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How to find a reputable bodyshop

3K views 22 replies 12 participants last post by  Gormy 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,

First time posting in quite some time. I'm finally going to start some serious restoration on my 67 coupe. I previously had the front frame (inner fenders, radiator support and frame rails) replaced. Now my plans are turning to the floor. There's a few patch panels, they're solid, but I don't like the look (they were just sheet metal, not contoured repops) and the rear frame rails have a bit too much rust. Doing the entire floor from firewall to tail lights could be a little bit of overkill, but instead of making repairs to several areas of the floor as well as putting new rails in, I like the idea of 100% brand new floor. I plan to put a four link in it to hold my 9" and I want new metal to go with it, as my plan is to put a lot more power through the car than it has now.

I've read up on Thoroughbred GT's flooring and after contacting them I'm confident that I'll buy their floor this summer. I have no welding ability, or a jig, and I don't want to go cutting my car apart on my own. I need to find a body shop that can do this, and eventually the body work (fitting new body panels, paint, etc). Everywhere I turn I read horror stories. People I know that had theirs done at "reputable body shops" were screwed over. I live right down the road from Ring Brothers in WI, but they don't do customer work. The other local body shops I've found don't work on old cars.

Has anyone compiled a list, or know a good place to turn with references of people who had good luck? Any ideas on the best way to track down a good body shop? I live in southern Wisconsin, just outside of Madison.

Thanks!!
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for the tip. There's very little in my area, so I supposed I'll need to spend some time branching out. I was just hopeful that someone in the forum was perhaps from somewhere near me and had recommendations.

There's only one local Mustang club that I can find (trying to keep it specific to shops that are comfortable with unibodies for now). I emailed them and the address is no good and the webpage has been taken down. I'll keep searching.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, if you're in a rural area where there's not much club or show action, it can be tough... But I would make a point of researching any/all local, or at least travel-worthy, car shows... And going to those shows, seeking finished-work that meets/exceeds your personal standards. Then engage the car-owners, and inquire about their experience with the shop, the integrity and friendliness of the shop owner, the shop rate and relative costs (keep in mind that a cheap shop rate isn't cheap when the worker is slow/piddling), etc.etc.etc...

It always pays to spend 20-40% more than you had hoped, to get top-drawer superior quality and work... Than it is to pay your target-budget or less, and receive low-grade work. The latter, in the long run and bigger picture, will always wind up costing you more than the over-budget former.

Best of luck!!
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the advice. I'll make sure to spend some time this summer going to shows and talking to people. I'm happy to pay up for it. This car is never going to leave me, so I'll spend what it takes to make it look right. Especially with how important the floor is to the structure of the car, I'm not going to mess around with some "too good to be true" price for labor
 
#6 ·
all the above and dont be discouraged if you have to ship the car a few hours away to get at a good reputable shop for the price you want.

I have guys here in Long Island going to Mass and CT to get what they want.

a friend of mine just flat bedded a 67 Vette up to RI

you rent a U haul with a full bed and you make a day of it. lol

come to think of it thats how i got my beast home when i bought it back in 87. remember it like yesterday.
 
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#8 ·
Thanks for this! Yeah, I have no issues sending it a little ways away to get done what I need. I have a truck and access to a flatbed to haul it where it needs to go. It's hard enough finding a close shop, before looking further out, so that's what I'm running into.
 
#9 ·
When I needed my car fixed I drove around to different shops to see what kind of cars they were fixing in their lot. The shop I picked was fixing new cars for dealers. I've been using the same shop for about 35 years now. I made the mistake once about using a different shop.
 
#10 ·
Don't just limit your choice to a Mustang body shop. Check out other clubs to see if they've had their cars done there.
Stan
 
#12 ·
The above advice is spot on. I talked to people at car shows for a year or two and kept getting recommendations for the same shop. I finally went and checked them out and they work on everything. In the time my car was there, they had Broncos, Corvettes, 280Zs, Camaros, 57 Chevys, a Hudson, Volvo 1800s, Pontiacs, 50s Buicks, 30s Fords and bunch of others roll through the shop and top shelf work was done on all of them.
 
