Sorry if I'm being a Nattering Nabob of Negativism, ClassicCarGuy, but there are several problems with hiring a restoration shop. The first thing is that they always seem to want to enter into a "specific car at a specific price" type of agreement, which is where the restorer grabs and names a nice, high figure out of mid air, which he knows will net him a handsome profit, but that is really for rich people where cost is no object, because it is way too expensive.
Speaking of expensive, it IS very expensive to restore a car correctly because it requires an immense amount of time. Most people of average income can't really afford it. Ask me how I know. I'm trying to learn restoration skills because I can't really afford to pay somebody to do it.
On the other hand, it is hard for the restoration shop to comply with most states' automotive consumer protection laws unless you thoroughly media blast the body first, so the restorer knows exactly what he's up against and can give you some kind of meaningful estimate, as these laws require. Then the only really proper way to proceed is to negotiate the price for doing repairs on a piecemeal basis. The restorer may try to use you as his piggy bank by not completing the agreed-upon work before demanding more money, so you've got to be willing to take the car back home again if he tries to do that. Watch out for having the car stripped, not being able to come to agreement, and having to bring the car home again, resulting in surface rust. And for the restorer stripping parts off the body so it can't be easily transported, and then demanding more money than he is entitled to because he knows you can't move it.
But if you have plenty of money to spend on the project, then the foregoing may not apply to you.
