Mother-in-law Restoration 1970 Datsun 2000

[mitch_04]

Threw some primer on the quarter. Total time into the repair is around 12 hours

[Gregs672000]

Threw some primer on the quarter. Total time into the repair is around 12 hours

And at a shop rate of $65/hr that's $780 in time alone, not to mention materials, and there's still more work to do. Now folks can understand why car resto and paint cost so much... And why I encourage people to do as much of their own work as they can! It's very labor intensive.

[mitch_04]

You'd love my shop rate, $25/hour!

I do this for a few reasons. I don't have a large overhead since I work afterhours in the shop I work at (or my garage at home), I am not an expert body guy, it won't be done as quick as a regular body shop, and because I just plain love working on old cars.

I only do restorations or customs. I won't do collision repair or repaint a normal car. I'm not interested in that, I don't have time to waste, and I'm not doing this to get rich.

The low labor rate helps offset the cost of parts and allows people to go a little nicer with certain things. I'd rather see a car built well than cheaply every time, like I said before I just plain love cars. I won't do a job where someone wants to cheap out or skimp... not saying I'm only going to do concours quality work, but I'm not going to puddy over rust or ignore a part that needs to be replaced, not if my name is going to be referenced as the builder.

[sleepyzzz]

You'd love my shop rate, $25/hour!

I do this for a few reasons. I don't have a large overhead since I work afterhours in the shop I work at (or my garage at home), I am not an expert body guy, it won't be done as quick as a regular body shop, and because I just plain love working on old cars.

I only do restorations or customs. I won't do collision repair or repaint a normal car. I'm not interested in that, I don't have time to waste, and I'm not doing this to get rich.

The low labor rate helps offset the cost of parts and allows people to go a little nicer with certain things. I'd rather see a car built well than cheaply every time, like I said before I just plain love cars. I won't do a job where someone wants to cheap out or skimp... not saying I'm only going to do concours quality work, but I'm not going to puddy over rust or ignore a part that needs to be replaced, not if my name is going to be referenced as the builder.

would you consider moving to NW AR? very nice work. and at a very reasonable price.

[mitch_04]

Spent some time in Camp Robinson Arkansas, nice country down there. Appreciate the kind words.

[mitch_04]

Alright, I'm fighting some wicked allergies right now and don't have much energy so I'm just going to drop a blob of pictures in. Currently stripping fenders, hood, doors, etc etc and getting them in primer with some rough body work. Once that's done I'll throw some body parts on and make sure everything lines up right before doing more "final" bodywork.

[mraitch]

Sorry to hear that you are not up to snuff currently. But WOW, you do great work. I wish I knew how to do metal work - maybe I will take a 'shop' course at some time.
And I do hope that your MIL thinks you are the best addition to the family since your wife.

[mitch_04]

Thanks! I really have little to no experience with metal work. Lots of internet reading and also read the book "Key to Metal Bumping". Aside from that I just hit things until they move!

[mraitch]

I trust 'hitting things until they move' doesn't reflect your driving style <G>

[mitch_04]

Stripping everything off to remove paint and get some primer down



Somebody liked glue! Are they normally glued down?



Not going to pull the engine, I think I can get it pretty well covered with everything off.

[theunz]

Looks like you're only an hour away from having the engine and trans out. Why not go ahead and pull it, that way you will have much better access when spraying. There are a lot of nooks and cranies in there that are hard to spray even without the engine in the way. An added bonus would be that you could then paint the parts of the frame that you see when looking at the engine. Oh while your in there.......!

[mitch_04]

I'm tempted, but I'd have to either push it down to my shop or try and find room for a cherry picker and drivetrain in my garage. Neither sounds too fun especially considering we just got a half foot of snow. Realistically, it'd be easier to lift the body off at this point! However, this project has already snowballed considerably and I have to draw the line somewhere. I'd love to make it a full frame off resto but I know it's not necessary for what it'll be used for. I'm assuming that eventually in life it'll end up in my possession again and that's when I can get a little more picky!

[Skyman]

I've seen some of your work. It will be awesome when finished either way.

[mitch_04]

Thanks Skyman!

[mitch_04]

Photo drop! Most everything that will be black is black. Rebuilding the heater control valve due to it's o-rings leaking. Found 1 in the shop, had to order the square cut one. Radiator and heater core are off to be pressure tested and sealed if there is a problem. Heater box was pretty ugly due to leaking valve. Used some CLR to clean up the chrome spacers on the reverse lights. Blasted everything to bare and painted, including the light reflectors. Probably forgetting some things, but oh well!