exx1976

My car is at the body shop right now. I totally trust the shop, but I loaded my valet tune anyway (rev limiter at 3k, speed limited at 55).

They are going to have it for two weeks to do the following work:

Cervini's speedster covers (paint & stripe to match car)
Cervini's side-exit exhaust (paint and install - includes pipes, side skirts, and rear valence)
Cervini's convertible styling bar (paint, install, stripe to match car)
Cervini's side scoops
Shelby hood pins
10" on 2" gap flat black racing stripes, no pin-stripe
Repair rock damage in hood, shave washer nozzles, paint/stripe
Totally repaint chin spoiler (rock chips) and stripe
Shave antenna and repaint entire fender
Mount/wire/install windshield-mounted antenna behind rear-view mirror
Custom sub enclosure in the trunk that will hide the subs and the amp. It'll look like "that's just where the trunk stops"..

The stripes will be on every panel from the ground in the front to the ground in the back. They are also going to wet-sand and buff one of my quarter panels where there was some touch-up paint on it (bought it new like that - [:@]).

By the time I got finished adding in all the little extras I wanted, I'm looking at "somewhere under $5k" for all the bodywork.

RedDot

Wow,that'sa lot of stuff to be done at the shop. I definitely want to see pictures when it's done. We'll have to turn this into a picture thread in a week

pascal

Shave washer nozzles on a factory hood?
If so, make sure they have a TIG to do that if not,it's gonna be warpage city[8D].
Forget about filling them with bondo... Won't work.

exx1976

Thanks Pascal, I'll mention that when I stop at the shop tomorrow. They aren't really tearing into it until tomorrow, as they were waiting on a few parts to show up till last Thursday and they had to finish up another project before they could have enough of those carpeted saw-horse-lookin things free for all my body panels.. I DID, however, make certain to thell them it was an aluminum hood, and they quoted me $100-150 to shave them off (they have to repaint the entire hood anyway, so there was no paint labor).. I would think they would have to know what they're doing though, they have had winning cars at SEMA for the last three years! That's why I chose this shop. Here's an article on a Saturn Ion he did for SEMA. http://www.pasmag.com/article.asp?ID=268He'salso builta SICK Saturn Sky Turbo on 20's with exhaust out the fenders.. I'm by no means a Saturn fan, but there is DEFINITELY a deep respect for the quality of the work he did on them. He also had a '79 TA at SEMA this past year, and he'sgot a '65 Mustang coupe out back that someone brought to himwith $50k and said "Make it one-of-a-kind"...

And yes, when it's done, I'll post pics. Hell, I might even post some pics that I'm gonna shoot tomorrow while it's in progress.. I can't wait. I'm supposed to have it back just in time for the ISCA World of Wheels show at the Buffalo Convention Center at the end of the month...

They also quoted me ~$2k for a custom 4-point bolt-in cage painted to match to body.. Does this seem fair? I was just shopping that, I'm not having it done, yet...

pascal

I guess you're in good hands...
For the roll cage, it seems a little high (not outrageous) but custom stuff is labor intensive.

Good luck with all of it.

exx1976

Thanks man. I'll keep you all "posted".

exx1976

Hey, I swung by the shop today, and I mentioned to Mark about the TIG thing.. He said they aren't even going to TIG it because he's afraid it'll warp the aluminum. He said they're going to bond a patch underneath it and fill it. I asked him if that would last and be show quality, and he said most definitely. He said if I EVER have any issues with it he'll re-do it for free (it'd be a cheap repair since it'll be in the flat black and won't require the whole hood to be repainted, or even clear for that matter)..

Thoughts??

pascal

You can TIG without warpage if you use heat absorbers around each hole.
Wet rags will do thejobalso... Those are the tricks of the trade lol.
Also, you don't weld at a continuous rate. You do ashort burst then let it cool off some.
Go back at it then let it cool off againetc... until it's all filled.


The bonding thing makes me nervous but it will last a while.
When Duramix came up with their panel bonding material (in other words, glued up panels), it was gonna be the new thing.
No more welding required! Just glue a quarter panel on! Yeah right...
Lots of people feel sorry now.

For your application, you will be OK though, since it's a small stress free spot.

RedDot

For those of you who helped me throught the 5 week waiting period. Here are the results. Thank you.
Again, your replies really helped me understand what I was waiting for.


[IMG]local://upfiles/67228/0BE1C0DE6B784353AD0707796AA97EB9.jpg[/IMG]

pascal

If you're happy, then we're happy.
Looks great.


exx1976, is your car done?