The13Bats

Okay, here is the saga,
I had my 69 bust a rear strut which showed all the rust on the frame I got lucky and found a roller chassis from a member here, it will be here sunday.
I planned to do the frame swap myself, I have done such work in the past,
The rub is my wife would rather me be with her than wrenching on the car, I agree,
But I am doubting that there is a shop in central florida who would do me this frame swap AND be willing to take payments as they work, and when work paid off I get car back.
But if you know of a shop or good person who will tackle it please hook me up,
Many thanks!
Cheers,
P.

joewill

as long as you make a good down payment so that the shop does not get upside down in the work, I am sure they can do it for you..

lvmyvt76

this will get expensive. What work are you going to do to the new frame and parts that are going to go on it??? Paint everything, replace all parts that are need to be replaced, upgrade???? This is a "while I am at it' job.

oldgto

Call Stan in Cocoa.....
http://sscorvettes.net/

MyRed69

Give Vansteel in Clearwater a call. they did my frame and suspension; powdercoat, coilovers all around; etc, etc... My body was already off, just dragged my frame over to them.

noonie

Here is a guy in Deltona not far from you, that you may be interested in. You can see his work in this thread.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...barn-find.html
Start at page 5.
His forum name is restoreral or PM AllC34Me for contact info.

The13Bats

I likely didn't make things clear,
Sadly, There was a time when a person found a tired vette had a frame off restoration done and the car was worth more than invested, That's really not the case anymore unless the car is really rare,
Take a look on the net a person can buy a running driver for a fraction of having one restored.

I do not desire a full restoration anyway.

It's this chassis,

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-p...nvertible.html

It's almost ready to install, my parts like engine tranny etc will go on this chassis then it goes under my 69,
I would however like to go with a 700 tranny if budget allows.

Yeah, I know the job has some hard nasty parts, I'm no purist I am not looking for some NCRS award winning job, I just want a "driver"
Not looking for some chest thumping top end barrett jackson restoration shop that has as ego as big as all outdoors who wants me to worship them because it was "my" honor they worked on my car.

I am just looking for a shop or even a person who wants the work and can help me out, you know simple and down to earth.

When I saw the chassis sitting in the yard I started thinking I can do this swap faster than I thought,
When I swapped engines with another member I drove into his workshop one AM and drove the car home the next day.

But I do not claim to be all that at least anymore, what I could do not too many years ago I either take 3 times as long to do or can't do at all by my self.
Then my life, my wife teaches at the university and we are off thurs-Sunday we do a night club show Friday night and then play the rest of the time, she doesn't want me wrenching on the car on her free time,
She is more accepting than I am that this would take me 10 times longer to do than it would have 10-20- years ago.

If I didn't think those body to frame bolts were going to be a nightmare I think I would jump right on this swap.

maverickmk

I personally know the guys at Corvette Masters in Maitland, maybe give them a call. I don't know about payments, unless you're looking at paying as they go within a reasonable amount of time, but if you want to leave it there finished and make $100.00/monthly payments I don't know too many businesses that would do that.

http://corvettemasters.com/new/index.html

qwank

you'd probably be better off selling your current car for parts and buying a driver. just inspect the frame and cage really good next time.

bashcraft

The storage fee would cost more than that.

The13Bats

I am not being snarky and realize things get lost in type but where the heck did I say "100.00" payments OR not paying anything until it's finished.

I realize some people are not into wrenching on their cars, I ran into a fellow with a nice old vette at a cruise and he didn't even know what carb it had....I also know that even with people who do spin wrenches doing a frame off can seem scary, it's a big dirty job but I did my first at 16 on a Camaro that I made steel flares for,
I have done many body offs, not the "know how" that is the issue.

While I feel what I pay is between me and the person/shop I plan to make a deposit, then pay monthly far more than 100.00, my comment about not getting the car until it's paid off was to show I'm not some Richard Cheese thinking I can have the car while still owing.
( If that was a case )
Storage fees are a total moot point if a car is being worked on, most shops do not work on the same car the whole time it's there but that down time isn't counted as "storage"

No...it's not cheaper by a long shot to sell what I have ( you always take a beating on "project" sales ) and buyer a driver that will not be exactly what I want, perhaps if this was some later model,.... yep drivers , nice drivers are a dime a dozen now days.

