Bodyshop job

Hi everyone.  I have just recieved a quote from a bodyshop for the restoration and respray of my mk1 golf gti and wanted to share it with you.  Here is the list of work to be undertaken and at the end ill list the prices :

 Remove suspension,
 Remove under body protective coating prior to blasting,
 Paint strip outer panels for repair,
 Blast and prime whole body shell and panels,
 Fit new outer sills and align, Repair inner sill/floor edges as required,
 Fit new outer rear wheel arches and new edges as required to inner   arches,
 Fit new spare wheel well,
 Fit new rear panel,
 Fit and align new front wings,
 Repair or fit replacement bonnet depending on cost,
 Carry out any small repairs that become apparant after blasting,
 Seam seal and paint under body etc,
 Prepare and paint outer body shell, doors, tailgate bonnet etc to finish,
 Re-assemble and align painted panels on car ready for fitting up.

 Labour for blasting and metal work                            ?3501.50
 Labour for preparing and painting body shell              ?5287.50
 Materials and consumables can be priced at each stage and advised.

  So there it is.  Quite scary.  I was hopeing for around the 6 grand mark but i cant justify spending so much.
  The bodyshop is one of the best in the area.  However looking at this price im thinking that im  going to have to do as much of the preparation myself as he is happy with.  If that doesnt bring the price down by a good bit ill probably look elsewhere.  What do other people think?

would it not be cheaper to buy a cleaner mk1 and get it neatened up!! i dont know what you've got on yours! but surely everything could be transfereed over!

you could find cheaper way to get a minter easily!

chris

Where are you based..?

9 grand??  well considering you could buy a complete mint car for much less it sounds like a rip off to me.

ok i've just come round sorry that made me faint. 9 grand thats nuts.
i know alot of work will be done but that seems very steep to me.

Ok just to put things into perspective.  The work i have seen of his is second to none.  I told him by the time he has finished i want it to be perfect i.e a show winner. A lot of other bodyshops i visited actually recommended i take my car to him and when i did he had a six months waiting list.  Top quality does not come cheap. The last time i was there he was adding the finishing touches to an aston martin DB7, which looked amazing and a few E types and the like.  This is a golf though and obviously ill never get anything like my money back (although im not doing it for that) and im sure i could get a job i was very pleased with for less.
  Like everyone has said its just an awfull lot of cash to throw at a car and i cant bring myself to part with that much cash. However im sure he has exgagerated the price to cover all possibilities ie it is bad underneath all  the sealer which im sure it isnt. He certainly isnt in the business of ripping people off, if he was theres no way he could have achieved the  reputation he has.
 I think i need to start doing as much of the stripping/prep work as i can to cut costs.
  Im based in the north-east, near middlesbrough.  If anyone can offer any other recommendations i would be interested.

its still a ridiculous price,  just because something is expensive doesn't mean its better.
if your shell is in bad shape, why not just buy a good one and get it done instead you would save a lot of money.
i cant honestly understand 9 grand no matter how good the guy is,  a complete minter would not even cost that much,  and you're only talking about the shell here.  you could get the same quality for half that price or less.to put it in perspective, im currently doin a '79 Gti, its in pretty good shape but still needs a few holes filled and some welding… if i strip it and deliver the bare shell and roughly patch the holes (im a welder) he's gonna prep and spray it for 600 euros (?450) + the cost of the paint.  and this guy does mostly classics and early beetles etc… cars that go in shows.

just out of curiosity.. do you know how much he charges per hour for labour?

I appreciate what your saying, paying more money doesnt mean your getting better quality.  In this case however i know that the work he is doing justifies top money as i have seen it and many people have told me.  If i could get another shell that was guaranteed to be in really good shape then maybe i could save a fair bit of money.  Then again once i had spent all the hours stripping another shell i may be in a worse position im in now.  Im going back to see him again to see what things would cost should i hand the car to him ready to be blasted and with paint removed.

Well after speaking to the body shop again we have agreed that im going to basically strip the car to a bare shell and remove all paint and underseal so its ready to blast and prime and the metal work can begin immiediatly.  This should reduce labour costs quite considerably and ill be paying for him to do what he is good at rather than the donkey work that i can do myself.

daniboy123 said

Hi everyone.  I have just recieved a quote from a bodyshop for the restoration and respray of my mk1 golf gti and wanted to share it with you.  Here is the list of work to be undertaken and at the end ill list the prices :

 Remove suspension,
 Remove under body protective coating prior to blasting,
 Paint strip outer panels for repair,
 Blast and prime whole body shell and panels,
 Fit new outer sills and align, Repair inner sill/floor edges as required,
 Fit new outer rear wheel arches and new edges as required to inner   arches,
 Fit new spare wheel well,
 Fit new rear panel,
 Fit and align new front wings,
 Repair or fit replacement bonnet depending on cost,
 Carry out any small repairs that become apparant after blasting,
 Seam seal and paint under body etc,
 Prepare and paint outer body shell, doors, tailgate bonnet etc to finish,
 Re-assemble and align painted panels on car ready for fitting up.

 Labour for blasting and metal work                            ?3501.50
 Labour for preparing and painting body shell              ?5287.50
 Materials and consumables can be priced at each stage and advised.

  So there it is.  Quite scary.  I was hopeing for around the 6 grand mark but i cant justify spending so much.
  The bodyshop is one of the best in the area.  However looking at this price im thinking that im  going to have to do as much of the preparation myself as he is happy with.  If that doesnt bring the price down by a good bit ill probably look elsewhere.  What do other people think?

