Took the B this afternoon to a local repair/body shop that I was hoping
would replace my floor pans. They do a lot of both mechanical and body work
on LBC's (counted 7 MGA/MGB/Midgets on the premises), and also have used
them for my Audi. But I was appalled at both the estimate amount and the
work they wanted to do to replace the floors. I should have known I was in
trouble when the guy asked if I wanted a cheap repair or the work properly
done. The passenger side pan is in terrible shape, and definitely needed
completely replaced. The guy estimated 18 hrs of labor (@ $34 an hour) to
remove the old pan and weld in the new one. I thought this number seemed
extremely high, considering it sounded like they would just cut out the old
pan (not drilling out the spot welds and air chiseling out the pan). He said
a big issue was the fact the car was undercoated (by the DPO), so all the
undercoating anywhere near the area would need to be removed before it could
be welded. The driver's side pan is in better shape, but still has a couple
of holes in it. All 4 seat mounting bolts are rusted away and gone from the
floor, and I have found some other "weak" areas. The guy did not want to
replace the driver's side floor, but just cut out and replace the metal in
the two places where there are holes. Wanted 4 hours of labor to do this. I
mentioned I wanted the entire floor replaced, but they said it would be a
waste of time. Total on the estimate was over $850 (and I would supply the
floor pans). Guess its time to find another shop to do the work. I thought
of doing the job myself, but I do not have a mig welder, air chisel, angle
grinder, etc required for the job. Anyone else out there had floor pans
replaced, and how much did they pay for the job (or how many hours of labor
were involved)? I appreciate any BTDT's. Thanks.
Craig
'71 B
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