Rhubarb

Hi there,

Well, the time has come to get the 74 roadster painted. Can anyone recommend a good shop in Atlanta? How about price?

The car still has the original paint and it is not cracked .. so it should not have to be stripped. There is a new Tru-flex bumper on the back that is a little small, so it will have to be built up .. and the front bumper needs to be replaced. Other than that, no major bodywork (just some scrapes to be filled in and the hood could stand to be realigned).

I do want to change the color so I know there will be an extra cost to do that. I will take all the lights and trim pieces off.

Any idea what a good (but not show quality) paint job will run? Should I buy a front bumper myself and take it with the car or let the shop get one and fit it?

Thanks

Black2001Z06

I had my old '96 worked on at Norms Corvette Collision in Stone Mountain, GA (just off 78). Another forum member, Eison, recently had major work done to his C5 there and I think he was real happy. These guys aren't real cheap, but Vette's are about all the work on. Another good place is sports and Imports in Chamblee. They do mostly BMW, Lexus, Porsche, etc. My wife had the rear bumper tagged on her Black GS300 and it was perfect when we got it back. Even touched up a few dings for free.

eison

Ditto what Black2001Z06 said about Norm's, but it looks like your criteria are different - Norm will do more of a show quality job, and thus won't likely come cheap. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=139644 is a thread where some other recommendations were made. Only thing I can add is stay away from Jim Ellis: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=186818

stillthere

there is a good corvette shop 125 miles south of atlanta in columbus, peacock body works. 706 327 7931 john peacock. they specialize in corvette/chevrolet restoration. i just restored a 1986 yellow pace car. if you are going to make it a show car this is your guy. he can take it to any level. to get it done right you will spend 5,000 or better. what ever parts were off the car when the car was painted at the factory will be off the car when he paints it. my car was finished last june and i was able to show it 5 shows in 2001. i won my division 5 times with 1 best of show.he has several corvettes /chevys of his own and most are perfect. its cool to go to his shop just to see some of the cars he is working on. you might have to wait a couple of months to get your car in but its worth the wait. what ever parts you need for the car he can get if he does not have it. :chevy

Rhubarb

Has anyone heard of American Corvette in Powder Springs? I saw a 73 that was painted by them at the Vette show in Chattanooga last September. The owner of the car said he paid $6000 for the work and that included a new front bumper. I was not impressed with the work .. not for that price.

If I were to take it to a place like Norm's and go for the "show package", what would they do? Strip the car? What would be removed (remember I want to change the color)?

I just sold my 69 Olds 442 so I could paint the shark ... so $5000-$6000 is not out of the question.

Man .. this is getting exciting !

Ed

Black2001Z06

My '96 was certainly no show car, but Norm is just great to work with. He painted the nose piece off the car. I basically told him, look the car is near perfect, I want it to look right...meaning I don't want to be able to tell it was painted. He delivered. Plain and simple. Basically he'll do what ever you want. He spends plenty of time talking with you, is more than happy to have you make progress visits, etc. Last I saw him, he is only doing Vette's, so he knows what he's doing. Now with that said, I think the bumper cover for my '96 cost about 1,200 for parts and labor. Not sure how far you'll get with 5-6K for yours. Good luck.

stillthere

i bought some parts for my 72 lt1 from american corvettes. they have alot of stuff. i was at the show and drag in chattanooga also, i won my class in the 86 yellow pace car. i talked to that same guy with the 73. he told me he paid 5000 for the paint. i agree with your opinion on his paint. the paint was great but the car was not ready to paint. 75% of the paint job is done before you paint. there were spots on that car where the old paint was chiped and they painted over it , mostly around the windows. to do it right alot of the interior needs to come out to do the jams. door panels and windows have to be pulled to remove door handels and other door hardware to paint the doors. i went with all new weather stripping to give it that new factory look. its the little things that make the difference. theese guys are good. they work on about 20 cars at the time. most are corvettes but they are doing a 67 big block camaro and a 69 z28. i think he is doing a 75 roadster if its not done yet. this guy has done several bloomington cars and has some of his own. he will have to see the car to determin what parts need to be stripped. some parts of mine were stripped and some parts were not. my car looked pretty good when i brought it to him but it was not perfect. he is restoring my friends 57 corvette now. they are doing this one all the way.

eison

Call Norm and chat with him, he'll be happy to talk to you about what he would do. (770) 723-0511 All I know about paint is from several hours of chatting with Norm, and based on that all Vette painting needs to be done off the car (on an existing color, to avoid overspray; on a color change, to get everything) (except for limited area repairs that need to blend into surrounding areas). I don't know about stripping existing paint; ask Norm. :)

It's not so much that Norm has a 'show package' as it is that I doubt you'll be able to talk him into doing a simple cheap job (I don't agree w/ Black2001Z06, Norm won't do whatever you want, he'll insist on doing it right, and he'll take the time to explain to you what 'right' is if necessary). For example, on my paint job he insisted on repainting the driver's side (tri stage paint is hard to get a perfect match on) when I would have accepted just the passenger's side if I had just dropped the car off at a dealer body shop; I ended up much much happier in the end. On your paint job, he'll ask you to give him a disposable camera so he can document every step of the color change so you can prove it was done right later. If you just want someone to mask and spray cheap, you want another shop.

If you can't make it out to stone mountain to visit Norm, I work by Cumberland mall and would be happy to meet you near here to show you my mag red - e-mail pkteison@hotmail.com


[Modified by eison, 1:16 PM 12/18/2001]

Black2001Z06

What eison said...he will do whatever you want, only on the up side. Norm won't do a half azzed job.

93Polo

Marietta Dodge did some great work on my car. They did some fiberglass repair and repainted the car. It looks awesome :yesnod: Sean Eason the shop manager is restoring a 68 or 69 427 car. Another gentleman I can't remember his name did most of the work on my car and owns a C4. Ask for Sean and tell him I sent you. Sean also worked in a Corvette restoration shop in Indiana.

George Pope also does great work. He does alot of work for the local Lotus and Aston Martin clubs. He is in Powder Springs off of Macland. 770-943-3585 is his #. He and maybe one helper does all the work. So it may take longer but everything goes out the door perfect.

Either shop I think you will be happy. E-mail me if you have any questions.


[Modified by 93Polo, 3:39 PM 12/25/2001]

67435animal

Call me at 770-974-8073 and I'll give you a phone number. No one will do a good job on a Corvette for a low price. You'd better be ready to spend the money.

I own a 67 coupe as well as a 67 442. I am just up the road in Acworth. Call and drop by.


[Modified by 67435animal, 7:46 AM 12/26/2001]

ASTROS

http://www.americanpaintandbody.com/

call bill abrams

he's on glover st across the street form marietta daily journal


[Modified by ASTROS, 8:53 AM 1/1/2002]

stillthere

i took my car back to john peacock to get some more stuff done. he has a few new projects that looked pretty cool. he is doing a 69 camaro convertable. this is going to be a street car but it will have 550+ hp and a 6 point cage, what a nice car. he said the guy had about 15,000 invested in the engine and traney. he also added a 65 corvette fuelie roadster and a 69 corvette conv to his projects list since the last time i was there. i wish it was closer to my house so i could stop by there more often. i am getting my car ready for another year of shows. im pretty sure i will be ready for the orlando show on 1/27.