Projects Finishing a Kustom Merc on a budget?

Yea I saw that as well and I don't have the skills to fix metal issues of that level.

 

Wow that's amazing. Was it a while ago? I wonder what kind of paint job Maaco does these days!

 

How long it takes you to get it painted depends on how you work on it. I mean are you going to knock down 40 to 50 hours a week or more? Because at that rate even if you’re learning along the way, something most of us do our entire lives, that’s approximately 2200 - 2500 hours in a year and you can get plenty of work done in that timeframe. You should be able to have it in paint with a cut and buff done in that time. Depending on how detailed you want the frame and bottom of the sheet metal and how large your shop is even 3000 hours @ 20 hours a week is only a little over two and half years but you need to stay after it. Break it down to small goals and get going.
One thing I did when I had my own shop was use retired body men who wanted to work for a few months to supplement their retirement, I had one guy who wasn’t the fastest but I knew when he worked on something it was solid work, he would come back every winter and work for maybe three or four months.
Maybe you could get some help like that with your project.

 

Thanks I had seen the yellow one with teal top on Ebay.. and a couple others. The 1st one you listed above on Facebook is the other one I was considering besides the Merc but it looks like it was chopped alright but needs even more body work than the Merc does! I had posted on that one (it got moved to the "Off Topic" section of the HAMB). It showed up in my FB search maybe because i'm within 500 miles and Nevada is in that range.

I wonder if I'm not doing something right when searching in FB. It doesn't let me see all the east coast ones and seems to have a radius of 500 miles so some of the ones you posted above I had not seen before.

 

Thanks that is a great idea regarding finding help with someone that doesn't need to work all the time. I don't think I can really sink a huge amount of time consistently... so I may end up one of those guys that has a car 10-15 years and its still in primer and not much progress made on it. It's hard to say. I suspect I'm way better off not trying to go that route though when I think about it more!

 

It was awhile ago.There's a Maaco in Riverside that a lot of guys go to that does a pretty good job.That's where my friend went to.Here's a pic.

 

Strategic recomendations from the MAACOS crowd, don't think about it and just "Happen"

 

It depends on the Maaco. I think they are franchises. I had them paint an OT truck my kid totaled (was nice before the accident) that I couldn’t bear to scrap and it turned out really well for what it was.

 

for your budget best find finished or near finished. for an online purchase out of your area plan to take a plane ride to see it.

 

Regarding the one in Canada. I definitely would want it chopped and most likely bagged.. it's already lowered but I think it would need to lower more for the chop if I want it to look how I want. I did some rough math:

1. $13,000 for Car
2. $3,000 to ship to San Diego (lets ignore import related stuff for now)
3. $10,000 for a shop to chop (assuming I helped remove interior)
4. $3,000 for glass
5. $2,000 for headliner after chop
6. $10,000 for a shop to do a c-notch and airbag equipment
7. $7,000 for a shop to paint the roof and blending after the chop

That's $48,000. I'm back to sort of square one and might find something like this with patience that has a nicer paintjob. I also an not super in love with supremes, its missing the splashpan, and the hood might need a little love to make it look sleeker without ornaments. I want fender skirts (not sure if he has those for the car) so that could tack on a bit more. I'm sure I'll be north of $50k assuming the numbers above are even close and I may be underestimating the costs. I could skip the bagging and shave $10k but I'm not sure I'd be happy long run.

That car looks great for someone that wants to drive as is and doesn't care for the chop or bagging it. It looks like a great deal for that!

Here it in its current form:


Here's with it digitally chopped:



Here's with it digitally chopped and bagged (this is the look I want!! love love love this... I may just need to step back and wait until I'm willing to spend more).

 

look at craigslist SF Bay Area cars & trucks for sale: 1950 lead sled hot rod

 

Thanks! That's quite a lot of work into that car for $40k! I want something more traditional looking, but I guess that's a good indicator that with patience I might run into something more along the lines of what I want without needing to do a crazy amount of work!

 

Oops, 50 Merc has weird back window

 

I'm about as low budget as you can get but in a case like this you have to figure out what you can do yourself, what you can swap out for something much better for a few bucks but save a lot of bucks (hood) That one, I would hunt down the nicest hood I could find for a reasonable price, put it on the car and post the old nasty hood for sale with a got room to bargain price and take the first cash greenie offer you get on it. Do as much work on it to get it right yourself as long as you have the proper skills to do it right. Don't get caught up in the "gotta have that___ syndrome on over priced parts and pieces and put the money where it counts. Body work, paint and glass now are the main things, Get with the lowrider guys and find out where they get their chrome done to get the bumpers and needed pieces done. To stay on budget it is more of what you don't need as far as high dollar pieces go. You don't need a set of Coker or Diamond back wide whites for 1200 when you can run a set of whitewalls for under 400 Moriarity might piss an moan but you aren't looking at being proper for the gathering at the Roc or center reing at Lone Star Roundup right now you are looking at having a within budget custom Merc that you can drive and smile while driving. Shooting for a 63/64 look from 50 foot rather than a 53/54 look.
Shopping around to see who does great work but charges a reasonable price helps. Bodymen and painters and glass guys are all three side job Bob folks in that in the automotive field I have known more bodymen, painters and auto glass workers who take on side jobs., The Hassle on a chopped Merc is the vent wings and quarter windows. the windshields and door glass are just make it x inches shorter than original for the most part unless the A pillers have been leaned in a tad.

The area I live in is full of Hispanic guys who have shops that rebuild wrecks and one in town turns out high end cars that honestly look every bit as good as new and I am seriously thinking about talking to doing my 48 in pieces when the time comes.

 

22k static drop

I bet it can get bagged for way less than 28k

 

more food for thought: '50ish Merc / '54 Chevy very popular which raises price and limits availability - chopped one of those amplifies the above. when you find the ideal car that still needs body/paint, etc is the time it will take by you/shop. a good builder shop is going to be busy. even basic stuff like wiring can take much longer than ever thought. availability of parts needed can be another challenge. the TV shows March through projects to meet deadlines. only a couple reveal that cars are in their shop many months or even a year or so. keep focused on goal and your budget. have fun.

 

Thanks! I'm definitely in the budget build category only having $45k total to work with! It makes sense to swap the hood!

 

Oh nice where did you find this one?

Also bagging the front is somewhat straightforward but the rear requires a c-notch and I figure a shop would need to do that and add a 4 - link. I'm aware some people do bags over leaf but it doesn't drop low enough and seems sketchy when accelerating from what I've seen in youtube videos.

 

It’s in the classifieds here

 

Found it thanks!

 

The whole world has this false belief that it takes a week to redo a car. You can thank television for that. I suppose if you had an unlimited budget, that could afford a 50 man team, with no concern for the cost of parts and materials, it would be possible, but the magic of television has pulled the wool over many eyes. Guess you can always apply to that overhaulin' show lol

 

Great start - but pick a lighter color. $13 grand is about 1/3 of what you'll need to do a black paint job justice.