Long sad story. Violins are playing
Well, it's been over 2 years since I've driven the car. I took the whole front end apart and rebuilt the engine, etc last summer.
http://home.maine.rr.com/lanesrus/car.htm
In the spring I re-did the front suspension. Then I called every body shop I could find to get the body repaired and painted. Had a semi-retired body man who was very familiar with these cars tell me to take off all the trim and emblems and sand down the areas that need to be repaired. Quarter panel wheel wells are bad and one area on lower door. There is also some damage in the lower cowl area where the driver's fender bolts on which will need to be fixed which I told him about. He then came out and went over everything and said he'd do it the first week of July. He quoted me $3000 for body work AND paint. I would pay for any body panels, etc. Wow. I was very excited and ordered new quarter panel skins and one outer wheel house from Ames. I also purchased all new chrome trim, mirrors, door handles, emblems, etc. First week in July comes and I call the guy up and he doesn't say anything. I'm like, "Hello?" He finally comes back and says he changed his mind, doesn't have time to do it, blah, blah, blah. Basically he f'ed me over. I was pissed to say the least. So I searched around again and no one wanted anything to do with it. Then as a last resort I called the local muscle car resto shop. I know about this place but they are very, very expensive. They do frame offs and hot rods and the guy is into Pontiacs. I called him up and he came and took a look at it. He liked the car and said they could do it, but he was booked until the end of August. I asked a ball park figure and he said he couldn't give me one because they won't know what they will find, etc, etc. But he did say to expect $10-15K! Maybe $20K. WTF? I told you he wasn't cheap. So now it's coming close to deciding what to do. I don't have that kind of money for some simple rust repair and a paint job. But I also can't sell the car the way it is without losing my shirt. It's all apart and in pieces. I don't know how to weld and really don't have the time, tools, and motivation to do any of the work myself right now. What would you guys do besides telling me to get off my but and stop complaining and do it yourself or take out a second mortgage to have the car done all nice but have way more into the car than it will ever be worth? I don't want to just bondo over the rust and Maaco the thing and then try to screw over someone when I go to sell it. I'm not that kind of person. This is driving me nuts.

Instead of using the Resto shop...why don't you call some of the regular paint and body shops an have them give you a bid. Here in California they'll come to my garage and give a bid and you can call several shops and get them to bid against each other. It still won't be cheap and as long as the welder is competent you should get a better deal. You could also call the local hot rod clubs and ask if they have anyone that does that sort of work on the side. These folks can be a great resource. Even if it's a Ford guy he can still weld a panel on a Pontiac.

I feel your pain man. Halfway into the body work on my '69 last year, my body guy got into a motorcycle accident and died. There one day, gone the next. I eventually found a new guy, but I paid more for the second guy.

I've found that if you go to your local engine shops, car parts places, etc; strike up a friendly conversation, and then just off the cuff say, "Hey, do you happen to know anyone that does real good body and paint work?" I would say 50% of the time, they know of a "friend" who does work on the side. Ask for their information, and give them a call.

Or, since you already have the body panels, you can learn to weld.

And yes, you are correct, you will loose a lot more selling it as a project vehicle, than even slapping it back together with bondo and giving it a Maaco paint job.

Don't sell the car, you will regret letting it go when you are already a good way into your project. Ask around, some of the best folks I have met working on my car were not in the Yellow Pages.

Thomas

Yeah, guess I'll have to keep searching. I've already called all the body shops in the area. They don't want to do it. They want the insurance jobs. That's a good idea about going to a car club cruise night or local car show. Maybe I'll show up and ask around who did their paint and body work. Thanks.

Sorry to hear this and i think many of us have been or are going down this path, so to some extent we understand.Almost seems that it is now part of the hobby.Sounds like you are very frustrated and are not seeing that their are other options for your dilemna due to you being rightfully frustrated.Most of us have way more money into our cars than we will ever recoupe, so some sort of a loss is inevitiable when dealing with a car that has rust. Why do you need to sell it, because you cannot find anyone to fix it reasonably? Have you tried shops further away,other towns that you could tow it to? I took mine quite far away when i found someone at a cruise night and chatted them up to do my frame rails,trunk and floorpans and that worked out. I've also had no money to pay someone to finish my car in a reasonable amount of time so it was either not finish the car period and get it to a somewhat driveable state,not drive it for a long time and do the work myself on due such work little by little or sell the car (not a thought or option) Honestly i don't know what to tell you, you don't want us to sugar coat it for you so it's sounds like you need to sell it and possibly take a loss on it or hold on to it for a length of time that by chance you may find a place/person to do so as you save your coin. Was this car going to be a driver for yourself? Honestly, there is no recouping $ invested into a car that has to have a major amount of work and $ put into it or being saved from the crusher.Projects cars are this way, basically a good way for the person who can do some of the work themselves and does not have a lot of money to enter the world of classic cars so they can spread it the $ over time. I hope you do well on it and best of luck,gotta do what you gotta do and it's better to get out if you are not attached or so far into a project and cut any further losses.

David

David

I agree with the others. Go to a body/collision shop, not a resto shop. Get plenty of quotes. Prices vary wildly. When you start aiming at the cheaper guys ask them what you won't be getting at their cheaper price.

I'll be very suprised if you still can't get a decent job for $2500 to $3000. Good luck!

Sounds crazy, but I'm sure the shop I used in VA could hook you up for around $3,000. Drive the car down and I'll drop you off at the Baltimore airport. Seriously.

