Live Pricing Information, Tech support, Installation Questions and generalized information.

How much does it cost?  How do I install a body kit?  How to install lambo doors?

Ask your question live.  Get immediate or emailed responses to your questions.  Live person standing by to answer pricing inquiries, installation questions, questions about kit quality, mesh installation and any other body kit or custom repair questions.

If you doing your body kit installation yourself, you may need tech support.  We can help guide you through the install or answer questions like:

• How much to install a body kit?
• Is the kit I just ordered a good one?
• How do I fit it?
• How much would the paint cost to paint my car?
• What grit sand paper should I use to wet sand before painting?
• How to blend a panel for color match?
• How to install lambos?
• How much do lambos cost for my car?
• Veilside Fortune build information?
• How do I repair a crack in fiberglass?
• What adhesive can I use for fiberglass?
• How to prep a car for paint?

Any pricing information we give you can be used as an estimate at our shop also.  We provide this service to help you with your project.

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Insurance Fraud?

So if a body shop charges for a new fender and then places a used fender on the car, this is fraud correct? and if the same shop charges to remove an item and doesn't actually remove the item, but also doesn't refund the money, this too is fraud also? Then how come body shop's charge or get paid 12 hours for repair time; only actually use 6 of it and then keeps the difference? Aren't they defrauding the insurance company and their customers out of 6 hours that were never used?  If the average labor rate inside a body shop is $48 per labor hour, didn't they just defraud the insurance company or their customer for $288.00?

Here at our shop we do things different, we only charge for the actual hours required to do the job, materials used, parts required and shop supplies. We don't defraud the insurance company or our customers.  Doing things this way takes a different approach and a unique pricing model that we pioneered and are currently in the process of perfecting.

So in summary, you get more for your money at our shop then any other shop in NC, with the quality to match.

Good, Fast, Cheap Reality (click to see large)

Yes we know you want it done right, you want it done fast and you want it done cheap.  For those of you living in a fantasy land, we found a graph that can best explain the compromise you will face.


Now for the rest of you who understand human limitations, economic pressures and the realities of life.  Get an estmate...

More Pricing and Insurance Company Inside Information

This is one of the reasons we will never be a direct repair facility for the insurance companies.  Shops have to make too many concessions (discounts) to fit the guidelines of the insurance companies.  & Things Shops Will Never Tell You

Terms of Service Agreement for Custom or Restoration Work

Due to the complex nature of custom work, we are forced to charge time and materials as they are logged.  The estimate is a starting point, your actual cost may actually be lower but general custom work always takes longer then anticipated.  Any remaining balance of work paid for but not invoiced will be refunded.

Collision work is normally accompanied by a computer driven estimate that uses actual dated from a previously disassembled car from companies like Mitchell or Pathways (CCC).  The information used in these estimates are generally accurate, accurate meaning over priced, over priced because most shops can beat the time by 50%, meaning your paying twice as much as needed.  Even computer generated estimates contain "Judgment Items", items not listed in the database that require someone to decide how long it should take to repair, these items are typically left open by the insurance companies because even they understand the complexities of using a crystal ball to determine how long a repair should take.  These adjustment are called "Supplements" and are built into the body shop system.  Because neither Custom or Restoration work has such data available to body shops, most charge (including us) time and materials, in other words:  However long it takes, that's how much we have to charge.

Please adjust your budget accordingly.  Our responsibility to your budget ends with this posts.  You now understand why we charge and how we charge.  Thanks...

What to expect when shopping a new paint job?

There is more then meets the eye when it comes to painting a car.  Most people think "well I painted my bathroom, painting a car shouldn't be too hard".  It's funny when painting a bathroom, there is little or no gloss, brush marks, lint balls and an occasional hair.  But all that is OK on a bathroom wall, why?  I'm not sure, maybe the lack of gloss hides it all, or maybe our DNA is accustom to living in a cave and that's what we compare it too.  Unfortunately a car surface is different, the gloss is different and the surface is smoother, I guess that is the reference point we go by.

In this post we will try to shed some light on the whole car painting subject and give you an idea of what you can expect from body shops and pricing when you look around.

You may or may not have heard the saying "you get what you pay for".  Well its true in this Industry.  What you pay for in a body shop is time, what you ask for when you need an estimate is; estimated time, as in how much time will it take you to paint my car.  Materials are another subject, High quality materials come with a high price and they last longer.  How much money you save should not be considered when getting an estimate, the question should be how much quality.  

