Who can do full body fabrication and rust repairs?

[rush]

good luck buddy i hope you achive what you want but i have to agree with the other guys
i have already spent 30,000 on my van and im am only just starting to look at my body
and interior even doing it myself i know it wont be cheap but like i said good luck !!!!

[BusyKiwi]

A good reason to do some yourself, my standard van owes me about 3 and the custom van under 10. would hate to think what it would cost if I paid someone else to do it

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey Kirk, the guy i used here in qld was registered and had a workshop, he charged me $60 an hour, he came to me, by doing it this way i was able to book him when i had the money, i was able to watch him, see his work, solve any design Qs then and there. It also allowed me to can him when i wanted, which i did, and not bcause of his work, he was magic, but his work ethics were that of every day was a holiday. He was trying to run his workshop on the coast, and come to me, which lead to appointments being cancelled all the time, needless to say my van is still in the workshop and not out cruising. To date i still dont have a new guy, so what i am looking at is taking my van to his shop, and doing spot checks to make sure he is working on it. I will be laying out a time frame, an agreed price for each step, and if he does not keep to what we agree he can whistle for his money. $55 to $65 hr for a trade is a reasonable price, if they are as good as my sleepy sheetmetal guy. I am still holding out for a new guy here in the south east, but if not i will have to go back to him, at least i know he will do show quality work.

george.

[restoreid]

I dont know George Takeing it to HIS shop you will loose all control he will call the shots & if you dont pay him it will take forever to get your van back I remember years ago when I took my shelby mustang to be painted the bloke promesed the world but when he got it into his shop he started to stuff me around it took months & a solisitor to get it finished & he done a shit job so that's when I learnt to do bodywork & paint myself turned out a top job & I was very proud of it I know that you cant doo the job yourself but keep it inhouse if you can where you can keep controle Cheers Reid

[Bedfordcrazy]

Thanks reid, mate i agree totally, the only reason i am looking at this option, is because there are just a heap of small fiddly bits to do body wise, as for paint i was always going to take it to his shop for that part of it. I am going to keep holding off and try to find someone local, there are a few, but i just need to get their details, and they work in their shops, i still have a few months b4 i start up again. I spoke to my sparky today and he thinks he can solve the custom air-con controller problems, so things like that are still happening.
Here is a promise, i WILL be cruising by the 1st of December 2012. So lets see if i can keep that deadline. 

george.

[restoreid]

Well lots of luck George you certinally deserve it These custom jobs take lots of time & panel beaters like to do the quickie insurance jobs which tend to put the custom jobs on the back burner till they have nothing to do & it's frustrating waiting for them to get back onto your job It's a pity you cant find an out off work panel guy & you supply all the materials & just pay him a decent hourly rate & if he wants money he has to turn up NEVER pay up front it would be like he was on wages & if he wants to feed his family he has to turn up & if hese no good just sack him Maybe an add in your local paper could flush one out Just my 2bobs worth Cheers Reid

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey Reid, mate i have a fully equiped workshop here, even have a steel rack, the guy that was doing it only had to bring a few specialist tools, i had eveything here. The problem with him was that he was building his own drag car, and customer cars were high end mustangs and corvettes. Minimum price $250,000 or up. Chances are i will just ring him later this year, and get him to finish the last of the metalwork, there is only about 10 maybe 15 days of work left on the custom, and then it is off to paint. So not a lot of work left to finish. As for paint, we are probably looking at 8 weeks, may sound a lot, but to gap everything, and get the whole body as straight as glass, airbrush and sandblast, time is about right.
I will get there, i am not beaten yet, and trust me, everyone will know about it when its on the road, i wont be able to contain myself. 

george.

[Kirk]

Sorry to Hijack my own thread fellas?

But im still in need of quotes.

Guy came around today, but was only able to give a rough estimate for soda/sand blasting ($2.5K to $3K for full body in-out-under-engine bay). I was under the impression he did more stuff, but he said not so much these days.

Great guy, and seemed genuinly interested in the project, he is going to sourse some contacts for me, and see what they can do...then if its all good, goes to him, and he will move it from shop to shop...at a small price:)

Things to note:

1/ He all but ignored the rust, and considered the body work to be very minimul (very good sign).
2/ He couldnt stop thinking about the paint....even tho im after just a plain glossy black.....he was really worried about the cost, and wether anyone would actually do it:(
3/ He strongly suggested putting in a small V6 from a commodore, that way i could run a 4 speed auto, and said this option maybe cheaper on fuel, also my drum brakes (new) shouldnt have any problem with it.

So all in all....good and bad...good report, bad result:(

Another thing im noticing....customising companies are VERY flat out. Might be time i opened Kirk's Kustoms" hahaha

So please, anyone in Victoria (preferably western suburbs) That knows someone/ a workshop that does the whole custom thing, let me know, even if its just business names.

I have Bayside looking at pictures and a description of what i want (they seem to do alot more areas of customising).

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hey Kirk, hate to burst your bubble, but never get a sandblaster to give advice on mechanical. I dont know the rules for Victoria, but here in qld, this is fact because i have done it, if you go a V6, you MUST upgrade the brakes, to disc. Reason being [qld transport] is that you are amping up the engine horse power, so you need to also amp up the stopping power, disc brakes. If you stay with the normal 6cyl motors you can keep the drums.
Yes your drums may stop you, but here in qld, you will never get it passed, approved and plated, so no rego. I would check your local transport and see what they say. Good luck mate.

george.

[Kirk]

Thanks Bedford Crazy.

I did mention the stopping power to him, he however said something about the chassis or lack of it, that seemed to mean that this wouldnt be an issue, now yes he is a sodablaster etc...BUT to be fair to him, he also has a raceteam thing (own/built 2 drag cars) and he was pretty genuine (no need for him not to be...hes not charging for the motor).

Either way...id like to find out more:)