Something tells me Scarborough, ME isn't a thriving metropolis with 65 body shops to choose from. If you don't have a time constraint use time to your advantage. That hunk of tin in your garage isn't going to depreciate for a long time. If you give it time and do the car show thing, you may find a solution. Work on whatever you can until the solution presents itself. There must be something you can do to it. Within the next six months, you may find the guy who can do the body work, and maybe another guy who can do the paint. I'm just trying to suggest you don't give up.

Hang on man! It will all be worth it in the end!!!

Like the guys said, the car isn't going any place...It won't lose its value like a Kia...Hang on, park it if need be and when you get the time and the money pull it out. I know it is hard to get both time and money at the same time but you don't want to be that guy 10 years from now uttering "I should have never sold that car...."

Aaron

I would look for someone that can do the welding for you. There are a lot of guys out there that know how to weld but not able to finish the body. Once the panels are on look for someone to do just body work. I would think you could put the fenders and other parts back on. All that is left is paint. This way you may be able at least drive it while working on it.

Shoot - there's someone I used to know in MD who was having their car restored up in ME - or around that state anyways! Pretty much frame off for $3k - though it would take them about a year (!).

You might want to try even a cheapo shop and see what they can do for you. Earl Scheib isn't high on my recommendation list, but other shops that lean towards the cheaper end might be a good way to go. Or just try random body shops in the area - you can always get it towed to the shop - do you have AAA? With plus membership you get towing up to 100 miles for free!

Good luck, and stick with it. You'll find something I'm sure.

Good advice from RossettiJ. Wait, let it collect dust. Something will unfold, and you will be a happy camper when it does. This reminds me of my ’68 GTO convertible. After a trip to Florida, the goat developed a loose rod. I let the car sit seven years. Then the motorcycle bug hit, and the GTO turned into a down payment for two wheels. I still kick myself hard for letting that beautiful Night Shade Green A body go.

Tom

See follow Tom's advise, don't be the " I should never have sold that car..." guy.....

Maybe one of the body men would take it on "on the side". It may take longer, but will save money. Once the sheet metal work is done, the prep and paint should go relatively quickly.

Keep the faith Baby! Just keep searching and dont take you eye of the prize.
You will find what your looking for, if not, then Eastwoods sells great how to books! Can find welders and tools cheap at auction or flea markets/back of vans, whatever :rolleyes:

Welding isn't as hard as it seems, its' more practice than talent.. trust me, if you decide to do it yourself just take some trash sheet metal and practice on that and before you cut measure three times .. oh, and don't forget , prep is everything in welding. if you decide you need help welding I'll be happy to send you a book to read, but like I said, its all about practice.

Dave

Thanks for the motivation. The car is all back together. Hood, fenders, nose, head lights, etc. By being in pieces I meant all trim, door handles, locks, emblems, mirrors, etc were removed for body work. I even took out the old pitted windshield. Both doors have been sanded down to check for rust as well as the rear quarters and deck lid. I have driven it down the street and back earlier this summer to see how the engine runs. It's fast and mean. Lays down some nice posi rubber. Although some people down the street called the cops after they heard that and saw some "kids" (my buddy was with me) driving an old car with no windshield or tail lights drinking and doing burnouts It's a dead end road and there are no houses way at the end of the street. We may have had a few beers. I'm going to keep looking. It's just a bummer I can't drive the thing. I am a do it yourselfer. Just finished putting on a 30 x 12 deck addition off the back porch basically by myself without ever doing any carpentry like that before. Took me a month. But I don't know if buying a welder, big air compressor all the tools and supplies, materials, etc would be worth it if I'm only going to do this once. Plus there is some body damage that I mentioned on the lower cowl area that would need to be pulled and fixed. I didn't discover this until I removed the fender. This is causing the gap between door and fender to be way off because the mounting points for the lower fender are toast. That I don't think I could fix myself. I've thought about giving it to the local high school vo tech, but visions of kids messing around and over revving and destroying my engine have me a little wary about that. Hmmmm.

Posi-traction burnouts!!! Cool.. The violins have stopped. The electric guitars are cranking. Gee, I was going to tell you not to listen to these people. You really should just sell it.........to me. heh, heh, heh. (EVIL LAUGH)

PS. As long as your keeping her off the lawn and hopefully under cover, time is pretty much standing still. AND, it's yours, which is a very nice feature. Also, another important point, you should make an effort to take her out and make some noise every now and then so your neighbors don't go soft on you. Preferably with open headers. Do it late at night too so they just can't be "quite" sure...who it was.

as far as the compressor.. don't need it.. get some cheap electric tools, grinder and such.. at least at first until you find out how much you want to do. That is if you really want to do any of it. As far as the local School auto body, talk to the teacher and ask to see previous work done to cars.. if they can substantiate good work that looks origional and they are not planning to just patch everything but will drill origional spot welds .. what have you got to loose...

Dave

Dude, I feel your pain! My '68 is sitting in my sister's garage waiting for the time when I can afford to fix her rust. It's essentially a shell right now. I have been living paycheck to paycheck & don't have much left to spend on the car nowdays. Got some debt to eliminate before I can do much with her but I know what I have & unless someone wants to pay an absoultely outrageous amount of money I don't ever plan to sell! I agree with alot of the folks here, check out the carshows & ask people with nice cars who did thier work. Many will say they did it & be willing to do a job on the side. Just keep plugging away!

Steve