Respray dilema

Hi there.  My long standing mk1 16vg60 project has finally arrived at the point where its almost ready to be painted.  Its been in the bodyshop for around a year and a half now.  The car has been fully stripped of everything and is just a rolling shell now.  Ive scotchbrited most of the engine bay and interior ready for paint, I haven't done anything to the exterior as of yet.
  Initially I told them to go slow whilst I saved up money and rebuilt the engine. Around Christmas time I told them that I was in a position for them to crack on with the work.  Nothing much got done until within the last month or so when they have carried on with welding and repairs, finding more rust etc.  It looks like the shell is almost ready to be painted now.
   The bodyshop doing the work are very expensive and each bill has caused a little lump in my throat.  The most recent bill coupled with the fact that my employment is looking a little uncertain right now means ive had to think carefully about how much more money I can justify spending on the old girl.

  They charge 35 pounds per hour plus VAT.  Ive asked for an estimation on how much the prep and paint is going to cost and rather than a price I was told its going to take around 4 weeks to complete.  I worked it out like this;

  35 x 40(hrs pr week) = 1400. for 1 week labour.

  1400 x 4 = 5600 for 4 weeks labour.

  Total cost for labour alone = 6720.  I contacted him with this figure and I was told that would be about right, so possibly more expensive than this.
  Ive then to add in cost of paint and materials, im not sure what this will be but at a guess ill say 500.

  Total price for respray 7220.

  As mentioned the shell is a bare rolling shell, everything stripped off it and ready for the prep and paint process to start once ive paid the bill for the final repairs being done. Ill be rebuilding it all myself unless I want to pay more for them to do it.

  Quite a gobsmacking figure really, given that ive already spent over 5K on welding, fabrication and modification.
  I just don't think I can justify handing over that kind of money meaning im at a crossroads again.  Its easy to ridicule the price but this was supposed to be the best finish money could buy, I expressed clearly that's what I wanted.  Is that what it should cost though?

  It took me a long while to find a bodyshop I thought id  be happy with.  One bodyshop actually turned away my custom as he thought id never be happy with the finish (pointed out some flaws in a car he had painted).  It pains me to think I might have to move the car and go through that ordeal again but as I say I couldn't hand over that kind of money given my current personal circumstances.  Ive asked if there is any way I can come into his bodyshop and save on labour costs by doing some of the prep work myself as hes been happy for me to come in and work on the car so far.  Im not sure how much prep work I can do before id be compromising the finish.  I guess just flattening back paint really.

  Ive relied a lot on advice from the good folks on this forum and again im hopeing for some guidance and a few stories to put things into perspective for me.  Its such a shame that im almost at the finish line with it only to realise its still potentially out of my reach.  I look forwards to hearing back from some of you, thanks.



 

You get what you pay for in this world.
Price does not seem too bad for what you are having done, it's not just a respray but a full body resto and paint to a very high standard from what you have said.

As a contrast my glass out respray cost £2200 for the exterior plus shuts to be re sprayed, this included a small amount of brazing to the windscreen surround and some repairs to the sill closing points. I also like you told him that there must be no dents or imperfections in the finish, ie arrow straight !!
He did say in the end that they underestimated the cost and put 95 hours into the prep and welding. This is why I got an estimate up front for the work.

In my opinion you will not be happy unless it is perfect. So you either have to keep going or shelve it until your financial situation improves.

Agree with the statement above about getting what you pay for but can't help feeling that's a huge bill for welding and re-spray so welding was 5k then paint on top another 7.5k, 12.5k all in,  woah that's a lot of money, in contrast I paid 3.5k for all the work done on mine in my build thread, that was new sills, front panel, rear panel, front floor pans, few repairs here and there around screen apertures and the usual rear beam mount repairs then resprayed too, the work done has spoken for itself given it's picked up best modified mk1 golf at Stonor park for the last 2 years and a few other local best in class awards so they did do a good job,  my brief to them was "I don't want to be able to see where it's been welded anywhere and flawless paint", not too much to ask lol.

