Meeting Body man tomorrow

[bugdewde]

A buddy is putting me in contact with a fella that does bodywork/paint. There's a car show(MOPAR) that they are going to in Knoxville and asked me to bring some pics of my Vega.

I have some $$$ left over after the sale of my '98 Jeep Wrangler......... I may go ahead and bite the bullet just to get it done!

Or bid on the '75 Pontiac Astre Wagon on ebay............
decisions, decisions???????

I'm all excited......... like a kid in a candy store.

[ColinOpseth]

You can always get your car painted. You won't always find an Astre wagon

That's just my $.02..

[v8astregt]

I would go for the wagon. If it weren't for it being in Alabama, I would be all over it. Especially a GT... I haven't seen another Astre GT besides mi..................



Scratch that... you don't need that wagon, get your car painted!

[barebonesracecars]

I see the wagon sold...time for that paint job!

[HotfootGT]

Gee Dwight, I kinda like it the way it looks now!



Did you get the new engine in?

[bugdewde]

Well, I stayed up until 0100 debating on whether to bid or not........ decided to let it go. I've got too many projects/hobbies going on as it is. My dogs will have to get used to hunkering down in the hatch area of the hatchback

Wow! $1425 is what the Wagon went for. I'd have gone more! Good thing I didn't stay up and try to snipe it.

I haven't put the replacement engine in yet. I've gathered most of the required parts to stroke one of them(Yeah, I've got 3 of them now!) with my 300 crank(just need a 300 harmonic balancer). Probably just pull the engine and let it go to the shop without an engine. When it comes home, it'll get the stroker motor!!!!
But this time I'll put a rev limiter of some sort to keep it below 7 grand........ more like a nice safe 5,000 rpm.

Heading out to meet the guys at the MOPAR show........ wish me luck!

[barebonesracecars]

Luck.

Hey, I thought those little 215's liked 7,000 rpm????

[bugdewde]

Well, he checked out the pics I took and he was concerned about the rust.......
He said he expected worse(he's from up North) but would like to look at it in person..... along with my parts car for donations of sheetmetal.
He said, "I'm amazed it's not falling apart. I haven't even seen a Vega in years!"......

My buddy is saying Thursday evening will be the best time to come look because they live about 60 miles from me. If he's about 1/2 of my last quote, I'll let him do it!

Reid, I've heard the bottom end will take it to 7,000 all day in the air boats........ my stock Vega tach only goes to 7,000. I don't really know how high I took it. PEGGED HARD!!!!

They like it better if the valve springs are stout...... I have ~ 5500 rpm rated springs(yeah, I'm stupid ). Cross bolted mains would help the bottom like the later model Rover blocks.
The funny thing is, my buddy that introduced us is the same guy that I took on the 'test ride' when I lost the lifter on #8 at 7,000+ rpm!

By the way, those MOPAR guys sure do have some nice, high dollar cars. Saw 3 very, very nice slant sixes(I've always liked different engine types). One was a racer with slicks and all....... One very sweet early 60's Fury wagon, too! Not to mention the bucket loads of late 60's Big Block Satellites/Challengers/Chargers/Cudas!

[barebonesracecars]

Well, spring & cam it for 7K capability, but keep it below 6500 and give yourself a cushion. All freshly rebuilt and stout, it should be safe to play in.

What does one of those mills sound like at 7 grand? Pretty good? Like anything I might be used to?

[bugdewde]

7000 with 215 cubes is probably not as nice as 327 cubes........

My exhaust is a bit loud for my tastes, I didn't like it. Just thinking of the reciprocating mass strugglin' to stay suspended in a small oil film makes me cringe....... not to mention the idea of the valves floating.......... I got to be the dumbest m___er-f___er!

Yeah, I'll put a better cam for the larger displacement and stiffer springs this go 'round.
I don't need a car that twists up that high........ IT'S NOT A RACE CAR!!!!!!......... right?

I think I've got the high rpm stuff out of my head. I've always been a low rpm torque guy. Two supercharged SuperCoupes, a V8 Jeep CJ5 and two Jeep straight six Wranglers have been very kind to me.

[bugdewde]

Update......... Sort of.

I just got a call from my motorcycle "gang" buddy. His brother-in-law is the friend I went to school with that does bodywork.
He'd previously quoted a price of $5000 to do the Vega just as I was trying to put the engine back together after the 7000+rpm fiasco......
Anyway, he's visiting in TN again and he's going to tomorrow's weekly "bike night" that "the gang" attends every Tuesday. He wants to see me, says my buddy. Could he be rethinking his quote????? We'll see tomorrow, I guess.
And to think, the guy I was talking to at the MOPAR show is still coming on Thursday to look it over.......... a little friendly competition, maybe????? Woo-hoo!
I better get a hole cleared out in the basement to start the engine removal process. Taking the complete front end off........ again. Not to mention the gas tank, tranny, glass, wiring harnesses and lights......... better get busy!

[cjbiagi]

When dealing with anyone doing body work/paint, make sure to get a detailed estimate as to what is included. Good paint and body work costs have skyrocketed, if someone comes in real low you will probably get what you pay for. I would try and strip as much off the car as possible to help try and defray some labor costs as well end up with a better job. All the trim, bumpers, doors, etc should be removed for a complete paint job, especially if changing colors. Find out exactly what is included and get it in writing.

[bugdewde]

Tasks completed:
- Bumpers removed
- Grille, front upper and lower valances removed
- Fenders/plastic splash guards removed
- All lights removed
- Driver door removed(Passenger side is being difficult)
- Seats removed
- All seat belts EXCEPT ONE :evil: removed
- Instrument cluster removed
- Wipers and shafts to the motor.
- All glass removed
- Rear hatch pins removed(but loosely put back in for easy removal)

I had previously removed all interior trim,carpet, headliner, hatch lock, emblems,etc months ago....

Tasks to be completed today
- Pull wiring harnesses
- Remove wiper motor/HVAC stuff from firewall/dash.
- Remove gas tank
- Remove Engine/Tranny

Hope the guys are coming tomorrow (Sunday.)........ Oh well, I'll be that much ahead of the game even if he decides to not do the job.

[barebonesracecars]

It's not my car, but even I'm excited about seeing you get it painted...maybe I'm just tired of the custom 'tri-tone' color scheme????

While it's getting painted, you can put that stroked 215 together.

Steal someone's identity, get a credit card in their name, and use it to pay for everything.

Viola! Time to go cruisin'!!!!

[starfire383]

You will absolutely get what you pay for. Whatever the cost, remember that there's gonna be 1500+ in materials. Even with you doing full teardown and reassembly, a decent reshoot starts at $3k

For some unknown reason, bodymen seem to hate "completes", when they've encountered problems on my cars, and I was willing to pay extra to get it done right, getting them to actually do it right was like pulling teeth.

My personal favorite quote from when I had my caprice painted "Oh, you want the rockers painted too? Nobody's ever asked for that and I've been doing this 20 years"

Needless to say, I'm shopping for a house that could have a paint booth set up in the garage.

Good Luck!