NYCutty

I just picked up this 71 cutlass few days ago and been shopping around for prices on doing some body work. I am an experienced auto mechanic but know very little about body repair. Car runs like a charm but came with the lower quarters rotted out.

So far I'm beginning to think I got into the wrong hobby. The 1st guy specialize in car restoration and quote me for $3000 each panel and that price does not even include the panel or paint. The second guy say he'll do it for $1000 per panel but it might escalate half way into it. Am I being jerked around here or what?

My question is , does anyone know of anywhere I can take my car for a good deal on some body work? (In or around the New York state) Or should I take a course on body work and fix my own damn car ?? If so where can I get a good deal on the panels? The factory quarters go for $500 a pop is that freaking normal? I have been told the Tiwan skin is not worth getting .What should I do??????

Gary's 2 442-S

I put the "Taiwan" quarter panels on my 72 442. I did not have a problem with them at all.I bought them from Tamraz about 3 yrs ago and I think they cost about 150.00 a piece. The shop that you took it to is probably anticipating some other problems with replacing the panels, such as new drop downs from the trunk to the panels or maybe having to replace the outer wheel wells. You would be surprise once you cut the panel off how much additional rust you are going to have. Needless to say when I cut mine off, I had to also replace the drop downs and outer wheel wells on both sides because they were too rusty.Here is a thread that I posted

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-replaced.html

silverriff

It really depends on how close to perfect you want to get. I have a 1972 Cutlass that has been to Hell and back thanks to it's previous owners. I am in the process of working on the body, including welding in some patch panels. It is the first time I have ever done this much bodywork and it looks....o.k. It is far from perfect, but at this time I don't have $1,000s and $1,000s of dollars to have someone else do it. If you are just looking to have something cool to show around town, get the cheaper panels, a few books/DVDs on body work, and take your time putting them in. The good thing about doin it yourself is that you can take as long as you need to get it looking good, without worrying about the price. Now on the other hand, if you are looking for perfection, or are looking to turn it around and sell it, your stuck with having a pro do it, because bodywork can be very frustrating and if you don't have the time or patience to learn to do it correctly, your just asking for trouble.

NYCutty

Appreciate the feed back fellas. I'm leaning towards doing the work myself. The fender wells are in tact.

Bluevista

I know a top notch world class bodyman and Spies Hecker salesman on Long Island that happens to be a member here, but his bro's Vista is keeping him pretty busy.
Looking for cheap and good bodywork is like the ancient Greek old guy with the lamp searching endlessly for an honest man.
I would do the work myself too, take your time, research or ask if you don't know. For some reason bodywork has a mystical aura about it but most of the stuff just takes common sense, good tools and good hands. The people building them were just regular old Unionhumans.
I never got a car ready for paint before, worked smart and when I thought it was finally the best it could be I made it better. I replaced the front clip and the car had been run close by a few fire hydrants on the sides,no rust though, only took almost four years.
Another excuse to show off my car.

fjross

I agree, you will most likely be replacing outer wheel well housings and rear trunk supports ect ect ect.... if you want to remove all the cancer. It, all depends on what you want as a final result.

Dave

NYCutty

I wish it was easy as replacing a fender but so far 3 shops turn down the job. Doing rust work must be some challenge . I figure if some professionals won't even touch it am I making a mistake taking it on myself. I can weld but never welded sheet metal before. I have to get a dvd on sheet metal fabrication. Honestly guys I don't have a lot of money the most I can spend putting this car together is $4,000. No one will touch the car for that much.

fjross

Just make sure you know your limitations, I've seen people do more damage welding sheet metal then the rust they where trying to replace. If you over heat the metal, it can warp and create a big can of worms. I would think that most body men probably know that there will be extra work involved replacing a quater once the old one's removed and the inside is exposed.

VikingBlue

side question...car looks familiar. where'd you get it from. North Jersey ?

LI Olds

not sure where on the island you are, but I was just at Larry Resto shop in New Hyde Park, asking some questions myself... he had some very impressive cars in his shop... I also have gone to the Oyster Bay car show and Bellmore car shows and ask owners questions..

