Looking for a good bodyman!!

[Classic Heartbeat]

Well, I have about had it with some of the bodymen I have found. Now I am looking for someone who is willing to come work in my shop once and a while to make some extra money or maybe use his skills on my projects as trade for a place to work on his own truck. I am willing to supply torches, welders, air wrenches, ratchets, wrenches, screw drivers, and a good air supply.. The rest of the tools you would have to supply yourself. Willing to help wherever I can.. I also want to take pictures of all the work being done to my trucks, so I can add articals to my do it yourself section... Email me so we can set up a time to talk. WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[smokekiki]

It's getting hard to find a body man everywhere.Most shops are dealing with newer cars,pull off the old and put new on.Any shop around here that will do metal work is busy and epensive.That is why I do my own.But you know how long that takes.Especially when you run your own business.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Well I thought I found one that was going to do the work and did do some work on my Panel, but after I got it back I found that charged me $1200.00 for sub par work. Then tried to tell me that it was industry standard. Since when did drilling holes in a truck to pull a dent, then using bondo to fill the holes become industry standard? Especially after I gave explisit instructions not to do it!! I had him cut out the lower rear quarter on the R/H side of my Panel, because it was full of holes that someone had drilled to pull a dent in it. My body man told me then that he could just smear bondo over it to cover it up... My responce to that was, that I did not want that done and if it cost me extra to weld the holes up, then that was what I wanted done. He said it would be cheaper for me if he cut the spot out of the quarter and weld new metal in. So I said do it then, at least there wouldn't be a bunch of holes in my truck. Well he did that repair right and I was happy with it, so I had him take out a dent on the L/H side by the taillight. How does he do that repair??? He drills holes in the dent, uses a slide hammer to pull the dent!!!! Then smears bondo over it to cover it up!!! Without welding up the holes!!! I,m so angry I could spit!!! You can see the bondo pushed through the holes on the inside of my panel!!! What is wrong with this guy??? Anyway I take my truck back to him to fix his mistake and that is when he tells me that, this is industry standard, and he refused to fix it!! He said he had too many hours in it to grind out his work and weld the holes up. That he would grind off the bondo that pushed through the holes and cover that area on the inside of my Panel with undercoating to hide it. Well the only thing I can say about it now, is it is time to get a new bodyman!! WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

Sounds like the guy has some sort of internal disconnect going on there...........

[Classic Heartbeat]

While I was talking to him about the holes he drilled, he had the balls to tell me that maybe I should have reminded him that was unexceptable!!! What ever happened to accepting responsabillity for your actions!! WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[1971LT1SWBPOSI373]

Sounds like he doesn't take any pride in his work either....

[70c10]

Wes, I thought the best technique was to use the welding rods on the dents and pull them out with them and then use a "little bondo" to avoid all those drilled holes. I'm no expert by no means but I have done a fair share of bondo work only. I would go with the full metal replacement like you want. I hope you find somebody that is acceptable. Good luck!

[StingRay]

Gee Wes it does sound like you need a new bodyman. I've been though the same kind of thing. I have literally writtten down instructions of what repairs and the way I wanted repairs done and have come back to find nothing even vaguely approximating what I wanted. The worst part is I said just do it and I'm not asking for the cost or the time right now just do it right.

I try to do most of my own bodywork but when an insurance repair needs doing it has to go to the bodyshop and there is usually some little thing I want done outside the claim since it's going into the booth anyway. Afterwards I always ask myself WHY I let somebody else work on my car.

In my younger and stupider years I drilled a few holes and used slide hammers too. Once in a while even now I find a reason here or there to use a hole but I mig it up when I'm done. I don't have a stud welder so most of the ime I just tack a nail to the panel and slide hammer on that, then I cut the nail off and grind it smooth. I am not even close to being a bodyman and even I can figure that out. You know for a professional bodyman I am surprised he DOESN'T have a stud welder. I've been thinking of getting one.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Well I would have thought he had a stud welder. Seems like that is even a faster way to mahe these kind of repairs. I don't know... Like I said, I guess that I need to hire a guy to do it in my shop... This is depressing just thinking about it... WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[72sbfs]

I wish some of you were a little closer the east coast of NC. I worked at a Pontiac dealership doing bodywork for 7 yrs and was in a fight with my boss at least once a week about the right way to do things and the way he wanted them done. I got out of doing bodywork for a living because of health reasons but still do side work to make a little extra money and would gladly help any of you out. Bodyshops in this area have a labor rate of $38 an hour, which I think is crazy. I understand having an overhead but damn. My boss was bragging about the shop two years ago, we grossed over 1.1 million. (Big Dealership)
I am kind of wondering what some of labor rates are in some of the shops in some of your areas.

Sean

_________________________________

Size does matter, get a BB!

