Paint and Body question

[1973_240z]

Hey Everyone

Im new here and just wanted to say that this is a great site.

My dad has a 73' 240z: the paint is chipping and the undercarriage is very rusted.

Does anyone have any experience with a body shop?

(Average cost for a body and paint job ?

He has also been asking me to find him a body kit and I was wondering if you guys can recommend one that looks nice but not too overpowering: Like the big kits on those so-called "ricer" cars.

I would appreciate any info

Thanks

[kmack]

Does anyone have any experience with a body shop? Average cost for a body and paint job ?

A lot depends on what all needs to be fixed before the paint goes on. You say "that the undercarriage is very rusted." Do section of metal need to be replaced? If so, figure a "good" shop is going to charge $2000-4000 depending on the extent of damage. Doing it yourself is cheaper.

As for the paint, figure on another $1000-2000 for a good quality paint job. That should also include sanding the car down to get rid of all the chips.

For reference, when I painted my car, total coast for paint alone $550. That was a medium grade paint (not high dollar) and I did all the work myself.

[Ed]

Welcome, to the club! You will find alot of your answers if you use the "search" function. To answer some of your questions. A paint job can cost you from a couple of hundred, (Earl Scheib) quick cheap and wont last. Or you can spend up to 6,000 at a decent body shop. It all depends how long you plan on keeping the car and if you want to preserve it.

Where are you located?

One good source for parts on the west coast is Motorsports Auto. They specialize in Z parts. I can't remember their web site but I'm sure someone else can hook you up.

Good luck

[Ed]

I remembered what Motorsports web site is: zcarparts Duhh!!:stupid:

[1973_240z]

Thanks for replying

Im located on the east coast in North Carolina. Not much going on here and there are hardly any reputable shops around here that I know of.

The estimates on the paint seems okay. Hopefully my dad will be able to go get it done.

Thanks again for replying.

[beandip]

I am sure there are good paint shops in the area , just look for a good body shop that does custom stuff and not just the pannel replacements . go to a few car shows and ask around . When you see a really cool looking paint job on a car , ask who did the work . soon you will be hear ing the same names over and over again . Check them out, they wont be cheep but you get what you pay for.

[Darylick]

I just went through 2 mos of hassle with trying to find quality Body shop. (1) Rust repair is considered restoration work, find a restoration or custom shop for this kind of work. Most Body shops will only handle insurance work (without rust). (2) Get referrals from those who only handle insurance work, of the 30 or so listed in yellow pages restoration and custom shops in the Denver Co., only 7 were still in bussiness. (3) Cold call the shop and trust your intincts. Eye contact, cleanlyness of shop, quality of work currently in the shop, what do the owners and employees cars look like (if they don't care for their own rides they probably won't be concerned for yours). don't always trust a photo portfolio, you won't be able to see details or waves in a photo), find someone who is excited about your ride as you are. (4) definitely shop, I got quotes from $3,000 to $15,000 (sometimes you don't get what you pay for). CAUTION: anyone who can shoot primer and spread bondo will call themselves a professional.

Spend the time to find the right shop for you, for once you're committed it's in their hands.

I won't go into details but it has truly been learning experience.

Darylick

Will AutoX for Food

[26ounce]

Have a read of this article 1973_240z. Some of the guys have said similar things, but this gives a step by step approach to getting the body work and paint done...

http://www.240z.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1281

As it turns out I am in a very similar position to you, paint cracking and chipping with some rust underneath (not to mention excessive use of bog/bondo). After much soul searching I have decided to take a similar approach to the article. I say soul searching because I was never really intending to do a ground up resto.

To keep the financial pain to a minimum I'm going to try and do a lot of the body work myself. So the plan would be...

(1) Strip car down to shell and hope my wife doesn't notice strange metal devices being secreted away throughout our house. I guess I'll leave the wheels and suspension on to make for easier transportation.

(2) Get the shell media blasted then sprayed with an epoxy primer. Return the rolling shell back to my garage.

(3) Look at all the rust damage, get completely discouraged and spend the next 6 hours drinking emu bitter and watching the cricket.

(4) Recover from hangover and swear off beer forever. Let me tell you, the following week without beer will seem like forever.

(5) Learn the basics of mig welding.

(6) Attempt to repair most of the easy stuff myself. Any serious reconstruction and I will take the car to a restorer and get them to do it.

(7) Prepare the shell for the paint job.

(8) Get shell painted (international red or ferrari red I think) then returned to house.

(9) Begin putting the car back together again for eventual motoring happiness.

This would be Plan A. There are alternative plans such as Plan B:

Plan B is the same up until point (6) then point (7) is to sell the project at a loss, buy a corolla/civic and never show my face on this site again.

and finally Plan C, refinance my mortgage and get a professional to do the whole job.

Suggestions would be helpful, anybody?