soymilk

Carl, Great suggestion. Since I'm so tied up with family matters all the time, I rarely have a chance to go to car meetings. I'll try emailing Dennis and the local clubs. thank you,

Thanks to all for the help. Jmark your car looks great. HLS I understand what your saying. There is no free lunch. But that is the problem with loving these cars. I will not paint it myself. I dont plan to sell the car. I want a good paint job. What constitutes good? Go to www.autobody101.com and try to find out. :cross-eye . When you pay $1500 for the car and then shell out another 3500, that's not lunch money. But in los angeles there isnt much between the 1 days and custom work? Using good paint (ppg,glassurit, spies...) and good prep work, whats the difference between a good paint job and a awesome paint job? I pay 3500 and the next guy pays 7500, what is an average joe like me going to see thats makes the difference. Granted I'm not going to pay 7500 anyway, but never the less I'm still curious. ( I did pay $5000.00 for a paint job on my old 72 240z back in my younger days). I remember a friend of mine saying that some of the show car paint jobs cost >$10,000. For custom yes, but for a regular solid color, I dont get it. Maybe its as simple as good prep (so many hours) versus awesome prep ( many more hours)? I guess I could keep shopping around, but what am I looking for? A clean shop, satsified customers, a owner that cares about my z car, a shop that has done z cars before... I figure one of the greatest uses of a site like this could be customer feedback on the work people have had done on their cars. Think of the possibilities :lick: Example: Click on customer/consumer reviews > Click on auto body repair > Click on the state/city you live in > browse customer reviews for the body work done by shops/individuals in your area with a simple rating 1-5. No need to search every post with body shop in it. I guess I'm spoiled from the audio review sites I search from time to time. Thanks for the advice and help. You guys are great. I'll keep everyone posted.

First time here as a member I live in west los angeles. I just got two quotes for body work on my 1973 240z. The original color of the car is Datsun color code 115. It was repainted in red by the P.O. The car has a scratch like dent on the passenger door ( not deep at all) one ding on the rear tailight panel and one ding on the left corner edge of the hood. Two rust bubbles (2mm in diameter) on the windshield cowl cover, thats it for rust. I love red 240Z's but the P.O replaced the dash with a crack free one and the engine compartment and wheel wheels are still looking good with the original blue metallic paint so I decided to go original. The interior is white ( aka beige or off-white). I need to have that restored as well. Any suggestions for body and interior shops in the los angeles area that take good care of Z cars are welcome. If you have pictures of your car painted in the 115 color code please send them to me at: oatmilk@hotmail.com Both quotes came within a $200 of each other. R&I front & rear-$150 Strip paint down to bare metal for cracks and chips-$600 Repair dings & dents ( whole vehicle), remove parts to gain access-$500 Primer and wet sand car complete and paint car complete in BC/CC $1850 Paint door jam, underhood, inside trunk-$295 Color sand & buff complete-$300 Total-$3695, other shop was $3500. 1-2 months to do the work What do you think? I have seen both shops work and they both are good. One shop will use Dupont and the other PPG. I asked about imported paint systems...Sikkens, Glassurit and so on, and the typical response was they are good but your mostly paying for the name and importing costs. Thanks for the help in advance,

I forgot I was in the interior section when i posted this. I'll post in the body and paint section. Any help on the white interior still appreciated.

I live in west los angeles. I just got two quotes for body work on my 1973 240z. The original color of the car is Datsun color code 115. It was repainted in red by the P.O. The car has a scratch like dent on the passenger door ( not deep at all) one ding on the rear tailight panel and one ding on the left corner edge of the hood. No rust. I love red 240Z's but the P.O replaced the dash with a crack free one and the engine compartment and wheel wheels are still looking good with the original blue metallic paint so I decided to go original. The interior is white ( aka beige or off-white). I need to have that restored as well. Any suggestions for body and interior shops in the los angeles area that take good care of Z cars are welcome. If you have pictures of your car painted in the 115 color code please send them to me at: oatmilk@hotmail.com Both quotes came within a $200 of each other. R&I front & rear-$150 Strip paint down to bare metal for cracks and chips-$600 Repair dings & dents ( whole vehicle), remove parts to gain access-$500 Primer and wet sand car complete and paint car complete in BC/CC $1850 Paint door jam, underhood, inside trunk-$295 Color sand & buff complete-$300 Total-$3695, other shop was $3500. 1-2 months to do the work What do you think? I have seen both shops work and they both are good. One shop will use Dupont and the other PPG. I asked about imported paint systems...Sikkens, Glassurit and so on, and the typical response was they are good but your mostly paying for the name and importing costs. Thanks for the help in advance,