Body shop guy wanted

[Burdekin]

I booked my Volvo 142 in for a full respray, told twice they were going to start and didn't, been 8 weeks. Suppose to strip car and do the car in one full go. Dropped in on Saturday and filler on one rear arch, however just filled over the aerosol paint put on after welding, over the old paint, mud and no prep at all so collecting the car on Saturday. This was supposed to be a high end paint job.

I know a guy who does high end work but he's booked up until winter. I'm thinking if I could get some of the prep done before hand that would speed up the job.

Anyone around Aberdeen looking for some work; strip the car, baremetal and epoxy prime.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Somebody badly bumped the door on our Metro, when it was around 4 years old, so I took it to the main agent, who were also the Jag dealership, for repair. I sandblasted the front valance that was starting to rust and gave it a quick wipe with Waxoyl. When dealership was changing the door I paid extra for them to stonechip the valance and spray it body colour. Year or so later I noticed the stonechip had started to lift and pulled it off only to find they had applied it over the Waxoyl without any other preparation

 

[Burdekin]

Contacted a couple of bodshops locally, neither are keen once a bit of QC is added and me being specific about the quality of the work required. Bit frustrated at the moment.

 

[Kayos]

No help specifically but I struggled to find a decent body shop when I was playing with cars. In the end it was an old boy, with a questionable attitude to health and safety, but he took his time and did a proper job

Had a rear quarter put on a car, he gas welded and metal finished the C pillar, no filler needed, just primer

 

[steveo3002]

thing is if someone strips and epoxys it , it leaves you open to the painter blaming everything on that guy

rightly so no one will warranty a job that someone else primered

if youve got a shed to park it in ,, prob best to do it yourself , no one gives a monkeys about doing anything right these days

 

[stuvy]

When I was working on cars full time we hated other people touching them for fear of paint reactions or bad workmanship

 

[tigdlo]

no one gives a monkeys about doing anything right these days

Pays more to bodge, one of the many reasons I'm never going back to the motor trade.

Transporting the car may be less hassle than dealing with someone that doesn't meet your standards locally

 

[Burdekin]

No help specifically but I struggled to find a decent body shop when I was playing with cars. In the end it was an old boy, with a questionable attitude to health and safety, but he took his time and did a proper job

Had a rear quarter put on a car, he gas welded and metal finished the C pillar, no filler needed, just primer

That's the problem, it's such a coat throat industry it's pretty much the norm for companies to cut corners to turn a profit. I don't have much faith in bodyshops, thats from experience. To find someone with the attitude of quality workmanship that's going to last is difficult to find. I'm confident the guy who will take the job on at the end of the year will do a fantastic job it just means the car being off the road for a long time. If I knew of someone who would do a first class job, do it right and could have it done in the next few months I'd take it to them. Those three things are hard to align when it comes to bodyshops unfortunately and maybe even more so up here.

 

[tom2207]

Ive just bought two full sides for my r1200s cheaper than I could get the ones I have painted properly , paint is an expensive thing to start into if you want much more than a blow over with turnol.

 

[Burdekin]

Ive just bought two full sides for my r1200s cheaper than I could get the ones I have painted properly , paint is an expensive thing to start into if you want much more than a blow over with turnol.

Yes it's expensive, hence I can't be ripped off with a bodged job.

 

[steveo3002]

When I was working on cars full time we hated other people touching them for fear of paint reactions or bad workmanship

even in the same workshop its not liked , everyone has their own ways

 

[MetalMonkey]

That's the problem, it's such a coat throat industry it's pretty much the norm for companies to cut corners to turn a profit. I don't have much faith in bodyshops, thats from experience. To find someone with the attitude of quality workmanship that's going to last is difficult to find. I'm confident the guy who will take the job on at the end of the year will do a fantastic job it just means the car being off the road for a long time. If I knew of someone who would do a first class job, do it right and could have it done in the next few months I'd take it to them. Those three things are hard to align when it comes to bodyshops unfortunately and maybe even more so up here.

After getting bitten a couple of times by "professional" body shops that came highly recommended, I came to a similar conclusion many years ago.
I now paint everything myself. It was a very steep (and expensive) learning curve and I made a lot of errors to start with - but it was a skill worth acquiring in the long run.
I wouldn't want to do it for a living, and I still consider blending is at least 50% witchcraft - but I can turn out a good quality job on a basic respray if I take my time.
In my experience that is far easier than trying to find somebody that will take their time and do a good quality job.

I suspect to get it done right, you are either going to have to end up painting it yourself or waiting for your guy to free up some time.

 

[Burdekin]

After getting bitten a couple of times by "professional" body shops that came highly recommended, I came to a similar conclusion many years ago.
I now paint everything myself. It was a very steep (and expensive) learning curve and I made a lot of errors to start with - but it was a skill worth acquiring in the long run.
I wouldn't want to do it for a living, and I still consider blending is at least 50% witchcraft - but I can turn out a good quality job on a basic respray if I take my time.
In my experience that is far easier than trying to find somebody that will take their time and do a good quality job.

I suspect to get it done right, you are either going to have to end up painting it yourself or waiting for your guy to free up some time.

I have two other project cars I'm working on so realistically I just haven't got the time. But I agree, if I could I would.

 

[mr haynes]

Have you considered further afield?

 

[Burdekin]

Have you considered further afield?

The guy that I originally chose is about 70 miles away and think that was part of the problem, maybe he thought he could get away with bodging as I wasn't local. The guy at the end of the year is in Ayrshire.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

My guy (MrC) is retired and does it mainly for the fun of it...I can definitely recommend you find someone who is old school. He can spot dents in a panel from 10 yards away. He was trying to show me how to find dents by rubbing my hands over the panel....all I could feel was a panel!

Definitely an art to paint and prep I think...not sure I'd trust someone else to do my cars...I'd want to see them working on the car and see each stage is done properly.

 

[keithski122]

If I knew of someone who would do a first class job, do it right and could have it done in the next few months I'd take it to them.

The thing is anyone who does a first class job and do it right will be far too busy to do it in your timescales. Where I work (auto upholsterers)we have the same problem with customers, they get their project painted and expect us to be sitting around waiting for them to come to us.Then complain that they have it booked in for a show/going on holiday in it and have to wait until we have space to fit them in, currently at least three months.

 

[Burdekin]

The thing is anyone who does a first class job and do it right will be far too busy to do it in your timescales. Where I work (auto upholsterers)we have the same problem with customers, they get their project painted and expect us to be sitting around waiting for them to come to us.Then complain that they have it booked in for a show/going on holiday in it and have to wait until we have space to fit them in, currently at least three months.

The guy I arranged to paint the car I contacted last year and asked if he could get it done by end of March which he said yes if I dropped the car off early Feb. The car is my daily outside of winter so I’m without my car now so sharing with my wife. When I dropped it off he said he would be starting the following week, didn’t, 6 weeks later still not started so I drove up and again promised the following week would start fully stripping the car and didn’t.

So yes I would ideally now like the car done by someone else in a few months which most likely won’t happen so I’ll be without a car until I can get it done. And I originally got in touch with the guy months in advance to dropping the car off.