How do you do it, restore yourself or send to a well known shop?

[Greg]

I'm curious as to what others do.  Personnelly, as my time allows, I do my own metal and mechanicals but I don't lay paint.  What do you do?

[deathsled]

Impressive.  I do a few mechanicals here and there myself, suspension and so on.  I would like to learn how to weld though.  A fine art unto itself.  IF you can, you should do your own work unless the time factor gets in the way.  Doing a job oneself is so fulfilling.  (When I do it right that is.)  If I do it wrong, that is a whole other matter.

Richard E.

[Steve McDonald Formally known as Mcdonas]

Working on it yourself is very fulfilling. Did mine myself but did have my brother in law paint it for $1,100, a machine did the balancing and head work on the engine, had another friend do the headliner. All the rest was done by me and a friend. Did we make mistakes? Sure we did. Is it concurs correct. Not by a long shot. Total cost was around $22,000 and I try and drive all the time

[Ldouble619]

Do everything but paint.  I am going to try and paint the under side myself very soon.  I just about a 3M accuspray for the job.

[98SVT - was 06GT]

I've always done everything except bondo work. I'm not a sculptor but can paint/weld etc. With the value of Shelbys today it might pay to have body and paint done professionally since appearance is what will bring the big bucks. The average home mechanic can do all the  assembly and detail work using some of the restoration books.
I just bought a 98 SVT 4 cam Mustang (hate calling it a Cobra because it seats 4) to turn into a street/track toy. The 4 cam motor intrigued me and I'm hoping to get about 400hp with some porting, cams and tuning.

[trotrof1]

If you have the skill and  resources to achieve a desired end result then proceed. If paint work is your weakness then  sublet that portion out to a competent shop. There is alot of difference between a driver and a gold car so knowledge will greatly affect the finished product.

[2112]

Just don't let your car go to " Paint Jail". 

[557]

I like to work on it but (for some reason only on this car)I tend to break stuff....which sucks...believe me..

[Greg]

Just don't let your car go to " Paint Jail". 

My brother had a car in "paint jail" for 3-4 years.  It was aweful and he made the mistake of paying for it up front.  The body guy was robbing Peter to pay Paul with customers cars and couldn't keep the shell game going.

[Greg]

Impressive.  I do a few mechanicals here and there myself, suspension and so on.  I would like to learn how to weld though.  A fine art unto itself.  IF you can, you should do your own work unless the time factor gets in the way.  Doing a job oneself is so fulfilling.  (When I do it right that is.)  If I do it wrong, that is a whole other matter.

Richard E.

With the mig welders on the market today welding is a lot easier.  The biggest thing is make sure the metal areas you are about to weld are really clean.  You can buy a good miller mig on CL.  It is rewarding.

[2112]

My brother had a car in "paint jail" for 3-4 years.  It was aweful and he made the mistake of paying for it up front.  The body guy was robbing Peter to pay Paul with customers cars and couldn't keep the shell game going.

Also;

If they do General body work, like insurance repair, restoration tends to be put on the back burner.

[NC TRACKRAT]

I've always adhered to the wise thought that "What one fool can do, so can another"....It just may take a little longer and require a lot of practice.  I do pretty much everything except paint & bodywork and A/C.  Agree about the Millermatic MIG.  Great for fabbing, repair, exhaust work, etc. Funny, even having amassed a pretty good array of tools, I never cease to be amazed that there's always something else I need.  Nowadays, there are so many forums and tutorials on YouTube, it's easy to learn how to do stuff. 

[Greg]

Great question.  Here's my take regarding body work and paint.  I grew up and now life in a rural, impoverished, Northern New England town.  I always thought locally done restorations and paint jobs looked pretty good.  Having since traveled extensively and seen truly magnificent work am jaded.  No way I could be perfectly pleased with my efforts or even the best locally available.

Do yourself a favor and attend SEMA.  Seek out the best appearing cars and question what materials and who they'd recommend.  The folks in the Axalta booth are fantastic!  Foose's work is always a benchmark. I had my my black on black GT500 done in that manner and couldn't be happier.  A talented, professionally trained painter with the latest equipment can deliver amazing results.

Since, have sought out professional training in custom painting.  Using a homemade paint booth, Tekna Copper gun with 3M PPS system sprayed a new, fiberglass body.  Used Fulpoxy primer, 3 coats of base, followed by flow coating 7 coats of clear.  Looks very respectable.

I agree but I also know there are extremely different ways to approach paint and body.  A lot of high end shops are more sculpters than traditional body men.  I for one want as least amount of body filler as possible in any of my cars which takes a lot more time and thus money.  A lot of the super high end looking cars are a rust free metal structure, spread completely with body filler and laid flat with sanding boards.  This allows the panels to appear perfect.  There is no regard for longevity or the fact that the car will be driven daily or even ocassionaly as most of them are not.  If these cars were ever wet for a consistant period of time the car would deteriorate quickly.  Call me picky, but I just can't stand filler which is why I do all the metal work.

[BGlover67]

That's what used to get me upset about watching Boyd Coddingtons Show.  The entire car has thin set filler spread over it and sanded flat.  Does that take the skill that the old timers had when they used lead?

[Greg]

That's what used to get me upset about watching Boyd Coddingtons Show.  The entire car has thin set filler spread over it and sanded flat.  Does that take the skill that the old timers had when they used lead?

They really are plastic sculpters and I'm not knocking what they do but for me, the skill is in the metal work and learning how to shrink, stretch, bend, weld and use as much of the cars original metal as one can.  I've seen shops replace entire quarters and floors needlessly because the body shop could charge the customer more.