some body work..

[eclipsed at 3am]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread or not, and I apologize if it isnt, I just figured this is my project car so...

Anyways, I want to get some body work done and then a paint job. nothing too fancy, and I was wondering if anybody knew a ballpark figure or an "about" amount. Heres the story..

The body of my car has everything molded, except for the front bumper. I mean the foglight holders are molded to the front bumper, reverse lights, corner markers, front and rear washer nozzles, rear wiper, and front emblem all shaved and molded in. the rear bumper is molded to the quarter panels, and the quarter panels are molded to the side skirts, which are in turn are molded to the front fenders. The problem with this was that they used bondo or something that didnt hold very well, now all the "molds" are cracking. My hood is scratched up pretty bad, and i have paint flaking off in various areas. I talked to a body shop tech about the molded body panels, and he said a specialty type of bondo, called panel bond, should have been used.

I didn't ask a price or anything from him at the time, but what do you think it might cost to mold the body panels together properly, prep the whole car, sand/bondo/whatever the hood, and then primer, paint, and clear the car? Its black now, and I want to keep it black. I don't want any special zippity-doo-da house of kolor flashy paint job, just a nice gloss black with a nice clear coat(he said they use stuff called euro-clear) over it. Any ideas on a price range?

[Thor06]

That subforum is for ongoing project threads.

[gthompson97]

The bodyman is correct in saying panel bond should have been used. Most of the time, bondo/rivets/glass is not enough to hold an entire structure together without cracking or some sort of damage happening later on down the road. If it was to be done right, the panels would all be glued together using panel bond (most of the time stronger than metal itself), and then a glass putty should have been applied to fill the big imperfection. Bondo would be the last finishing touch before the primer to remove all minute imperfections.

With all that said, an entire paint job could range between $1k-$5k, depending on the shop, what work you want done, what type of paint you want, etc. Estimates are much more accurate when gotten from an actual shop than from a bunch of guys on a forum who would/could charge much different rates/costs/etc. Go to a couple shops and get some estimates, at least to get a rough idea, and then bring them back to us and we'll tell you what we think of them.

[JoeShmoe]

Well having everthing molded together sounds sweet, and looks even better. But what if you were to get into an accident, wouldn't it just fuck your whole ride up?

[eclipsed at 3am]

Originally Posted by JoeShmoe

Well having everthing molded together sounds sweet, and looks even better. But what if you were to get into an accident, wouldn't it just fuck your whole ride up?

yeah, but I want the whole car to look decent, and to put it back to stock would probably cost more than to just re-mold them together right. I have full coverage, so I guess I'll just take my chances and drive carefully. It's tough in florida because there are a lot of pot holes and speed bumps, and that wrecks havoc on a daily driver with molded body panels, because of frame twisting, flexing, etc.

I'm gonna go to the shop this weekend and get a quote. The shop where I get my car worked on, the guys are really good friends with the body shop, so they might give me some sort of deal. I don't really want to spend over $2,000.

You can see in my sig, the rear quarter panel/rear bumper looks flat where the seam should be because of a piss-poor bondo job. The passenger side is cracked really bad.

[JoeShmoe]

You are right about the cost, might as well just fix it. Um, are you gonna go with the same coor paint or are you gonna go with something else?

[eclipsed at 3am]

Originally Posted by JoeShmoe

You are right about the cost, might as well just fix it. Um, are you gonna go with the same coor paint or are you gonna go with something else?

same color, just a cheap glossy black that would last for 4-5 years or so would be perfect, just as long as all the little scratches and dings are all gone. The engine bay and door jams dont even have to be painted, as they are in OK condition. basically just the body work and then cover it all over with a fresh coat and cleared.

[cantgo2fast]

for all that body work plus paint job ur defenitely over 2k.
On a side note ur car is soooooo sexy the entire reason i bought mine is so that someday it looks like that beautiful ride

[eclipsed at 3am]

well thank you.

[JoeShmoe]

Originally Posted by cantgo2fast

On a side note ur car is soooooo sexy the entire reason i bought mine is so that someday it looks like that beautiful ride

Seriously looks like its a model car, which is very good thing.

[eclipsed at 3am]

i dont think you would be very impressed if you saw it in person.

[JoeShmoe]

Originally Posted by eclipsed at 3am

i dont think you would be very impressed if you saw it in person.

My car is the same way, its a 40 footer. If you stand closer that 40 ft you see the real horror LOL

Maybe its the backgrounds that make it look pimp.