[mccoigk]

OK, I went to the local ford dealer to get a price quote on doing some body/paint work to my 91 GT. I would like to convert it to a show/race car with a no frills (no radio, carpet, etc) painted interior.

Here is what I requested:
<li>Paint entire exterior of car, only sanding down to primer.
<li>Paint interior of car including floor pans, roll cage, etc.
<li>Paint engine bay
<li>Install new fiberglass hatch lid, cowl hood, saleen wing, front/rear bumpers
<li>Remove sunroof like it was never there and make it a hardtop
<li>Fix a few small dents & dings
I also told them that I would do alot of prep by sending them the car on a flatbed, with no engine, no interior, no head/tail lights, cowl, quarter windows, etc.

He said $7500!

OK, so basically what I am asking you guys is, what do you think this work would cost? How much would you pay?

[Ron]

$7500 sound fair to me. You are having a lot of work done on the car, and the key word is "show". You are going to want a great finish if it is to be a show/race care. You didn't say what color you wanted, sometimes that makes a difference.

[mccoigk]

Well, I always had the impression that the Ford garage always charges way more than a normal price. A perfect example of what Im talking about is buying parts from the Ford service department vs. going to a Napa or Autozone. I mean I like the fact that the Ford place warranties the paint for life, but damn - for $7500 maybe i should let them do all the prep that I was planning on doing, i.e. engine removal, etc.?

Im obviously still going to go around and get some more quotes from other places to make some comparisons.

Anyway - I am going to have it done in black, which is the color it is now.
How exactly does the color make a difference in $$.

[Ron]

Black will show up more flaws, so everything has to be finished out better. So more work to smooth things out, and align better, equals higher cost.

Most shops I know would perfer to do all the prep work themselves, that way they know how things have been done. I even know one shop that if you bring him a car already preped, he will still take it back down, and prep the car all over again.

You are on the right track... shop around, check out the shops work on other cars. If you have a local Mustang club, ask them if they recomend any shops.

[grumpy44]

maybe i'm to late but try some of the privately owned body shops around you. dealers are way to high, I know this because my old lady works for a ford dealer. its best to have 3 quotes and take the one in the middle. because you know what they say, you get what you pay for. but most the time the higher ones are just ripoffs.