[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.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Well Mike I agree with what you are saying.. I run a buisness also. I wasn't complaining about his shop rates nor was I complaining about how long it took. I, in fact, told him that I expected to pay more because I wanted the job done right. That wasn't the issue, the issue was he did sub par work, or at least work that he knew wouldn't be acceplable to me. Then once I found what he did, he refuses to fix it!! Says that he has too much time in it to just grind it out and fix it the way I wanted. He also says that what he did is industry standard... Well you and I both know that is not true... I never once complained to him about shop rates, nor the amount of time it took do it. I also didn't say anything about how much time it would take to finish it. I agreed with his terms!! Anyway it's a sad day when you can't take your truck into a shop and pay their price and be able to expect a certain leval work to be done, nor be able to get them to fix it. WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[67_SS396]

Unfortunately, it's been like that for as long as I can remember. It may not be or look right to you, but will look fine to another. I do business like my father, his father and so on did/do. I will guarantee any work I complete untill it hits the curb. It doesn't leave until you are happy with it, after that, it's all yours. Otherwise, you have them coming back a week later saying the paint is chipping when they obviously smacked something to cause the chipping. Same thing goes with any engine or interior work I do.

I hate to hear of guys getting screwed like that. You ask for one thing and get something totally opposite.

[stllookn]

Good luck Wes! I don't think you are going to find anyone to work in your shop for free although I know a really good body man that will work in your shop for $25/hr. You have to provide all the materials and he will show up and do an excellent job. You will probably have to pay something for his commute time but he is really worth it...very nice work.

Let me know if want to talk to him.

You can get excellent work in the Seattle area at several custom shops but you have to wait in line and be willing to pay about $55+ per hour. I think that is a pretty good deal. These shops have built National Street Rod Award Winners so they have pretty good credibility.

The telling sign of a really good shop (I am sure there are excellent insurance shops that obviously do things differently) is when you enter they have several vehicles with fresh bare metal fab and repairs on them. They are proud of their work and do not cover it until the last minute! I never realized this until I read your post, but it is pretty common in the best shops in our area.

[Classic Heartbeat]

stllokn, That actually doesn't sound bad... You and I will have to talk when you come down to pick up your parts. $25.00 hr sounds pretty reasonable for good work. I'll be talking to you about this later. WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[sbrban]

I can understand your delimma wes... But then again it is hard to find someone to do quality work at a low price.I'm not saying you were trying to find the cheapest guy on the block.Take into consideration....was this at his shop? does he guarantee his work?does he need the money all up front? are there other "projects" sitting around? what kind of experience/certifications does he have? as far as $38 an hour...I don't open my toolbox for less than 50-I'm not trying to sound cocky thats just what I need to do my work. In any case to anyone looking be careful who you chose, ask around and youll find some one.

[69 Short Fleet]

Sorry to hear about your bodywork problems WES, that type of workmanship you got is terrible!!!! When I got my truck done some years back I had a guy who took pride in his work and did a very good job, hmmmm word of mouth is something this guy does not seem to care about!!! Take care WES, Doug

[Classic Heartbeat]

Doug, Thanks for the words of encouragement. They are appriciated. sbrban, Believe me I didn't just find this guy and decide to try him. He came highly recomended from a customer of mine. I also went out and checked his works in progress, and saw what he was doing.. It looked acceptable to me.. I also had a chance to look at some 3 of his finished products.. One was a 67 cst 10 truck I sold for a customer of mine for 14,500.00. That paint job was 6 or 7 years old and was holding up well. One was a beutifull 67 Suburban that belongs to the same customer and lastly was a 63 Chevy Panel that you could see through it in more places than you could shake a stick at. While driving it down the road you could check the road as it passed under your feet!! When he was done with it, it was beutifull!! He did an exelent job welding in new metal where there was none befor.. But for some reason he realy messed up my truck... He said that he would repair my taillight housings that he messed up, but wouldn't touch the place where he drilled holes and used bondo to cover it up, the reason was it was industry standard!! Well to be perfectly frank, that is the biggest bunch of crap anyone has tried to feed me in a long time!! Especially because I paid him to cut out a section of the lower quarter on the opisite side, because I didn't want that done!! Why would someone drill new holes in the other side of the truck and fill them over with bondo!! For crying out loud, do I need to baby sit a body man with more than 30 years of experience?? The reason that I picked him was because he wasn't afraid of metal work... Cutting and welding on thicker metal and not just someone who is only interested in inshurance work!! Bottom line is he messed up and if he were willing to fix his mess, I wouldn't be complaining. His price was his price!! I didn't ask for discounts and as far as I am concerned, I paid him his price and I deserve a #1 job... I don't care how much a person charges, you deserve the best that he can do... It's not like I twisted his arm to take my truck and it's not like I was out bothering him or anything either. I let him work at his pace and paid his price and got screwed doing it! $5.00 an hour or 100.00 an hour, it just shouldn't matter!! He took the job and I deserve his best work!! I am sorry sbrban, I kind of sound like I am chewing on your ear and I don't mean to... And I am glad you took the time to answer my post... I do however believe how I believe and feel anyone in buisness should believe the same. WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

[Pardue'sCustoms]

sorry to here that wes that is old school ways of doing it. he should have use a stud welder. i charge 40.00 hr. i do take pride in my work i love repairing rust that is what i am best at. love cutting old metal out and put new in just like a freash cut lawn when you done with it just look at makes you happy

[sbrban]

I agree with what your'e saying wes, 100 %.It sounds like you looked into everything that you should have-wish more people would- perhaps he fell sick with old timers disease-been doin' it long enough-looks good enough-close enough...Good luck in the finished project,we need more on the road!