I have a 1956 Divco and I think I've chosen a reputable mechanic to work on her. The issue I'm having is that the price. Basically theyre doing a few things and I need to know if this sounds on par to what others would do. During phase 1 theyre going to transport her to a facility and take her engine, lights, wiring, etc out of the girl. Theyre going to photograph ever part they remove, label and bag them. Theyre then going to transport the frame and body to another facility and get her media blasted. Theyre not removing body off frame which I still don't know why and if that would be necessary? Panels are going to come off and shes going to be fully blasted and primed. She will be shipped back to the original facilty. I'm being charged around $7.000 for this job as it's estimated. Not including welding etc. Does this sound on par to what other mechanics would do? I've never done this before and would be happy if anyone could chime in and give their thoughts. thanks
Assuming the labor rate is around 50.00,that is only 140 man hours,about 3 weeks work for 1 man,it seems like a lot but when the clock is ticking it wouldn't be hard to use more time then that?.My biggest concern is how much is too much,if they charge you for every little thing,it could wind up costing more,are you ready to deal with that?I would keep a close eye on it,just so there are no surprises when you get the final bill,Price does seem a little low for all that work,I know I couldn't do it here for that. Harvey
thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to assess the situation and it helps when I hear feedback like this. is it normal for them not to remove the body off frame before the blasting and just do it intact? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
You can do it without removing the body,you cant do a good job of the underside that way?,I think if you were to have the body removed from the frame it would add another 50-75 percent to the price tag.If it was my truck I would do it,however I am able to do it myself,so the cost isn't a big factor,I run a bodyshop.Once you head down the restoration path,there is no turning back,you will be able to see the 20s and 100s just evaporate into thin air.Im sure if you go see them while they are working on your truck,and ask how much have I spent so far,it will look like a lot for how little work will look to be done,But it can all be worthwile if you have the patience to hang in there. Harvey
We always remove bodies from frames before blasting. We mount the bodies on rotisseries so that we can blast all nook and crannies, though in your case it won't be possible because the size of box. Blasting is done by "line of sight" and with a frame and suspension bolted up you won't be able to do a thorough job. I try to convince all our customers to tear down the frame to individual parts so that when it goes back together all new ball joints, bearings, and seals can be installed.
If your going that far with the resto, I'd take it off the frame. Not easy or cheap with something that size, but worth it in the long run. I won't do it any other way..........but then again I'm not paying the bill!
I'm gonna say that doesn't sound out of line. sounds like they're subbing out the blasting so you're going to pay for transport to and from the blasting facility (where's that and how much is gas right now) plus whatever they charge and possibly even some mark up for them depending on how your first shop does business. For a Divco I'd guess at least $1500 for blasting alone. I just priced an el camino locally and their estimate was $1200-$1500 frame-on depending on what I have done (interor and indide of bed etc), and many blasters offer to return the vehicle in primer for an additional charge--probably what they'll do--I would(my new blaster doesn't offer that). so you're looking at mabye $2000 in blasting charges, possibly more. Add that to your shipping costs and then factor in the work they're doing in house at whatever hourly rate they charge and I'm guessing $50/hour is cheap. that's a lot to say it sounds reasonable to me.
some great answers here geez golly. thanks all for participating and giving me some serious feedback. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I had my car blasted on the frame. I set the body mounts on 2" tube spacers to create enough space to get the areas normally blocked by the frame, so the only part of the underside not blasted is the actual body mount itself. My blaster guy used a lift to pick up each end of the car so he could get under and blast it. I will eventually take the body off and have the frame blasted and powdercoated, so I'll finish the underside then when it's on a rotisserie.
Considering the life of that vehicle, and how many glass quarts of milk were likely broken in the box, I would want to get to the bottom side.
Thanks guys! I truly appreciate this. Part of me may want to put the project on hold now after some consideration -- i do and would want it off frame blasted. Secondly, once i go down this road, its pretty much no turning back and i don't know if financially i can do this right now without losing sleep. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to learn how to do this on my own if even possible. I looked into professional blasting machines . Do you guys think its worth me tackling this on my own? At least this part?
In my opinion the blasting would not be worth doing yourself. It takes a big compressor. Inside and out, top and bottom that's one hell of a lot of blasting. The disassembly and other prep would be your best investment of time and resources. Of all the tasks involved in restoration blasting is the only one I truly hate to do!
so you would recommend me taking everything apart myself, leaving the shell and frame to be blasted and epoxy primed after? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yeah, then you'll be off to a good clean start, and you'll get a good idea of condition during the tear down. It would also give you a chance to remove any rusted out parts that will need replacement. That way whatever is under that gets blasted. I sent the car I'm working on now to the blaster on the rotisserie cut apart as much as possible. Still had to do some more blasting myself after I took the quarters off. Did one a few years back and cut off the quarters before blasting. I hate rust!! And I will not do metal work on some rusty crusty POS. This work is hard enough! What kind of condition is you truck in? Post up some pictures! Tell us you plan.
