Quote:
Originally Posted by GregWeld
That's a great point - about getting in over their heads - both CUSTOMERS and SHOPS... there's a huge difference between "metal work" and "body work" (to me) - Metal work means spending hours making the metal work paint ready - Body work means (to me) getting it close and skimming it with some bondo (nothing wrong with this by the way - if it's a skim coat).... IMHO very few shops are capable of real metal work - so if that's your expectation - be prepared to pay - and make sure you see that other cars in the shop are getting this done... but if you take your project to a "body shop" and expect to get metal work... you've got a big mismatch going. Similarly if you're expecting to only pay body shop prices - and take it to a real metal working shop - you might just be in way over your head.
I'm going to say one other thing that I've seen... even from my friends... the "bigger D*** syndrome". Guy gets his car in the shop - sees what "others" are getting done - so they try to go from bodywork and paint - to full on build and have no idea what this is really going to cost. Then they end up mad at the shop... and never finishing the project.
I'm sorry - but if you're doing a full on custom build - and you have to ask what it's going to cost - you're in over your head already. So I would say to make a plan - and stick to it - and if body and paint work was what you started out with... and that's your budget - then just do that and leave the custom stuff to those that can really afford it.
Personally... I'm so happy that there are people in this hobby that will just write huge checks and build the ultimate stuff... We all love these cars... Just don't hawk your house in order to try to keep up with them - 'cause you're going to fail... LOL
I think the other thing I see all the time -- is a guy starts out to build a "nice driver" -- then ends up with a friggin' "show car"... with 40K paint job... and there it sits in his garage because now "it's too nice to drive"... There are people that can afford to go out and just hammer on a 40K paint job. Great! Glad they're doing it - it's way kool... You just have to stick to your guns and build the car that you wanted to... and don't get sucked into something that goes out of control.
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Very good advice Greg. Balance and controll while keeping things in perspective. I find myself struggling with that all the time. I am on a good plan now but getting here was NOT easy and it would have gone sideways in a hurry without the help and advice from the members here.
Know what you want and can afford and make sure they match. Know what you are paying for and agree on a decent timeline. These are NOT seven day builds.
Make a plan and a budget and make sure they match, then stick to it like your life depends on it.
If you follow the advice of the experienced guys here (ie:not me) you will do fine.
