Shadowen925 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (Sorry, this turned into more of a rant than I intended) My Z was in pretty poor shape and I figured I'd let my friend do the bodywork to save me some money. He has worked in body shops and knows what he's doing. The deal was I'd get him the car and buy all the materials in bulk for him to work with. Then, he would only charge me a couple hundred for the complete overhaul and keep the extra materials for payment. Well, tomorrow he has had the car for 3 months. It did need some serious work due to rust, but I'm having a hard time getting ahold of him. Won't reply to texts or answer calls. He has made some progress and sent me pictures, but the last time I talked to him was Monday. He told me we should be getting close to getting it in primer. I'm usually not the kind of guy that demands things of people, but this feels a bit unreasonable. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAndyAndTheSea Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Be patient. It's unfortunate, and your friend's communication skills could definitely be better...But, for starters, as a body guy myself, three months to fix the body of a car, especially with rust, is NOT a long time. Good welding takes time. So does good body work. I understand the desire to drive the car, but unless you are doing the work yourself, you are unfortunately beholden to the schedules of others. I quickly learned that if I wanted the job done to MY expectations, I would have to do it myself. It's hard...I know. EDIT: and remember. Your friend is saving you THOUSANDS of dollars by helping you out...A can of bondo and some leftover sandpaper won't nearly pay him back for the time he spends on the car. Don't forget this. Edited January 18, 2014 by OldAndyAndTheSea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceVance Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 You want to make him work on it regularly? Offer to help, bring beer and buy the pizza. Otherwise, you're working on his schedule, and people call it paint/body work jail for a reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Keep waiting and be patient. The problem with friends who did stuff like this for a career have actual jobs to do first. They work on it when the real work is slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowen925 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 I wish I could do bodywork. I don't even pretend to know how to. Anyway, I understand that it takes time, but he's currently unemployed and told me he needed the cash so he'd make it a full time job. It just bothers me with the communication. And as for me not knowing anything about bodywork, I'm not sure how much materials he's going to have left. He quit his job to try to start working out of his garage doing projects like this. I bought him sub $700 in materials like sanding disks, cutoff disks, bondo, panel bond, and a couple specialty tools. Still, I know It's not a lot considering the work he's doing for me. Thanks for the replys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowen925 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 You want to make him work on it regularly? Offer to help, bring beer and buy the pizza. Otherwise, you're working on his schedule, and people call it paint/body work jail for a reason! lol, yeah I thought of that. I'd love to help and learn, but It's hard to plan if I cant get ahold of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Quit calling gim and just go see him. If he's chronically unemployed, there might be a reason. At 46 years old, I'm discovering that most people on this world are worthless (not spiritually, but what I mean is undependable). Go see your car and see where it really is. He may not have even started, sold your supplies or traded them for beer and gotten wasted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madkaw Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Doing "deals " with friends is usually the best way to end a friendship . Rarely works out well unless both parties are responsible and give a shit. Bodywork is $$$ - so you might still be ahead money wise. Look him in the eye and say -"what's up dude ". Ranting here will just get you no where Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Ok so you're investing right around $1000 for this guy to do body work? At this point you have to go with it and hope he does a great job (granted I don't know how extensive the body work your car needed it, nor his skill) because I think you overpaid. Is this coming out completely painted or just primered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREW RBZ Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Ok so you're investing right around $1000 for this guy to do body work? At this point you have to go with it and hope he does a great job (granted I don't know how extensive the body work your car needed it, nor his skill) because I think you overpaid. Is this coming out completely painted or just primered? Overpaid for bodywork at $1000?? You must be joking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Overpaid for bodywork at $1000?? You must be joking.Agreed! $1000 is a drop in the bucket, body and paint around here will run you about 7-8k I too had a "friend" do body work on my car. Took forever and the results to me looked ok, turns out when I got it to the paint shop...a lot more work had to be done. So what did I save in the long run? Not a dime, in fact it COST me MORE because a lot of the work had to be redone!!! The guy claimed to be a fiber glass expert (on my gnose prepping it for paint) what a mistake!). I just had the nose painted last week after the paint shop had to rework his handy work. Bottom line 1st you get what you pay for, second if they don't have a spray booth or something that resembles one do not expect awesome results. I'm NOT beating on the guys that have done paint work in their garages (most of them are working on their own cars) but the part time, hey I can do body work and used to work for such and such shop...well there is a reason they no longer work at that shop. There is a lot of wisdom, advice, experience and stories of success and failures on this board. Looking down from 30,000 feet at your project/body work, you're going to be disappointed but I can only hope for the best because you're spending your hard earned $$$$ on this car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Perhaps