Hi everyone,

I've got a 69 notch which has some rust around the back window and a few other minor places / nothing major (i hope) that i want to get repaired. the paint is in fairly bad condition and would be after a complete respray also.

anyone able to recomend somewhere / someone on the gold coast that would be willing to take on this sort of work ?

also what $$$ should i be expected to pay for a full respray ?

any help would be great .

Thanks,
Ben

a full respray is several-to-many thousand...

Hi Ben, I know it is not on the coast, but I have my ghia in with a fellow in northgate Brisbane. He takes his time and does a really good job. He has worked on quite a few vw's. His name is Brett Brackley, at Brackley Body works. 07 3256 6301. I would suggest to strip the car so it is easier to see and get at the problems......Give him a call and he might be able to help...cheers zsolt brisbane.

I've shot you a U2U Ben.
Alan

Full respray being strip body to bare shell, remove all existing paint and substrates to bare metal, assess, repair any rust and paint using correct and lasting procedures to lasting and quality finish often starts at $20,000.

You think of 250 hours work and what you would be charged fairly by a plumber, electrician, mechanic. Then think of lawyer, accountant, architect at those hours. $20K is not so far out!

I know that I would not be doing a car for you where I work then. $75 per hour is a common trade rate. Good trade workers don't learn with a uni degree, but EARN with skill, time, patience the ability to do a good job. Your job is to find the right person. Reputable places will charge $70-$80 an hour.

Personally at home I wont do it. Not even for $50 an hour. The time I could spend earning that money, I can spend with my family and be poor. Stick your plasma TV's, central heating, jetski's, flight's and home theatre in another spot. I have family. Being in the poverty line and with them is a warm feeling.

I appreciate what you do that supports people in the community services field. You just need to respray your own car if you are not happy with tradespeople working on it. Supercheap Auto have supercheap tools, compressors, sprayguns, paint etc. if you want a super cheap job. Do it and post pics of how you go with it, I am interested.

finding a panel shop thats actually interested in doing the job will be the hardest part

It's been said above already but you get what you pay for. I charge $66/hr, and I would be lucky to see close to half of that (mind you for the first year or two of starting such a business I won't in fact take anything home due to the capital outlay and expenditure for setup).

Although this is getting a little off topic I still think its relevant as I did restore Ben's notch for him (original thread starter), and after he sold that I have done all the rust repair on his splitty at your "bull$hit type pricing". Regardless of the make of car being restored, the overheads of this type of business change minimally (porsche/ferrari/vw splitty etc).....if you want quality work, it takes a lot of time, thus a high cost....if you want cheap work, time will have to be reduced to stay under the quoted price which means the quality of work is also reduced (ie corners are cut).

I'm sure you'd get quite a surprise to see in detail the overheads (despite your scepticism) of such a business, the turnover required just to breakeven is not insignificant - just a few examples of my costs include: accountancy fees, advertising, sponsorship, insurances, council fees, workcover, equipment purchases/maintenance/depreciation, IT services, phone/fax/net charges, travel expenses, rent, solicitors fees, waste charges, personal protective equipment, blah blah blah.

I know many of these things are similar in a variety of businesses, but before you throw around the insinuation of "greedy bosses" getting rich by overcharging, perhaps you should try and do a quality restoration yourself, keep track of the hours you spend, the equipment you need to purchase, then factor in rent etc (if you were in a dedicated premise), to work out how much you would have to charge per hour to cover your cost and make a living. The expenses I have outlayed in the last two months will mean it will take me about 5-7 months before I actually recover that money and take a small wage home for myself even at a "highway robbery" rate of $66/hr. I'd happily work for you for $30/hr on your restoration if you want to cover all my costs!

Hope this rambling is of some value.
Al

LOL truly wealthy is the word for sure. A lot of resto's where I work end up with $50K labour bills. The work is charged at an hourly rate, with all work written in diary form with heaps of digital pics. You get what you pay for. I only see restoration in a perfectionists high end field these days, sorry but I don't know how to quote cheap anymore. It is my fault, my failing, I am bad, please don't talk to me anymore, I am not worthy. LOL

Funny how some people can't understand that it takes the same skill to do a rust repair on a porsche/merc/bmw etc as it would on a vw/ford/holden if you want the same level of quality in the finish.
Probably explains why supermarkets don't charge you a different price for oranges based on you yearly income?

I think the biggest problem with society is that there is some belief that obtaining an Arts Degree is an achievement worthy of significance.