#13 · (Edited)
There used to be two places in Waukesha County that had all they could handle restoring vintage Mustangs. That was until around 1990. There's a place in the Milwaukee south side that does all brands mainly GM mid and small, MOPAR mid and Ford mid and small. Of course Vettes. Every car he does is a concourse show winner....big big big bucks!

Closer to Madison is Bob Perkins. He has a small shop with FOMOCO sign, 2 fuill time employees. His car collection is a couple 50 mile Mustangs, a 900 mile 69 Torino and a drag pack 69 Torino with high documented miles 11,000. They do 2 or 3 a year and like a French restaurant if you need to ask how much you're in the wrong place!

I'm thinking popularity of low dollar restos like Mustangs in the $15-25K range is way down at resto shops. The shops are doing small number of big buck cars around here.

Back in the 80s there were Mustang resto places that had check off forms you could drive or tow your Stang to a special area check off what you needed/wanted and they'd give you an estimate on the spot. Fine print on the bottom said plus anything missed, owner will be contanted with additions. IMO those two high volume places produced restos with nice shiny paint with no waves/ripples. Fit and alignment was at best OK.

Now mechanical work is a whole different animal!
 
#16 ·
Just looked at their website. Looks like an amazing place! Ya gotta look at the website. It says Klassics-used cars! Looks like a high end
resto shop all brands, specializing in 65-73 Mustangs. They're like smack dab in the center of Wisconsin in Statford a town of 1500! Mid way
between Minneapolis (Minnesota) and Green Bay (Wisconsin).

Apparently we up here in the tundra keep busy with our car hobby even when it is a bit chilly!
 
#15 ·
also any decent shop will have a good 6 months to a year or more waiting list.
i heard of guys waiting 2-3 years to get in. my guy was a year out but i got lucky and he called me in 7 months due to a cancellation.
 
#17 · (Edited)
You didn't state how much your planning on budgeting for this. Be sure you get references and talk to some real customers not posted comments on a website.

If it were me I would either have a car hauler company or rent an enclosed trailer and find someone who is reputable, your talking about getting quality work done. there is one place in WA that is considered one of the best Cougar & Mustang restoration shops on the west coast. He will do all the prep work of removing all parts to prep it for paint then re-assemble it & do all the fit & alignment. He only uses one paint shop cost is around 35k.

Look at some of his work. I've had some work done there his personnel show car is the 1970 Cougar Eliminator 428CJ Grabber Blue it's a 99-100 point car.


COMPLETED RESTORATIONS | Cascade Classics
 
#19 · (Edited)
Some general comments and suggestions:

Generally you will find two main categories of Body & Paint shops. The most common is the production shops who primarily make their money from insurance collision work. A total repaint on a classic is generally NOT a profitable job due to the amount of labor needed to "fix" 50 years of questionable quality maintenance and repairs done by others with little skill or concern for high quality work. It takes someone who loves the vintage cars to be willing to work on them. Not everyone who runs a paint shop feels that love. Your initial conversations with the shop allow you do develop an understanding of their business and the way they treat their projects and their customers. If you get a bad feeling at that point, keep looking!

If you find a collision shop willing to consider doing your car, it will most likely be on the basis of "Fill Work" meaning that when work is slow, they will work on your car and, when they are busy with collision work, you car is moved to the side to make room for the quick profit jobs. If you accept a fill work relationship, be prepared for a considerable amount of time to pass. 6-12 months is not an excessive amount of time in those circumstances and I have seen cases where a car spends more than a year in "paint jail".

The other category of Body & Paint is the Restoration shop. These folks specialize in high end show winning Body & Paint and will lavish the kind of attention to detail that the car owner himself would spend working on the car, if the car owner were to attempt a DIY job.
Show winning Paint requires a consistent high level of effort and by using such a shop, you are agreeing to compensate them for what their time and skills are worth. Not infrequently, choosing the restoration level shop will produce a solid 5 figure bill. At that level you are working with artisans and master craftsmen who bring years of skill and dedication to your job. Be realistic about what that is worth to you.

Lastly, be prepared for the wildly high estimate. Often times that is the painter's way of telling you he doesn't want the job and is hoping to scare you away. Do not take it personally, he may have just lost his shirt on the last total repaint job and the customer was an a$$hole to boot, making his whole experience one he does not want to replicate anytime soon.

