SLO RDE

Hey, I was thinking of finding a Good body shop up here this winter to pull My Body off and have My underneath redone.Has anybody ever Paid for this ? I'm looking for a estimate on labor. I don't really have any Frame rot or anything like that (Lucky!)but I would like My frame blasted and coated with some kind of Protection (Any Ideas on that?).Then put back together with a new rear spring and new exhaust and a few other things under there,everything else is just about done.I think I would also like My frame Measured for straightness,Gotta a weird feeling about that .I had My cross member split and repaired last year and haven't been happy since.Thanks for any input.Dale

SHAKERATTLEROLL

In my humble opinion it would be far cheaper to find a car that has had this done previously. I say this because you are going to have it done instead of doing it yourself so by doing so it would not be a learning experiance or for fun just for the end product.

OHSIXX

I agree more or less. Does not sound like you really have a good reason to take the body off. The underside can be 99 percent restored without removing the body. The only exception is the small narrow portion of the body that meets the top of the frame.

Taking the body off makes it easier for the person doing the work. I guess the old saying."there is more ways than one to skin a cat" applys here. :)


[Modified by OHSIXX, 8:19 PM 5/23/2004]

76Frankenstein

Here's what I would do...but it's a long way to go...:(

http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...&SubGroup=1896

SLO RDE

I Would do it My self if I had the time and room for this kind of project.I Don't see how it would be a waste of time to do it either ? Those Body mounts have been under there for 28 years,easier to work on with the body off.My frame would be better off sealed up and painted.I want to redo My car in steps with this being the first step,#1 Underside #2 Engine #3 Paint 4# Interior. I've done most everything under there already so I might as well finish it up and move on to the next step.Dale

carl a

http://www.geocities.com/carlclub2/- i had mine done at a corvette restorer far from the chicago land area- its 20 hrs labor to remove the body- i disagree you can do it without taking the body off,, once we removed the body there was a lot of frame rust hidden by the body-i went for a new rollin chassis. it gets expensive- once you go that far you mite as well do it for the last time . i went with all stainless hardware-- parking brakes and cables,, gas and brake lines new roters and calipers,new frame-z barted inside and 2 coates of por-15 outside,,new coil springs and new monoleaf- new steering,,tires jet coating on chambered ex and ex man. and fan and spare tire tub support- engine was already stroked so i had a 700r-4 put in and had the entire engine and engine compartment detailed- and the undercarrage coated,, allpaintwork done and all new stainless boltss.. i put mirrors under car and 1500 watts of light at vette fest in chicago where my higest score hass been 995 points outta 1000-4 times 1st place- i now have over 40,000 invested in car counting what i origionally paid for it,, so it can get very expensive,, you have to make a decision if your gonna keep the car-- i also had it appraised (30,000) and took that to get special stated value policy to cover myself incase of theft or total wreckhope this info helps-----------carl

markdtn

I have a friend that does these professionally. Last I asked a complete body off was $20k plus parts. Not cheap, but it would be "no appologies". He will be at Bloomington.

LemansBlue68

I don't know what your budget is but once that body is off you're gonna see a lot of other things that need attention "while you're in there you might as well..." . $20K+ for labor and not including parts sounds about right. It's amazing how much all those miscellaneous bits and pieces will cost you that don't even seem significant enough to include in the resto budget. I can go to Paragon with a short list of odds and ends (nitpicky details) and walk out of there $100 lighter almost every time.

VETFOR4

That's a real hard question to answer. Take it from someone who has taken many cars apart, you never know what you will find. Most of your better restoration shops will only give you a rough ball park figure if anything and will charge on a time and materials basis. As a general rule you are much better off not using a regular production body shop, they are not set up for true restoration type work. A restoration shop that is familiar with the type of car you are doing can actually save you on labor because they know all the stupid little tricks for working on your car and will save you lots of labor time. Cost will also vary greatly on what you are looking for, a "NCRS" type or a nice "driver". The more correvtness and originality you go for the quicker the cost will climb. Sorry did not mean to go on. If you do have this type of work done the best thing to do is look at other cars and pick the ones you like and talk to the owners and find out who did them and how they liked working with the shop.

Scooter70

I see you're in Maine. This shop is in central Mass. http://www.ronsautorestoration.com All he does is Corvettes and he's one of the best. You might give a call and talk to Ron.

NHvette

Here is an experience shop ... closer to Maine.

http://rowleycorvette.com/

:seeya

turtlevette

40,000 - 60,000 ???