Auto Body Help

[WEST SIDE]

I just purchased a 2004 Ford T-Bird,the previous owner was in his late 80's and there's nicks/dings all around the panels and plastic bumpers as well as one good dent in passenger door.
I want to have repairs made but don't know much about the trade and was looking for some questions I should be asking.
Any auto body repair guy's/gals out there?

Thanks
Ken

Feed back please

[rohnramirez]

I'm not aware of how things are done in Hawaii. But if i were you, i would ask the bodyshop:

1 - The paint code on your car and that they should use it
2 - Do they have an oven or at least a paint booth?
3 - How do they plan to tackle the respray (dings and dents - vacuum pull it etc)?
4 - Are the panels going to be removed and sprayed while hung?
5 - Does the engine come out too or just covered?
6 - Do the interior and carpet come out or are left untouched?
7 - Is an anti-rust spray on the undercarriage included?
8 - Is it to be stripped to bare metal or just sprayed over? In which case, what primers are they planning to use? Does it include a 2-stage primer which a rust-proof primer is used?
9 - How much?

Good luck.

[Dubbin1]

2 - Do they have an oven or at least a paint booth?

I would hope that all "body shops" have a paint booth.



5 - Does the engine come out too or just covered?
6 - Do the interior and carpet come out or are left untouched?

No body shop that I know of pulls the engine and interior to repair and paint panels. The cost would be out of this world.


7 - Is an anti-rust spray on the undercarriage included?
Undercoating actually traps moister, you don't want it anyway.

Ken what you need to do is ask around about a good body shop in your area. Talk to buddies that have had to have work done.

[bige441]

call your insurance agent and ask who their direct repair facility is and a few extra recomended shops in ur area. This will get you a few names and give you a good idea where to start. Then get yourself some estimates.

[Mike Phillips]

Take the car to a couple body shops and ask for a rough estimate for the things you want and this will help you decide if you want to pursue getting a new paint job.


:)

[WEST SIDE]

Thanks for all replys,I did get three quotes one was about $4500 but they wanted to replace door skin instead of repairing dent and the other two were about $2600.I just wasn't sure of the process for filling dents,spraying technique etc.I did put a call into a buddy that has a show car so i'm going to pick his brain.I did like the idea about asking my insurance agent for a referal.

Mahalo to all
Ken

[rohnramirez]

I would hope that all "body shops" have a paint booth.

That's why i said that.


No body shop that I know of pulls the engine and interior to repair and paint panels. The cost would be out of this world.

We do!


Undercoating actually traps moister, you don't want it anyway.

Why do you say that? Care to expand on that..definitely a rust-proof coat protects the undercarriage very well. Even cars fresh from the factory in Japan come out with it. The only time we don't apply it is on purely show cars.