Who can do full body fabrication and rust repairs?

[Kirk]

Hi Guys,

Long time no chat:)

Well many of you know the woes ive had with my bedford, but i have a ray of sunshine at the moment.

But i need legitamate quotes for work.

Im looking for contacts of workshops/people who would be willing to come to avondale heights to look at the van and give serious quotes for the following work:

Full body rust removal and fabrication of steel flares (body kit type).

Also if possible Motor rebuild/and putting in an automatic.

And paint. Basic paint most likely.

IDEALLY I would be able to get 2 or 3 workshops who can do everything, to come out have a hard look and give a serious quote with breakdowns on the whole job. I realise the job wont be cheap. But as i said...there is a little ray of sunshine.

P.S: This is needed asap like today/tommorow/this week latest.

I have one person to contact...but need a few more.

Thanks,

Kirk.

[aka5000]

G'day Kirk not sure if it was you I pm'd last time, but I'll send you my mates number. Full machine & workshop, spray booth etc, his in Clayton. Phone number in pm.

Alex

[obsession]

send it west. Il do it.

[Kirk]

Guys its important to note, these need to be legitamie business's as the quotes are to give to a financier.

Plus it will be a long time before i use backyard people again:(

[Zeeman]

What you are needing is a shop that can do a full rebuild - panel, paint and mechanical.

Depending on how much rust there is, if you contract a shop to do it all, at minimum $50 per hour, the cost could easily exceed $20,000.

A commitment like this needs more planning than one week, unless you have unlimited money & enjoy throwing it away.

A better plan would be to do one thing at a time, and not overcommit yourself. Find a good panel shop. Get them to do a small job first, eg doors or bonnet.
If you're satisfied with the result, and they don't take months to do it, then go ahead and do the rest. There are just as many shoddy tradesmen in 'legitimate' business as backyarders.

What's your driveline? 202 and auto?

[Rogue Trooper]

A better plan would be to do one thing at a time, and not overcommit yourself. Find a good panel shop. Get them to do a small job first, eg doors or bonnet.
If you're satisfied with the result, and they don't take months to do it, then go ahead and do the rest.

I'm with Zeeman. Also that way you can use your own money. Using someone else's money to do up your vehicle is never a great idea. 'Good things take time' as the NZ cheese makers say.

Another idea would be to spend a little money and go and do a couple of night courses in panel work and welding. You could do most of it yourself then and save yourself a packet. I did a welding night course and it's one of the best things I've done. If we had a night class for panel work here I'd go and do that too.

[Kirk]

Hey guys...I thankyou for your replies, and your all correct and i appreciate you lookin out for me, and being helpfull.

Im trying to not give too much away with my details, as i find the more excited i get, the worse things go...(superstition if you will).

Ill address 2 points:

$20K is about what im expecting, and if this would cover the motor as well, id be wrapped. They are also expecting a price of about this.

Further, this is NOT money i have to pay back, and the reason i say "legite" is because they assumably would want to pay a business direct...so that if the work is anyway faulty/not done, then they can have legal recourse.

2/ Night classes: I not only looked into them, i PAID for 1, thru Kangan Batman, months before it began, i was soooo excited to be able to finally do something myself....ONLY to get a call weeks before it started saying "we are full" and it took a little over a week to get my money back.

Sooo although i still would like to do a course, its not now a priority.

The week: The urgency is basically, i dont want them to find an alternative, i dont want to seem aloof i want to be able to get them what they need asap...showing that im serious about it, and cooperative.

This is the once in a lifetime chance we all dream about to get our vans how we imagine them....all i need is real quotes...real soon:)

I have 1 person comming on thursday this week, but 1 quote is a little lazy:)

Cheers:)

[Zeeman]

Who are 'they' exactly?

From your scanty details I get the impression that this van will be built/paid for as a work vehicle. Correct?

Custom bodywork is not cheap if done properly. Shops such as Waddington's that specialise in this charge up to $90 an hour.

I have done the Kangan Batman course a couple of times and found it extremely helpful. If you have a workshop, and a welder, you have nothing to lose by attempting it yourself. There are plenty of good sources on the web for self-education in welding and bodywork.
Put it this way - even if you work at 1/3 the speed of a pro, you're still paying yourself $30 an hour. Yes, there will be mistakes, but it's only metal, and can be fixed. Nothing beats the satisfaction of driving a vehicle you restored yourself.

    Mechanical work can be estimated at pretty much a fixed cost. The problem with bodywork - especially on older cars - is once the paint is removed, more and more problems can reveal themselves. The cost can go through the roof pretty easily.

[Dano]

hey kirk i wish you all the best , you should be able to find a genuine person for around the 20 k , i wouldn't expect anything mechanical for that but at least you know the body will be done, that said , a couple of thoughts?

1)    I'm now getting pretty darn close to 400 hrs on the LWB, you can work out any hourly rate from that,

2) we at work used to charge 135/hr but that's because we had to feed to a few over the top management- they're not there any more  ..... now I believe we're somewhere around the 90 mark, we are currently doing a full rebuild on a '78 (i think) "heart to heart" mercedes convertable, .....$95k.has been the word around the workshop, or maybe it was a pre warning, either way you can see the extremities

3) How long would you expect a professional rust panel paint to last on an old vehicle ??

again not trying to put any one/trades down, just my part of the conversation, all the best.Dano

[Kirk]

Ok well i dont know how much some comments are as helpfull? But Dano...thanks for the info...

I think the hourly charges you guys are quoting is WAY off the mark for genuine work, and id suggest you may have been scammed?

A reply from Bayside Customs  a little while ago had this to say "The
shop charges $65+ per hour for fabrication." Now id does say "+" but they are probablly from my searches the best known around melbourne.

I got a quote for the custom flare work also at $6K which i believed to be a bit of a scam by the guy who started work on my van...as these were his friends, but none-the-less they had a legitamite business.

(Note: Legitamite business only means registered and pays tax...not necissarily trustworthy or value...dont get me wrong...they can be a bunch of thieving mongrels too).

The guy who is comming on thursday was recommended to me a year or so ago by the people who did my brakes, he said this guy could most likely do a compleete strip down (via soda blast) rust repair and flare work for about $10K. Ofcourse this was his opinion so its not a legite quote, however the guys had seen everything on the van, and spent months with it (they even had a list of things they wanted me to do to the interior lol).

I dont expect the quote to be $20K for just rust and panels....unless they include a decent paint job, the motor id expect to vary...hopefully someone can do a basic rebuild, and throw in an auto for around $2K...but obviously thats something that is up in the air. Im happy with the 202 in it, as im not after fast nor am i after major rego issues...id like reliable and smooth. I have an auto gear box that came with it, but ive no idea if its any good..so it would have to be tested either way.

Tax time is the goal....Easter Van show....thats the miracle (yes its not far away...hence why its a miracle and not even a dream...lol)

I am sure many of you have the feeling of "Why spend $31K" (which would be an estimated total after what ive already spent) on a bedford...just buy one thats almost done...etc...etc.. BUT the bottom line is...she is my first....and its sentimental...weve both suffered for her....and well, id like to see it thru:)