MGB-GT Bodywork and financial woes

I like to think I can do anything I put my mind to, and most of the time do it well.
However, my available personal time is an item much like milk and bread when the local forecast calls for snow, so I find myself preparing my GT for a trip to a body shop.

Short description of needs - one floor pan, two rocker panels, a few dings/dents, rust repair, and a respray.

My first choice of body shops declined the car, but recommended two other local shops.
At $65/hr, plus parts, with no estimate of time required, I passed on one of the two.
With estimate 2 landing considerably higher than I expected, I'm having trouble.

So here are my questions -

1 - is there anyone in the forum, within driving distance of eastern NC, who has a body shop? If I'm having to spend, I might as well keep it in the family, so to speak.

2 - if you've recently had your car in the shop for paint, what did it cost?

I can certainly understand the need to send a car out for bodywork/paint. I just got my Bugeye back from the bodyshop -- stripped to bare metal, some metal work (rear quarter panels, a little in the bonnet, some touches here and there), and a full repaint. This is not a cheap process. Prices will vary hugely from location to location, but none will be cheap. My project took about 1.5 years or so for them to finish. The shop was a shop with a great reputation, but not a dedicated restoration shop so they were working on my car between collision work. This does slow down the process, but I wasn't in a rush.

My total bill was in excess of what I paid for the car in the first place, but as this Bugeye is a keeper I wasn't concerned. For pricing, you're doing what you need to do -- call all the local shops and get quotes. Every locale will have different rates, likely my huge amounts.

I can't address the causes of the enormous increases in coachwork and painting expenses without going "political" so can only say: Shop around and don't forget your local car clubs for recommendations.

I'll definitely second Doc's suggestion to talk to your local clubs (any marque) for leads. There can be great little shops tucked in that can do good work and charge reasonable rates.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

$65 is about what I'd charge but seems high for somebody that hasn't done this job before. I've done a few, the second time is much more efficient. None the less, I would think 80- 100 shop hours to start which may sound like a lot but is only 2 1/2 weeks! 2 1/2 weeks of disassembly, sandblasting, cutting, drilling , chiseling, fitting, welding, grinding. Its hard , dirty physical work which is why its expensive .

Just looked up my notes for Penny's bodywork -- 177 hours total, split about evenly between metal work and paint/paint prep.

It does add up , doesn't it? What all did you have done Drew?

Brinkerhoff said:

It does add up , doesn't it? What all did you have done Drew?

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It sure does. With our little cars you either need to be able to do them yourself, or really love the cars. With the Bugeye I might eventually get my money back, but she won't be for sale so that doesn't matter.

Full bare metal restoration on my '59 Bugeye. Needed rear quarters, all the fender beading replaced, a bunch of holes filled, and a few other odds and ends plus painting. Some work to the bonnet, but not too much. Penny was a pretty solid shell all in all, and now is 100% rust free and ready to go... once I do ALL the other restoration work. Guessing 2 more years before she's back on the road, with a day job and other life stuff.

From this:



To this:

Paint, 11 years ago I paid $4,000 to have a 72 MGB painted, last year I paid $900.00 a gallon, which brought the TF to over $7,000 to have it painted. Only input I can give on the cost of painting. A lot depends on the quality of work the shop you pick does to do the job. Quality cost money and paint is constantly going up in price, like everything else. PJ
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I've been away from the screen since I posted this - what was it Drew wrote ? Had to look up the page . . . "day job and other life stuff." So true!

Thanks for the input guys. It's been about 8 years since I last considered putting the car in the shop, and the quote I had from this past Monday was right at 3 times higher. Granted there's additional work - the floor pan among other things, but it really caught me off guard. Of course Elwood (shop owner) talked all the right talk about replacing bad sheet metal, treating retained metal with Ospho and/or POR15, etching primer, etc. The shop does appear to be more restoration oriented than the typical collision shop, and is filled with nice new equipment too. El expected about a 30 day turn around for the work, but I'm not looking for (or expecting) a finished product quite like Drew's either. (Penny, did you say?, as in "cost me a pretty . . ." Looks impressive, Drew!)

Elwood was working on a '69 Mach 1 that looked like a burgundy mirror in most places, essentially stripped to the unibody and brought back to life from there. I think I was told the car owner paid about $1,500/gallon for the 3 part paint. I'm not sure what the 'stang owner is paying, but Elwood said mine should end up looking about the same, quality wise. If that's the case, I'll be happy with that kind of end result.

Asking around at church the other night, one of the guys talked about his brother's truck - dented fender on the bed, broken taillight, bent bumper. Three month wait to get it fixed and about a $2,000 estimate from one of the better reputation collision shops in town.

177 hours on the bugeye. At the $65/hr I was quoted by the other shop, that would hurt. Not as bad as the late 50's, early 60's 'vette in that shop, stripped down to the fiberglass, all panels repaired on/or replaced, waiting for the new paint, chassis, wiring, drivetrain, interior, etc., etc. I said something about having to sell my house to pay for that, but was proved wrong. My house isn't worth what he claimed the bill would be.

