VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Vendors & Suppliers - Parts Antique Body Shop wanted in NH/VT/NY areas

Growing up out East, I've had my fill of 4 seasons. LOL
Gimme sunshine and warmth 12 months a year.
Also tired of storing my car 6 months!!

Each to his own, however. All parts of our wonderful US have their own climate strong points, I guess.

Happy Holidays!

Climate is fine but the most popular attract too many others. That is not conducive to enjoying old Chevys. Give me a bit less attractive weather, wide open space with good roads less traveled. Yes we in Texas can use our cars all year. I can always find all kinds of weather on the TV and be glad I am not there. Guess we have four seasons as the deciduous trees lose their leaves, some turn colors before they drop. Must be why that is why so many from other places have come to stay. If you watch the automotive programs on TV you will find we have plenty of auto related businesses here too. Those include plenty of body shops that work on older cars.

Man, I totally agree with that! Here we can go out on the roads with our old cars anytime that we want without the worry of getting run over by speeders or miles of traffic. Besides, I would rather look at moutains, trees, grass, cows, horses, deer dudes and the like instead of seeing nothing but traffic, tall buildings, blacktop, and a zillion people. Yep, for me wide open space is great!

My buddy owns a body shop and is a good friend. He doesn't want to take restorations at all because of the time it takes. He tells me the problem is he can't get good help and that the good body guys are either gone or Prima Donnas. When I rotisserie restored my Blazer I paid a really good body man $25hr cash here in my garage to get it all prepped for paint. He lived 5 mins down the road, was virtually single, and in need of money. One month he came once for 3 hrs. The next month he came about 3 days for a few hours each. When he did some work I'd pay him. I finally told him that he never waits for my money but that he was making me wait for his work. He agreed that I was right and then made it a point to get to my garage and finish it. My buddy then took it at his shop to tweak any area he thought it needed it and to paint it.

My 31' needs very little by way of body work yet my brother and I will do anything it needs including priming it so I can just take it to my buddy's shop for painting. If I take it there now, in need of some light surface rust removal, some light body work, and priming, it will be there for more than 6 months for 10hrs work. Body shop guys are another breed. Even when it's ready for paint I expect 3-4 wks before he gets it in the booth. His paint work is some of the best in the country and there are shops in CA that fly him out there to paint certain customer's cars. He charges me almost nothing to paint my vehicles so I can't complain. I've just come to accept the time involved.