Good mechanic, Terrible Body Guy

Buellistic · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:37 pm Post subject: Good mechanic, Terrible Body Guy

I happen to be a good mechanic. I understand the ins and outs of most of my beetle. In the process of building up a new motor too.

Now here's the thing, I can't do body work worth a damn.

So I was wondering if anyone has any idea what it would cost to take a nice, dent free, rust free body and have someone else paint it entirely. Just a ballpark estimate (this would be including prep). And how long does that sort of thing usually take?

Any ideas on what it costs to have a headliner installed too?

And, lastly, can anyone recommend a shop for paint/body work in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

Buellistic · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject:

Oh, as an aside, the body is presently covered in Rustoleum. The paint quality doesn't matter beyond not having brush strokes in it... Which it has right now.

andk5591 · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 4:59 am Post subject:

On car work, time is money. And how good of a job do you want. All depends on how much work you do for them. Tearing the car apart (fenders, glass, chrome, gutting the interior, etc) saves them all that time. Then its a matter of removing or dealing with existing paint and any body work that needs done.

Once you get some suggestions on shops, I would go in and talk to the shop manager and get a feel for cost an discuss what all you can do to keep it lower, but don't expect a hard fast quote. There's always surprises with body work.

I have seen where people strip and prep the car themselves and get a local Vo-Tech or an Earl Scheib type shop to shoot it for a couple hundred over the cost of the paint. Proper prep is critical.

But typically you will be looking at a couple grand on up....
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

Buellistic · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:17 pm Post subject:

Makes sense. I was hoping for somewhere in the 2,000 range for the full job. I dunno though. There's something to be said for the sleeper bug.

andk5591 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:09 am Post subject:

Like I said - depends on how good you want the car to look - There's plenty of bugs that I have seen where they just get a couple rolls of masking tape and newspaper and just tape everything up, scuff it and shoot it. The welting gets painted and the door jambs and interior dont get shot. Quick and cheap and from 20 feet away, looks pretty good. I don't care for that myself, but it works for some.

The thing that you need to remember is that when you start taking everything apart, you now are talking new seals and gaskets for everything. Good ones arent cheap - figure several hundred just for that. Then "well the bumpers have some rust, might as well replace them" and the it goes on from there.... I am running into that with our buggy - since I am tearing it down this fall, a narrowed adjustable beam would be nice....And I dont care for the lights....a different top would be better....Hmmm - new seats? LOL
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone 1914. Ex wifes car.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Ex-wifes car.
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

schell '59 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:54 am Post subject:

mechanics and body men are 2 completely different fields and people need to be careful when some say "they can do it all"l...

...there are so many "ins and outs" in the body world...i can't even begin to tell you how many motors have blown up in customers cars that I have never touched (mechanic shop locally or even near them had done all mech's before it came to me for paint and body)...but when it comes to the paint, they will tear me apart if there is a failure...whether their motor doesn't run or not!!

the mech shops here state "there is no warranty and it's an old car which is going to fail"...so when the car dies..they simply bring it back and spend more money...if the body work "was to fail" they would call me up and expect a free fix or even a refund...that's why it has to be done the right way the first time...

and it ain't cheap.

like the old saying:

you can pick 2-

-cheap
-fast
-done right
_________________
WWW.401RESTOS.COM

see my "gallery" for more pics other than the website.

jspbtown · Samba Member Joined: January 27, 2004 Posts: 5248

beetlenut · Samba Member Joined: May 27, 2009 Posts: 3012 Location: RI

schell '59 · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:45 pm Post subject:

..sure 'bout that?....might wanna reconsider what your sayin'...

....you'll get your car in yrs instead of months.

..I have a customer that has had his car at the local shop for going on 3 yrs now..because him and his "boy" agreed on a cheaper job with no time frame....but hey it's "done right".

if i had a dollar for every time i see and here of this i could have retired years ago.

becareful what you "think" you want,there are more shops out there with "storage" cars than actual completed jobs..all becasue of price and time frames...

now back to the thread...
_________________
WWW.401RESTOS.COM

see my "gallery" for more pics other than the website.

Foxx · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 4:13 pm Post subject:

Buellistic · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:01 pm Post subject:


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Premium Membership \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

	Forum Index -> Body/Paint	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page 1 of 1