Jesus,i cant belive that kind of price for that work,where does he get 5.3 k to prep and spray a bodyshell from?? 8O
Thats a proper rip off if i ever saw one.

Hi mate,

Have you thought of getting your shell dipped and e-coated before you get it sprayed? This is what I am thinking of doing with my car. Just strip the whole thing, get the welding done then have the whole car dipped. This gets rid of all underseal, paint and waxoil. I've been told by the bodyshop who might be doing mine that this would considerably reduce labour, all they have to do is do a bit of filling then paint.

As far as I can see this dipping gets rid of all the nasties, least of all all the rust, so should preserve the car for longer than just blasting.

The downside is that it cost around ?1500 to do but money well spent in my mind.

What do you guys reakon? Are there any horror stories about getting your cars dipped, i've only heard good ones though.

you've just pointed out the problem with dipping bud. it removes all the sealent. that includes all the stuff in all the little holes and stuff which you'll never seal back up aswell as can be done in the VW factory with tools designed to do the job. 10 years down the line your fixing the rear mounting points and looking at rust in your chassis legs.

Well once i have removed all the sealer and paint from the car, it will be blasted and primed for ?250 which i am happy with then he can start with the metal work and paint.  The finished article will cost nothing like what i have been quoted im sure after speaking to him again as he just quoted a worse case scenario with him doing all the donkey work.

How much for Fooks sake I am not tight I would have thought 6k would have been the limit I beleive you get for what you pay for but that is far too much.  

Have you thought about having the car chem prepped it has to be a safer route than blasting and a lot cheaper have a look http://www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk/

Bodyshop wise have you Tried Greg Howel @ Southam bodies give him a call go down with the car if its a runner he will talk you to death about sraying cars and everything else  VW related he has a passion for VWs I popped down to see him while my car was @ Stealth Racing and was impressed with him he aims to turn a car around in 6 weeks he will do the car from start to finish drive in drive out.  

If you call him mention Philip the current owner of Muglys MK1 mentioned him to you

Hi there mate yes its very expensive.  Like i said once i have done the donkey work the final price will be nowhere near that.
  I have spoken to someone at the body prep place you mentioned, very helpfull and it sounds like a very good process.  It comes in at around ?1500 though with the chemical dip and electrolytic coating so i think ill stick to blasting.  
  The car isnt running, it has been partially stripped so i would have to trailer it to the bodyshop.  Im happy to leave it in the garage a lot longer than 6 weeks as i need ample time to source all my G60 16V conversion parts and overhaul them.  This bodyshop is allowing me to come in and do any work on the car i wish (not including welding/paint etc) which is another big bonus for me. That guy you mentioned sounds good though, where is his garage? Im in the north-east near middlesbrough..

The bodyshop is in Southam Warikshire "Southam Bodies"

id avoid that bodyshop chap, just buy one thats had 9k spent on it or a series 1 minter

austin said

id avoid that bodyshop chap, just buy one thats had 9k spent on it or a series 1 minter

exactly,   :y:

Timski said

daniboy123 said

Hi everyone.  I have just recieved a quote from a bodyshop for the restoration and respray of my mk1 golf gti and wanted to share it with you.  Here is the list of work to be undertaken and at the end ill list the prices :

 Remove suspension,
 Remove under body protective coating prior to blasting,
 Paint strip outer panels for repair,
 Blast and prime whole body shell and panels,
 Fit new outer sills and align, Repair inner sill/floor edges as required,
 Fit new outer rear wheel arches and new edges as required to inner   arches,
 Fit new spare wheel well,
 Fit new rear panel,
 Fit and align new front wings,
 Repair or fit replacement bonnet depending on cost,
 Carry out any small repairs that become apparant after blasting,
 Seam seal and paint under body etc,
 Prepare and paint outer body shell, doors, tailgate bonnet etc to finish,
 Re-assemble and align painted panels on car ready for fitting up.

 Labour for blasting and metal work                            ?3501.50
 Labour for preparing and painting body shell              ?5287.50
 Materials and consumables can be priced at each stage and advised.

  So there it is.  Quite scary.  I was hopeing for around the 6 grand mark but i cant justify spending so much.
  The bodyshop is one of the best in the area.  However looking at this price im thinking that im  going to have to do as much of the preparation myself as he is happy with.  If that doesnt bring the price down by a good bit ill probably look elsewhere.  What do other people think?

Jesus,i cant belive that kind of price for that work,where does he get 5.3 k to prep and spray a bodyshell from?? 8O
Thats a proper rip off if i ever saw one.

glad you said that tim…. :wink:

Please, tell me your not considering using this bodyshop. For the work that is quoted for 9k is bonkers. I work as a bodyshop estimator at a ford repair centre, and even there it would not cost that much. We don`t really get into restoring them more accident damage etc, but even so 9 k PLUS PAINT AND MATERIALS is crazy money. Alright we all no that once started it can reveal a hell of a lot of nasty surprises but not 9k`s worth.

Surly you would be even better, doing all the strip work, and removal of sealer etc yourself, then you will have a good idea yourself of what it really needed to be done on the shell. Then take it to a welder to get it professionally welded. Then take it to a bodyshop to finish the rest. Believe me it will save you at least 6k .

Anyway its up to you