Car got hit... need body shop recommendations please

[Pegasus_Red]

So I woke up this morning at the gfs place and went to get a smoke at my apartment. Saw a friend in the parking lot and told him I was driving the ghia around and then I saw this.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/Ghia109/blog.jpg

I got mad as hell and went inside to cool down.
I parked on the side of the street last night and for some reason memorized the car that was infront of me and made sure there was good spacing in between cars. Given that its a damn suv Im sure they didnt see my car and decided to break its nose.

So I went back and tracked down the car and asked a girl outside who owns it. Guy came out and I explained the situation and he was cool about it. I figure I would be nice about it and not get a police report done but he admitted that it was his girlfriend that moved the car at 2:30am. So Im going to get estimates this week.

They didnt have the courtesy to leave a not then moved the car into a legit parking space 15 fee away.
I told him it would be anywhere from 300-500 to fix, he told me he wasnt expecting it to be a cadilac treatment but what ever.

I need some body shop recommendations
any idea how much its going to cost... I aint going for no bondo shit up in here, not looking for a respray either.
I need some one who does honest work and has that special touch with metal.


:( :( :(

[Jess]

#1 - that sucks
#2 - awesome detective work :cool:

[XSivPSI]

I think you should have gotten a police report. Otherwise good luck getting the money out of them. Dude seems pretty shady already.

[gangsta coupe]

Ask nick he has wreaked and painted enough to know!

[VR4Dani]

I agree with Sean, you need a police report. Also, Auto Body Services in Prattville has done extensive work on nearly all of Rob's vehicles. They shoot straight and do damn good work. It's far to drive, but I would rather travel X amount of miles to know that my car will be taken car of.

Sorry Brent, that is terrible news. :(

[Pegasus_Red]

I dont know if a police report would have done any good as I left the scene and didnt discover it until I got home. I dont think I can call them at this point.

[Pegasus_Red]

fieled the police report, felt like a dick about it as I dont want to see some colege kids get in trouble but you guys were right.
Cop was cool as a cucumber on the whole thing.

Found out they looked at it last night and they thought it was already there. I have a silver streak of rust bullet there and they thought it was duct tape.
Lame...

[Nstig8r]

Absolutely you can file a police report... There is no time limitation on that.

As for body shops, you are gonna need some bondo, like it or not. That being said, I personally have no problem with it as long as it is thinner than 1/8"... The shops I would recommend around here in order of cheapest to expensive:
United Auto, Autosport, Ray's Collision.

You should also think of this as an opportunity to paint the whole car. I know you are somewhat trying to keep it original, but it needs it... (no offense). You are going to have to paint the repair, and just painting the front end is gonna look funny...

[Nstig8r]

fieled the police report, felt like a dick about it as I dont want to see some colege kids get in trouble but you guys were right.


Good move. You posted while I was typing my response earlier...

[TylerW]

Glad you got the police report. You aren't being a dick by doing that. It is what it is. Guy and girl will learn to be more careful from this.

[Pegasus_Red]

I guess my biggest question right now is how am I going to tackle this. I dont want to get their insurance involved but the car has to be fixed.

As for a body shop, I talked with Randall Rhodes on the subject and his STI was hit pretty badly and it affected some areas on his car that are similar to mine. His car was fixed and painted by Bo Pittman in Montgomery so Im going to be contacting him soon.

Im REALLY wanting to stay away from bondo and Im hoping that these dents can be popped out or hammered out pretty easily. Dont know how realistic that is.

How should I go about it getting painted?

[Jess]

Im REALLY wanting to stay away from bondo and Im hoping that these dents can be popped out or hammered out pretty easily. Dont know how realistic that is.



I'm no bodywork expert, but I'm 99.9% sure you're gonna need some bondo.

[Grider]

His car was fixed and painted by Bo Pittman in Montgomery so Im going to be contacting him soon.

Isn't there a thread around here were somebody had a problem with Bo Pittman's work? To the Search function!
http://forums.aspeedracing.com/showpost.php?p=159985&postcount=20

Why not just go to Ed's and see what they can do.

[xamraci]

ED can eat my taint...you can only take a car back so many times...

and SKYHIGHSAMMI had some issues with bo pittman

[gangsta coupe]

When u hammer on sheetmetal it stretches, those dents can be hammered out but u will at least need one or two skim coats

[AlmosN8kd]

Sucks about the car man. Hopefully you'll be able to get it repaired with as little drama from the other two people as possible.

[Pegasus_Red]

my gfs next door neighboor whos a british engineer was telling me about using dry ice as it shrinks the metal and then you can hammer it and it pops out easier?

[skyhighsami]

Hmmm, Bo Pittman.......RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am having Stacey's Yukon redone I was very very disappointed with his "quality" and his "business ethics" Don't think Bondo is bad, all top quality cars have it. You can not take steel and have it mirror finished without at least a skim coat. Fuck the whole being a nice guy and not wanting to get their insurance involved...they hit your car. Jeff at Auto Body Services I have heard does good work but he only really wants to work on the big money jobs and your's will not pay very much. Be careful about going through an insurance company they might seriously total it depending on the expense of damage

[gangsta coupe]

[QUOTE=Pegasus_Red]my gfs next door neighboor whos a british engineer was telling me about using dry ice as it shrinks the metal and then you can hammer it and it pops out easier?[/QUOTE

Yes on a dent in a straight piece of metal, ur dent is right on the nose cone its not just going to pop out like it was before the damage. The bond will be fine if the hammer it back out to where it was. The only time bondo becomes a problem is when ppl put in on more than about 1/4 inch thick then it may crack and most of the time when it does u get moisture under it and all the bondo will turn loose then.

