Xander Wildeisen

I went out to a local salvage yard to get some parts, and took a bunch of pictures that I will post for you guys/gals to see. The yard is called Vintage Automotive, The owners name is Jim Hines. The yard is full of 1930-1960 cars and trucks, lots of great parts, rust is not a problem around here. If you are looking for any thing give him a call. He has a ton of N.O.S. parts in the buildings. And he is very knowledgeable and knows what is out there. 1-208-587-3743 http://www.jimsvintageautomotive.com/

You have a great looking truck, drive and enjoy it. They get a lot of looks by people.

I agree Matt, I have had to deal with people and customers causing problems. And I have never passed any charge over to the customer. There are a lot people that use other means to deal with competition, rather then buckle down and get the job done. It hurts us all. The people who are willing to work hard and do a good job, can be shut down by other people, and it is wrong. The people who work hard and do a good job, should rise to the top. I have said it before on this forum, and I will say it again. If the biggest problem this "hobby/industry" faces. Is the young people not wanting to get involved. May be some of the things that are done should be looked at, and talked about. Honesty can only help, if honesty is wanted.

I am going to throw some thing out there. And I am not saying that it might be in play here, just some thing to think about. There are a lot of shady things that small shops have to deal with. (69 GTO read the topic restoring cars for a living) If you have a shop that does a good job, and other people/shops want to cause them problems. One way that they can do it, is to cause problems from inside the shop. If you have a bad apple in your company, that person can cause a lot of problems. Delays in getting stuff done and cost over runs. And then that spills over on to the shop/owner. He or she gets hit with a bad rap, over charges customers,long time frame to finish the job, and so on. Again, I am not saying that this is going on. Just saying that some things like that go on. And a customer can get wrapped up in the middle of it. We all like to think that it is a fair playing field out there, but it is not. I think that this post is a good one, and others like it should be posted as well. A real honest conversation must be had from time to time about things, in order to keep the bad from getting to far out in front of the good. This is a wonderful job to have, restoring/building cars. You get to create, build,restore, improve,show and drive your finished product. A lot of pride goes into fixing up cars, so self policing and helping people out who do the same thing helps us all. Competition is a good thing, but dirty tricks behind the scene hurts us all. Maybe the shop is dealing with other factors we do not know about.

Worst paint job I have ever seen on a factory car, was a black H3. If you talk to guys that work in body shops, they will tell you the hardest part in the re-painting is matching the OEM finish on some of these cars. If you are a good painter, and want to do a good job/repair. It is hard to have to lay down a bad paint job just to match what is there.

I do not like to throw out a opinion on what some thing should cost, just way to many things play a part in the total at the end. But the numbers you keep throwing around are very high for paint work on a solid/straight GTO.

Here is where I am at. Cab and doors are sanded and buffed out. Will start putting stuff together on the cab, and keep sanding,and sanding,and sanding,and sanding,and sanding on the other parts.Truck will have the shop name on the door. turning out a pretty good for a shop truck. I think the Packard colors look good.

Very nice car.

What about this one?

well that did not last long.

I went out to a local salvage yard to get some parts, and took a bunch of pictures that I will post for you guys/gals to see. I thought I would put up a few shots of this car, and see if any one can guess the year and make. If you have been out there and know what it is, please sit tight. Wondering if any one can point out any distinctive things that will tell what it is?

Picture or not, I think they might be able to read.

How about a picture of the car when you bought it? When you dropped it off? One in bare metal? One in primer? One for insurance? If all of us had a picture to look at, we could see what you are dealing with. It is also a good idea to take pictures of work being done if a problem ever comes up down the road with the finished product. And it also helps in the value/sale, if you have pictures to show a new buyer that it was a very clean car before re-paint.

It was a good thing that you could buy that stuff in stores. It shows how people used to have respect for one another. The reason you can not buy that stuff any more is a reflection of how we view and treat each other,

To my knowledge there is a difference on the crank on the 55. I remember people saying it was about 3/8 shorter, on the back of the block.

Hey Pomeroy41144, when are you putting a 350/350 in your 37 Ford

If old cars are a addiction, I would not be surprised that you could not apply for a grant to study ways to fight it.

Paint is the toughest one. When it is done, if you see a flaw you say what is up with that? You do get what you pay fore with body and paint work. But yes, shops should say we do top notch stuff, and you could pay XXX. So then the customer has to make a choice. What level do I want to take the paint work to?

You are right when you say restoration costs can out weigh cost on the custom side. And when building/restoring cars for your high end shows, costs will add up very fast taking projects to the highest level. But some things are the same, a bumper on a 35 Cadillac will cost the same to re-chrome if the car is restored or a street rod. A new windshield will be the same. Weatherstripping, glass, chrome,fuel lines,brake lines, tires, and wiring for the most part, should be all about the same. If you have a door from a 36 ford, and a door from a 34 Packard. And they both just need to be repainted. Is one going to be more then the other? (not talking about wood structure) Does a 31 Auburn front bumper cost more to re-chrome, then a 36 ford bumper, just because it is for a Auburn? I am not knocking the skill level of shops, or in any way questioning the work that goes into these cars. And love seeing the talent on both sides, when you look at these cars done to a high level. You can buy new gauges for a street rod for $500, But you can spend $3000+ restoring your original gauges. You can mill out a dash bezel for a street rod in 30 minutes. You can spend days restoring a original one. I have great respect for the restoration side, the skills required go far beyond some of the custom stuff. That is why in other posts I have stated that this side of the car world should get some of these restored classics in front of the custom side. All I am saying, as are other people in this topic. If shops have a blank check to work with, and you get wrapped up in a shop that does not look out for the customers best interest. It really hurts all of us. If a shop around here over charges a customer, does poor work. And does not finish the project, or finishes it with poor quality. All of us suffer, because now you have a owner who has a bitter feeling about the "hobby/industry", or one less car driving around and going to shows. I think we all can agree that on both sides we see shops that send out the door work that is not to the level it should be for what the customer paid. I have seen a ton of great projects moth balled because owners got hook up with bad shops. This is a very hard job to do, it is not up to me how nice a customers car turns out. It is up to them on what level they want to take the car to. Honesty is very important in what we do, and just like in most things honesty seems to be fading. Sorry for the confusion on Sprite restoration costs.

Am I understanding this correct? That people are charging 200K to restore a Sprite? And that people are paying 200K for the restoration on a Sprite? And that there are no wealthy car shop owners?

What part of the country do you live in 69 GTO?

Here is a picture taken straight into a door on a street rod that I built. I did not do the paint work, The guy that did is one of the best in this area. This is a black car, and is a show quality job. This is what you had better get for the numbers you are throwing around. And those numbers are high for this part of the country.