A12 - time to get busy

Well, it looks workable assuming one can access the back of it, but I'm guessing it's blocked by structure.
 
Yes, it's open at the bottom but access is limited where you need to be tap-tap-tapping.

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Much, probably most of the tap-tap-tapping would actually get done on the outside, but you'd need little girly hands like mine to get in there with a spoon or dolly. A body pick might do it, though. I've no doubt a decent metal guy could straighten that. Problem is, most body guys these days are just panel replacers.
Were it mine, I'd take a crack at it myself. My "I won't make it any worse" stance saved the sharply-dented valve covers now on the Valiant, after all.
 
Whenever I ask myself why I didn't do just enough to street drive the car, I remind myself how ugly the car was. Paint by Ray Charles.

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I can sorta see what they were going for there, had they done the de riguer wild name lettering and usual slate of contingency decals. But the two roads diverged in the wood, and they--they took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
 
Dr.Jass said:
I can sorta see what they were going for there, had they done the de riguer wild name lettering and usual slate of contingency decals. But the two roads diverged in the wood, and they--they took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
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I stuck decals on the fenders after I got it. It didn't help.
 
I don't know how I feel about this - they're being honest :D
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I agree with what you're probably thinking about that hourly rate, but it is what it is and when I have the car back the price will be mostly forgotten (by me anyway, I dunno about Gina) it will have all been worth it.
 
That hourly rate seems legitimate to me. Labor 'round this area is still relatively inexpensive compared to more urban settings, but our shop is $95/hr. Dealers are $30-$50 higher, depending on who's doing the swindling.
 
Industrial spaces, paint booths, and all the infrastructure needed aren't cheap. I jumped at that rate because of good history with the owner's family, and bad with flakey people here. The flakes want that much too; at least these guys are working on the car.
 
b-body-bob said:
Industrial spaces, paint booths, and all the infrastructure needed aren't cheap.
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It still amazes me that people think all that labor money goes directly into someone's pocket. Apparently in their worlds property taxes, mortgages, equipment, maintenance and utilities are all free. Back in the Facebook days, I'd see guys in groups bitching about labor rates, saying they were going to open their own shop, sometimes in their home garages, and only charge $50/hr or less. Oh, how I'd laugh at how they got ridiculed by actual businessmen.
During the government bailout, the local GM dealer lost two franchises (Buick and Pontiac). Within a couple of years, GM told them if they wanted to keep the franchises they still had, they literally had to knock down both of their existing buildings and start anew. The same thing had happened to the local Toyota dealer years earlier. The local Chrysler/Dodge dealer had to perform a considerable makeover of their building since the bailout. Those corporations don't pay for it, they simply demand it be done. Those are demands not made on independent shops, which is one reason dealership labor rates are always considerably higher.

Tell you what, though, a $681 bill doesn't seem too hard to swallow considering the work done and comedic explanation thereof.
 
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Took another decklid up, for some reason he didn't like the cut up one for aligning things. Mine is not to question why, mine is to trust the guy who knows what he's doing.

One day next week I'm going to take the hood up, then the serious welding gets started; quarters and cowl, then it's rotisserie time to flip it over and work on the mistakes made in the floor.

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The end of the rocker is fixed. The last time there was rot in the outside lower that you can kind of see here.

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They bent up a piece and repaired it.

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I took the original hood up, much concern because it's fiberglass and kind of fits between the wheelwells in the pickup but not really. I ended up with the spare tire strapped into the bed, a pallet strapped to that, and the hood strapped to the pallet. Probably overkill but it made the trip without incident so it was worth it for peace of mind if nothing else.
 
RUSTY Cuda said:
Damn Jass you should be scared, same line of thought!
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Nope. My car started out in far better condition than Bob's and I had a tentative final number before the car left. I know that number's going to be higher by at least $1,500, but I've planned for that. The money's already set aside.

Since this'll be my only black car, anything further I may just tackle myself.
 
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