[mikep]

Ive got quite a few family members in the body work and paint business and $38 an hour for decent body work plus materials is on the cheap side. You are paying for the building, labor for everyone from the secretary to the body guy and painter to the shop foreman not to mention EPA mandated regs which add to the cost of whatever work you have done. You are paying for the equipment to do the work , the power to do it and a myriad of other things. After all that maybe the guy who owns the shop will turn enough profit to allow him to keep the shop open and the people who work there employed at a wage that will allow them to feed their families and put a roof over their heads and put parts in THEIR trucks. Doing niche bodywork that doesnt use a lot of filler is expensive and labor intensive work that doesnt get subsidized with insurance dollars. Its no wonder its hard to find a "shop" to do it. Why would they? For the pride of it? Pride doesnt pay the mortgage. Its one of the facts of life that you get what you pay for and bodywork is no exception.