WANTED: Competent Bodyman/Painter in Western WA State..............

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I'd like to think he doesn't understand that the money the shop makes from the guy doing the grunt work helps pay the bills and equipment costs. Nobody I know in this business is just pulling it in hand over fist without a lot of hard work. Most have no idea what it cost to keep a shop full of equipment.
 
I'd like to think he doesn't understand that the money the shop makes from the guy doing the grunt work helps pay the bills and equipment costs. Nobody I know in this business is just pulling it in hand over fist without a lot of hard work. Most have no idea what it cost to keep a shop full of equipment.

I don't know anyone who even if they work their ass off make money hand over fist in this business. Even bodyshop owners unless they are big (10-15+ tech's) that are making money hand over fist.

Us tech's who do this are just making a living like any other worker out there with one huge exception we have to buy the tools to do our jobs. I personaly have well over $5k invested ( I don't want to know the real number) and still come accross tools that I need to get because of the ever changing world of automobiles. When things of mine brake I have to pay to repair or replace unless they are warrentied hand tools.

That's the huge difference that separates us from the clown that goes to the mill or office that makes the same (my mill friends make a hell of alot more then me with their paid overtime, which I don't get) they have no tool investment to do their work. It's those people that don't have a clue what it takes for us to do our jobs and the crap we put our bodies threw to give them a job to be proud of.

So when one of those shallow unappreciative self centered
Assholes show their true self and say we have no skill and what we do is just grunt work, I take issue with it. We don't deserve to make a decent wage for what we do for a living? I take issue with it. I can assure you that if I worked 30+ yrs at McDonald's or Wal-Mart I would be making better money. I do this because I like to fix things that others can't and to push myself to do it better as I'm sure others do to.

If you read his post he wants a person to moonlight on his project from where it is now to fit up, body, paint, assembly but refers that to grunt work that requires no skill. Really!? No skill? Then where does the skill come in to play?

He wants to bash Crash and Chris with his retarded post? When they are just pointing out the obvious, I read nothing harsh in their posts to merit his response. He has been helped in the past from members here (look at his back ground) with this very car so he knows we will be here to help but I for one will not be, ever, he is on his own.
 
i've dealt with this before as just about every guy doing this has. they prey on young guys starting out promising to bring them all kinds of work. what they really do is con some poor guy into working for crap wages so they can flip the car and make money. i'v advised a number of newbie's on here over the years to send these clowns hiking. it's always the same old song and same game.
this is the kind of crap thread we dont need here. let him go the the other paint sites or stay on the camaro site. they are all pro's and know everything about paint . including this guy.
dump this thread .
 
what they really do is con some poor guy into working for crap wages so they can flip the car and make money.
.

this statement sure says youre 100% correct:
".If Im lucky completed car with rebuilt EVERYTHING will sell for $25K..."
 
this thread should be left to read at least. it is exactly what young guys need to see. never let some tool customer bully you into working for nothing no mater what they promise . over the years i've dealt with many . especially when starting out . over time i learned sweeping the floors paid better than working my butt off for one of them . telling them your not interested is the way to handle it. if they persist throw them out of your shop. it wont hurt your business but it will make them aware you are serious about your job and know what your doing.

" the cheapest shop is always the busiest and the first to fail "
 
i've dealt with this before as just about every guy doing this has. they prey on young guys starting out promising to bring them all kinds of work. what they really do is con some poor guy into working for crap wages so they can flip the car and make money. i'v advised a number of newbie's on here over the years to send these clowns hiking. it's always the same old song and same game.
this is the kind of crap thread we dont need here. let him go the the other paint sites or stay on the camaro site. they are all pro's and know everything about paint . including this guy.
dump this thread .

So true Shine. Wish I had this forum when I was starting out.

Link removed by me. Not trying to be disrespectful of anyone
 
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Kind of odd that a vet and a union man would be so disdainful of body & paint guys. Maybe he's had a run of bad luck with the ones he's dealt with?