[VR4Dani]

Hmmm, Bo Pittman.......RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am having Stacey's Yukon redone I was very very disappointed with his "quality" and his "business ethics"

Yeah I remember those pictures you posted after the work had been complete, it wasn't anything to write home about. What a shame.

Brent, here is the link to the thread where it is discussed at length with other input from people who have worked with Bo before. http://www.forums.aspeedracing.com/showthread.php?t=11050

Just food for thought.

[jsta240]

i suggest you find another hood. have the guy pay for it and some flat orange spray paint. spray it yourself and put it on. or tuck it away somewhere and rock what you got til you can afford a complete respray.

[phillyd]

I bet it cost more than 300-500 to have a decent body shop fix it...

[AlmosN8kd]

i suggest you find another hood. have the guy pay for it and some flat orange spray paint. spray it yourself and put it on. or tuck it away somewhere and rock what you got til you can afford a complete respray.

The damage isn't to the hood, it is to the whole front of the car which looks to include the fenders so it would be one huge piece that would need replacing.

[skyhighsami]

I think this is worth saying. With that ridge right through the middle of the dent and the funny shape at the dent it will be a PITA to work out. Getting a new front piece will be harder than finding a pregnant nun, since I am almost positive Keystone doesn't repop that front clip. If it comes down to having the front end replaced because the curves and ridge make working the dent too hard then the cost will sky rocket and depending on the vehicles worth they might total it. I think the formula is if 75% value of the vehicle is equal to the damages they will total it. I don't know what it is worth and what the damages are but don't let it catch you unprepared if they do that. Good luck, maybe the VW aftermarket has turned it's attention away from vans and Bugs and given some love to the neatest car they make. That would provide a cheaper alternative to finding good condition original parts.

[Mowgli87]

There's currently a '66 "carmangia" (http://www.thebulletinboard.com/Search.aspx?category=0&search=carmangia) :D in the bulletin board. Could be worth buying if you need any other parts also. I saw a picture in the printed version at home over the weekend, and it appears the front end is good.

[jsta240]

The damage isn't to the hood, it is to the whole front of the car which looks to include the fenders so it would be one huge piece that would need replacing.

either way i think that body work to repair that will exceed a replacement. hell the one david posted is less than i expect a repair to run and its the whole car.

[Pegasus_Red]

actually, I can get a decent nose, they are still around to be frank. The problem is finding one thats straight and not a bondo scuplture

I hope their insurance company isnt going to total it, then theres the headache of collector car value, all the parts Ive got into it...

[AccoRdINlySlo]

Ok I guess I should go ahead and chime in. First of all it was a smart idea to get a police report made....honestly no matter what or how small or so...I would always get a police report. The only way I would never get one is if that person called thier insd company right then and there or handed me like 1g or how ever much it looks like its going to take to fix.

Now I can tell you this, its going to cost more than $500 to fix that. With the way the front end alone since I take that is metal, that right there is 4hrs of repair time and then a addt 3-4 hrs on that left fender area if that crack is related. Then the body shop is going to have to respray that front end and also spray the hood to blend in and then prob "tint" the paint insteading of blending on the 2 frt doors due to the fact the paint is already faded or so. (honestly you are going to need to get the whole car repainted to get everything to match up correctly)

Now with the insurance company....honestly man if you really wanna keep your car and love it that much, you are going to wanna try and advoid them as much as you can bc as little damage as that is....I'm more than sure they will total that thing out and I dont know how AL is with retaining salv titles but here in GA its a b1tch to keep your car and go through that.

Now with body shops....Honestly I know Nick will slap me in my mouth for this but I vouch and backup United Auto. I dont know if you ever saw my car or my bro's car but Ed has always done all the body work (body kits,shaved moldings,jdm front end conv) and always done a great job. I'll admit sometimes his work isnt always the best but for the price you can't really complain. Also the issues we ever had with him were little things and he took care of that for us with having problems or so. Hope this helps....feel free to ask more Q's. GL on this!!!

[TheWill]

actually, I can get a decent nose, they are still around to be frank. The problem is finding one thats straight and not a bondo scuplture

I hope their insurance company isnt going to total it, then theres the headache of collector car value, all the parts Ive got into it...
I will go down into the bone yard if you need me too, what year?

[Pegasus_Red]

Ive already sent out one email to a guy I know and trust... he aint going to be cheap tho. AccoRdINlySlo, how much money would it take to total out this car? Ive got a GOOD amount of money invested in it and they are not going to walk away with the car for 2k with all the shit I bought for it. If you were doing the insurance thing you guys do, how would you approach it. I know once I take it to a body guy thats going to do it right the price will look more closely at 1200-1500 which is a bitch.

will, you need to let me know what you got in that yard son
its a 1972

got any beetles?
if this shit gets toasted then I might be switching platforms fast

[Pegasus_Red]

got the first estimate in today from a friend of mine that restores vws professionally and he quoted $700

[AlmosN8kd]

got the first estimate in today from a friend of mine that restores vws professionally and he quoted $700

That seems like a crazy good deal considering the location of the damage.