1956 T-Bird

[ccrismon1956]

Hello,
Another newbee to the flock. My father passed recently and left me a 1956 T-Bird. He always wanted to paint and redo the chrome but never got around to it. I want to do it for him. What can I expect to pay to rechrone the bumpers? It has a 1956 front and a 1955 rear bumper in good condition but needs the shine redone. I spoke to two local paint shops who said they want to strip it to nare metal and charge around $10,000. The paint has small bubbles in a consistant pattern over most of the vehicle. From 10 feet you can not see it but once you get close it can be seen. Want to complete what dad started, but want to make sure I do not get taken as well. Any thoughts would be approciated. Thanks. For reference I live in Vacaville CA.

 

[paul2748]

What they want to do is the right way to do it. Be warned that once you strip the car you may find some bad body work or rust areas. Make sure you have an agreement on costs to fix if these come to pass.
Based on paint costs now a days, the amount is not unusual for a 1st class job.

If I were you, I would try to find a shop that does old cars. Using a regular body shop that does collision work can sometimes be the worst way because they put their collision work ahead of anything else.

If your handy, stripping and reassembling the car yourself can save you money.

Hello,
Another newbee to the flock. My father passed recently and left me a 1956 T-Bird. He always wanted to paint and redo the chrome but never got around to it. I want to do it for him. What can I expect to pay to rechrone the bumpers? It has a 1956 front and a 1955 rear bumper in good condition but needs the shine redone. I spoke to two local paint shops who said they want to strip it to nare metal and charge around $10,000. The paint has small bubbles in a consistant pattern over most of the vehicle. From 10 feet you can not see it but once you get close it can be seen. Want to complete what dad started, but want to make sure I do not get taken as well. Any thoughts would be approciated. Thanks. For reference I live in Vacaville CA.

 

[ccrismon1956]

Hello,
Thanks for your comments. One of them did state what you said about not knowing what is underneath. He said that if they find something unexpected, it will cost more, possibly lots more. Can you help me with how to deal with that? What kind of agreement can I make with him? I would be willing to pay for the first class job, but what if they strip and they say the cost goes to $15,000? Your thoughts would be appreciated. How can I arange the work so some of the unknowns might be mitigated? Thanks.

 

[tbird5866]

Can you or can you ask the paint shop to go over the car to determine if there is body filler and how much? You should like to know if the body is all metal..

 

[paul2748]

Just checking for body filler isn't going to solve anything. All cars within the last 40 or so years used body filler to repair cars and there is nothing wrong with that - if the bodyman did it right (using filler only as a skim coat) then there is no reason to disturb it if its basically sound.

How to deal with something unexpected as far as body work is concerned? More than likely it will have to be fixed. The only way I see it is to agree on an hourly rate for the repair and all work must be first approved by you. Extra costs for hidden problems is always a problem when restoring an old car. You will have to confer with the body person on what options there are on fixing the problem.

I really can't offer more - once you have the car stripped the only real options are to have it fixed or not and basically you are at the mercy of the person doing the repair.

Hello,
Thanks for your comments. One of them did state what you said about not knowing what is underneath. He said that if they find something unexpected, it will cost more, possibly lots more. Can you help me with how to deal with that? What kind of agreement can I make with him? I would be willing to pay for the first class job, but what if they strip and they say the cost goes to $15,000? Your thoughts would be appreciated. How can I arange the work so some of the unknowns might be mitigated? Thanks.

 

[ccrismon1956]

Thanks much for your comments, very helpful.