NYCutty

Yes I bought it from a guy in Jersey. Did you look at it ? It runs great! I been driving it just about everyday.

NYCutty

LI Olds, I have 2 shops on my list in new Hyde park to go see. I'll add this one. I'm burning up a tank of gas everyday going from shop to shop. I'm offering 4 grand and supplying the parts and these shops are not interested. They all used to getting 20K a pop for full restos. This **** is frustrating.

silverriff

You could always take it to Maaco and see what they say. It should be the last resort before doing it yourself but you could at least check it out. One thing I came across when searching body shops is that they won't touch it unless they can gurantee it. And they cant gurantee it unless the can clean/replace/fix every inch of the infected area. So unfortunatly I don't think your going to find a shop that will do it for $4,000. I would check out Maaco and see what they say, if they would even do it, if not, learn to weld sheetmetal FAST! Or you could always fill everything up with Bondo!

oldsconv

If you have any mechanical skill, you can do it with practice. I have been working on cars for a long time but never did any welding or bodywork until my 70 Cutlass Conv. Granted the convertible is a little easier because I bought full repro quarters and they include the door jamb and the rear top area so less weld seams to see versus a hardtop. However, if you use a mig welder with gas (not flux core) and run low heat, you can do even skins without warping (and not welding too long in continuous lines - move around). I did my quarters, outer wheelhouses, trunk drop-offs, trunk floors and passenger floors myself and they came out fine - it just took a ton of time and measuring and moving stuff around, but my time is free I guess. If you measure and measure and tack weld and then tweak it, etc. before doing final welding, the end product should be fine (measure twice and cut once). Read up on some threads in this site relative aligning body panels, etc.

And yes about body shops - no one wants to deal with old cars due to rust and also because they know we are all perfectionists and will come back for any flaw in the paint - they want insurance collision work. I live in Albany, NY and there are a few guys up here that specialize in old cars and are reasonable if you want some names (probably half of LI prices), but you would still be ahead if you did the metalwork yourself first assuming you have some skill. If you are really uncomfortable with it, then pass on it as it will cost twice as much for the body shop to fix amateur work.

NYCutty

Oldsconv great advise bro! I have most of the tools , all I need is a sand blaster and a mig welder. I have the time and I can weld. I would still need to learn a thing or 2 about restoration and auto body work but I am confident that I can do the work myself. Thanks for the advice.

LI Olds

I sent you a PM with body shop info

442_Mustang

It's really not brain surgery. Test fit and test fit and tweak and make sure it's right. I cannot guarantee 100% perfection because I'm a bodyman by trade and my car bit me in the butt and I had to redo my quarters but if you take your time, take pics and ask lots of questions, it can be done.

squirell

Do you need full quaters or just lower patches ?
Can you post a picture ?

NYCutty

I bought 2 quarter skins and 2 fenders for it. I end up taking the car to Macco. They wont do the quarter skins aparently it's too involved. So they will cut the lower skins and patch it on the original pannels. Meantime I'mm getting the bumpers rechromed. Soon as it gets out the shop I'll take few pics.

squirell

Have you seen their work ?
How much are they charging you ?

davesdelta

I know, this is a worthless reply, but I`d gladly trade my professional bodyman skills for a 450 HP olds 350 ! Aaaaaannyway........

NYCutty

Well the bumpers cost me $450 a piece. I know I could get em new for $400 but I wanted to keep the original tins. Macco quoted me for $4,700 . It was my best deal thus far. Tired of looking around I took it. Everyone else wanted $10,000 and up . So we'll see what happens. Hopefully it turns out half way decent. ..and if not then I'd have to say this is too much of an expensive hobby for me. I'll start putting a bobber together or something. But damn I love that Cutty.

squirell

Which Maaco is it ?
Go and look at some of their completed work.

NYCutty

The one in Queens village , New York. They been around for years and they have a few classic cars in there some done some in progress and they look pretty good. They also do upholstery , wheels , sounds and security.

