good body shops in Sacramento, CA

[Pir0San]

hey all, the insurance agency told me that I'm looking at around $3327 as a cash out to get the car fixed. They got the quote by contacting Danny's Datsuns, and aquiring other parts from various other sources. My dad is going to be talking to them, showing them all of the reciepts for the things I've done to the car (new cylinder head, new radiator, clutch assembly, transmission, clutch slave/master cylinder, etc) to see if he can get them to rate it higher.

So, here's my question: does anyone know of a good body shop in Sacramento that does excellent quality work for a reasonable price? I just want to get the parts painted and they may also need to adjust body gaps and such.

Also, are the parts from Danny's Datsuns in good condition? I don't want them to send me a hood and have the hood be dented or covered in bondo. I'd like to get some parts that are in great condition, that just need a little bit of paint stripping, and a repaint.

Any suggestions?

[Arne]

Danny is totally honest, and happy to exchange or refund any part you get from him that you aren't happy with.

But - I have been to Danny's place twice, and have bought both hard parts and a rear tailgate. For body parts in the condition you want, I think you (or the shop you will deal with) will need to call Danny directly and explain to him in detail that you are looking for the best that he has. Even that may not be quite what you are looking for, but it will be close.

[Pir0San]

thanks for the responce Arne. When you saw the parts that he had, are they all in rough shape, or in good enough shape to be prepped and thrown on? I'm probably going to try to do all of the prep work I can to the parts, that way I can spend more on the paint and less on the prep work.

What about Z Barn? They have good prices as far as I can tell, and I like their A-C rating system. I just want to get the best value for my cash, so I can do the most work to the Z as possible. If I can, I want to strip the whole car down, prep it for paint (pound out dents, cut rust areas out (which aren't that bad, replace with fresh metal, primer) and then have it painted.

Is a good paint job plausible with $2k?

[Arne]

Danny has a pile of parts that are very useable. But if a car is parted out because it was too far gone to fix, chances are that the parts off it are not going to be pristine. The best of the stuff at Danny's will likely need to have a small ding or two dealt with before painting. Most of them will have several coats of paint, often in various colors. Not a fault of Danny or his stuff, that's just generally the case with used parts. Used parts rarely come off of really pristine cars, it's generally just the opposite.

I've not yet dealt with Eric at ZParts personally, but I suspect that even his A parts will need some repair to be really ready.

You'll need to be prepared for shipping damage as well. Hoods and fenders are going to be shipped via freight truck, and it's difficult to pack them well enough to avoid all damage.

[Pir0San]

yeah, I see what you are saying. I just don't want to buy a part from danny and end up finding out the hood has six inches of bondo on or something like that. I'm not saying he'd do that, but I tend to be a bit weary when dealing with body parts I cannot physically see. Maybe I'll take Mat up on his offer for one of his hoods.

[Arne]

...but I tend to be a bit weary when dealing with body parts I cannot physically see.

Exactly why I picked out my early vented tailgate from Danny in person.

[Pir0San]

hmmm...want to go choose me some Z parts when I need to get them, and make some commission?

[Arne]

No promises, my weekends are busy this month - preparing to do the transmission swap.

[Pir0San]

I was just kidding, I might have found a better source for parts.