$7k for the TF paint? I'm feeling better all the time.

As much as I hate to admit it, the more I investigate, the more realistic the price becomes.

My dear wife let me have this Big British Car done at a marque specialist in Kenilworth in 2004. Involved was strip to bare metal, much hidden rust and damage, a lot of panel replacement, complete interior, new top, engine and mechanicals gone over completely. New paint to a high level, as the photo shows. The body work and paint were way over $10K, but the difference in the car was astounding. I doubt that we will ever put out this much on a car in the future. We were lucky enough to sell it in 2008 for enough to cover everything except the purchase, and that was fine with me.

That Alvis is a beautiful car! And certainly not one you see very often...

I paid $40 an hour for 125 hours about 10 years ago - and then another $1000 for paint - this to replace the rear valance, minor rust repairs a goodly number of little dents and dings and some customizing - chrome bumper conversion/ remove sidelights and reverse lights etc - making it mine. I feel like I got good value - and, was lucky to find a retired body guy through my club who built a two car garage on his property and just did one or two cars at a time.

I suspect they are out there - just ask around.

Flash_Harry said:

My dear wife let me . . .

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Absolutely beautiful car Harry! Thanks for the candor about cost. I imagine mine might be that high if I were looking for concourse level results similar to yours. I want mine to be correct, but it will be used as a daily driver, washed up for the occasional gathering.
Of course, I will have to say the same thing about my wife when our conversation is done and the decision is made to spend "the money."

Your avatar indicates NC. Which part? The car is stripped down and essentially ready for a body shop. If you're relatively close by and your "guy" is still taking work, I might have to pay him a visit.


JP thanks for the numbers for comparison. As for asking around, that's part of the original post in this query.

Mike
New Bern

Mike, thanks. We're in Huntersville, just outside Charlotte. However, the work on the car was done by Red Triangle, a company that only works on Alvis cars. They do terrific work, but they are located in Kenilworth, England. We chose them because they not only have just about any part for any Alvis, they also have craftsman that worked for Alvis in the 60s when our car was built. So they don't have to outsource parts or work. They completed a near-total restoration in 11 months - a blink of an eye in the old-car world! We still sometimes regret selling it, but it's at a good home, and the new owner has bought an earlier model, too.
Harry

I have an old insurance estimator from the late 60s to early 70s. Looking up MGB GT, they have 4.5 hrs. on each rocker, 9 total. Floor pans back then were not timed, only priced, but back floor panel to boot was 9.5 hrs. Paint is shop estimate, with cost of sanding, priming, filling, painting and buffing. Yep, will be $$$. Only way to save is strip it yourself, clean metal for cutting and welding. Grind yourself and return for initial blocking, and let them prime and paint, then buff and assemble yourself. Shops have to cover the materials, power, insurance, wages and taxes, and have to carefully be correct to make you happy. Not cheap, that is why I do it all myself. Basically, from experience in shops and seeing the workers and how they just do a job and go home, I can screw it up myself and do it over better.

Harry,

Charlotte would be a stretch in the stripped-down condition the car is in, but merely a jog around the block compared to England. Besides, I already removed several body plugs, the water wings and snorkel kit, so I wouldn't be able to drive it to England anyway.

Larry,

Thanks for the time estimates. Of course, knowing the way things usually work for me, those estimates usually reflect 0.1 or 0.2 times how long I would take to finish. Point taken regarding strip and reassemble yourself to save. I've done most of the stripping, and plan to reassemble myself. I might revisit that shop and talk with the owner to revise the estimate based on me ordering repair panels and removing cancerous sheet metal before it goes on his clock.

As an aside, I recently finished a barn suitable enough for me to perform most, if not all of the work required, save paint. However, I may require the GT in the very near future for transportation to work, and with full-time employment and other "life stuff" it's just not the most efficient way to resolve the issue.

Continuing the "aside" for a moment longer, the initial purpose of my barn was to provide a place for me to do just this kind of work, but on a different car that I own, on which I plan to do most, if not all of the work myself. But that' not a marque represented on this forum, so I'll leave that discussion for another day and place.

Thanks again guys.

If you really want to do the work yourself you might consider buying a cheap beater car to get you to and from work until the MG is done....then sell the beater.

I've considered it Joe. I have a few friends with "extra" cars that they've offered to let me use while it's in the shop.
With the "professional" estimating 30 days turn around time, and knowing how "thin" I've spread myself, I'm afraid it would drag on far too long.

A very valid recommendation, just the same.
Thanks.

BTW my Vauxhall's previous owner had the bodywork done "inbetween jobs" to save money (still 9k) - I have found a number of things that were clearly started but never finished - I suspect because the shop forgot in the time interval. A friend is adamant that it is false economy to go this route as it 1) encourages forgetfulness and never getting finished and 2) getting "back on track" takes time too.