About 10 years ago, I had my '48 Seagrave fire truck blasted with the body on the frame. ( I was just getting the truck ready for paint, as it only had 2300 miles on it.) I drove it to and from the blasting facility over 15 miles of country toads. It cost $1800 for the blasting. You wouldn't believe the amount of media, dust, and other crap that blew out of it in the trip home!
I'm going to take some pictures over the next few days and then repost. like I said I've never done this before so any suggestions / help would be absolutely incredible. I will get back to you guys. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The more work you do yourself the cheaper it will be,you can stretch your money further.If you have never done this before,be warned it isn't as easy as it looks,Do you have anyone who could help you get started,Also let the shop who is doing the rest of the work,know what you are doing,you don't want to land there with a bunch of parts,and they don't know whats going on.You will be surprised at how long it will take to get out a couple of stubborn bolts,it is stuff like this, that drives up the labor costs.Body work is expensive too,you can work for days on a rig and it looks like you have done very little.Harvey
You really need to consider your budget, you're $7k in before any paint and body, I see an easy $20k before you have paint, that doesn't cover any mechanical work. My suggestion would be to investigate doing some of the work yourself,that's considering if you have enough garage space to completely disassemble a divco, tools to do it. Can you weld and do you own a welder, you can pull the body build a body cart and have a mobile blast rig come to your location. That will leave you with shooting primer.
If you don't live on a farm, take the shell to a blaster instead of blasting it yourself (or a mobile company) in your driveway. Reason being is that all the dusts of the Sahara Desert will be blowing over your neighbors and old paint contains such goodies as...arsenic, lead, mercury, etc...these heavy metals now in dust form will hang around for awhile.
what I'm going to do over the next few days is take extensive pictures of the truck. I'm really going to need a helping hand on what steps i need to take first as I initially tackle removing all mechanical parts, wiring, electrical etc. I've never done this before so I literally will go step by step and hoping for some help from this awesome community. I will most likely epoxy this off site as I hope to not anger the neighbors with dust Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
It seems to me if you are going to build this truck you will need a place to work on it. If you have that, then I think you would be better off to disassemble the truck yourself, catagorize all the parts and then decide what goes where. You will definitely have better control of the project and have a better handle on what really needs to be done. You could end up putting time and money into parts you may not even use. Understand, this may not be for you in which case you will be at the mercy of someone else and will need to pay the agreed price. I usually seem to have more time than money or sense. Good Luck!
The decision to remove the body from the chassis will depend on the current condition of both. IF IF IF the body mounts, frame rails, etc are solid, I can see leaving them together. How much corrosion and repair must be accessed from the bottom or back side of the truck? Is the Divco originally from the East Coast with snow, rain, road salt, etc? an honest thorough evaluation of these important areas is needed. Did the shop look the truck over bafore providing a quote? Did they crawl under or put it on a lift? And the replies are spot on - the more prep work you do, the less must be contracted out. Good luck with your project.
the truck was from Virginia and was said to be in a barn. I will post pics soon of detailed interior exterior. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Not to rain on the parade, but it seems to me that you have zero experience with rebuilding a car, you may have bitten off a pretty large chunk for your first time. My advice? Slow down, give what you're doing a whole lot more thought, a whole lot more research, do as much as you can yourself, then push yourself to do more than you thought you could. Buy some tools, then more tools, take your time, get more tools, take your time, learn, learn, learn all you can about divco's. The last thing you want is $100,000 into a truck you can only get less than twenty thousand for, its a common mistake, even if you never sell it. Don't pay others for the easy stuff like stripping down a car or or anything you can do yourself. Did I mention take your time?
awesome advice. I totally appreciate your thoughtful message. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
This statement, would have me thinking of the final price. ---------------------------------------------------------- I'm being charged around $7.000 for this job as it's estimated. Not including welding etc. ------------------------------------------------- Is that for all blasted parts Epoxy primer ? It won't be less the 7K more like $10K after transportation and welding/patch panels/repairs. You better understand what the shop rate is, and that all repairs need to be pointed out to you, before any work is done. In order to get the front sheet metal alone , to align and retain a proper coach joint. The front hood panels are single thickness, without reinforcement they will never hold there shape. Please understand I very much understand the time effort it will take. Bob . http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Divco/BobPatterson/ http://www.facebook.com/media/set/edit/a.108375422561074.9794.102362503162366/ .
Good advice from many. divcotruck. You've chosen a very iconic truck and it will be a good investment if you remember that the time you spend on it is FUN and educational as well as thrifty. Also, nothing can replace that feeling of self accomplishment and you will use the skills and info. on future projects. Hit the "Tech Archives" and learn things daily for the rest of your life. Respect in the hobby is invaluable too. I've had goldchainers tell me they didn't even know what tires were on their car. Chuck
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