I personally did not want this to become a flame fest. Sometimes a bit of back and forth and education on both party's part is called for, again that's why I like to sometimes start with something small because the stakes are lower and it establishes trust.

Lots of shops would have no clue what to do with a job like that, unfortunately many of those would also have no clue that they have no clue, if you get what I mean.
 
Yes, good reality/memory check for everyone.
And we all know text & verbal reads totally different.
Car guys should know though we build our own for the fun.
I've seen cars sell at Barrett Jackson for less then resto $$
 
All good remarks and lessons for those starting out. When I was younger I did a few jobs where I priced myself into making nothing because I thought I'd get more work from the customer. As I look back it was dumb because that work would be for nothing also.

I even had lawyer from Jersey stiff me out of $5500 once. Final bill and he had the car picked up with a check. As soon as the driver pulled out of the driveway he cancelled that check. He said he would pay me the total bill if I paint his Packard Caribbean for X amount of dollars. I declined as it was dirt cheap. He did send me a check but it was for what he wanted to spend. I've never seen or heard from him again. With him being a lawyer and it was the right amount of money for me to eat it. I'm glad our paths have never crossed again as I would've thumped an old man at the time.

Now I have a screening process and if we aren't compatible I don't need the headache. This camaro wouldn't have made it to the second interview.
 
I forgot to say in the last post that I was in the UAW for a couple years and their are several Cereal plants close by that are union. I haven't worked for any of those guys as they were the biggest hypocrites imaginable. They think their time is worth gold but won't pay anything for your time. They were having cars built and painted but only by the absolute cheapest guys and would try to get me to match their prices. I was at least double because my standards were so much higher than most of the shops around here. That group is mostly in the retirement home now and the new guys have contracts for less money and benefits with families so they aren't building cars. Interesting to see what the future holds for us.

In general this post is constructive for new members but maybe not for the original post. Heck, maybe it helpful for him to listen to a bunch of cremudgeons piss and moan. :D
 
lol shine i hear ya. tv lawyer ads..eh i'll stop.
And hey i meant putting time & money in hot rods as kids. I know I never got whatever i put in a motor back after "enjoying" it heh.
You right of course meaning shops gotta eat, not charity. It's the guy who expects to get back double he spent on resto.
Now my uncle who flipped used cars loved a $400 all over. Resale red too :) interior overspray free.
 
Kind of odd that a vet and a union man would be so disdainful of body & paint guys. Maybe he's had a run of bad luck with the ones he's dealt with?

I personally did not want this to become a flame fest. Sometimes a bit of back and forth and education on both party's part is called for, again that's why I like to sometimes start with something small because the stakes are lower and it establishes trust.

Lots of shops would have no clue what to do with a job like that, unfortunately many of those would also have no clue that they have no clue, if you get what I mean.


My Union friends are some of the cheepest people you could work for. I whole heartedly agree with Brad, they (I believe) have it instilled in them through the union that they are suppose to be the highest paid people and do the least for it. Everyone of my friends (not so much anymore, been stung bad!!!) have the same I'm better then thou attitude and the least paid one made $89k the highest paid made $138k last year all with a union pension too and I physically bust my ass way harder then any of them for less and no pension.

Brad just so you know my post wasn't directed at you in any way, I'm sorry if you felt it was.
 
My wife and I record a lot of the different car shows and the best example I can give is Fantom Works, look at how many cars that he gets in where he has to redo what other work on the cars have been done before, some of the deals are just scary.
Many have paid twice after he redid the job to get to where they want to be.
One car I bought and thought would be a very easy job turned into a total nightmare, If I was doing for someone else and asked for a solid price I would have guessed $5000 but $20,000 later it was done, so what would I have done if gave a $5000 price?
Don't know but those are the cars that end up at fantom works because they threw the car in the corner 5 years ago.
 
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