JoshG

So I have a question, You know how body shops are with cars right?

well thing is I saved up to $1300 and plan to use it on my car to do things I wanted to do to it ever since I had bought the car, it has been progressing nicely over time and am trying to get it where i want it to be...is this possible with this amount of money? considering ive seen people repaint their whole car for 1,500-2000$ atleast.

so i am getting rid of the 96 rear end means I swap to the 97-99 trunk as well getting either clears or smoked taillights, probably will end up getting smoked as im going for the aggressive black/white look. im trying to get rid of the orange off my car to complete the black/white look.

--Body shop topic-- let me know about ur opinions

with that being said, if I get the trunk and bring it to the body shops, they are well likely to repaint the bumper as well..does that mean its worth it to even consider getting the 97 bumper? I was just planning to get the trunk alone.

another thing is I have a bit of driver quarter panel damage. and again this gets me thinking, if they repair the damaged quarter panel, they are most likely to repaint the trunk, and In my head.. it just became a light bulb if I do it smart. the point is saving money towards the project im putting onto the car. (quarter panel is the only damage on the car left)

(for example, just doing the 97 trunk swap alone and having them repaint it..install.. and then leaving, then later coming back to repair the quarter panel damage, thus paying more money to just repaint the 97 trunk again!) making it less money overall if i do both at same time?

---Possible?---
with 1,300$ u think a quarter panel damage repair and trunk swap is possible?

if not, thats fine I will just end up doing the 97 rear end and front end swap and leaving the quarter panel alone, to repair later in the future.

considering it probably will be 80-100 for the trunk from junkyard, the paint cost is what scares me. front bumper 80-100 as well..then better clear headlights/get smoked or clear signals.

im quite positive front end and rear end swap is possible with this amount, but not too sure about quarter panel and trunk, since quarter panel is a ugly spot to have damage on.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Get the whole rear done at the same time so the paint matches. That quarter isn't so bad, maybe 3-4 hrs of repair labor. Expect to pay between 45-50/hr depending on the shop.

nsnrider

iTrader: (59)

first thing i would do is source out a white trunk lid. no point in having the underside repainted. Next, I would find one on craigslist. You can pick one up for less than $50. These cars are old and there are a ton of them. Parts are very cheap.

shop around with the body and paint work. Not sure where you are but around here, $1300 would be enough to do the complete 97 swap with paint and 1/4 panel repair.

Good luck. Car looks to be in good shape for the year.

JoshG

yeh that was my plan to get the trunk for around 100$ or less, and I heard paint and supplies and such are not that expensive, is it the labor what costs the $? sometimes i get afraid to hear the paint costs lol, i dont care about the part price costs, its the body shop what gets my mind pulling me back.

so ur saying i can possibly do 97 front end and rear end swap with 1/4 quarter panel repair with the amount i have? cause if so I would be done with my exterior for a good amount of time. It has black leather and all options, leather is hardly touched so If i complete all these 3 things, my exterior would be the place I would be so happy with. by the way the paint is pearl white so how much more expensive is that than white?


how much is it even worth to do rear end and front end swap these days? i looked at older fourms about it, but prices change, like paint cost to paint em, part cost, body shop?

nsnrider

iTrader: (59)

paint cost vary greatly depending on the quality of paint. Also, pearl white could be a regular base coat/clear coat or it could be a three stage. If it is a three stage, price for a paint job would be much higher and they would need to repaint the roof along with the other 1/4 panel since you can't blend three stage colors and there is no breaking point on the 1/4 panel. That said, there are certain three stage colors that can be mixed into a base coat/clear coat. That varies from paint code to paint code. Keep in mind, when it comes to painting, it's mostly in the preparation therefore the high labor costs. When I mentioned you can get everything done on the 1300$ budget, I was considering a basic "value" paint job which consists of cheap base and clear. If you ask for the best, expect to pay on the high scale.

JoshG

I was doing a bit more research on body shops and I heard that cash paying customers receive less cost and discounts from the body shop rather than dealing with insurance companies? because if its related to the insurance company they have to do a better job for them?