Door Repair panels, prices of welding them on.

[Chief]

Hi,
I was wondering what sort of costs the repair panels would be to have welded on to each of our doors on our 4-door saloon.

Currently we've been given two estimates (£200 per door / £450 per door) by different welders, these include the usual work of being painted afterwards etc, however I wondered if anyone knew of places doing it cheaper than that, or if thats a decent going rate for work at the moment.

Moneys a bit tight at the moment (dipping into money i'd been saving for other things) hence why I'm hoping for cheaper prices.

Sadly to make matters worse, today as I was working in the car, I caught my heel on the rear door and the bottom ripped off so currently there's 2 doors that need immediate repair and two that will need repair not in the too distant future but barring accidents should hold together for a little bit longer.

Because I had no idea how expensive this job would actually be, I've already gone and bought the repair panels which are now residing in their packaging awaiting use.

Thanks

[aupickup]

i would say that sounds about right
its a time consuming job

best bet is to ask on here for doors or watch ebay they come up quite often

[MoggyTech]

It's a tricky repair to get right, as the panels need to be joggled, and the welds dressed right back to get an invisible repair. Then there's the Bondo work, prime, flat back, prime, flat back, then respray doors to match the rest of the vehicle.

Hence, £200 per door is dirt cheep, while £450 per door should be top quality work with zero flaws.

Or, buy a Mig welder and spraygun and do a course in panel repairs

[bmcecosse]

Seems like crazy expensive price to me. Must be someone local to you (where in Argyll are you ?) who can wield a welding torch - or get to it yourself!! That kind of money will NEVER be reflected in the value of the car!

[MoggyTech]

Seems like crazy expensive price to me. Must be someone local to you (where in Argyll are you ?) who can wield a welding torch - or get to it yourself!! That kind of money will NEVER be reflected in the value of the car!

The prices are really realistic bodyshop prices, with a labour intensive job.
DIY is the best option here, but a joggled lower door skin repair is a tough place to start. Mind you, if time is not a factor, buying a Mig welder and learning how to use it, followed by a mid price HVLP spraygun might get the job done for about £300 in total for all the doors.

[aupickup]

and also bmc dont forget that labour rates have to include rates, elec, rent etc on workshops

i had to charge £35.00 per hour in my joinery workshop, and that was just to earn a wage

[chickenjohn]

Yes, 200-450 per door is about right, it can take hours ans hours to repair a door- I know, I've done a couple and not east to do an invisible repair.

ANy cheaper than 200 will get you a poor quality job that will not last.

[kennatt]

whilst I have great sympathy with the tradesman with seriously high overheads,and know from doing four of my own, that this type of repair is difficult to do to a high standard,I have to agree with bmcecosse.At an average of £300 on a four door £1200 is too much to pay for a car that is probably only worth £1000.Get round E bay and the club traders there will be reasonable second hand doors about if you look long enough,The rest of the car would have to be in mint condition before I would spend half that amount on doors.The trouble with traders is that they know what others are charging and sometimes jump on the band wagon. Ive just been stung for tracking after a front susp. rebuild .£20 and I timed the guy. Because everything was new and free took him 10 minutes from going on the ramp to being pushed back out. Whats that£120 an hour

[DanRodd]

mmm 4 door doors are harder to find than 2 doors but by no means impossible(this thread has reminded me i need to sand off the bubbling on my door!)keep looking thru ebay and the club mag and indeed on here,much cheaper and sensible option in my opinion.

[MoggyTech]

Got to add in the 'love' factor for the car. I've seen people spend Four Grand on leather interiors for cars that externaly were not that great. Also bare metal resprays costing Four Grand on cars that are maybe worth Four Grand after the respray.

So some people will spend more money than the car is worth, and full marks to them. Much better than allowing the car to rot away and end up in a berakers yard or used for banger racing. The more 'decent' cars the members have the stronger the MMOC will be. Not a bad thing surely ?

Not every owner will be capable of learning all the skills required to keep a Moggy looking and running well. Family/work commitments sometimes means you just need to shell out cash to the professionals.

