I was recently quoted ~1000 for ALL of my work that is needed in the paint
arena. This included the hardtop, the inside of the hood, door sills,
firewall area, trunk gutter etc etc, machine sanding, priming (2 coats),
color 3 coats, 7 year warranty on paint quality; and also minor welding of
cracks. I think that if I threw the entire mess into Mr. Calculator it
would have been more like 1200, but after expecting ~3000 I was dancin'!
BTW, I did NOT go to a big chain, instead to a Mom & Pop that has been
operating in town for some 10 years. Obvious reasoning to stay away from
the 349 specials, and the folks who have been in business only to fix
insurance claims, etc etc.
John
'75 Spit
-----Original Message-----
From: Victor B. Michael <vmichael@enteract.com>
To: spitfires@autox.team.net <spitfires@autox.team.net>;
spitfire-enthusiast@egroups.com <spitfire-enthusiast@egroups.com>
Date: Monday, July 26, 1999 10:24 AM
Subject: Paint job cost & Mechanic competence
>
>Greetings once again,
>
>I'd like to vent a little before getting to my question:
>
>I may or may not have told the story about the rear-end noise on my 77
>Spit, but you all have experienced something similar, I'm sure. Fixed
>one noise by replacing ujoints and created another. My fault. A bent
>axle (half-shaft, whatever) while removing stubborn ujoints - my
>frustration is this - a mechanic had me spend almost $500 to replace a
>differential that "could be" the problem. He nor his lead mechanic found
>the problem, instead the mechanic who was filling in while the lead
>mechanic took a vacation discovered the problem almost immediately.
>
>Is this just "the nature of the beast" and to be expected, incompetence,
>what?! Should I be upset at the fact this wasn't found before I
>needlessly dumped money that fixed nothing? Should I ever trust this
>garage again?
>
>Okay - so it's fixed and I'm driving again! A very beautiful thing.
>
>Now, a little chassis work on the front-end, a little body work on a new
>bonnet and I start thinking about a paint job.
>The bonnet is all green - the car is carmine red (internal paint is in
>great condition)...How much do you think it would cost to get a good
>matching paint job (and MAYBE some minor body work) if I disassemble the
>exterior trim and prep the surface (strip the paint basically)?
>
>Would $1000 do a decent job?
>
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