Seeking Body Shop Recommendations w/in 100mi of NYC

[meezy]

Hello, forum.

I'm looking for a well-regarded body shop for some work on my 1950 plymouth club coupe.

Minor work - bang out a dent here.

Patch some rust there.

Window run channels

Weatherstripping, etc.

Looking forward to your responses.

Thanks!

[Andydodge]

have you tried checking out local hot rod or vintage car clubs in the area, I have no idea what the cost would be but here in oz the local shops around here would be charging at a minimium for general panel beating work at least $100 per hour, and that would be hammer & dolly work, maybe including a quick coat of undercoat to seal the work.............once you get into spray painting and colour coats then you need deep pockets............the fiddly work that window run channels and weatherstripping entails would easily start to be $100 per hour or more I'd expect.............if you have the money thats fine but why not join a club, ask around, and do it yourself...........welcome aboard BTW from Oz...............Andy Douglas

[meezy]

Howdy, Andy.

Oh, I'd love to do as much of the stuff as possible by myself. When I had space, I often did. But I'm in Brooklyn now, where one can scarcely find street parking in front of one's own apartment - let alone lot, driveway, or garage. I don't think there are any clubs around here. If there are, they are unlikely to have space. If they do, using that space would be as expensive as paying somebody to do the work. So you see how we are back at square one.
 

This is the second time I've been welcomed to Oz, btw. Lived in Perth for a year long ago. Still eat Vegemite/cheese sandwiches, though. ; ) Thank you.

[Plymouthy Adams]

so I take it your car is parked on the street all the time...not good now...definitely not good if  lot of money was put into repair and paint...

[meezy]

Ahhh, Mr. Adams... you know what they say about assumptions...

 

It is parked and covered in my cousin's driveway about an hour away by train. I'm not doing a full paint job precisely for the reasons you stated.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I've heard that owning cars in larger metro areas is a real problem with parking the main concern.   We have members here with limited space and of course many local gestapo and housing covenants preventing any work while parked.  Was not sure all your circumstances.

 

Last car I picked up in Atlanta was in one of the older districts...maneuver room a minimum and arranged for an early Sunday morning pickup when traffic would be the lightest.  Worked out well...

[Dave72dt]

Shops willing to do restoration type of work will be few and far between.  It's filler work, if and when insurance work is slacking for most of them.  Hit up a few car shows and ask the participants if they have any good sources for that type of work.  Not all of them do that type of work themselves.

[JerseyHarold]

Have you checked with local Maaco's?  There must be at least one in your area.  Dent and rust repair is well within their scope of work, but weatherstripping and window fuzzies may be beyond their comfort zone.  I'd ask to see some completed jobs because quality varies shop-to-shop.  A number of collectible cars in my area (Monmouth County, NJ, about 50 miles from Brooklyn) were done by Maaco and they look good.

[Plymouthy Adams]

try your local high school or technical training center...

[busycoupe]

I had my coupe painted by Maaco ten yrs ago.  They sanded it, patched a few small rust spots ( with modern Bondo) primed, color painted and gloss top coat.  The result came out well.  Several people at shows couldn’t believe that it was done by Maaco. I made a couple of compromises that if I had the money at the time I may have done differently.  1) I did not have it sanded down to bare metal. They sanded it then sprayed it with a filler primer and sanded it again.  Now after 10 yrs there are places where little bumps are appearing in the paint. .. probably rust spots coming through.  2). I did not want to take apart the car to paint the interior and door frames etc.  the previous owner had the car painted a GM red color and I matched that so that the exterior  dry closely matches the door frames, interior of the trunk, etc.  the car still looks good.  It is a driver.  Never was and never will be a show car.  My Macao paint job cost just over $3k.  I couldn’t see investing thousands of dollars in a paint job on a car that at best is worth less than 10k.  Overall I am satisfied with the paint job.  You may want to take your car to your local  Maaco and see what they say.