A sad state of affairs

You need to find the right kind of body shop. They all specialize in different things. The Collision repair guys won't touch your project.

Find out where the hot rod crowd is getting work done. That will be a place that knows how to work with rusty metal. But it won't be cheap.

Erich

For the kind of money you are talking about you could buy your own mig and hire a freelancer to come and work in your shop. I agree with the 'find out where the local rodders are getting their work done'. Even more, some of those guys will do projects on the side to make some extra cash.

Kathy and Erich Co> You need to find the right kind of body shop. They all specialize in

Unfortunately, we've become a disposable society in so many ways. When is the last time anyone had their TV repaired? It costs less to get a new one than to get it fixed.

Or even goto a welder/sheet metal fabricator rather than a body guy.

For grins, call:

Touch Of Class Auto Repair

Ask for Ronnie and see what he says.

I'm guessing you need to find someone like my neighbor who does this stuff out of love.

Al in Tucson.

Yeabut - The guy who does it "on the side" also had a full time job, a family, his own honey-do list and a life. Not only are you talking money, but TIME. The "on the side guy" will have your car for a year.

And the guy that works out of his garage, just ask ol Spike how THAT one goes.

I agree, there has GOT to be someone who does restorations near you. Maaco would hav just filled the holes with filler anyway. The only reason they don't touch is is that they cannot warranty it and they know you will be back. Cancer rust is damn frustrating to repair and it invilves allot of cutting and replacing of sheet metal. These days, they use panels to replace because it's a better repair for people that want their car "like new again"

Why not turn it into a demolition derby car and let it go out with a bang?

Kate

I had a stereo repaired several years ago, cost half as much to have it fixed as to replace it. Later I learned that all the guy had to do was to remove the outer cover and clean the dang eye on the CD player. Really torqued me, at $125.

The other major thing I see, since I AM the type to fix things, is the unavailability of parts.

In the case of this car, the pieces that have rotted sound like they also hold windows. Fabricating sheet metal to fit that space and still be strong is damn near impossible for the common guy, There are complex curves and angles that have got to be right. The investment in equipment (presses and welders) alone would be phenominal, just so you could get the right curves and angles for the windows to mount on without popping them.

As for other things, like alternators. Where I lve, you can't find simple food items, like a Tri Tip. Imagine if I tried to find brushes for an alternator. We drove 60 miles the other day (just abouve Mississippi) to a wrecking yard for a damn tail light for our pickup. (hubs bumped a pole) As it turned out, several things decided to take a dump on the truck last week, so we got a lock actuator, the lens and a vacuum pump. $100 for the lot.

There is NOTHING here that you can get without it being a hassle. When you call wrecking yards, they all send you to the dealership and have what appears to be no central locator.

HOW ABOUT - find one at a wrecking yard that is NOT rusted, and have them cut the sections you need. Common practise and then you could get a shop to fix it for you. It would be a search, but you might find soemthing. Prolly one that did not have vinyl.

Kate

It's sad but true... but what you DONT mention is that new 27" TV costs much less in numbers, let alone % of income than the one you want to fix. And probably has a better picture.

Kate: I guarantee NAPA has the parts... maybe not in your area, but in their distribution chain...and what some people dont think of is the guys who supply the auto repair 'garages'... sure's he!! aint autozone!

Ken: When I embarked on my car supplier role for my four boys, I determined that I couldnt afford to keep buying $1500 Fox 2.3's at the rate they were going through them {EVEN SAVING THEIR LIVES OR FROM SERIOUS INJURY IN THE BARGAIN.}

And later, giving them a hand up on driving something exotic like Xr4ti's.

So that was when I invested in a couple simple tools.

a 4 inch angle grinder and a gas wire welder

Those were the core but, of course, I had to put out a lot in specialty tools from Eastwood. Oh, if I'd only been smarter! I never used ANY of them past the first disappointment!

But I learned a lot and was able to graft rear quarters for the Merkurs, and an SVO hood scoop onto an 88 hood before handing them off to the "Pro's" for finishing. {but that's a different story}`

Like Kate says, what you want to do is search for the unrusted piece... even paying shipping. Learn how to weld on the scraps. Make SURE to engineer , measure and measure again before you make that first cut.

"SVTKate" wrote in news:nc%Ke.4615$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

It's called "Greed" and it permeates every facet of life. I had a similar experience with an RCA TV. (Buy RCA, American made quality) Had to have the pins in the power supply re-soldered. (A common problem) The guy I bought it from is also a tech and I usually have him work on my stuff, but he was unavailable. I took it to a shop and they charged me $350.00. When I finally made contact with my friend, he told me it was a common problem and a 1/2 hour job. The shop ripped me off big time. The TV lasted less than another year. When it went out, I s**t canned it and bought a Sony. Anymore, it's not what is fair and reasonable, it's what is the maximum I can get away with charging. Body and fender work in no different. The last place you want to take it is to a collision repair specialist. Most of these shops are too busy ripping off insurance companies, which in turn, pass the rip-off to the clients (Us) in the form of higher rates.

