My 71 and my bank account are ready for a paint job. My car has many new body panels, everything has been fitted so it just needs some smoothing and paint at least that's what I think.

What do I look for and what questions should I ask at the bodyshops.

Talk to some of their customers first, and get their opinions. If the shop really does quality work they will give you some references.

The shop will tell you what ever you want to hear, they want your money.

<font face="Arial,Verdana" size="2">Originally posted by PAINLESS:
Talk to some of their customers first, and get their opinions. If the shop really does quality work they will give you some references.

The shop will tell you what ever you want to hear, they want your money.</font>

Painless is Correct,
A Reputable shop should be proud of the work they have done And be more then willing to give you information on the owners of past projects, And not some pictures they have hanging on the wall. Word of mouth, The Best Advertisement in the world, if I were doing your car I would put you in contact with a few of the people whose cars I have done.
On another note, “You get what you pay for” and if you want it done correctly it wont be cheap.
Mark

1) A written estimate beforehand itemizing everything to be done

and

2) A shop that will complete the job on schedule


Some very common things that seem to happen to people is increasing costs ("we didn't know this xxxx was this badly rusted" -uh huh) and shops that will keep dumping a non-insurance-job customer's car to the bottom of the priority list

Look at other cars in the lot, both done, and waiting to be done, what kind of stuff are they bringing in is it junk, or almost done, if they seem to be working on alot of junk it might be they do quick fixes that don't last

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As stated above a good paint job isn't cheap.

I would ask around and see what people say about the different body shops in your town or city. If you aren't in a big hurry you should be able to find a good shop that will give you a good paint job.

Several of my friends do small paint jobs at their houses and a few others do paint jobs as side jobs. If you can find someone that is good this will save you some money.

Depending on how much work is left on your car you are looking at $2000 plus for a good paint job.

You may also want to stay away from a shop doing a high volume of insurance business. Many times they don't want to mess with complete repaints and particularly for owners who are going to be fussy.

Go to car shows and ask the dudes with the nice paint jobs where they got them done. ASK the body shop what can you expect?

Unless it is a numbers match show car, you could paint it yourself. That is what I did with no previous experience but a willingness to learn and listen. It is not as tough as you would think. You will have more control over the final quality (after all, nobody cares more about the car than you) and you can control when the car is ready. Allow yourself a full week of time to dedicate to the job. It does take awhile but it is not magic as I previously thought. I saved nearly $3500 by doing it myself from the lowest quote that I got, including paint (bc/cc) gun lights paper EVERYTHING!

First thing I would look for is pallets of 5gal drums of bondo. http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif

The first thing I would do is go to the local motor heads (Many of them are my friends) and get their opinions. They usual have the inside as to the best bargain versus quality. I know a few guys personally that do body work, and I know which ones are good at it. All the motor heads know as well. All towns have motor heads and all towns have body men, both good and bad.