[bmcecosse]

That's all fine - for lottery Winners - but if the excessive cost drives the car into the breakers yard - no point in that. But -I am very pleasantly surprised at how many think that's acceptable costs - I will be very carefully treasuring my spare doors and it will give me a nice winter project - and the rewards come the summer will send me on a round world cruise!!

[aupickup]

so where does everyone thnk where the equipment comes from, we dont get government loans, or back handers from the government
we have to pay for the equipment we use and its not cheap and comes out of the little profit we make

i dont think many on here shell out in excess of £2000.00 a month before they go to work

i can see a time when us the small buisenessman will be out done by increasing costs of equipment and premises, and then we are in the hands of the big companies who will charge a lot more beleive me

so think on all who make such ridiculous remarks about prices

my spindle as an example was in excess of £10000.00 and the money has to come from somewhere

or of course do it youself or better still try and set up a buisenes of your own and find out the hard way

[aupickup]

yep good idea repair all your old doors, count up the cost of hours involved multiply by £35.00 hourly rate and sell them

[bmcecosse]

Oh the hours will be free - it'll save me sitting here answering questions !!! Or - painting the house from top to bottom as The Dragon imagines is going to happen over the winter!

A while ago I tried to get this lad - http://www.minidoor.co.uk/ to include Minor doors in his business. He told me then he couldn't keep up with the Mini doors never mind taking on extra work! Seems to me the correct answer would have been to take on an apprentice - and welcome the extra work which would help to spread the overheads more thinly.
I'm afraid that's the only answer to overheads - the machines need to work continuously - 24/7 if possible.

[aupickup]

and again a really sensible reply from the far north

[bmcecosse]

I really don't see any need for what amounts to a personal attack on me there Dennis - why are you getting on your 'high horse' about this ?
There is absolutely no need for you to personalise this issue - it is a reasoned disscussion of the matter - why on earth you feel the need to add personal comments like that is way beyond me. It's not the way I would expect forum members to behave.
Edit - Apology has been offered and accepted - thanks Dennis.

But my view IS the realistic answer for Classic Cars - only the rich and famous can afford to pay to have everything done on their cars. I can only own and enjoy my cars by doing ALL the work myself. There is no way I can pay crazy prices like that just to have some doors sorted!! And I suspect many on here are in the same boat.

[aupickup]

i think you are missing the point, it is a realistic price based on outgoings for any small buiseness

ok if you do the work yourself then thats fine, but a lot can not
in the same way do we all build our own houses, and make all the interior fittings , doors, windows, staircases i think not

[LouiseM]

In my view although the 'love' factor comes into it so does realism. I try and do as much of the work I can on my car, and have picked up some bargain parts and spares on e-bay and at autojumbles. Sometimes though I have had to go to a 'professional' and don't begrudge paying the money as I realise that due to overheads etc the cost will be high (I'd love to find a garage in London charging £35 per hour though! ). I realise though that the amount spent will never be recouped if I sell my car and have to accept that - I'm just happy to keep it on the road. The original poster mentioned that money's tight though so under the circumstances it's probably far better to keep an eye out for good replacement doors. It's all a matter of personal choice though. I wouldn't knock anyone for spending lots of money on their car if they wanted to.

Off topic slightly, here's a (sad) example of spending thousands on a car and expecting to recoup the cost of professional repairs when you sell it. The owner was quoted £3100 for floor repairs but the bill rose to almost £6000. He died on the day he got the car back and it is now for sale at an asking price of £6995 - a price unlikely to be reached by a concourse low light, never mind a standard 2 door saloon.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-1000 ... dZViewItem

[alex_holden]

The owner was quoted £3100 for floor repairs but the bill rose to almost £6000. He died on the day he got the car back

Ouch.

[chickenjohn]

BMC, considering paint, panels and materials for each door could come to 40 quid, from 200, that leaves 160. Most garages in the SE charge 40per hour for labour, so thats 4 hours per door to get a good job done. The maths add up.

I agree though, best to learn the skills and DIY.