Is the "body shop" tryna rob me

$7k. isn’t too out of line for paint. i just got a ‘78 crewcab painted for the second time ( long story but the paint shop ended up paying for the second paint job because of some bad product. by the time the truck was painted at the body shop it was $20k.

i already had all the metal work done. I fixed the little bit of rusty, pulled the dents and metal finished everything so there was minimal filler in the truck. By the time that was done and everything was skim coated, sanded, primed and blocked 3 times, i was in it roughly 300 hours.

That 300 hours didn’t include any of the other frame mods i did (swaped to a chevy frame). lots of the expense in building a truck is time. materials do add up though. $2k might get just the primer and paint for a truck.

if you figure they have $5k for labor and they have charge $100/hours they figuring they’re only going to be in it 50 hours and that’s not much time at all.

I would do some looking around on youtube and watch some videos. there is tons of great info and videos showing how to do things. you can save your self a lot of money. welding is easy with a little bit of practice. getting things straight isn’t hard, just use a measuring tape. same goes for body work.

here’s is a pic of the truck i was talking about. it’s a ‘78 ford on a 2000 suburban chassis that i had to lengthen about 7”. It’s got 35” tires and has a 5.3/4l60 trans and has the chevy interior in it.

Dude.

So I just found this thread and started reading.
Wtf 2 pages already?!

My second thought is the same as the first:

Don't do it.

Not now, not that truck.

SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS will buy a MUCH NICER truck with MANY MORE qualities that you want.

Seven grand will buy a fast,shiny,shortbed,4x4, if that's what you want.

There is absolutely ZERO reason to spend that kind of money on THAT truck, NOW.

Listen to me dude - it's not worth it.
You are asking us /me to tell you it's okay to make that REALLY BAD investment and i'm not gonna do it.

Coming in late, I see two options.

1. Put the truck together mechanically sound, drive it and do the bodywork as you go along.

2. Sell it and get another truck that is sound body wise, then do the mechanical work.

It sounds like you have it mechanically sound if I've read this right. I have to agree with rusty and don't put 7k in body work in it. But, maybe you could find a high school near you that has a vocational body shop class in it. You said you just need a decent paint job on it. I took 3 years of body shop in high school. That doesn't mean I'm a badass body man by no means. But I can tell you this. I fixed my dad's 84 suburban pass door dent. He just had to buy the paint. He was pleased and you couldn't tell it had been fixed. I painted my buddy's 85 camaro. He just had to buy paint. Did body work and primered my 71 chevelle. Painted my IROC-Z rims for price of the paint. What I'm saying is that if you have sentimental value in the truck? This would allow you to keep the truck and not have to sink a ton of money into it and let some kids learn a trade skill. I know we were always looking for cars to work on back then. They'll do a good enough job for you that will save you a ton of money. Just an idea if you wanted to hold on to that truck for sentimental reasons. You could even take 1k out of your 7 to buy a decent little daily while your truck's in the shop and still be ahead.

Honky Kong jr said:

He can buy mine for 7500

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I said a nice one for 7k.

It's pretty much been covered to death, but I paid about $7K to have my Suburban stripped, body repair done, (the only rust was bolt on panels and doors) painted and reassembled.

When I had the pickup painted I got smarter and delivered the truck completely free of trim and about everything else. It didn't need doors replaced, and they didn't media blast it, but it "only" cost me $3K to have body work and paint done. Labor is EXPENSIVE.

82sbshortbed said:

It sounds like you have it mechanically sound if I've read this right. I have to agree with rusty and don't put 7k in body work in it. But, maybe you could find a high school near you that has a vocational body shop class in it. You said you just need a decent paint job on it. I took 3 years of body shop in high school. That doesn't mean I'm a badass body man by no means. But I can tell you this. I fixed my dad's 84 suburban pass door dent. He just had to buy the paint. He was pleased and you couldn't tell it had been fixed. I painted my buddy's 85 camaro. He just had to buy paint. Did body work and primered my 71 chevelle. Painted my IROC-Z rims for price of the paint. What I'm saying is that if you have sentimental value in the truck? This would allow you to keep the truck and not have to sink a ton of money into it and let some kids learn a trade skill. I know we were always looking for cars to work on back then. They'll do a good enough job for you that will save you a ton of money. Just an idea if you wanted to hold on to that truck for sentimental reasons. You could even take 1k out of your 7 to buy a decent little daily while your truck's in the shop and still be ahead.

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That sir, is actually not a bad idea at all. Hmm... Im definitely gonna look into that.

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73c20jim said:

Coming in late, I see two options.

1. Put the truck together mechanically sound, drive it and do the bodywork as you go along.

2. Sell it and get another truck that is sound body wise, then do the mechanical work.

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Yeah I'd be more inclined to selling it and buying a truck that's fine in the body area and needs just the mechanical.

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82sbshortbed said:

I said a nice one for 7k.

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Hey I think I’m asking to much, but it’s solid and runs like a raped ape

Honky Kong jr said:

Hey I think I’m asking to much, but it’s solid and runs like a raped ape

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Does a raped ape run faster than a scalded one?

Does this $7K include paint or not?

The thing with rust repair and body work is you never know how much you are going into until its to late and the options are fix it or scrap it. 7K to remove all the rust, install new panels, hack apart a frame,section it, c notch it is all alot of work and time consuming so if he is doing this after a normal job youre looking at alot of his time to complete it all. Im not familiar with Florida laws yet but, if he is responsible for the work done and the section welds break and cause an accident he might be liable for everything..It also could be he threw a high quote because he doesnt want to do it. I know of a body shop that charged someone 14K for body work and paint (no rust repair) on a 57 Bel Aire.

Another option since you can do the install labor but not body work is find a rust free cab and swap them.

Convert your sentiments on that truck to square bodies in general... that will free you up to make more sound choices like... a different truck closer to what you want.

The body man that gave you the quote is obviously smart and experienced... he didn't get to where he is (well maybe he did but certainly changed his ways)
by underbidding jobs.

deve05 said:

I was actually very specific with the guy. I told him that I would take the truck apart for him, that id leave it in the metal for him, and would even remove the fenders and pull the cab from the frame. I told him I would buy the cab repair kit and I just needed him to cut and weld in the repair kit and give the truck a decent paint job. I told him I was planning on driving ithard once it was done so not to bother with any show like quality or mirror looking paint job.

I told him he didn't have to put it back together either since I would do all of that.

I told him I just needed him to cut the frame and weld it together on certain marks I was going to make for him.

I dont see how I coulda been more specific... Honestly...

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And he told you $7K?

I wouldn't. But, it's your truck and your money and in the end you're the one that has to be satisfied with it.

82sbshortbed said:

Does a raped ape run faster than a scalded one?

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Yes. It was violated

82sbshortbed said:

Does a raped ape run faster than a scalded one?

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Sounds like something for a "Mythbusters" episode.