Quote:
Originally Posted by PearlJammzz
Damn, they musta raped you on labor, lol. That's a ton! Could just be area pricing changes though..
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It's probably cheaper in SC than most of the country... The way it works is that a pro bodyshop will look things up in a job costing book, similar to how a mechanic does it. For example, to paint a fender it says x hours to remove, y hours to paint, z hours to put everything back. Paint hours were around $72 I think, the relatively unskilled hours were around $35 or so maybe. Multiply that times every single part on the car and add in the cost of paint end environmental fees etc. and you get the cost of a full paintjob. We're not talking Earl Scheib or Maaco here! It's probably not worth it to most people, but that's what it takes to get a 1989 car with the kind of finish that a modern car has.
Well, there's actually 2 things that come into play coming up with that number. First off that number was actually after me talking the guy down a good bit off the book cost because a.) he was doing the whole car and b.) he had just done a really good job on my wife's accord so I was a repeat customer. I think $6800 was 15 or 20% off the full book price if I remember right. The other thing is that insurance was paying for the door and fender because they got scraped up, so I didn't pay the full $6800 out of pocket -- insurance paid about $2400 of it (well I paid for it in premiums after that believe me!) I thought long and hard about it before doing it, but the car was already paid off and I figured that I couldn't get a better car for 5 grand than a fully restored MR2SC! The damage to the door and fender were in a parking lot, and were fully repaired by the body shop.
It really is something to see. It's not perfect any longer since it has been a few years, but it's still VERY nice. That's why I was saying better than showroom -- as I understand it these cars didn't have clearcoat back in 1989, which is why they all have paint that's faded to some extent or another.
Sorry you don't like the cold air intake, I thought it was really cool. I was going for an almost stock look: I specifically asked that the badges not be put back on (people were always seeing the "Supercharger" sticker and wanting to race, plus I hated the chickenhawk on the hood), but cold air intake was the one concession I made to having it externally visible how modded it is. Now without the SC badging people have no idea what just blew them off the road! I really should have gotten the competition clutch earlier -- the stock clutch had started slipping pretty much right after turning up the boost. It lasted a really long time, but I had no idea how wicked hard it pulled without that slipping clutch. I really wish I could import it and take it to the Nurburgring, but alas...