Is It A Good Idea To Do Body Work Yourself?
06-30-2003, 05:48 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
Question,
Is it a good idea to do body work yourself? is it best left up to the pros. I originally though i could not do my clutch isntall including flywheel and pilot bearing removal but found it to be not too hard.
Should i just shut up and shell out hte cash or learn to DIY.
i'm favouring DIY. There is no way taking off the front bumper takes 4 hours worth of shop time, and then only 2 hours to hammer and pull and hammer the front mounting point of where the rad bolts to, and to realign the head light would cost 1500 CDN.
WTF? btw that is including repainting rear bumping, and does not include misc parts that they can't see that is broken.
1500? no wonder insurance companies are raising rates like no tommorrow.
The damage isn't even extensive, they don't even need to put it on the frame machine. Next thing after university is collage courses in auto body work, and learn to TIG weld.
DAMN I"M MAD!
Is it a good idea to do body work yourself? is it best left up to the pros. I originally though i could not do my clutch isntall including flywheel and pilot bearing removal but found it to be not too hard.
Should i just shut up and shell out hte cash or learn to DIY.
i'm favouring DIY. There is no way taking off the front bumper takes 4 hours worth of shop time, and then only 2 hours to hammer and pull and hammer the front mounting point of where the rad bolts to, and to realign the head light would cost 1500 CDN.
WTF? btw that is including repainting rear bumping, and does not include misc parts that they can't see that is broken.
1500? no wonder insurance companies are raising rates like no tommorrow.
The damage isn't even extensive, they don't even need to put it on the frame machine. Next thing after university is collage courses in auto body work, and learn to TIG weld.
DAMN I"M MAD!
06-30-2003, 06:04 PM
#3
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Amityville, New York
Posts: 12,288
Insurance companies only pay $35-$38 a hour for body shop work
here, its all book time. 4 hours to remove a bumper, brake it down, prep and paint it, put all the parts back on it, and bolt it back up sounds
about right.
They pay book time, which means sometimes it takes shops
longer to do it, but thats all they are going to get paid for.
Something like a bumper replacement is easy, painting it isnt.
Doing bodywork isnt easy, that is if you want it to look like there
wasnt any body work done, and you want it to look good a few years
down the road.
I hate cars, no money in cars, I stick to boats, the labor rate is $105 a hour and its going up, no "book time" either.
here, its all book time. 4 hours to remove a bumper, brake it down, prep and paint it, put all the parts back on it, and bolt it back up sounds
about right.
They pay book time, which means sometimes it takes shops
longer to do it, but thats all they are going to get paid for.
Something like a bumper replacement is easy, painting it isnt.
Doing bodywork isnt easy, that is if you want it to look like there
wasnt any body work done, and you want it to look good a few years
down the road.
I hate cars, no money in cars, I stick to boats, the labor rate is $105 a hour and its going up, no "book time" either.
06-30-2003, 06:38 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Frederick, MD
Posts: 114
Tell me about this "bumper cover painted for cheap," I have a hole in my front bumper and some scratches (nothing crushing it into the supports) that I tried to do my own bodywork on, but I couldn't get the sanding and blending to work right, just kept getting a bigger sanded area and no blended look...
06-30-2003, 06:44 PM
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
the bumper looks fine... i'll grab a digi cam pic in a bit.
all the paint cracked on it... and it split near the bottom. I found a place that refinishes bumpers and can get it done for 140 canadian
then it is up to me to find a shop to prime and paint it.
the headlight assembly is shift towards the centre of the car. I went into a ditch and the driver side corner impacted onto dirt.
i'm going to see about yanking off the front bumper cover tonight to see what else is up.
You can see a crinkle (SP?) where the rad bolts to. It is a very slight crinkle (SP?) the body shop said they would charge 2 hours to just rough pull it.
My idea is to move the car onto the side of the road. get some rope, tie it onto that area. get a friend to stand on the brakes. and i take a racheting winch and connect it to a telephone poll and pull it a out a bit. Take some measurements with a friend's S5 TII and then hammer the support bar flat. Then take self etching epoxy and coat the area, then prime and shoot it with some paint i will get mixed up into a spray can.
Goto the local rotary shop and get a headlight bracket from one of their parts cars and call it a day.
i hope all this works, according to plan
all the paint cracked on it... and it split near the bottom. I found a place that refinishes bumpers and can get it done for 140 canadian
then it is up to me to find a shop to prime and paint it.
the headlight assembly is shift towards the centre of the car. I went into a ditch and the driver side corner impacted onto dirt.
i'm going to see about yanking off the front bumper cover tonight to see what else is up.
You can see a crinkle (SP?) where the rad bolts to. It is a very slight crinkle (SP?) the body shop said they would charge 2 hours to just rough pull it.
My idea is to move the car onto the side of the road. get some rope, tie it onto that area. get a friend to stand on the brakes. and i take a racheting winch and connect it to a telephone poll and pull it a out a bit. Take some measurements with a friend's S5 TII and then hammer the support bar flat. Then take self etching epoxy and coat the area, then prime and shoot it with some paint i will get mixed up into a spray can.
Goto the local rotary shop and get a headlight bracket from one of their parts cars and call it a day.
i hope all this works, according to plan
06-30-2003, 07:03 PM
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,108
rob,
btw they put down 4 hour just to take the bumper off, this does not include the time they ship it out to another garage that will refinish the bumper.
To put the bumper back onto the car they quoted me 2 hours.
Rob, banzai want to fix my car? I trust you guys more then the shops i went to. i went to three. the quotes were 1000, 1265, 1594 all in canadian funds
i haven't even went to the really really really nice shops that do work on porsches or ferraris, these are the average joe/dealership/insurance company shops.
btw they put down 4 hour just to take the bumper off, this does not include the time they ship it out to another garage that will refinish the bumper.
To put the bumper back onto the car they quoted me 2 hours.
Rob, banzai want to fix my car? I trust you guys more then the shops i went to. i went to three. the quotes were 1000, 1265, 1594 all in canadian funds
i haven't even went to the really really really nice shops that do work on porsches or ferraris, these are the average joe/dealership/insurance company shops.
06-30-2003, 07:22 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: ATX
Posts: 1,535
The rope on the phone pole is quite ghetto. Sounds like my dads home dentistry. You might want to consider completing all of the "bolt on" body work yourself and take it to a shop to have the mounts straightened.
06-30-2003, 08:18 PM
#9
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Amityville, New York
Posts: 12,288
whats the conversion rate on those canadian prices?
I custom mixed some Imron to match the white on
Jims car.
You say you got a price of $140 to get the bumper refinished, then
you said its up to you to get it primed and painted, do you mean
the rest of the car?
The radiator support naturally has a crinkle on either side of the radiator
on top, it almost looks like its fucked up, bit its stock.
I would also go to one shop, you go to 2 shops and everyone wants
to make money off the other guy, take it to one bodyshop.
I custom mixed some Imron to match the white on
Jims car.
You say you got a price of $140 to get the bumper refinished, then
you said its up to you to get it primed and painted, do you mean
the rest of the car?
The radiator support naturally has a crinkle on either side of the radiator
on top, it almost looks like its fucked up, bit its stock.
I would also go to one shop, you go to 2 shops and everyone wants
to make money off the other guy, take it to one bodyshop.
