Wanted: Painter near SE Michigan, Looking for recommendations Options

[mangrum]

Hi Guys,

I have a '72 914 that needs a paint job. I have done a bit of body work and am looking for a shop that would be willing and able to do the paint work.

Anyone have any recommendations for shops SE Michigan?

Thanks,
Mike

[TJB/914]

Mangrum

That's a tough one to answer, depending on your level of paint quality work needed??

Go see Sebastian Gaeta owner & good guy at Arbor Motion in Ann Arbor, MI. <www.arbormotion.com> phone # (734) 761-1088

Arbor Motion is a higher end Euro/Porsche shop. Sebastian is a Porsche 356+ owner and 914 addict who will suggest a paint shop to fit your budget. Tell him I sent you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) It won't help. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

Get to know them because they sponsor lots of our local PCA Rally Sport Region learning events.

Tom

[mangrum]

Thanks Tom.

I'm looking for a good paint job, not Concourse level. And also reasonably priced, not expensive.

Arbor Motion has worked on my Mercedes cars. Tim Potts worked on my '75 914 when he had his own shop. I also used his shop for Mercedes work before he moved to Arbor Motion. I did not consider them for paint.

I've met Sebastian but didn't know he was the owner of Arbor Motion. I'll give him a call.

Anyone else?

Mangrum

That's a tough one to answer, depending on your level of paint quality work needed??

Go see Sebastian Gaeta owner & good guy at Arbor Motion in Ann Arbor, MI. <www.arbormotion.com> phone # (734) 761-1088

Arbor Motion is a higher end Euro/Porsche shop. Sebastian is a Porsche 356+ owner and 914 addict who will suggest a paint shop to fit your budget. Tell him I sent you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) It won't help. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

Get to know them because they sponsor lots of our local PCA Rally Sport Region learning events.

Tom

[mangrum]

Found a painter and work has started.

The first challenge was finding a shop that would do a paint job. Most shops just do insurance collision work. Second challenge was finding a shop that would do a paint job on top of my body work. Third challenge was finding a shop that would come to my house to look at the car since is not drive-able without doors, lights, etc. Fourth challenge was finding a shop that would do a paint job at a reasonable cost. One shop suggested $15k and another 7.5k and could not guarantee it would not be higher.

Anyway, work has started and the shop owner said it is a very solid car. But I pretty much knew that.

Last challenge is to get the job finished in a reasonable amount of time. This is not high on the priority list since the shop's bread and butter is in insurance collision work.

Mike

[McMark]

When a year rolls around, pull the car. And don't prepay for work. Hopefully all goes well, but this story has been told too many times. Back burner projects generally languish forever.

[Rob-O]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

I was just thinking the same thing. Usually when it's a shop that is operating on collision/insurance work they like those quick turn around jobs. Those shops usually have a hard time making any progress on project cars. As Mentioned above, don't prepay, have a deadline for entire projects and have steps in there too (I.e. Metal work done by xxx, in primer by xxx, blocked by xxx. I wish you the best! Nothing like getting a freshly painted body back in the garage so you can start attaching all the part horde you have on hand.

[mangrum]

Rob-O, McMark,

Sound advice for sure. I did not prepay.

This shop was recommended by someone who was recommended by Tom on this forum. Both respectable guys. The guy who had his car painted there also did the body work. He was satisfied with the quality of the work, price and timing.

I have also heard the horror stories. I know someone who took his 280SL to a shop where it languished for 5 years. He then took it to another shop where it's been for 5 years. I am not that patient.

The original estimate was 2 weeks. It's been 3. The plan is 2 more weeks. Probably another month.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

I was just thinking the same thing. Usually when it's a shop that is operating on collision/insurance work they like those quick turn around jobs. Those shops usually have a hard time making any progress on project cars. As Mentioned above, don't prepay, have a deadline for entire projects and have steps in there too (I.e. Metal work done by xxx, in primer by xxx, blocked by xxx. I wish you the best! Nothing like getting a freshly painted body back in the garage so you can start attaching all the part horde you have on hand.

[Cornerlot]

Found a painter and work has started....

Can I ask the shop's name? I too am looking for reasonable paint work. In your same area I visited 'Stony Creek Collision', a well know Porsche/BMW shop. They wanted $20k to respray a targa with NO rust or collision damage.

Steve

[mangrum]

Steve,

I also talked to Stony Creek. It took several months to get Craig to look at my car, and he only did that when I dropped the name of someone he does business with. After looking at the car to gain an understanding of the condition and my expectations, I expected him to give me a price. He instead asked what I wanted to pay. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif) When I responded with $1,000 more than I'm now paying I never head back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Mike

Found a painter and work has started....

Can I ask the shop's name? I too am looking for reasonable paint work. In your same area I visited 'Stony Creek Collision', a well know Porsche/BMW shop. They wanted $20k to respray a targa with NO rust or collision damage.

Steve

[Cornerlot]

Steve,

I also talked to Stony Creek. It took several months to get Craig to look at my car, and he only did that when I dropped the name of someone he does business with. After looking at the car to gain an understanding of the condition and my expectations, I expected him to give me a price. He instead asked what I wanted to pay. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif) When I responded with $1,000 more than I'm now paying I never head back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Mike

Found a painter and work has started....

Can I ask the shop's name? I too am looking for reasonable paint work. In your same area I visited 'Stony Creek Collision', a well know Porsche/BMW shop. They wanted $20k to respray a targa with NO rust or collision damage.

Steve

Exactly... who's doing the job for you now? You can PM me the name if you prefer.

Steve

[mangrum]

PM sent.

Stony Creek knows 914s and is the place to go if you want the best paint job. But not cheap. I didn't want to spend $15,000 on a paint job when the value of the car in the end is not worth that much. It's a '73 1.7 and my driver while restoring the "show" car. BTW, Stony Creek did the paint job on that car, a rotisserie level job.

Exactly... who's doing the job for you now? You can PM me the name if you prefer.

Steve

[mangrum]

Progress!

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