss the terms.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcluvsu/sets/72157625466705266/

I went by the guy's house today to talk business. Told him I needed a contract of what he was going to do for what price...bottom line. He agreed.

Gonna do this:

Replace both front floorpans (welded in) I have the pans.

He will cut out rust holes in the doors and weld in new metal.

He will cut out the bad rocker panel on the passengers side and replace. (I have the rocker panel)

He will remove any trim and look for rust and repair small areas as needed. (fiberglass only) Sand down and prime as needed. Will not reinstall until I have it painted.

He will smooth out the places where the guy I bought it from had welded, with fiberglass or finish Bondo. (3) These three areas had holes that were for screws that held on a fender mirror or back on the fuel fill door it had a lock hole welded over. These places were ground down and left very rough


Any places that are repaired will be finish bondo'd and primed. (Rust/paint bubbles)

Any places repaired under the car and on the doors will have drain holes drilled and undercoating/water proofing installed as needed.

All this for $1400.00 - $1500.00

Any comments, Kerry?