MJAKS462

Whenever I get any work done , be it concrete , auto body , mechanical I will go to companies and meet employees and see if they do work on the side. alot of guys would like to own their own business but cant for various reasons. So they do side work for cash. It works out for both sides. I traded a Nova body and a camaro for my complete body job with all new metal from doors back. Including trunk
I have about 2,000 into the labor (That was the cost of the cars I traded)and parts cost about 800.00
also gave him 600.00 for cost of paint
all I did was take it apart and put it back together.
tehre is only a skin of filler where needed otherwise it is all metal. black is tough also but this is real straight when sighting down the side of car.

joe_padavano

Body panel replacement and paint are both about 90% labor. If there's a large difference in price estimates, it's because the low-ball estimate is either cutting corners or will nickel and dime you with changes. You're going to get what you pay for.

Bottom line, sadly, is that in the long run it's less expensive to buy the best car you can up front. We all kid ourselves about how cheaply we can fix an inexpensive project car. We're always wrong...

LI Olds

I found a great guy local if you are interested, he came to my house with a book of his work. real high end stuff.. his price was half of what the local restoration shops wanted. he uses only the top materials and paints.. he wants to give me 5 coats of paint and 6 coats of clear..

PM me if you are interested in his contact info

NYCutty

MJAKS that ride looking clean.

Joe you're right i could have bough an Olds already done for $12k-$15k than piecing this one together. I still have to do floors, weather striping, sound and security plus wheels.

L.I olds I might need that guys # as a back up plan. I do have a garage all my mechanic tools I can buy a compressor. I wish I had that option but a month ago.

NYCutty

This is how I plan on dressing up my ride. I designed this on my computer, I'm thinking too much flat black? Should I just use the flat for racing stripes? my next option.MycuttyMacco.jpg

squirell

I have used them before...They have done decent cheapo paint jobs for me,but there bodywork sucked...just remember,you get what you pay for.

joe_padavano

I would never use a shop that specializes in cheapo crash repair to do something as critical as replacing a quarter panel - PARTICULARLY if you are using the Chinesium partial quarters that require a butt welded seam right in the flat part of the panel. If you use full quarters that go all the way to the factory spot welds, operator skill is a little less critical.

NYCutty

More pics to come, Turned out Macco actually did a nice decent job. $5200 plus $1100 for the skins. I am satisfied. Thank you all for your help. Now I will be focused on the interior then I'll move to beefing up the motor. Anyone knows a good upholstery shop in the eastern long island area?mycutty.jpg

71 sienna supreme

HEY, Nice ride!! Look into Adult Automotive Bodywork Classes.Back in the 1980's out in Lindenhurst-Babylon ( Suffolk County) there was evenings
Adult Auto Bodywork & Mechanical classes offered by BOCESS ( I think that was the name). I know it was avaible back in the 80's, maybe still. I grew up
there and my brother took some classes in his high school through them when he rebuilt his 455 in a 1968 GTO (we both had 1968 GTO's). I hope that can put you in the right direction.Good luck & keep in touch....Fred~

fjross

How far east are you on the Island? I know there's a shop on 27 in South Hampton across from the Sunoco station by PC Richards. I never had any work done there, so you may want to get some referrals.

Dave

bil

That looks nice! Read back in this thread and see how discouraged you were-now look at your nice ride.Skip the picture you had with the 22's on it! One of the problems with body shops is that they make their money on in and out crash jobs-insurance money,replace not fix.They don't want to get involved in a longer project,and most don't even know how to do one. The other end is the guy that is a perfectionist,and is priced accordingly.It looks like you found the middle,I am glad you stuck with it! ---bil

71supreme

very nice! Congratulations!

squirell

Congrats !!
Automat in Hicksville does work,not the cheapest in town , but good reputation.
Make sure to undercoat or paint the overspray on your chassis rails.

NYCutty

IMG_6246.jpg

NYCutty

Here's a few more clearer pics, thanks again fellas, I'm really happy with this car.

IMG_6248.jpg
As you can see the genius painter at Macco forgot to paint around the head light housing so when I get some time I have to remove them and take it back to get sprayed. Other than that I think they did a great job.

NYCutty

IMG_6241-1.jpg

Look at that mirror finish.