Clarification...RCA isn't a U.S. corporation (French...Thomson Electronics) and the TV certainly wasn't made in the U.S...probably S. Korea, Taiwan or mainland China.

p.s. I am familiar with the PS issue with these sets...the same thing happened with my ProScan 27" set, although I only paid $90 for repairs.

You are WAY off base on that last note.

Shops don't rip off the insurance comapanies. The insurance companies have the shops by the balls. A car comes in, the shop estimator writes it up, and then the insurance adjuster comes in and looks at it, he does his own estimate and the job is done according to THAT. If there is additional work, it is supplimented to the insurance company, only done on approval and often only after a reinspect.

It's people who drive around uninsured, who are reckless and/or commit insurance fraud that are the reason we are paying higher rates.

Kate

May I jump in? Thanks...

I must disagree with some of what you are saying. A couple of years ago, my Dad (Senior Citizen) wrecked his car. We went through the estimate process and sent it to the repair shop. The car was not repaired as described in the estimate. It was chopped and bondo. Then they held the car for a week and called my Dad at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. Told him he needed to pick up his car by 5:00. He hurried down and picked up the car not inspecting it very well because they kept telling him they had to close. When I complained to the insurance about it, they said they didn't care how it was repaired as long as they had a signature on the release form.

The shops work right along with the insurance companies to get their "direct repair" status.

Mel

Uh huh... so you think that ALL shops should be judged poorly because of one bad one? You choose to judge them ALL by this standard? If you get a bad haircut are all barbers lousy? Who researched the shop before the car was taken in?

Did YOU let them do this to your dad or did you take matters up with the BBB and the insurance company and have the problem resolved? His insurance company should have gone to bat for him, so should have YOU if he couldn't do it himself. . If he was a claimant rather than an insured, it's tougher because once that check is signed, it's pretty much a done deal. BUT you can still raise the roof and get it taken care of.

I firmly believe that the greater percentage of shops are legit, and do not want the liability of a poor repair. They don't make a dime on re-dos. If you get a bad shop, it's as much shame on YOU as the shop because you should have enough sense to stay on top of things, do your homework and be responsible enough to keep an eye on things as they progress.

As far as taking advantage of a senior citizen... bull. Older folks have lived long enough to have the experience that we can only dream of. The big mistake they make is in trusting people like they could in the old days, but c'mon, older folks have seen enough in life that they SHOULD be able to tell if something is wrong right from the beginning..

I worked in the industry a long time. I believe that I can speak from experience having been on both sides of the desk (multiple accidents by kids and family members) and on the shop side for many years. Now would be a good place to rant - but I won't.

Kate

: : On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 02:23:14 GMT, "SVTKate" : wrote: : : >

: >You are WAY off base on that last note. : >

: >Shops don't rip off the insurance comapanies. : >The insurance companies have the shops by the balls. : >A car comes in, the shop estimator writes it up, and then the insurance : >adjuster comes in and looks at it, he does his own estimate and the job is : >done according to THAT. : >If there is additional work, it is supplimented to the insurance company, : >only done on approval and often only after a reinspect. : >

: >It's people who drive around uninsured, who are reckless and/or commit : >insurance fraud that are the reason we are paying higher rates. : >

: >Kate : >98 Cobra Drop Top : >

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 02:23:14 +0000, SVTKate rearranged some electrons to form:

RCA TV's have not been made in the US for a very very long time. The brand is owned by Thomson, a French company.

"Ken Zwyers" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Repairing a TV used to mean replacing a tube. Now it means replacing an entire circuit board. Cheaper to throw the TV away.

Hell, ya can't even do THAT these days, they won't let you put them in the dump.

Contact Rickabaughs Auto Shop, they restore classic cars and are the local Porsche club's shop pf preference. Ask for Loren 719-633-0850 I've used him and recommend him highly. He's located in Colorado Springs

Mike

Ummmm, what you are asking takes talent..... talent don't come cheap. Anyone can be a hack but the good guys know who they are, and they will charge accordingly.

While you view this resto as a labour of love, whomever you hire will view this project as a way to feed his family. The good guys will want to do it their way... this is how they got to be "good guys".

Will I fix your car? Yep.... Will it be good? Yep.... Will I risk my reputation by trying to save you a few bucks? Nope.... It's my way.... if you don't like the price....

The point is the shops don't want to touch it at any price. I understand that quality costs, I also understand that high cost doesn't guarantee quality, and the people I spoke to would not guarantee their work. The only reason I got any numbers at all was when I pressed the issue. These people flat do not want to touch this vehicle. Period.