Finding a reputa ble body shop

-
val1972iant

val1972iant

Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Massachusetts
Hi, all. I'm glad to be part of this forum. We bought a '72 Val 225 /6 this past July. It's in winter storage now but the plan is to get it to a body shop during the winter and have the rust taken care of. Could anyone give me some pointers on finding a reputable shop? What should I look for and what questions should I ask? I am a former VW Beetle addict and found a treasure trove of information out there. However, there isn't much on the A-bodies, especially on YouTube. We are planning to keep it completely stock. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

Attachments

  • 005.jpg
    44.9 KB · Views: 235
  • 009.jpg
    37.7 KB · Views: 230
There's a ton of information on the A bodies, and it's all here.

What areas is the car rusting? Common areas are the rear leaf spring hangers, lower quarters, inner fenders near the firewall, battery tray, front floor boards due to leaky wiper gaskets, and the dog legs on yoru front fenders.
You also have a vinyl top so there may be rust hidden under it.
 
Great looking car. I also like original and would not change a thing.

As a long time bodyman I would suggest asking around at different shows and see whom other people locally recommend.

Get a few names together and visit with the prospective candidates, bottom line though is who exactly will be doing the actual work on the car. Chances are meeting with the shop owners is only going to show you the guy accepting your hard earned cash.

Automotive field is full of drug addicts and problematic individuals whom are coming to work to collect a paycheck and nothing more, even tougher for you since yours is a 4 door. ( bodymen do better work on cars they are in love with )

The right guy is out there you just have to take your time and find him.

Cheapest guy is never the right guy, wish I lived closer. Good luck!
 
let me just offer this:
bodyshops that make their $$ on insurance work, THAT is their lucrative business, not resto work on an entire car!! don't fall for the " let us work on it when not busy, we will cut ya a deal!" it will be there forever and could cost ya a fortune! LOL
shops that specialize in resto work, yes they will do it, but how much do ya want to spend?????
over the years I've had " flawless" work, at very fair costs by 1. young family man that worked in bodyshop and moonlighted in his garage. No paint booth, but ya couldn't tell it. 2. one man shop, did mostly streetrods, good price, flawless work, he could build engines, trannys, rearends too. out in Missouri sticks, plenty fair price, flawless work.... put down a case of beer a day. paid him by the job, not the hour! 3. young family man. worked as mechanic for Mo. highway dept. self taught bodyman. flawless, plenty fair price. priceless! did work in garage, no booth, cheap gun. flawless work.
best thing to do is get in with any and all Mopatites in your area and network this thing. its not easy, better in some parts of the country than others. if you local dogcatcher there makes $30 per hour, then any bodyman there is way higher priced than any round here!!!! LOL good luck!!
 
1930 said:
As a long time bodyman I would suggest asking around at different shows and see whom other people locally recommend.
Click to expand...


This- when you see someone with a classic car just ask them....your best bet
 
PoisonDart74 said:
http://www.autobody101.com/content/articles/confessions-of-a-body-shop-owner/


Better yet, turn that 'winter storage' into your body shop and fix it yourself, It ain't haad!
Click to expand...
It's simply a 10X20 unit in one of those self-storage places. There's no room to work inside and no electrical hookup. Plus, I don't have the tools or know-how to do the work. Further, we live in a mobile home park and they have made it quite clear they do not want people working on cars in their yards.
 
Flag down a tool truck and ask him. He will know who does good work. Toolmanmike

Nice car!
 
val1972iant said:
It's simply a 10X20 unit in one of those self-storage places. There's no room to work inside and no electrical hookup. Plus, I don't have the tools or know-how to do the work. Further, we live in a mobile home park and they have made it quite clear they do not want people working on cars in their yards.
Click to expand...

Not to be a dick, but know-how is all over the internet. Rent a work space like I did. I hear excuses and reasons all the time, it either comes down to you either want to or you don't. Look at my build thread. Zero body experience and my project came out mint. Tools are a cut of wheel, welder, hammer and a dolly. Along with countless others that took the plunge. It's an option. That's all I'm saying.

Nobody likes the hard truth, but that's what it is.
 
1930 said:
Great looking car. I also like original and would not change a thing.

As a long time bodyman I would suggest asking around at different shows and see whom other people locally recommend.

Get a few names together and visit with the prospective candidates, bottom line though is who exactly will be doing the actual work on the car. Chances are meeting with the shop owners is only going to show you the guy accepting your hard earned cash.

Automotive field is full of drug addicts and problematic individuals whom are coming to work to collect a paycheck and nothing more, even tougher for you since yours is a 4 door. ( bodymen do better work on cars they are in love with )

The right guy is out there you just have to take your time and find him.

Cheapest guy is never the right guy, wish I lived closer. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Hi--the rust areas on our Valiant are: rear quarters are completely shot. All wheel wells need attention. rocker panels are fair and will need some attention. Paint is shot--looks like it's from a spray can. The PO put a brand new vinyl roof on so that's been tended to. Battery tray is fine, and most of the underneath is just surface rust. Amazing since the car has spent much of its life in New Hampshire and Vermont.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Not to be a dick, but know-how is all over the internet. Rent a work space like I did. I hear excuses and reasons all the time, it either comes down to you either want to or you don't. Look at my build thread. Zero body experience and my project came out mint. Tools are a cut of wheel, welder, hammer and a dolly. Along with countless others that took the plunge. It's an option. That's all I'm saying.

Nobody likes the hard truth, but that's what it is.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. I appreciate the honesty and understand what you're saying. However, we have the money and we're very happy to have someone else do the work for us. Let me put it this way: If you spent 30 minutes with me, you too would agree that I have no business being anywhere near a welder. It's better to outsource the work.
 
Not to discourage you in any way cause I like all cars including yours but paying someone to do your car right will bring total repair costs above value of car. For me this is no big deal, I do the very same thing constantly with my own vehicles and I am doing majority of work.

Nice paint job fix a few dents starts at about 5 gees, you say quarters, to me in my experience quarters usually means quarters, ( minimum ) outer wheel house, trunk floor, rockers and rear rail extensions. Another 3-5 grand ( paying someone )

Again not to discourage but I have learned over the years that it is absolute necessity to buy a parts car with a decent ( rustfree ) body and it is hands down easiest to just swap over everything from your car to the new body.

Parts car at maximum should cost you 1500 bucks, no matter where you live transportation costs should not exceed 1200 and with this you will have a car that will last for many more years without the issue of rust re-surfacing.

I will never try and get rid of cancer with one of my own cars again, I now buy the parts cars and either cut out entire assemblies ( clip the car I am working on ) or transfer all major components including any vin tags tag that need to be transferred.

Just something to think about. Good luck.
 
if ya got the money, that's your good luck. but for the sake of those reading and getting info, I have to agree with the " get the best body" even if ya pay $1000 trucking getting it back East!
just like buying a replacement fender lets say. ask any bodyman and he will tel ya, you are way $$ ahead, to pay more for a straight, rust free fender.
now if I have the "poor" fender, and don't count my time, labor, filler, paper, and can't afford a "good" fender, well...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top