The end is near....SCOTTeVEST's Baby

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scottevest

scottevest

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I am about to get my Coupe repainted, not a bare metal restore, etc. It looks great now, but just needs some love. I am getting chrome bumpers installed and thought I would get the whole car painted while I am at it. Here is what I sent to the painter, and his bid is shown here. Thanks for your feedback. Note that I am not looking to show the car, and intend to keep the car for a very long time. Color will remain the same, black.

Below is what i sent the painter:

Here is a short Youtube video showing the car:
and this one specifically done with the painting in mind although the door gaps have been addressed:
 
Scott,

I don't have much to add, what stood out in my eyes were the "Reassemble car, reassemble doors, install front and rear bumpers and align" with an estimate of 8 hours.
That part seems to be very low calculated.

Buy the trim belt bolts + nuts from BMW. The bolts in the W&N-set didn't fit very well (some not at all) and I had to go get another set of bolts from BMW, they were perfect.
 
Gransin said:
Scott,

I don't have much to add, what stood out in my eyes were the "Reassemble car, reassemble doors, install front and rear bumpers and align" with an estimate of 8 hours.
That part seems to be very low calculated.
Click to expand...

Yeah that is a pipe dream, especially the door alignment and windscreen install. Ask yourself if you want the shop to estimate correctly up front or if you want to attempt to hold them to the quote after the fact. I would vote that you ensure that the shop is adequate and educated on the e9 reassembly requirements first.

Make sure the shop isn’t assuming that they can just glue in a new windshield. You may need to hunt around for a resource capable of reinstalling the glass. It isn’t really a one-man job either.

Also, as others have mentioned, wait a month or two before putting the belt line back on. You don’t want this. I thought this was a vinyl wrap but it is not. This is one show car and one member car. My car has it as well.

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I think La Jolla has spacers for the body trim that help to prevent the paint damage. I'd still wait a while for the paint to fully cure before reinstalling the trim, but they are on the list of items to buy for my restoration.
 
You are heading down the rabbit hole and opening Pandora's Box when getting into these cars. I believe the estimate is low, from my experiences figure double or add $10K to the estimate, especially when dealing with any kind of rust. If the shop your estimate has never worked on an E9, consider another shop like VSR1.com in New Hampshire who specializes in CS coupes.
 
On the other hand, if the shop is excited about it, is honest, and they like you and your car, what could go wrong. Disclaimers apply.
If you like the guys and trust them, it sounds like it could have potential. I like a nice quiet shop, no music, no guys standing around talking about the weather or lottery tickets or somebody else’s car. 100% focused. When you pay by the hour you don’t want a guy,looking up every time someone walks by.
Hah! I guess that’s why I do my own work..lol
Check around locally and see if anyone knows them or their work...
It looks like they are only removing enough trim to paint, not removing doors. So there are no alignment issues. There is no bodywork in the estimate, just blocking. It is just a car, how difficult could it be, judging by the last BaT coupe factory pressed panels aren’t that important:)
They also have left some wiggle room in the trim reinstalls.
I agree seems very inexpensive, not sure what the going rate is for a complete, with glass out....
My opinion is free.:D
 
Gransin said:
Scott,

I don't have much to add, what stood out in my eyes were the "Reassemble car, reassemble doors, install front and rear bumpers and align" with an estimate of 8 hours.
That part seems to be very low calculated.

Buy the trim belt bolts + nuts from BMW. The bolts in the W&N-set didn't fit very well (some not at all) and I had to go get another set of bolts from BMW, they were perfect.
Click to expand...
thank you.
 
Scott,

I watched your video. I like your transparency about the issues that you would like to correct with your driver.

Heads up. If you do want to do your wood reach out to @bela22. Factory wood was French Walnut and you have oak now. Bela does other options like Burl, tiger wood, etc.

You can fix your console gaps also. The trans tunnel bracket is probably just installed wrong.
 
I'm still laughing.
Between removing your wheels a total of Three times - count em - they are going to sand starting at 1500 grit and finish at 200 grit for buffing.
 
