best fiberglass repair AND paint Dallas and North to SouthCentral OK

I don't think best and reasonable will get the price you are looking for.

"Best" can be a $10,000 paint job and still be quite reasonable, because they may do $20,000 work.

Not quite as "best" and it could be unreasonable at $6000, because their work is only $3000 value.

When you find one, be sure to ask for previous customers to see the work. Work will vary greatly by what you want, whether it is restoration type work, show work, street work, and so on. Each will be different, each will cost differently.

I'll suggest a small shop in Dallas I used probably 15 or 18 years ago, don't know if the guy is still in business: I think the business name was "Color Madness by Willie". I can't remember the exact location, as I wasn't in Dallas very long, but it seems to me it was fairly near a big shopping mall on the edge of Dallas, the mall being perhaps a couple of miles north of the main road to the DFW airport, before you get to Irving, TX, if that makes any sense. He repaired and painted the right front fender on an Avanti for me; I couldn't even tell him what the custom color was, but he matched it perfectly, and you'd never know the panel was repaired.

an example of a "helpful" response that is useless and nonresponsive.......

"I don't think best and reasonable will get the price you are looking for.......................................

Thanks for the excellent and responsive response. Ironically, I am looking for work on my Avanti, but hesitated to say that here, in a Corvette column. I have bought the original factory color chips to be safe.

"I'll suggest a small shop in Dallas I used probably 15 or 18 years ago, don't know if the guy is still in business: I think the business name was "Color Madness by Willie". I can't remember the exact location, as I wasn't in Dallas very long, but it seems to me it was fairly near a big

shopping mall on the edge of Dallas, the mall being perhaps a couple of

miles north of the main road to the DFW airport, before you get to Irving, TX, if that makes any sense. He repaired and painted the right front fender on an Avanti for me; I couldn't even tell him what the custom color was, but he matched it perfectly, and you'd never know the

panel was repaired. "

Thanks for the excellent and responsive response. Ironically, I am looking for work on my Avanti, but hesitated to say that here, in a Corvette column. I have bought the original factory color chips to be safe.

"I'll suggest a small shop in Dallas I used probably 15 or 18 years ago, don't know if the guy is still in business: I think the business name was "Color Madness by Willie". I can't remember the exact location, as I wasn't in Dallas very long, but it seems to me it was fairly near a big

shopping mall on the edge of Dallas, the mall being perhaps a couple of

miles north of the main road to the DFW airport, before you get to Irving, TX, if that makes any sense. He repaired and painted the right front fender on an Avanti for me; I couldn't even tell him what the custom color was, but he matched it perfectly, and you'd never know the

panel was repaired. "

If you want the best, you could go to Nabors Brothers in Houston. However, that is outside your Dallas to Oklahoma range, so I assume that falls out of your "reasonable" requirement. But then again, you have not said what you consider "reasonable". Many come here and think over $1000 is unreasonable. That severely affects how good of a place you can get.

So try this instead.

Cowtown Vettes of Fort Worth probably know every decent and every deadbeat place around. This is where I would have started.

Also with the local NCRS chapter Texas Chapter - Gary Chesnut, Chairman

4700 W. Wedgefield Road Granbury, Texas 76049 (817) 925-6176 snipped-for-privacy@charter.net

Then the usual searches:

Keep in mind that some "light repair" shops are interested in two or three panel repairs and refuse whole-car repaint jobs. (I'm assuming that's what you mean by "refinish.") Where I live, paint is the highest paid talent in any shop and the best paid guys don't do whole cars except on weekends as a "labor of love."

Having one shop handle the entire job is the only way to ensure the "best" work. If price is a consideration and you want to assume some risk, you might consider splitting out the fiberglass work, body prep and paint to two or three outfits and, of course, doing some of it yourself. On a complete repaint, the prep and paint guy(s) have a right to approve or reject the glass work.

Lone Star Corvette Club (Dallas, 2nd Saturday) and Olney's Texas Outlaws would be good resources for referrals.

Best of luck on the Avanti. PJ

Sometimes it is hard to respond to a useless question that has not much information to start with. Just a pathetic cry from the dark with just their desires to be answered as if there were that crystal ball I've heard about. All that was needed was "I have a door ding I need repaired so I can sell the car" or, "I got keyed on both sides and want a complete repaint with a show room finish". Many things can be in between those conditions and a few outside of them. I don't always agree with Tom and he will question me and that's as it should be. In this case he was as always a gentleman and replied to your rather curt reply with more information then you deserved.

If you had even said that you think the paint might be good enough to be repainted without a complete strip or that the body was off , or there were multiple stress cracks and glass damage to be dealt with the question could have been addressed with a more acceptable answer for you. There were times when a customer would tell me "Just paint it so it looks good" and you had a pretty good idea that he wanted something close to perfect. Others that went over it in detail how they wanted it painted never looked at it other than when they got in it to drive away.

Ease up, there are some good contributors on this group.

Good luck on your repairs.

Thanks, Dad,

That is one heck of a compliment.

BTW, I have finally gotten around to wet sanding the car I was having paint gun trouble with. I'm at 2000 grit and the paint is nearly shining now without buffing.

I may know some of the basics of painting, but I'm anything but a painter. Still, I have to say I'm a bit excited over how this one is beginning to shape up.

Thanks for the help.

Pictures would be nice. ;-)

You are at a finer grit than I use, normally stop at 1500 but then I've been polishing paint a bit longer and may know some things that will make it shine. If you don't already do it I use about as much masking tape while polishing as I do while painting. I never trust an unprotected edge to an incoming wheel, outgoing is OK.

Cept fer Tom of course ;-)

hehehe

Dad wrote:

Willie died a few years ago. He was a Hell of a painter but he always left one of his white hairs behind in the paint as his trademark. Cigarettes and laquer thinner got to him.

PD