Can a "current vehicle" body shop do a good job on a classic?

My buddy managed to hit a deer with his VERY nice 57 Chevy convertible, He restored the car car 15 years ago. It is well done restoration in Coral with a white interior,Hagarty insurance says they will cover the entire cost...Including trim removal,complete paint,new/repro front clip. Will it be like new?

 

would not do it find a shop that knows older cars

 

They already have the car torn down and working on it.He does stop by every couple days to check on it. He is giving the car to his son when he hits 65 so he can see his son enjoy it (kind of like an advance inheritance)
Seems the guy they assignrd the job to is into it.Will post updates.

 

New shops pay the guys flat rate. So the faster they gey done the more money they make. When they get stuck with anything older than 2005 the get kinda pissy.

 

Many of the new autobody techs are not trained to restore an old car.It all depends on the shop and the guy doing the work.The last thing you want is a guy working on a flat rate repairing your classic car.

 

Of course many can......

 

...but then, many cannot!

 

.......... Oh Deer !

 

I think that.........not all, but ALOT of places don't even have the tools to do the job right! Good luck with those guys, you may have hit upon a place that will do a good job.

 

All the newer body shops are like putting a puzzle back together, just cut spot welds and weld it back up, or un bolt and bolt back together. I worked in one for over a year and i only had to stitch weld one fire wall to acab and the rest was like putting legos together. Most of those guys just know how to do only that. and the new car paint jobs are all orange peeled and those guys learn to paint that crappy to match it. Its almost a joke.....

 

the biggest problem an in and out type body shop will present is the difficulty in getting panels and the desire of the insurance company to simply write off the car instead of repairing it. you might want to find a body shop that specializes in old car repairs

 

Can a gynecologist do a good job helping with your ear infection?

 

Depends who's working there. I work in a dealership, on flat rate, and can do the job. But only if the time allowed is worth it. When i go home to work on the old stuff, it's a different world. Most shops are just remove and replace.

 

The reason the guys in the shops get pissy is because the people in the office don't charge enough.And if it's an insurance job good luck.They make the rules conserning the repair not us.I paint in a collision shop and have won a few ISCA best paint awards,we are not all hacks.

 

We just did a 70 Chevelle SS a few months ago. The owner did some driveway bodywork, and screwed it up royally. So we reshot the whole rear quarter, blended it real close to the roof (the owner sanded it wayyyy up towards the roof and burned through the base) and it came out awesome. Car was a ground up resto a few years ago. No idea WHY in the world the guy decided to sand it straight through to metal in some spots, but our job came out awesome.

We only usually do late model stuff, but the guy was local and a previous customer with his other car, so my boss went for it. My boss hates older cars and will usually turn it away, since, like other people in this thread said, most body shops are all about the turnout rate.

Definitely bring it to a resto/specialty shop.

 

If Haggerty said they'd cover it, then why even think of going to a shop that specializes in newer cars? Go to a couple local cruise nights or car shows...find out who's the best in the area, get it done right.

 

I guess we will find out, let us know how it goes.

 

A friend of mine owns a local body shop that repairs late model cars, but they have also done a number of antique cars (53 Chevy pickup, 58 Impala hdtp, 66 Mustang among others) that were show-winning restorations, with paint that looked like glass.

The question's answer depends on the individuals in the body shop, not on whether it is a production body shop or restoration shop. I've seen plenty of crap come out of "restoration" shops. It's only going to be as good as the individuals involved, regardless of what kind of shop it is.

 

Good point^^^I know more guys that have been screwed by resto shops then collision shops.Ask the cat here on the H.A.M.B trying to get his 65 Hemi light weight restored.Got hosed big time by a well know restoration shop.

 

Thanks for a bunch of good input,My buddy,In true HAMB fashion,has a 2 bedroom house and a 12 car garage.Some of the cars are O/T.But a TRUE car guy,We will see how it works out.

 

Sure if he goes very, very deep................

 

If they do excellent work on late model cars, I'm betting on them doing excellent work on a classic 57 convert. Not only is the shops reputation on the line, any self respecting bodyman would jump at the chance to show off his talents on such a car.... The insurance adjuster probably steered the car there for quality, fast turn around, production work. With all the available repro parts the car should come out perfect.

 

Depends on the shop, go to an old style mom and pop type shop.

OR go to a regular hot rod shop they are hungry for work right now, it doesnt hurt to atleast check with them first

 

It depends on the PEOPLE working on the car. My local Meineke muffler shop owner just built an award winning Zephyr from the ground up. It's all about the skills of the people putting their hands on the car.

 

Cn a woodchuck chuck wood? if the shop does nice work evrything will be fine, most likely the guy working on it takes pride in his work all will be fine. it is up to the person doing the work, to understand what needs to be done to the car and it is a job by job basis. I wouldn't and don't put the same paint job on a deer hit that i put on my own car. but i know the difference and know how to treat each case, I am sure it will be fine. just dont irretate the guy too much by worrying and not haveing trust in him or you will get a bad job.

 

At the shop I work at we deal with mostly newer vehicles but we also do restorations. It all depends on the shop, whether they can take the time to do a good job on a classic. Some places take pride in working on classics and don't mind working on them. I have worked on a '78 corvette, '66 mustang, '68 camaro, '50 chevy and my own '50 chevy pickup (current project) at the shop where I work at and I get excited when we get a classic in. Even if its just to clean it up. I love working on cars that are made out of steel!

Thomas

 

I seriously doubt a kill and fill body shop will turn out "Restoration" quality work.

 

We can't answer this.......How the heck do we know how well a local shop fixes things? There are guys who claim to be restorers who do a lousy job and guys who work out of a hole in the wall that will do a fantastic job.

A friend on my dad had his 55 Chevy painted not long ago. The car was absolutley perfect. Paint was incredible. I asked him who did it and when he told me, I was floored.

It was done at a local, get them in, get them out shop. When I sold cars we would take all the cars that needed work to this shop. Quick and cheap and acceptable.

No way would I have thought to take a classic there. As I said, it was as nice of a paint job as I've seen. For years the guy with the best reputation in the area for paint work, worked at a local Dodge dealers body shop.

 

Most new car are made to crumple as to not hurt the driver. They are usually wright offs so not as much old school hammer and dolly work as was done before but its a 57 and new parts are easy to get so it should be no real issue.

 

Around here, a lot of standard body shops won't touch a classic if they are reputable. They realize their "bread and butter" is the quick late model turnarounds. However, there is one shop who does late model work plus classics. Their prices are better than a speciality shop and they do excellent work. I've taken a couple of cars to them and have been very satisfied.

A friend of mine built a '55 Chevy for his girlfriend. He had "One Day Paint and Body" do the finished body work and paint. However, he bought his own paint and specified how many coats he wanted. Then he paid them to color sand and buff it out. They did a fantastic job. He said that since they do paint jobs all day long, they gotta be good. If you go in during the winter when work is slow, or you know the workers and they are willing to come in on a weekend, you can get a great job for 1/10th the price of a custom shop. I tried it with a truck I had. Including rust repair and paint, it was under a grand.