I agree, generally you get what you pay for but not always.
 It seems like people have paid a fair bit less and still been happy with the work but that doesn't necessarily mean id be happy with it as you say.  Maybe ill have to lower my expectations and accept that I don't have "show car" money just now.
  Ive asked him again if he can consider ways I can reduce the labour costs so that the project can continue, if not ill have to take the car home and sit it in the garage until ive either got the money to continue or I find somewhere else that will agree a price from the outset that is a good bit lower than the above.
  Hubbadubba going by what you have said above you've had just as much welding done as me along with paint and you have paid less than my welding bill alone and have a finished car that not only are you happy with but has picked up awards!
  Its reading about projects like this that makes me question just how much value for money im actually getting.

If you ask for a cost reduction he will either cut corners to refuse to do the work.

I always like to get a fixed price for these sorts of jobs, with an agreement that if more work is uncovered, ie more welding required then we renegotiate :-)
Try a few other places to see what quotes you get.

The hourly rate he charges is not expensive - its the going rate.

To weld up a car properly takes a lot of time - infact an unbelievable amount of time. Until you've tried it yourself then you'll never appreciate what it actually takes or what a dirty job it is, scraping sealer, grinding dust, noise, sparks down your ears, fumes etc etc.

Owning old cars is not a cheap hobby!! People like to think it can be but if you want it done properly then its definitely not.

Another fact is it doesn't matter whether its a million pound Bentley or a 10K MK1 golf the skill set and the overheads are still the same and commands near enough the same money making it impossible to financially justify spending 20K on a 10K car!

Two choices - cut your loses, sell up and take up a cheaper hobby or bite the bullet and keep spending until its finished!

Yeah I got mine for a good price and was a bit hesitant as to why it was on the low side, and by the way the cost of the panels wasn't included in that, I supplied those, the car was with them for six weeks and was sprayed using modern water based paint (more environmentally friendly) if that makes any difference, also I had done a lot of work upfront with regard to underseal removal, I do think they underestimated on the price but it was the quote given and I made them stick to it and was constantly visiting to make sure I was happy with every step of the process, they probably got sick of me but who cares, I knew the finish I wanted and I'm happy with the results, this was by no means a quick weld up and blow over, the build progress shows that.  Guess you're in a dilemma now but will probably have to bite the bullet and get it completed, hope things work out ok in the end for you.

I know there is a huge amount of work that goes into preparing a car for paint and ive made enough welding repairs myself to appreciate the time that goes into them.  The hourly rate is also fair I agree.  I think what is sticking in my mind a little is all the little jobs that have been invoiced, such as removing the wings (id already removed them previously and placed them back on so no sealer and only held on with two bolts per side), welding in a fuel pressure gauge (took 5 mins I was there), adjusting the position of the radiator and intercooler after they had assumed it went into a certain location incorrectly.  Charging for 8 hour days when they take lunch and a couple of breaks in between.    Its things like this that have made me realise what a very good businessman he is and I feel like im being charged for hours that haven't been spent on the car.  That's a difficult road to go down, I cant prove it and in suggesting it ive destroyed the relationship I have with them.
 I think unless we can agree that ill come in and do whatever prep work I can to save on labour costs then im not going to be able to continue with this bodyshop.  Due to my work situation I guess ill have to give up on the show car finsh dream if this is what it takes to get one.
  The only way I could get other quotes now is by taking the car out of the bodyshop which may well happen yet.
  Ill update the thread accordingly.

Well after my last email to the bodyshop i havent heard anything back from them.  I asked him to finish the final welding repairs and send me the invoice for the outstanding work.  I then asked if there were any ways that i could get involved to reduce the labour costs.
  Is there realistically much i can do without effecting the final finish?.  I dont think he was planning on taking the car back to bare metal but i might be wrong, ill have to ask.