you could add a small stipend to the deal to help your friend. He can't eat or pay rent with bondo and sandpaper. Also, as others have mentioned, go see him on a regular schedule. He might need to be micro-managed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowen925 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 He lives with his parents, And I have received some pictures of progress over the course of the time he's had it. The plan was to get the car in solid shape by removing the rust and fixing the holes. Then he was going to prime and paint the car. I've not purchased the paint yet. We'll be painting in my Garage when we get to that step. The garage is insulated and I've got plastic we will be stapling to the ceiling to make a booth of sorts. I'm not too picky on how it looks now as long as he can make the car solid so it will last a few years till I can put some serious money into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowen925 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Here's one of the more recent pictures.http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm273/Shadowen925/Datsun%20280z/IMG_3804_zpsca4d4fd9.jpgAnd the floorboard that's giving him problems http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm273/Shadowen925/Datsun%20280z/IMG950099_zps70a01f56.jpg http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm273/Shadowen925/Datsun%20280z/IMG955080_zps3afe0cc4.jpg Battery tray http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm273/Shadowen925/Datsun%20280z/IMG957634_zpsf58658d9.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 He quit his job to try to start working out of his garage doing projects like this. He lives with his parents, Live and learn. These are red flags. You'll have to choose between "friendship", money, and time. You'd probably be doing the guy and his parents a huge favor by just taking the car back as-is and removing the pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone028 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Have you purchased patch panels and new floors etc or is your friend making the patch panels himself? Even with pre-fabbed patch panels...that is not a small project. I would cut him some slack...sounds like communication could be improved on his part, but that is a HUGE amount of rust repair and body work. I think it would be a challenge to find a shop that would even take that kind of work on let alone give it back to you in 3-4 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psdenno Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I agree with T-Bone028 above. That is a HUGE AMOUNT of rust! And he probably hasn't uncovered all of it. It's going to take a lot more than Bondo to to get your Z back in shape. A replacement hatch may be a worthwhile investment. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Wow, that is quite a bit of rust. Outside looks ok though. I agree with statements above. If you haven't paid him anything yet then the incentive isn't really there. Sure he will go tackle it when he is free, but there's no real motivation. If you really are friends, going over and spending time, with beer and pizza as suggested is a great way to move things along. With body work, an extra informed hand is always helpful. Keep in mind, hiring a non-professional friend may lead to less then desirable results. Only thing on the line is your friendship so be wary of that. If he is only asking for a couple hundred on top of the supplies to put in new floors, patch, fill, primer, and paint then you have yourself a bargain if he really knows what he is doing. If he really does know what he is doing, it is also going to take a while to smooth everything over. At the bare minimum for a rusted panel that needs to be painted: Cut out bad material Use as template to make new material Use butt joints/clamps/magnets/lip tool to place panel Tack panel Weld in panel Grind down welds to make it sit flush Then Sand surrounding material down to bare metal Mix filler Apply filler Sand filler Wipe down area Light top coat of contrast paint/primer to find high and low spots Sand again Wipe down area Mark low spots Reapply bondo Sand again Top coat to find high and low spots Sand again Wipe down area and clean up floor Primer for smoothness Sand again Wipe down area and clean up floor again Once smoothness is checked, reapply actual painting primer Paint Depending on paint, color sand with really fine grit Wipe down area and clean up floor again Top coat ^and that above is a mediocre job at best. If you are using new age fillers or lead filling and 2 part paints and stuff the steps seem nearly endless. It is time consuming to get it just right, and unless you are paying extra for that effort, or micromanaging each step the results are probably not going to be that great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Hahahaha, the money you spent on bodywork could have flown you to Arizona or SoCal and paid for gas back with a rust-free car of similar price.This is no secret.What is this obsession with rust and repairs in the Midwest after "The Way" is known? Afraid of flying?I don't get it. If you started rust free, I guess in three months your bud could have painted it and you could have spent time all winter detailing instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluDestiny Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Overpaid for a friends body work. I've had a friend help me and I kicked him down $200, that was for all the dins on the car, sanding it down completely and primering it, plus I bought the materials which he kept since he was in autoshop at the time, except the paint which we used up. He even helped me make a panel and weld it in for a small 4" square hole. Then again my car was not as rusty as this one. Normally when I think friend, I think sub $500. Also like I stated, I didn't know how extensive it is. If he is forming new metal panels to weld in then yes that's probably a great price. From the pics, yeah your probably getting agreat price assuming he knows how to deal with the rust. Personally, I would have passed on that and done what Tony D has said. Looked at overpriced Z's here in FL, said I can can a straight rust free driver for half what people are asking in FL, and found a car for $2000 in Phoenix. It is currently being stored at my uncles in Phoenix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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