Hello again. I've been away for a while. I've been a bad father to my '79 Berlinetta, Beige Sabbath. I've neglected him for about 8 months now, but I'm ready to make up for it. Still waiting on that engine, but want to get going on other stuff in the meantime. My first question is, should I get the body work/paint done before or after I put the engine in? Second, if I should get the body done first, should I yank the current engine first? (If anyone wants a complete, but hurting 305, it's yours. I have nowhere to store it.) Third, does anyone know anything about Richard's Body Shop on 16th in Costa Mesa, or does anyone have any recommendations for a decent, daily-driver caliber paint/body job for cheap in the Huntington Beach/Costa Mesa Area? I'm ready to get going on this stuff right away and want to do so before my wife changes her mind about this being a good idea. Thanks. It's good to be back.

If you are certain you are doing the body and paint work, id do the engine first, personally. Stuff is going to happen, and the car will probably get dirty if you're working on it. For me, im doing engine work and THEN body, because im just going to primer it black. If I were to get actual paint on the car, id fix the mechanical and do an engine swap before I were to put the money into paint, even if its a $400 one day paint job. I get my car dirty enough just doing an oil change....

Ryan, good to see you posting again. I still have some black rear panels for you. One will need a little work.

What's your definition of cheep for a paint job?

I'm hoping to keep it under $1500.

And thank you!

Ryan, it's been a while since I have seen your car. If I remember correctly it was pretty clean body work wise. You had already done the new nose and started some of the primer and sanding work. Maybe a one day job will get you through for a while. Something to think about.

Dave-
That's what I'm thinking. Just something to get it so I can drive it and not be embarassed, not show-worthy. I am going to put a cowl induction hood on it and I want to do 80-81 Z28 fenders (I have some rust on the passenger side below the AC, so that's my excuse to get the look I want). They'll be in good shape, but I don't know what it'll cost to get them installed or how difficult it would be to put the fenders on myslef. I did the nose myself, and I can't imagine them being a whole lot more difficult than that, but I don't know. I do, however need some slight ironing on the doors and a few little welds where I deleted the chrome molding. The driver's side portion of the rear spoiler fits pretty terribly, also. Not sure why. The panel's in good shape and the spoiler seems fine, they just don't match up. I wouldn't mind this exept for the fact that if there is ever a tree within 10 miles off my car, the gap between the spoiler and the body fills up with 8,000 dried leaves that are a pain in the tail to get out (no pun intended). As far as the actual paint, though, I have a buddy that had his car painted black at Maaco in Costa Mesa for like $400, and it looks plenty good for what I'm looking for.

Ryan, The fenders and the spoiler are easy fixes. Just take your time with the fenders. Once you get the adjustments down they fit fairly easy. Do a search in the body section, someone posted a "how to" on panel alignment that really helped me when I did mine. None of the spoilers fit worth a crap from the factory it seems. That's an easy fix too. You may need to elongate the holes, or simply adjust it within the holes that are there. I can't weld so I'm no help with that.

Right now I have more to do than I have time to do it. But I'm hopping it will be cleared up by summer and I should be available to help out.

Thanks!