Oh my. I hadn’t watched the second video. Definitely bodywork. Different ball park.
I thought we were talking about a straight car. I take it all back.
8000 you could do it yourself though. Learn to weld, tune it up...blah blah

If there was a book similar to this even a monkey could do it

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Note that all the door gaps and issues related to the doors have been addressed already. This is all really helpful information. Thank you very much.
 
scottevest said:
Note that all the door gaps and issues related to the doors have been addressed already. This is all really helpful information. Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Well, I had to stop watching when that first misaligned door showed up, plus it looks like some metal work even if you stick to the top of the car.
It’s worth it to try and find the best tradesmen in your area...but then again ymmv
Edit...other advantage to finding “those local guys” if they are good they will be honest about whether they can do it or not and you will probably need them someday:)
 
Gransin said:
Scott,

I don't have much to add, what stood out in my eyes were the "Reassemble car, reassemble doors, install front and rear bumpers and align" with an estimate of 8 hours.
That part seems to be very low calculated.

Buy the trim belt bolts + nuts from BMW. The bolts in the W&N-set didn't fit very well (some not at all) and I had to go get another set of bolts from BMW, they were perfect.
Click to expand...
Scott, @HBChris and I reassembled my coupe after paint and we spent 4 ten-hour days (40 man hours) and that did not include windows
 
Stan said:
Scott, @HBChris and I reassembled my coupe after paint and we spent 4 ten-hour days (40 man hours) and that did not include windows
Click to expand...

And, the most important thing, you probably knew what you were doing and how it's supposed to be installed/assembled.
Double the time if you have to scratch your head everytime you take a new part in your hands.

I agree with Andrew, double the estimate or add $10k. I think that is realistic if everything is done to a good standard. Everything always lead to another with these cars..
 
restart said:
Oh my. I hadn’t watched the second video. Definitely bodywork. Different ball park.
I thought we were talking about a straight car. I take it all back.
8000 you could do it yourself though. Learn to weld, tune it up...blah blah

If there was a book similar to this even a monkey could do it

View attachment 37427 View attachment 37428View attachment 37429
Click to expand...
it is a straight car.... the doors were alaigned by Bill Arnold. The hood needs only a slight adjustment. Thanks all.
 
First of all, this seems like a real bargain.

Perhaps labor rates out there are much lower than elsewhere. If this were a solid fixed price contract and the work was guaranteed to be of high quality (but not pebble beach level), I’d be tempted to send one of my cars to your guy.

$16 a foot to restore the exterior trim seems like a good deal (if it’s clear coated after polishing). Get the name of the shop for us.

The list of work seems about right to me. Yes there’s a typo on the wet sanding (200 should be 2000).

Check with him on the bumper conversion. A well executed bumper conversion should take more than 8 hours. Lots of old holes need to be welded and smoothed and new ones created for the older style bumper. In the rear the side reinforcements may need to be cut off (depending on how picky you are). If he hasn’t done it before I hope you have given him new front brackets and very detailed pics/measurements of a car that’s been converted. I’d say 16 hours the bumper conversion.

The other thing which seems unrealistic is the hours to reassemble everything. Stan’s job took longer because he was inexperienced, didn’t have a whole lot of tools, his was a full disassembly - more parts to put back), and the job was done with friends who spent time chatting while working. I’ll bet an experienced pro shop that has done many E9’s (VSR1) could put the exterior all back together nicely in 16 hours. There are lots of fiddle bits to deal with and the rear seats and trim all have to come out to get to the side trim fasteners.

I’d budget another $2-$3 k so you aren’t disappointed when the shop calls to tell you they under estimated the work.
Good luck.

John
 
bfeng said:
First of all, this seems like a real bargain. Perhaps labor rates out there are much lower than elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Yea, the quote shows $65/hour. We haven't seen numbers that low here in California in a long time.

I too agree that the shop doing the bidding is probably not familiar with the complexity of an e9. Also, they may not understand what it takes to convert from the '74 bumpers to the earlier style. When scottvest writes "new front bumpers" are those the stainless steel reproductions? I have read here that it takes some time to tinker with those to get a good fit.
 
jmackro said:
Yea, the quote shows $65/hour. We haven't seen numbers that low here in California in a long time.

I too agree that the shop doing the bidding is probably not familiar with the complexity of an e9. Also, they may not understand what it takes to convert from the '74 bumpers to the earlier style. When scottvest writes "new front bumpers" are those the stainless steel reproductions? I have read here that it takes some time to tinker with those to get a good fit.
Click to expand...

The bumpers are not reproductions but actual original equipment repolished


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
scottevest said:
The bumpers are not reproductions but actual original equipment repolished
Click to expand...

OK, well that helps.

I'm certainly not trying to discourage you from using this shop - they are probably competent and well-meaning. But you don't want to hold a shop to a low, fixed price and have them hurry the work to try to limit their losses. And you don't want a shop asking you for more money every week when the scope of the work exceeds their initial estimate. So some further discussion may be in order.
 
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