vadimivanovich wrote:Bottom line: it is a lot of difficult work. You can look for a body shop that is less afraid of rust repair work, but understand that most shops make their money on insurance work. This means their margins are high, and rust repair work is not really worth their time, or your money. There's no easy way around it. I have a shop in my area that does this kind of work. I waited 4 years to get my current project in their doors, and will probably spend ~$10K for the bare, sandblasted shell to be restored.
Good luck with the search.
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I just went through this a few years ago and $50K does not surprise me at all depending on the amount of work to be done. I did not have to spend that much but I spent a
hell of a lot. (I didn't take my body off as it wasn't deemed necessary/worth it.) Most of these guys won't quote the work and will only work time and material, which in their defense is all that they can do because they just don't know. My guy told me that he would not have taken the project on had he known at the beginning what he did at the end... I on the other hand just try to block that part of my life out of my memory. Let us know where you are maybe someone can provide further help.