Posted by Ray Parrish (IP: 207.115.62.38) on July 11, 1999 at 03:18:42:
In Reply to: Doing Bodywork posted by Nikki on July 08, 1999 at 23:46:52:
Hi Nikki,
I manage a body shop for a Lincoln Mercury dealership so I think I can give you a decent answer here. One thing you didn't tell us is how much you like your car. If you like the car and really want it to look nice, then please try to get it to a reputable body shop for the repairs. There is no way a person, male or female, with no body experience can make these kind of repairs look even remotely decent. You might not spend much money but you'll spend lots of hours only to get yourself aggravated and truly make matters worse than they were. Again, if you like the car and you try the repairs yourself, after all your experimenting is over, most likely the body shop will tell you such a high price to purposely get you to go on down the road that you won't be able to afford it for sure. Body shops cringe when they have to redo someone elses bad body work.
If you don't care about the car, then by all means...practice, practice, practice. Maybe when you get finished with this one, (and a couple more) you'll be ready to fix up that show car. I wish you luck whichever way to decide to go and who knows, maybe I'll see you at one of the shows some time. Have a great day.
Ray