body and interior Los Panchos TJ paint job update

[jrhone]

Car has been gone for a few weeks. Here are some pics of the progress. It's had all the holes filled from the euro bumper upgrade. The holes from the side markers and antenna in the a pillar filled. All minor dents and dings fixed. Extensive block sanding to get all panels perfect. Rust repair in the rear quarter. Door is removed for rust repair of the door. Getting close to final primer before paint. It's also getting a new headliner while its there as well. I have taken them all new seals for windows and trunk as well. I am having them paint my Ireland air dam but not install it. I'm very picky about fitment. 

[avoirdupois]

Thank you for the followup.  Too bad your seats couldn't have been removed along with the rest of the interior.

 

Looks like you left someone or something behind, or maybe your car is haunted?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jrhone]

lol...not too worried about it...seats will clean up and the drivers side carpet already has a replacement section waiting to be installed...as well as some coco mats.

[jrhone]

Update....car has been at the shop about a month.  It will get sprayed next week then a few days to let the paint cure, then wet sanding and polishing.  The current plan is all should be done in 2 weeks.  Here are pics of my visit to the shop today...

 

Both doors were BADLY rusted underneath as well as pretty significant rust on the lower third of the door.  Rust was cut out and new metal put in.   Drivers side door is back on the car and repaired.  Passenger side door is almost done.  

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Drivers side of car where it used to be very wavy with 40 years of dings as well as rippling from the previous owners attempt to fill the trim holes, I think the welding rippled the metal.  Now its COMPLETELY straight!

 

 

Front reflector holes patched, a dent from a ht and run repaired and big bumper holes filled. Also hidden rust near the door at the rear of the fender repaired.  I never saw it, but they found it and fixed it.

 

Same treatment for the passenger side fender, this one was in pretty good shape.  The hood was always damaged where the A pillar and hood meet.  Car was in a previous accident and this was never repaired.  They took that section of hood down the the metal and reshaped the hood to make it perfectly straight.  There was also a bit of rust there that was removed.

 

Rear end completely straight no side reflectors, those holes have been filled and again the trunk and rear quarter have been block sanded to make straight.  oles from the big bumpers have also been filled.  Rust on the drivers rear wheel arch has been repaired.  

 

 

 

I'm very happy with the work.  They have done ALOT.  Thats a lot of hours spent on prep work so the new paint looks great.  Looking forward to seeing it in another week or so with it painted.  

[TobyB]

You do realize that a panel is never COMPLETELY straight, right?

 

3 coats of high gloss, and you can see ripples that you can't even measure.  It's insanely frustrating.

Had a friend who would shoot extra clear so he could do levelling in it!

 

I never got that nuts.  But it bugged me sometimes...

 

Looking good!

 

t

['76mintgrün'02]

looks like the are doing a great job, aside from protecting your seats and carpet 

I guess it will all clean up in the end.

 

 

edit: 

The plastic door sills pop up very easily (though they can be brittle)

Hopefully they'll paint under them.

I found a little rust under mine, while patching the floors.

Edited August 1, 2016 by '76Mintgrun'02

[jrhone]

Yes if I had it to do again I would have bought some cheap neoprene seat covers . I have waited to replace a few carpet panels specifically for this reason. I expected this to some extent. My main concern was the quality of work and how thorough they would be. Paint and bodywork is costing me about $1600. Lots of man hours in getting these panels repaired and straightened. Yes they will probably never be perfectly straight but before it was so wavy down the side of the car if you looked at it too long you would get sea sick. Lol. 

[TobyB]

Holy Pants!  I can't buy the materials from San Diego (wink, wink) for $1600!  If it's shiny and doesn't rust through by the time you get it parked in front of your house, you got a deal!!!

 

t

 

[Teelinger]

I'm with Toby.

 

$1600 for all this work? Really?!? Add another zero and you'd have a Seattle estimate. It would be cheaper for me to ship my car down there round trip to have it painted. I'm going to watch this one closely.

 

James

[theNomad]

Ho Lee...

 

If I could do it all over with what i know now...

[kbmb02]

Wow....this is a lot of excitement for a body and paint job which is not yet complete, hasn't been inspected and reviewed over time for longevity. There's a 2002 I work on which was painted at this shop 6 months ago, and that serves as my (singular) observation point to form my own opinion on the quality of work and value.

 

That said, John's working ward to ensure he gets the best possible result. It's neat to watch. -KB

[jrhone]

Gee thanks Ken. Way to spoil all the fun by being the voice of reason. Lol. He is correct. Caution is needed. While I have seen a lot of their work the way I see it is they hire guys for each job. So the guy doing my car MAY NOT be the guy doing a different car. I would bet that these guys work for various TJ body shops. The guy I talked to said when I dropped the car off,"I'm gonna find the right guy for your car." That's why the quality level is all over the place. Also what you ask them to do is very important. There are 2 issues. 1. Language barrier. And 2. They are trying to quote you the best prices because there are literally 10 body shops in a 4 block radius. I'm sure people shop for best price. So the initial quote isn't for the best quality work. It's for the cheapest they can do it for.   So I picked the place then explained what I wanted.  When trying to tell someone you want it nice. That word nice could mean all the same color or show quality. So you must speak in terms that are definitive and can't be taken in different ways. I told them I didn't want any wavy panels.  I want them as straight as possible. I showed them a straight panel and then a wavy panel. The price went up. I'm ok with that he understood that what I wanted took more time. I want it to last. The price went up. I wanted rust repair. The price went up. I wanted less filler used. Etc. I'm posting here just so there is actual info on this shop and this process so if in the future someone wants to go down this path there is actual info on it not a lot of 3rd and 4th party info that I got when I was doing research.  Anyway I'll have the full story and write it all up when the car is done. Stay tuned!  

[TobyB]

Quote

a lot of excitement for a body and paint job which is not yet complete, hasn't been inspected and reviewed over time for longevity.

 

For $1600 you want a complete that lasts more than a weekend???  You want it FINISHED??!?!?!!??

 

Ken, your standards are just toooooo high!

 

hee hee...

 

No, my comment was merely meanin' that I'd end up spending more than that on just average quality materials, and not be paying myself at all.

 

I'm quite curious as to the final result, I must admit.

 

t

 

[jrhone]

 Update: I took a trip down to see the progress of the car here are some pics of where it stands today. The headliner is done. The pain has been sprayed. They need to respray the sunroof because  it got scratched.  The windows go in in the car will be polished and wet sand this week and ready for pick up at the end of the week.  There is some orange peel in the clearcoat and a few runs but nothing that will not cleaned up in the wet sand and polish.  I will have a full write up and even more pics on my blog today when I get back home. 

 

 

[bobthomas]

I believe I'd gladly pay $1600 for the job you got.