Recommended Body Repairers In Melbourne

[pep105]

Hi
Can anyone recommend a body repairer / painter in melbourne who is isnt scared of 105s Im having a little trouble in finding someone, most Ive spoken to dont really want to touch it. Ive called Rankin retorations and will try and get a qoute off them this week, anyone else you guys have used ?

Thanks in advance
Pep

[dehne]

hi there is a mob in bendigo who do a lot  of 105 work if ur interested ill get their number for you

[Paul Gulliver]

Pep,

You might want to try Sams Panels in Clayton

Sam's Panels
(03) 9540 0515
Fctry 1/ 61 Whiteside Rd
Clayton South VIC 3169

Sam is amember of both the Alfa Club & Fiat Club he has done work on my 105 and i was very happy with it.

Here's a very detailed thread on Alfa Bulletin Board on a restoration he is currently doing. Long thread but lot's of information . Have a look at the pictures on pages 15 to 20.

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/gt-1965-1974/44494-1969-gtv-1750-restoration.html




I don't think 105's scare him.


Cheers

Gully

[GTV 777]

I RECENTLY HAD SOME EXCELLENT WORK DONE ON MY 1979 GTV BY GEOFF UNSWORTH
WHO OPERATES OUT OF BLACKBURN.    PH.  0418383404

[pep105]

Thanks Guys much appreciated i will look into it

Dehne if you could supply their number that will be great

Gully I was wondering where that 1750 was in that thread, interesting debate at the beginning about the colour

Cheers guys

[robrexgreen]

Be careful using Continental body restorations in Bendigo , have used them twice and both times the quote went up and up during the job, second time paint was messed up and took no responsability, justs a "heads up" Rob

[Krishnan]

Yeah I'd second that. The work they did do was good. But I got hit with additional costs and when I ended up going to collect the car (turned up with a trailer all the way from melb after being told the car was done)there were several repairs unfinished. Ended up having to take the car home unfinished.

Oh and they're very difficult to get in contact with when they do have your car. But as I said at the start the work they did do was good.

[cjheath]

Ive called Rankin retorations and will try and get a qoute off them this week, anyone else you guys have used ?

I've always had Paul Rankin look after my 105 since he restored it in 1987. He's trustworthy, thorough and not expensive.

[alfagtv58]

+1 for Rankins.....top quality work.

[Sportscar Nut]

I have heard good things about Rankins but have used Art on Wheels in Ringwood for the last 18 years and cannot speak more highly of Vyvion Hyrons work. The business used to be called the 105 Factory specialising in you guessed it, 105's! He only works on car restorations and will only do insurance work for long time customers due to the obvious problems. He is not cheap but is an artist with metal and his shop only has car restos from 1900 on (ie some really old stuff through to Aston's/ Alfas/ Ferrari's etc).

His work on my Sud and 105 has been exceptional and would not trust any other panel beater as believe most are 'butchers'.

Give him a call but would think a full body 105 resto would cost around $10- $15K pending rust.

Paul

[Ash Gordon]

Hey Paul - Just wondering if your estimate ($10 - $15k ) is based on ?

i.e handing over complete car vs a stripped back / bare shell .

Just need to start saving some $ 

[pep105]

Thanks for the replies guys

A bit of an update

Went and saw Paul Rankin two weeks ago, we had a good yarn and he checked out the Junior, conclusion was the car would cost too much to fully restore maybe $20 or $30k (he had a stepnose that was a $30k resto which he advised the owner not to do), his advice was to buy one already done or buy a shell that could used to canabalise for parts (panels) which may lower the cost. Theres no point in doing a respray ($3 - $5K without engine bay) either as ill be throwing money away and until the car goes back to metal we would not know the full extent of what we're dealing with, so diffcult to put a dollar value on it. Basically he said its like opening a can of worms and advised to keep it simple.  

It was good to know and I appreciate his honesty, he sure knows his stuff, and at least now I know where Im heading. Other repairers have seen the car as well but for what I want to use the car for (road, track a bit of fun) its just not viable also I dont wont it to be off the road for too long. I was holding off on the mechanical mods (engine transplant, suspension upgrades, wheels tyres and interior restoration) until I knew what was involved with the body.  I will have a crack at the rust myself and the car is garaged now so it would help its cause.  The car doesnt look too bad (I think   ) and Ill start a project thread to give you guys an idea. All the mods Im adding could be transferred to another car down the track, or if i decide to do a full resto later. The other good thing is if I plan to do sprints in this car and it gets bent I wont feel so bad. Checked out some other 105s since (theres not many) just for reference conditions ranged from similar to worse than mine so I might as well stick with the devil I know.

Paul did have a beautiful GTV6 that he was selling and it was stock as a cock original, and painted by him so it looked beautiful. The plan might be to have something like this(or a nice condition 105) as a daily or more frequent driver and the GTJ as the fun/piss fart around car  - that may just be ideal, I need to be realistic.

Thanks Again
Cheers
Pep

[Sportscar Nut]

Ash

$10 -$15K estimate is 'unstripped' car but most time is spent on the body work. This includes engine bay/ under neath car/ inside boot/ floor etc. Also, if 105's have rust in the rear, the rear seam on the shell needs needs to be separated as rust starts on the inside seam generally. Lot of time to fix properly!

Would agree that is cheaper to buy a good 105 than a resto job as interior for 105's are also expensive (particularly S1 1750's - the most beautiful 105). Eg factory basket weave vinyl is around $1200 just for the vinyl.

I spent around 3 years looking for mine and whilst paint is just okay, the car has never been in an accident or had any rust as spent 20 years in a garage dis-assembled.

Regards
Paul

[Ash Gordon]

Thanks Paul,

Plan is to strip back to bare metal as much as possible, then hand over a "blank" shell. It's just finding the time.

Luckily my car is pretty clean, some slight accident damage and a poor respray / paint job. When I transfered the reg, it was up on the hoists and the mechanic was surprised by the luck of rust.  Not sure if that was lack of rust in an ALFA or  a 40 yr old car. Interior is tidy, seats need attention and dash has one small 2cm crack.

I have seen a great example of a 105 out of Rankins, so I think I'll head there when I am closer to that part of the project.

[cjheath]

...interior for 105's are also expensive (particularly S1 1750's - the most beautiful 105). Eg factory basket weave vinyl is around $1200 just for the vinyl.

I think leather is the best excuse for not using original vinyl... at least it's the excuse I used on my S1 1750. I sat on cruddy unrepaired seats for years because the vinyl was unobtainable, and now it is, I'm still happy I used leather.