tr7triumph.com

I took my TR7 to a body shop a while ago (about 4 years) due to a small accident. They repaired the right front part of the car (due to the accident) and painted the rest which means they took off some trim and accessories.

All this time has past and i'm still fixing stuff they broke!!![:(!][:(!][:(!]

Here is a list of the things I had/have too fix.[V]

Both front side markers broken
Right front headlight motor doesn't work
Right rear tail light assembly broken
Horn dropped out
Various electronics
Dash lights don't work
Missing nuts and bolts all around the engine bay
Miss aligned the hood
Right front grille cracked

Keep in mind that all these things worked properly and were not damaged.[V]

Only thing they did correctly was the paint color...

AVOID BODY SHOPS AT ALL COSTS!

- Chris

Three possible solutions;
<ul><li> Take pictures of the state of the car when delivered to the bodyshop</li><li> Find a decent body shop</li><li> Dismantle the car yourself</li></ul>

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, currently being restored)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)</font id="blue">
<b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="2"><font color="red">My Weblog</font id="red"></font id="size2"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

Highly recommend dismantle yourself. Otherwise all the nuts and clips get lost and all the parts end up in a pile in the boot. I had the windscreen out of mine in 1994 for a respray and ended up with a very white dash board after they rubbed it down with some water. Took a nailbrush to get it clean again. Nightmare.

1979 TR7V8 FHC.
13.31 secs standing quarter.
20 years of tinkering and tuning......So far!
Being reshelled at the moment.

Here here. No one cares for your car like you do.

Shaun

Considering what domain I've spent most of my working career in,guess I'll have to try and not take this thread to much at heart/personally......[;)]


First - the quote should read ""avoid all <i>insurance run</i> bodyshop collision centers""

-As these are the places will cut corners on repair time,materials and workmanship .... honestly they have no choice with the amount of volume they receive from the insurance company's and with the discounts and concessions they have to make in-order to keep the big-guy happy.

But not all shops run the same way....., and should not be placed in the same boat! It's important for the consumer to investigate very well before signing the contract with the shop they choose to deal with. Remember, there is no free lunch, never pick a shop on price alone....

When choosing a shop,you must first check the place out, look at what kind of cars are in and around the shop, get references, look at how well the shop is organized.....
- is it clean and orderly?
- is the equipment presentable and modern?
- how are the employees dressed?

My little shop was making good money with repeat clients and and word of mouth. I spent very little on advertising yet had easily over 60% customer pay repairs. Even though I was a Ford shop, you'd still often see other makes and models at my place, or even the odd specialty car. I usually took on a project here and there just to keep things intereseting [;)]


Btw here's a tip for you...removing trim and bits is a great way for the hobbyist to save a few bucks......, plus its saves the shop trouble too, as we don't have to worry about damaging parts that are made from unobtainium. Even some rough bodywork done by the owner can be tolerable, but to me and my workers the one place you don't save anything with is the "Preparation." This is something best left for the professional to complete. The more time spent on preparation, the better the overall result, and most painters really prefer to do themselfs.....it gives a better end product.




Ron.

When I had my Toyota painted I took it to a shop I delt with before and had an exellent rep. On agreement with shop I saved $300 dismantling leaving only stuff so it was legal to drive back to shop. Gave me a chance to due some cleaning and fix a few surface rust spots that wasn't part of the painting estimate. At that there was a couple screws missing that they replaced when I pointed it out. They broke the plastic drip rails (4 or 5 places) which I had to point out. Fortunately the owners son who took them up to parts storage remembered they weren't broken then. They got some in from auto wreckers but they weren't happy with them. In their parts search there was one set in San Diego (in all of N/A). When ordered they weren't there (computer was wrong). They had to rebuild them with epoxy and paint them. I'll bet it took them lots of time. Paint job and parking lot dings was $1700.

Moral of the story...do your own disassembly, if possible, go over the car in the day time with a fine tooth comb before you drive off the lot even though their rep mat be up there.


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

The difference in price between normal repair work & specialist classic car restoration is enormous. Paying for someone to lavish love, care & skill on your car will completely ruin the fiscal balance of your hobby. And, if you aren't in a place where money is not an issue, there's a good chance the cost will ruin the way you feel about your car too. On the other hand when you take your car in for an insurance repair you don't expect them to break stuff. That's just disrespectful.

This was back when I was young and stupid... If only I knew what I know now, I would have dismantled it myself ant took it to a better, more reputable body shop that knows something about British cars. I take back the 'AVOID BODY SHOPS AT ALL COSTS!' comment because I know there are some good body shops out there. It was just the anger talking.

I learned my lesson the hard way and I won't be making that mistake again.

- Chris

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PeterTR7V8</i>

... Paying for someone to lavish love, care & skill on your car will completely ruin the fiscal balance of your hobby ... <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Unless you have friends in the right places,
who are allowed to use their bosses workshop after hours [:)]



If I hadn't the DHC wouldn't be as it is now ...

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1980 TR7 DHC (my first car, currently being restored)
1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)</font id="blue">
<b>[url="http://www.tr7beans.blogspot.com/"]<u><b><font size="2"><font color="red">My Weblog</font id="red"></font id="size2"></b></u>[/url]</b></i></center>

A classic car specialist is the ideal situation. It will cost money and take time, but be worth it. If they have done a TR7 before, they should now how to strip it. I do all my work myself and hate to see the car disappear into someone else's hands. Having said that, my latest bodyshop visit has come out very well.
Cheers.

1979 TR7V8 FHC.
13.31 secs standing quarter.
20 years of tinkering and tuning......So far!
Being reshelled at the moment.

I agree with Ron's sentiments. The insurance companies have pretty much run little guys like me out of bussiness. It's all about saving them money, discounts and doing thier work for them. These DRP shops give away discounts, do the appraisals, fix the car and gaurantee the work. Plus they have to absorb any renta car costs if they take too long. No wonder they are used to wham bam get it out work. Turn those guys loose on a classic car, I don't think so either. They are used to ripping things appart & tossing it back together. If something breaks it's just a cheap plastic bit considered part of the materials. Not the case with a 30yo car. Ironically, I have been staying somewhat afloat since word of mouth has been sending me some work on these brit cars.

Jim Underwood
72 MGB BRG
80 TR8 Persian Aqua
If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

Looks like i'm going to have to find a classic car restorer to fix all the mess the other shop did. I don't mind money if it is good work. I would love to do the work myself but I don't have the talents or the environment to do it myself. Props to you Beans. I wish my boss would let me work on my car after hours...[xx(] (stupid company policy)

Only the best from my baby from now on.[^]

Anybody know a good restorer down in San Antonio Texas?

Most the people down here don't even know what my car is![V]

- Chris