Back to......VANagains NEWest 65 Chevy SportVan Deluxe

At those prices,I'M LIKING MY FADED LOOK MORE EVERY DAY!!!!!

That is insane! VAN, can you give some examples of what they are going/wanting to do? I know your van is faded but what in the world would come close to a $15k paint job, the body looks solid and pretty straight? Is that outside and in or something? I dunno, this seems crazy to me. Looks like I need to put up a paint booth again at those prices. Holy cow!

It does seem outrageous, but WTH , I can dump a few grand into a drive train and not worry so much about the rest. Priorities !! LOL

I am very amazed @ the prices quoted from some shops. The laborrates today are way too high for apersons Hourly wage. Most people dont & cant make ever over 2030 bucks an hour even in a union shop- less on a daily small repair shop. Ive always found when ive recieved a quote thats high- if I just asked & looked around ,I could find a place or someone that needed the work, was doing what i needed @ home or extra shop they had for much less. There is way too many people now out of work to justify the high estimates for any work-usually ive found most all that have high prices just want to make a really quick buck and quick money!! For 5 grand one could almmost transport a van round trip to a good paint shop somewhere across the country??Have it painted & such. I dont know about what others are paid hourly for their work-but NOBODY is getting 50 bucks & up per hour for their labor in their pockets around here . Amazing to even think about 15 grand for paint work=wow!! My 2 cents worth.

A lot of times the $50 per hour for things like sanding and leveling the body covers the charge of filler, paper and machine wear.

I know here at my company we charge $100 an hour for my time and the time on my machine, to customers even though I only make $30 of that.

Regardless, they are making a killing on that hourly rate. Supplies to paint and redo the van will be no more than $3000 IMO, so figure it high at $5000. So that leaves $12,000 for hourly? That is like 181 hours of labor. I guess if there is a LOT of panel REPLACEMENT that will take some time but I can guarantee you in a BIG shop, they will throw 5 guys on it and have it blocked down in 4-5 hours and shoot it.

you guys may be on to something here, I bet that shop is trying to make a profit! (gasp) honestly, if their employees get $25 an hour there are other costs to the shop over and above what the employee takes home on his check. is that employee doing the work at his home in his garage? does that building have insurance? what about their electric bill… lots of overhead.

Right. They gave me a lower quote when they were in the old, smaller, outdoor shop. I can't imagine what their new building costs. And they just bought a CNC mill. Plus the estimator guy and the buxom tattood receptionist are total overhead.

The estimator just called me, reminding me to bring in some parts I forgot, but mainly to get me to come in today to put 1/3 down to lock in the deal. I told him I'm having a hard time justifying the cost and I'll get back to him on Monday.

I'd be embarrassed (ashamed?) to tell people I paid $14,000 for bodywork and paint on my old van. Even half that is hard to swallow but I can accept that is what it takes to do a decent job.

I can send you a raccoon that will keep that cat off the roof.

for that sort of coin they can do a built in cat bed/perch.

this reminds me of this past summer. our a/c quit, indoor temps quickly skyrocketed. the a/c repair guy was $200 an hour! took him 4 hours to replace the expansion valve. I was NOT happy. called the guy that installed/sold us the a/c (geothermal) and complained. he explained about the costs of operating the repair truck, the truck, the fuel, the insurance, the fancy nasa inspired equpment, the secretary that operates the billing software and the dispatcher, all overhead. he made a good point.

but then my wife (attorney) told them we were taking them all to small claims court as we believe it was a “manufacture defect”. they cut us a check for $350 to help ease our pain.

How many rattle cans &how much sandpaper can ya buy for 13K?
JKJK Y'all gotta Macco there,just for shyts & giggles to throw back at the guy as alternative bid?

Ahhhh.Mr.Sheib

Wow I LOVE that blue! That is SHARP!

This week I finally made a decision -- I decided to go with the expen$ive body shop! I want it to be perfect, I can afford it, and this has dragged on too long! This project is not about resale value. It's kind of like my perfectionistic art project.

I'll keep you posted. They said it would take 2.5 months. I'll be checking in with them periodically and will take pictures.

Congrats VANagain!

At $13,798 I expect it to be good, AND stay good.
What kind of warranty/backup are they claiming?

Don't feel sick, I have friends who have paid 2x
and a little more for seemingly non-collector cars.
It's the going rate if you shop around...

...very very few vans will be able to touch the
quality you will attain!

George

Alright! Here are some bodyshop photos!! This is the fun part, dropping in and seeing the progress!

Here it is on 3/8/12 with all the doors removed and sent off to the sand blaster. The man doing the bodywork has worked for this shop forever. His name is Mr. Van!! He's smoothing out that front corner where the other body shop welded in the new metal.



These shots are from my second visit, two days ago, 3/15. Doors are back from sandblasting, in white primer. Dog house cover, belly pan and splash guards too! Mr. Van had made his way all the way around the van fixing the many little dents, especially beneath the rear bumper. Final sanding had not been done yet. They assured me that the filler will be thin when they're done. They've circled all the holes I want filled.





                before:

I tell ya, they're gonna earn that money from me! As Don and the rest of you may have noticed, I'm quite the perfectionist! Every time I go in there I spend a lot of time going over many details with them. (Actually, they could probably tell too and charged accordingly!)

Man that Van is going to be nice!.

M1D

VANagain,I have watched your build and how you want it and looks to me like you are going to be happy with the results.
I am looking foreward to seeing the finished product ! Bill

I've been checking in with my bodyshop each week. I usually find something to point out that they've missed from my elaborate instructions! And there's always some part I need to bring them from my garage. Plus it's so fun to see the progress!

Photos from 4/6/12. Here several antennae holes have been filled:


More work on the back:


All the doors but one had been bodyworked and primed with the heavier filler primer:


More pictures to come!

4/12/12 Now they've primed the entire bottom half, all the way around! Looking good!







Next step: Fitting the doors...