Last summer I had a huge amount of work done on my car, mostly needed for the
MOT. This included new floor plans, sills, boot (trunk) floor, rear wings.
Also the cost of the MOT and some minor mechanical work. The total bill was
around £2000 (I think that's about £3200), and I figure most of that was for the
floor/sills/paint. This was done by a local Triumph specialist, and I was
extremely pleased with the quality of the work. Sure, I could have bought a
whole new Spit for that price. In fact, the mechanic offered me a new Spit
instead. But since the PO had the engine re-conditioned, and I'd fitted a
recon. gearbox shortly before, I figured I'd rather spend the cash on this car.
I now have a car with good engine, gearbox, floors, sills, rear wings, bonnet
(hood) (replaced last Autumn (Fall) (won't we ever learn to speak the same
language as each other?)).
I guess it's down to the individual to evaluate how much a car is actually worth
(not market worth!), and whether you want to spend a certain amount of money on
it. I would say that, for most Spits, it would be stupid to spend the amount of
money I spent on mine. But get some quotes, disregard any from people who
haven't done serious work on Triumphs before (unless you have no choice) and
then decide if it's worth it.
Of course, if you've got any friendly, experienced club members near you that
would lend you a hand, and check all your work for you, the best way of learning
is to be thrown in at the deep end!
Good luck!
Dean
--------------
Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 08:26:30 -0800
From: Barry Schwartz <bschwart@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: R/R rusted floorpans
>Thanks for the straight dope. The sills and rockers were replaced by the
>previous owner ten years ago with galvanized steel and appear to be (knock
>on wood) in great shape, I'm happy to say.
*********************************************
I would be interested to find out where he got them, as I have never seen
them advertised from any supplier, and welding already galvanized metal is
mediocre at best (unless you grind off the galvanizing or follow specific
procedures and fixturing, which kinda defeats the purpose) and can be
dangerous as well (emits poisonous gas when the zinc vaporizes during
welding). Usually most, if not all galvanizing is done AFTER the welding
process -
As far as cost, I really have no idea - never had any body work done by a
shop :-) maybe someone on the list has had it done and can give you a
better idea. How about it, any listers had this done, and what was the
cost? Jeff might like to know -
Barry Schwartz (San Diego) bschwart@pacbell.net
72 PI, V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (when I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spitfire (long term project)
|