Now on Corvette Masters it would seem I am the only person to have bad luck with them but the mind set the owner gave me and the attached attitude I would never take anything to them,
Years back I had that sorry 86 ( did I mention I hate c4's ) I have an insurance claim for windows and figured it would be a good time to get the AC working right.

They did tests on it charging me well over 100.00 yes I know you will say shops charge diagnostic fees but most good ones apply said fees to the repair not Corvette Masters,
The tech said he "thought" is was some part that was several 100.00 I said so if you replace that it will fix the issues, the tech and owner agreed they "hoped" it would fix it but didn't know for sure and if not they would move on to the next 100.00 plus part. and I would be out 100.00's for a part I didn't need,
They tried to convince me that is how AC repairs are handled, well, I have asked many other auto and auto ac repair shops that and all said no,
That a good tech/shop learns the actual problem from tests and never tries to "learn" how to fix cars on the customers wallet.
And that a good shop will eat the costs if they replace a part you didn't even need.

Could they do my job and do it well I bet you they could but I doubt I could deal with the chest thumping.

noonie

I'm aware of your intentions.
The guy I referenced above can do resto or anything less, certainly not exclusive to resto.
It may be in your best interest to contact him and discuss your needs/desires/costs.

The13Bats

I will do just that,
Please send me his number,
The13bats@aol.com
Thanks.....

noonie

Apparently he has moved to New England, so of no use to you.
Sorry.

The13Bats

I did find his contact didnt know he moved, oh well I will keep trying,
I posted on Craigslist, yeah I know a dirt flea market but a few times being careful I have had luck on there.

I do admit I get a kick out of the ones who see themselves as high end you know they have an big ego and this isnt just car people all kinds of service people, or people with something to sell or trade, someone asks their price on it and they just push "how much you got?"
If they are selling something and do that to me I lowball them on purpose but if it's a service then I ask if they have done it before and of course they are old hat at it so I then say then how much did you charge in the past, you know from low to hig, just a ballpark, and when they do the song and dance with smoke and mirrors and won't give a ballpark I know this is a person just wanting to stick it to people......

Spacecoast

Try and give Corvette Interiors Plus (www.facebook.com/corvetteinteriors) here in Titusville a call (Ron Wood at 321-269-3887).

The13Bats

Before I call and waste their time ( and mine ) bdo they do lower level stuff like I need?

tokim

Regardless of who you find, be sure and get a written detailed contract of work to be performed, parts, labor, time, cost, etc.
Good luck in your search.

gbvette62

What your talking about doing is called progress payments, and is actually pretty common in the restoration business. As work on the car progresses, you make payment. If work doesn't progress, you don't pay, and in reverse, if you don't pay, work doesn't progress. This is the best way to handle it, for both the shop and the customer.

You might try Steve at C & S Corvettes, in Sarasota. I've known him for years, and think he run's a reputable business. C & S operates both a parts business, and a Corvette repair facility. I don't think the shop does restorations, just repair work, but he parts out a lot of cars, so I can't imagine that it would be real difficult for him to do a frame swap.

The number there is 800-886-5064. You can use my name if you want, though I don't know if it would have any effect on whether he'd do the job. I don't want to run afowl of the moderators, by mentioning my name, or more so the name of my business, but if you want to PM me, I'll give it to you.

The13Bats

[QUOTE=gbvette62;1585349213]What your talking about doing is called progress payments, and is actually pretty common in the restoration business. As work on the car progresses, you make payment. If work doesn't progress, you don't pay, and in reverse, if you don't pay, work doesn't progress. This is the best way to handle it, for both the shop and the customer.

QUOTE]


Right on...you worded well what I didn't....I knew someone did this and not surprised it's common with decent reputable shops.

It's been hard to find someone who isn't full of it, and it's not just with car repairs but when someone starts the song and dance about every job is different and no way they will give even a vague ballpark idea of their fees, I see red flags, Does anyone really hire a job with no idea the finale cost?????

I hit one guy with, Well, you have done this a time or two before right?
He said of course, I said well then what were some of those prices that will give me that ballpark I need...he was such a CheeseRichard he hung up on me.....I guess being called out and exposed gets some of those clowns butthurt.

Anyway I called Steve and he is out at some show but they will call me back and Spacecoast I also am waiting for a call back from Ron Wood...