I'll be happy to do a full respray for rearengine for about 10 slabs, if and only if he does all the prep work and supplies all the spray cans.

Quote:

Originally posted by Notch Nut Funny how some people can't understand that it takes the same skill to do a rust repair on a porsche/merc/bmw etc as it would on a vw/ford/holden if you want the same level of quality in the finish. Probably explains why supermarkets don't charge you a different price for oranges based on you yearly income? I think the biggest problem with society is that there is some belief that obtaining an Arts Degree is an achievement worthy of significance. I'll be happy to do a full respray for rearengine for about 10 slabs, if and only if he does all the prep work and supplies all the spray cans.

I can understand what you are saying, but not all jobs cost $20K. I did a beetle respray not too long ago which was around the $9K mark, but it was not bare metalled, was not colour sanded, and only a certain amount of time could be spent on the panel work to keep the costs down. I cannot guarantee rust won't rear its ugly head, and despite having a good sealer over the previous paint, I cannot guarantee reactions between the paint (manufacturers can't give a warranty on their paint systems either when applied over the top of other paint).

So you don't have to pay $20K, but to flog the saying yet again "you get what you pay for" still applies.

theres a lot of work that can be done on any car by the owner before the panel shop starts

Remove all trim and interior undoing the guards and just bolting on with 1 or 2 bolts, removing the glass and stripping the doors removing the wiring harness, paint stripping the car back to bare metal , getting the heavy rust areas sand blasted all this takes time of the panel shop and can be done by the owner

all this can take heaps of time and will cost you maybe a weeks work by the panel shop

I think a fine example of a good paint job showing its age really well is Rose's oval. It was painted in the late 80's, and still looks great. It comes down to doing it right first time, so that you don't have to revisit it - this car is testament to that. I'm not in the trade game, but to me, yes you have to shop around, but in the long run, you get what you pay for.

Leaving the hourly rate aside. I will talk hours time instead. An example of a bare metal respray on a 30-40 year old vehicle, regardless of the make could be seen as follows

30 hrs Disassemble all components, trim, glass, mechanical, panels etc.
50 hrs strip all body to bare metal, and remove any substrates existing. This could also be done by paying for media blasting in many area's
250 hrs fabricate and weld any rust panels required. Finish surface of repaired areas to acceptable standard for painter
250 hrs surface prepare body and panels, etch prime, epoxy coat, fine filler work, putty, paint, color sand, polish. About 10 lots of full rubbing along the way.
100 hrs reassembly

It can take more for a larger or worse condition vehicle, it could take less time for a smaller, better condition or new parts available vehicle. So many factors. Yes a Ferrari would cost the same hourly rate as a VR Commodore. New parts are probably available for the Commodore, making the job quicker, and the Ferrari owner may have expectations far exceeding original factory quality, making the job take longer. Actual money cost can be lowered by reducing the number of hours you pay for. This can be done by doing some of it yourself, or by buying new parts to fit instead of having them repaired or fabricated.

Hope this helps.

The old saying goes. Time is money.

Unfortunately the cost for doing a job like this prohibits alot of people from spending double or more the cars value on a resto. Hard to justify unless you are a perfectionist with some dosh to spare or you plan on keeping the car (as opposed to the wife! :smirk.

I am considering doing a paint job myself on the notch eventualy as it has had an accident and since been repaired. To keep the costs down, I am getting a pro to do the rust repairs (I can't weld for shit and freely admit that!) and I am doing the prep work and painting myself. Gotta start somewhere and might even learn a thing or two.

BTW rearengine, only kidding about the arts degree. The offer of 10 slabs still stands though!!!
- Adam

Quote:

Originally posted by Notch Nut The old saying goes. Time is money. Unfortunately the cost for doing a job like this prohibits alot of people from spending double or more the cars value on a resto. Hard to justify unless you are a perfectionist with some dosh to spare or you plan on keeping the car (as opposed to the wife! :smirk. I am considering doing a paint job myself on the notch eventualy as it has had an accident and since been repaired. To keep the costs down, I am getting a pro to do the rust repairs (I can't weld for shit and freely admit that!) and I am doing the prep work and painting myself. Gotta start somewhere and might even learn a thing or two. BTW rearengine, only kidding about the arts degree. The offer of 10 slabs still stands though!!! - Adam

I am also assuming Geelong Bitter slabs are right for the 10 slabs

Pfft! I am a man of class and substance. Melbourne Bitter for me!!!