Body work

[Scooby67]

The question should be:
1. Is your wife married?
2. What does she look like ?

Hysterical!!

 

[Bladecutter]

I'm reading here & there words about shop rates...60.00- 90.00 an hour....the bay area is the most expensive in the country for straightening & refinishing. Check out Fletcher Jones (So-Cal Mercedes dealership) WRENCH flat rates folks....as a matter of fact all wrench rates well exceed body shop flat rates, dollars to donuts,.. i do both, wrench & body, for a LONG lifetime now....gee, let me think about which ******* one is harder....i know shops in so-cal that are still working a 40.00 an hour flat rate....******* insurance companies.....Body & paint is a business that CAN'T work the expectations are totally unreasonable. If You can find a shop of some competence that will work a 50 an hour rate,...Descend on that Bitch, sign a release clause before leaving the car there.. If You do it Yourself and get the beginnings of an education. You won't be totally pleased....if You have somebody else do it, You won't be totally pleased....and those are the choices You have to live with.

2300.00 for a 2 stage job is real cheap....i'd never two stage an opaque color.....clear is junk....only reason they ever started using it was to protect metallics....Most new cars cars, top surfaces start to peel in 5-7 years. If it's a solid color You want.....single stage it....cheaper and it WILL last longer


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Keep in mind, in Bodywork....even Bad work is HARD.....not enough letters in the alphabet to cover all the procedures neccessary just to get a panel painted

 

[Bladecutter]

Price of Doing Bizniss

Last year, i wuz pricing out a PPG top coat system in a red the red base coat wuz 1250.00 a gallon...now add reducer fo base & reducer fo clear, gallon of clear, catalyst fo clear, gun cleaning solvent.....green mask tape is industry standard now.....ANY auto paint house for a single roll of 3-M 2" green will average about 12.00....mask paper is not cheap.....3-M hikes their prices twice a year...go to the bank on that.....The top coat materials on that red job...a car that would require a gallon and a half of clear, and everything needed to apply the top coat wuz about 2 grand.....what about everything up to top coat....a gallon of good two part urethane or polyester build primer is average 125.00.....materials are through the roof....the profit margin shrinks annually. One reason Bruzilla scored on His Black job is cuz black is the cheapest pigment and Black can be butt matched all day long, so you can paint a car in stages, piece by piece...the beauty of black,....if it's a big lot of flat area car, the bodywork(that means blocking out primer too!) better be STELLAR....however, if it's a round car like a Bug, White and light colors are the ones that hilite bodywork holidays. Hell's Kitchen

 

[fatecaptured]

I say rat rod the sum bitch... paint don't make it any faster or carve corners...

 

[Bladecutter]

Finish on Guitars, both electric & acoustic, impedes tone, resonation and sustain too....open wood is better.....but most guitars have finishes from poor to a career.....as is with cars....some things are just the natural course...even if bassackwards....i'll take the finish on both

 

[BarrsRestoration]

Below is a topic I started on a '68 Charger that we did. Similar in that it got a roof skin, trunk and few more pieces replaced. Outer panels not replaced were the hood, trunk lid and one rocker panel.
For some reason the 1st and 2nd pics. loaded in reverse.

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?80425-Body-Building-101-1968-Charger

 

[Bladecutter]

Impressive Barr's....been doing this for a minute or two haven't You. You ever done a top chop on a 68-70 B-Body? I'd like to do it to a 4 door...think the profile would just be wicked. I have come to appreciate the 68/69 Coro 4 door's Lines...i really like the quarters w/o the dummy louvers (don't like form w/o function) and the way the lines work coming into rear door really make more sense than they do on two door..w/ two door there is one upper line that virtually stops @ the b-pillar....on four door that line does a prettier fade into rear door, and the lower coke bottle line seems to be couple notches more definite and the mirroring of the upper & lower coke bottle is a couple notches brighter too, IMO...........but oy vey, the amount or work...i'd like to drive it once or twice before i cak, so with all the other crap i want to do, i'll probably pass, or farm that one out to a place that has a crew that is capable of handling that one aspect in a month. Major chunk of dough that i could use underneath for transplants, but Vanity is, ....well....Vanity.....the other thought i had that wouldn't be as much work would be to cut rear cowl and fast back the car with a shorter deck lid and put the tall boy on, i'd leave the nose 68 unmolested though, i like the air grabber nose cavity w/ honeycomb grille, even though it isn't perfect aero. Nice looking outfit You have Barr....bless you for having figured out how to survive @ this trade and it looks like You're doing nice, well thought out product. Blade

 

[Bladecutter]

Been working roof on 62 Grand Prix for a minute or two now....car is going buhlack. Working edges behind drip rails and into sails.....zen, the only way, can't blow thru it....lots of finger f--in.....the left drip was replaced from a donor. The roof is the same roof as a 64 Impala the two peaks towards butt....the area between peaks is a very slight concave and the sheet metal doves up to either side of peak.....nuance stuff.....pull hairs out over it. Check this, we've got a 61 starfire, same roof that has rotted sails but is sraight....ah but the forward line has a hook in the middle.....the way it was built cuz we i have spent considerable time straightening the exact same flaw on GP roof....59 Impala/Bel Air have crooked roofs...sit low on right side crown rolls slightly down to right from bird's eye view. buttress attachments were jigged slightly off......roof will start getting boarded out in 220 wet here pretty kwik, another foat in prime, 400 wet and single stage it.....the Beauty of Black, cheapest pigment and You can butt match it all day long as long as it's out of the same can......Hopefully we have a straight, buhlack roof in a couple weeks......we're getting a lot closer on rear clip....major surgury with metal from donor....not a frame off, but busting *** to get her straight......the bullets & cove that run down the side of the car? OOOHh Maaannn.....aye yi yi.......... My Man here has a 61 Olds Starfire convertible that i'm starting to like a lot....completely not my type of car....a yacht, sled, but man the trim is something to be held in reverence.....they just don't build cars anymore...all throw away crap materials. plastik wheel houses, sheesh