Got money, want to pay someone to finish the cutlass

[custom442]

I've been working for a while and I'm real busy at this point, don't have much time to work on my cars any more. But the good news is I'm making good money. For the first time I can realistically pay a body shop to do a quality job on the car, and it'd save me a ton of work. I haven't been on here for a while regularly, but I need some advice about what to look for in a shop etc. The only shop I've ever gone to for any auto work was the machine shop for building the internals in my cutlass.

Also what price should I be looking for, that'd include - rolling front fenders, installing custom body kit (comes with no hardware/attachment pieces), finishing up my front header panel piece (theres a thread about that somewhere I think this could be 1000$ just by itself), replacing/painting trim/new window trim, quality paint job (want a newer factory type paint, not show car). What price do you think????

 

[DRIVEN]

My brother is a bodyman by trade. The shop he works for now won't even do completes anymore. He does the occasional side job (in my shop) and will not consider a complete for less than $3k -- and that is on a relatively straight and rust free car. Most people that aren't involved in the industry grossly underestimate the amount of work involved and the cost of materials to get a quality paint job. You get what you pay for. For a *nice* repaint you should expect to pay $3-5K. Body kits and custom work will obviously cost more. Also, understand that any parts replaced with aftermarket (non-OE) pieces will require additional labor to make them fit right -- because they won't. Extra labor = cost. While the lower initial cost can be tempting, aftermarket parts usually end up costing more and the quality isn't as good.

 

[custom442]

Driven - my budget for the body work/exterior on this car is 20,000$. But I'm just curious what something like this would cost. I figured 1500$ for the header panel, 3K$ for the body kit installed, maybe a few hundred to roll the fenders, 5K$ for paint and prep work, maybe another 1500$ for trim and something I haven't though about yet. Is 10,000$ a good price for a full car body work with aftermarket pieces?

So far the front fe3x air dam I bought from OSV fits perfectly, I mean it doesn't need to even be screwed in to fit in there perfectly, it just stays there. It's really good quality, I hope the rear wrap and fender flares will fit just as nice. There isn't any rust anywhere on the car (only some minor surface junk on the frame in places)

btw, I've done all my own body work and have painted 3 cars now so I do understand how it works, I just don't want to get ripped off cuz I've never let anyone touch any of my cars before :shock: Especially with a job as big as this

 

[DRIVEN]

Sounds like you are being pretty realistic. That's a sizable budget too. When I was mentioning aftermarket parts I was referring mainly to fenders, trim, lights etc. Lots of cheap parts come from overseas. When shopping for shops ask to see customer's cars. Photo albums aren't good enough. A good shop will be glad to show off their work and probably has some repeat customers that are willing to let you see their cars (everyone loves to show off :lol: ). Once you've chosen a shop, be very specific when discussing what will be done. Get the itemized estimate in writing. Establish a deadline (be reasonable). Check in periodically while the work is being done. If something seems odd -- ASK QUESTIONS. As long as you are a reasonable customer and everyone starts out on the same page you'll probably be OK. Good luck.

 

[custom442]

Thanks man, those are some good tips. I've seen a couple of places that call themselves 'custom auto body shops' around houston but I'm still looking for a good quality one. It looks like all those places do is put air ride, dubs, and an aftermarket body kit on. I'm still looking around for someone who can make a few parts if needed outa fiberglass or shape aluminum well or something like that. I haven't found any yet, there are some nationally recognized places up in Dallas that've sent a few cars to sema but thats a long drive up there just to get a rough estimate/quote

 

[Blake442]

Bring your car and moneys up to my place! I'll finish it for ya!

 

[custom442]

Bring your car and moneys up to my place! I'll finish it for ya!

lol blake this is going to be done by pros. I know I've had a few of my friends offer the same thing. But I haven't been saving this long to get a low buck result ya know. Not that you wouldn't do a good job, it's just I want it perfect

 

[Blake442]

I am a pro!

Seriously! I've spent the last six+ years doing restorations.
Granted, I no longer work at that shop, but this is what I do/did for a living.

You know what my cars look like, but check out these... They are just a few of the cars I've worked on...

 

[drogg1]

Lol I knew Blake would take that as a challenge.

That charger looks sick by the way. Nice work.

 

[custom442]

Thats some nice work Blake, I'm really looking for someone whos an expert in fiberglass or aluminum shaping, more than a painter. That's what I tried to tell two of my friends who also have been painting for years now.


I decided not to do the cutlass right now, I'm driving my truck 3,000 miles a week on a broken transmission and it needs a lot of attention. I'm going to spend a good amount of what I budgeted for the cutlass on an intercooler, extra injectors, air locker, nv4500 and over/underdrive from gear vendors (this double overdrive alone will save me about 50$ a week in gas), also going to upgrade the front brakes and get a softopper cover for it. Then the last project for the truck would be to build a little 50X98" collapsible cargo trailer for 2,000lbs of cargo that I can take apart real quick and throw it in the bed of the truck. And of course a lot of other little parts and pieces for the truck...after thinking about this a while I really need to put the money where it's going to benefit me ... the cutlass will always be there (unless it's stolen :shock: and in the condition it is right now that's not likely )