OK so I have another question, IF I had the all the body work done, rather than do it myself, with the holes I described and from the pictures, how much do you think it would cost me (rough estimate)

 

There are too many intangibles to make an accurate assessment.

How weak is the metal around the existing holes?

How weak is the metal where there are no holes?

What is your standard of professionalism when it comes to replacement panels and welds? Are lap welds okay, or do you want butt welds and the welds ground down giving the appearance of a factory panel?

Perfectly straight body?.... or pretty darn straight?

Perfect panel alignment?.... or pretty darn close?

Perfect paint job with show quality results?.... or daily driver quality?


Your best bet is to find a local shop that'll give you a writtenestimate of the required repairs, to includethe total cost and most importantly the time-frame that the car will be done. Once you recover from seeing the "bottom line", buy yourself a little wire feed welder and get busy.

Understand this.... people (not all people, but a lot of people) work with their hands in the body shop trade because they're not qualified to do much else. You won't find a lot of "business professionals" in the body shop business.... from my experience, 3 out of 10 are true to their word and decent human beings. The rest are worthless. What you will find is liars, thieves, drug addicts, alcoholics, etc., etc. Unfortunately, most all of the reputable business owners are 95% of the time tied to the insurance industry and can't even think about taking along lunch break, nevermind a restoration project such as yours.

I'm working with an overseas buyer (from Ireland) right now who's dealing with a so called "Mustang Restoration shop" here in NC. The repairs were estimated to take 8 weeks. Eight weeks came and went 4 months ago and not very much has been done to the car. He's into the process for about $12k and has another $10k in parts at this guys shop. Needless to say, he's not very pleased, but I warned him prior to all of this to be careful and he listened to the BS from the shop owner and not me. He's flying over in a couple weeks and I plan on helping him remove his unfinished car. As I'm licensed to do so, I'll be "carrying". It's not going to be fun for any of us.

Last WInter I worked with a guy up in Mass. who had similar problems.... almost a year in the shop and the car turned out like crap... and he's now searching for another body shop to finish/fix the original guys work. Good luck with that....

There's a guy just South of methat I communicate with who's tired of hearing the same thing from his "restoration shop". He's started working on another project (a4WD truck) tohelp pass the time.

Good luck, and remember that if you want it done right,doing it yourself is the best way.

Dave

 

Talking about shop woes, I had my carclear customsby a Japanese shop. They were telling me about 15K to get it road worthy ( purchase price was US$30K in
the US ). $5K for Japanese compliance and US$10K in repairs. The reason I bough the car was that it had a ground up restoration with zero rust. Talking
with the shop was getting annoying, so I turned up with a truck and some friends and bluntly put it to them, stop the BS as I have had enough. Realising
that there were two routes, direct confrontation or compromise, they backed down. I got the car registered for the just over $6K which is reasonable for
compliance here. I am not sure why there are so many scumbags in the classic car industry, but it is definitely counterbalanced by owners who are generally
the friendlist and coolest people. I would never deal with a workshop now, unless they were recommended by someone I trusted.

By the way, I think you paid a fair price for the car. With some work, it could easily be worth twice what you paid.

Jav

 

Yeah, that JCI (japanese compulsory insurance) is pricey. I don't miss that!

Dave

 

A lot of people, not just shop people, seem to believe that if you own a classic car you havea lot of money.

While I won't disagree with Dave's comments I will say there are two different kinds of rust holes. There also exists the type of hole which is very localized. A rock flies up under the fender and chips the undercoating and over the years a hole rusts through. It is possible a one inch hole may be just that...only a one inch hole. The surrounding damage may be very small. That happened on my toeboard and I found one spot under the front fender which was starting to do the same thing. Don't assume the bestbut don't assume the worst.

And most new cars are pretty straight with non show quality paint. Your car can look great without going overboard.

 

well the metal is real strong leading up to the rust holes, not even surface rust in other places, floor pans have minimal surface rust on them and are solid. body is straight as can be, all the character lines match up perfect. when i get done with it, it will still be my dd, so lap welds are fine, decent paint would be fine too, this will NEVER be a trailer queen.

 

About the cheapest I've ever seen for prep and paint from a shop for a car needing no body work at all is about $3,000. Start throwing in a little body work and that price can go up real fast. A few rust holes and a ding or two can take you to $5,000 or more, and you might have to shop around to get that price. I'll bet you'll get prices as high as $12,000 from some places. If you can do the prep, or at least most of it, yourself you will save thousands. It also makes a big difference where you are. From what I've seen California is pretty pricey and southeast is the least pricey.

 

DIY,

find some local car gurus and talk to them and do it yourself.

daves stories are all to common.

and you can do the work for about 1-2k in materials, tools and parts.

it will just take longer.

 

I took my car to a local guy and I thought it was a pretty clean car until he pointed out a few things that needed attention, No rust at all. just a crack in the rear valance and both the quarter panel extensions, a few welds here and there and it was done.But like I said I thought it was all ready to go for paint.
He had been doing bodywork since he was in high school in the late 60's.

 

if you find someone you trust or know personally it might be worth it.