With these things in mind, I suggest that the first step in locating a Body & Paint place to work with is to figure out with some precision what level of quality you want/are willing to accept. For example, if you are looking for trailered concours level award winning paint you will need to find a high end restoration shop with a resume of award winning paint jobs. Though the Maaco shop near me does an excellent job with the driver quality cars (they have done 2 cars for me) , there is a limit to what they can do in that environment.

Next, as others have said, attend car shows, cruise in's, Cars and Coffee events, etc, and look for paint jobs that demonstrate the quality level which is acceptable to you. Chat with the owners to find out who they used and how satisfied they are with the finished product. Consider asking about the Shop's policy/attitude toward frequent visits by the customer, how well they communicated progress as well as lack of progress with the customer ("I'm unexpectedly swamped" versus "The dog ate my homework" excuses), the overall cleanliness of the shop, the stability of the staff (Staff turn over can be an indicator of management problems which may impact you, the customer) , performance promises kept and broken, and whether that customer would consider using that shop again. The cost/value assessment is a personal decision. However, substantial payments up front (see management problems above) may be a sign that cash flow may be a problem and your leverage, as the customer, is reduced as you owe less and less on the contract.

Consider finding a specific car that Shop did and have the Shop agree to use it as the standard for the finished quality of your car. Having a tangible example of the quality level should minimize differences of opinion about expectations at the end of the job.

To put my comments into context, when I had my car done at a small 3 man collision shop about a dozen years ago, we agreed on a specific car he had done as being the quality standard, we agreed on specific brand of paint products, we agreed that my car was a fill job and would take several months, and we agreed on a price with 50% being due once the car was in primer (about 5 months into the job) and the balance due upon delivery (another month), Total time from drop off to delivery was about 6 months. I visited the shop every 7-10 days to check on progress (sometimes no tangible progress due to the press of collision work), and to shoot the $hit with the guys to ensure they know their work on my car was important to me.

Contrary to some of the paint horror stories that pop up from time to time, I got a higher quality paint job than i was expecting and I would not hesitate to have my painter do another car for me today, assuming he wanted the job!

Good luck with your search.
 
#21 ·
The other category of Body & Paint is the Restoration shop. These folks specialize in high end show winning Body & Paint and will lavish the kind of attention to detail that the car owner himself would spend working on the car, if the car owner were to attempt a DIY job.
Show winning Paint requires a consistent high level of effort and by using such a shop, you are agreeing to compensate them for what their time and skills are worth. Not infrequently, choosing the restoration level shop will produce a solid 5 figure bill. At that level you are working with artisans and master craftsmen who bring years of skill and dedication to your job. Be realistic about what that is worth to you.

With these things in mind, I suggest that the first step in locating a Body & Paint place to work with is to figure out with some precision what level of quality you want/are willing to accept. For example, if you are looking for trailered concours level award winning paint you will need to find a high end restoration shop with a resume of award winning paint jobs. Though the Maaco shop near me does an excellent job with the driver quality cars (they have done 2 cars for me) , there is a limit to what they can do in that environment.

Consider finding a specific car that Shop did and have the Shop agree to use it as the standard for the finished quality of your car. Having a tangible example of the quality level should minimize differences of opinion about expectations at the end of the job.

To put my comments into context, when I had my car done at a small 3 man collision shop about a dozen years ago, we agreed on a specific car he had done as being the quality standard, we agreed on specific brand of paint products, we agreed that my car was a fill job and would take several months, and we agreed on a price with 50% being due once the car was in primer (about 5 months into the job) and the balance due upon delivery (another month), Total time from drop off to delivery was about 6 months. I visited the shop every 7-10 days to check on progress (sometimes no tangible progress due to the press of collision work), and to shoot the $hit with the guys to ensure they know their work on my car was important to me.
Well written.

I've actually considered having Maaco do a single coat spray with me doing the prep like pulling all chrome doing the taping of metal around the widows etc then trailer it up there. This would be till we're ready for a quality paint job. I know what I'm getting plus I've been surprised by their quality at our local Maaco.

I would never do a concours paint job on a driver it would never be driven but definitely have the prep work perfect no paint shop can do a quality finish without it.
 
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