Example:  You take your car to a high production, low quality, low price body shop like a Peach, Macco or Econo.  You only spend about $300 a get a fairly decent looking paint job, certainly better then your bathroom wall, but still not as good as the factory.  The cheaper materials that allow them to do the cheaper price, will degrade in about 6 to 8 months.  Then comes the fun part, all your cheep paint starts to come back off or fade in the sun, not to mention all the free paint they put on your widows and moldings.  Now you have a choice, paint again or take it to a higher quality body shop.  Problem 1- now you have cheep synthetic paint all over your car, this cheap paint has to be removed, any body shop worth the salt, will want to remove it, otherwise your new high quality material will suffer.  Problem 2 - you now have to pay double or triple to get it fixed.  Problem 3 - You could get it repainted at the cheep place, but now you have $600 invested in a paint that still lasts only 6-8 months.  The solution -  Its better to save the money and put it towards a high quality paint service.  Get the life time guarantee and never have to paint your car again.  Leave the cheap production paint shops to the used car dealers who dont care whats going to happen in 6 months, the car will be gone anyway.  Also FYI: the cheep places still charge extra for additional body work and higher quality materials.

With our experience in the industry, this is the price break down of quality and price in body shop.  All body shops.

• $150.00 Places like Peach, Econo and back in the day: Earl Scheib-  Lucky if it lasts 6 months and you can count on painted moldings.
• $300 to $400 Same places as above, but they say they will add something to make it last longer.  What do they add?  More synthetic enamel that takes 6 months to dry before it comes off.  Some actually do a decent job at this price level, but no matter the skill of the people, the material will still break down.
• $500 to $700 they will use the same material as everyone else, but usually lack the experience to do it properly because after all, they specialize in the cheap stuff, high volume, low quality  Add a little body work and some additional prep work and your still looking at over $1500 to get a decent job.
• $2500 to $3500 in what we call a high end shop (our shop falls in this category), shops that do some insurance work but are not a DRP or do not have a contract.  These shops are your best bet for a high quality paint service that will last the life of the car.  You have to do the math.  Its almost like your paint is pro rated, the more you pay the longer it will last (in most cases).
• The last type or shop we will list is a shop that is considered DRP (direct repair) and have a contract with the insurance companis.  These shops wont even paint your car all over, they cant, the insurance company wont let them.  In most cases its more profitable to only paint parts of the car.  Most DRP shops turn away a customer if they need the entire car painted.  For them to make money they would have to charge $4500 or more to keep from loosing money off you.  The time it takes them to paint your car, they could do 4 cars by painting only parts of it.  Its a numbers game.
• We have a budget service in the $750 range.  Because we have the experience, we know the short cuts, we know the steps you cant skip (like sanding, you would think this was a no brainer huh).  We provide a higher quality low budget service then all the production shops.  We also use a chemical adhesion promoter to insure your paint doesn't come off,  also use a higher grade clear that will last longer then 5 years.  Add $300 for for a life time clear coat and your will never have to paint your car again.  We also specialize in a OEM style finish, OEM meaning:  A good balance between texture and DOI (distinction of image), like the factory uses, the Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Some of the optional items you can expect to pay extra for?  Additional body work like:  Dents, Lots of chips, cracks in the paint etc.  Wet sanding and polishing to get that mirror like finish, in some case the wet sanding can actually double the price.  Remember its about estimating time.  How long do you think it takes to paint the entire car, then trickle a water hose over your sand paper while you scrub the car with sand paper by hand.  The take a machine with a pad and abrasive compound to bring the gloss back up?


So there you have it.  Probably the best break down of how much it costs to paint a car on the Internet.  If you find a better one, leave the URL in a comment on this posts for our readers.  After all the goal is to educate the consumer.

Now that you have some first hand insider knowledge of pricing for painting your project.  How about materials?  You still need:  Cleaners, Sand Papers, Primers, Fillers, Tape, Masking Paper, Color, Clear and more when its finished to get things cleaned back up (see maintaining your paint for tips on washing).  So we will list basic pricing for these items also, just to let you know what to expect and that the last estimate you thought was so high, was probably 40% materials and very little actually going back to the shop.

• Low Grade Synthetic Enamels - About $50 gets you about 6 months gloss.
• Low Grade Urethane Base Clear - About $200 gets you a decent base coat clear coat that will last a good long time
• Mid Grade Clears - $300 gets you a clear that will hold up well, lays down good and has good gloss.
• High Grade Base Clear - Lasts a life time (provided the prep work was done right) but will hover you around the $500 mark.

Keeping in mind the above prices, you still need sand papers, tapes and all the other materials it takes to paint a car the right way.

Now all you have to do is think "how many hours will it take to do everything needed?".  Then you do the math with a labor rate and you can almost write your own estimate, add a few hours for correcting your mistakes and you should have a clear understanding of the pricing process for painting a car.
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Online Estimate

To receive an estimate online, follow the link to our main website.  There you can enter all your information, what type of project you have and list some details about what you are looking for.  Submit your information, choose your payment option and your done.  Your estimate will be emailed within 48 hours.

If you are interested in a financing option and your budget is limited, you may want to take advantage of our layaway plan.

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• Questions Posted to the Blog (Free)
  Post your question to the Blog Free.  If we don't answer the post, someone will.
  
• Basic $25.00  
  (Free in Person at the shop) Typical estimate for collision or basic body work.
• Custom $50.00 
  Anything utilizing custom parts.
• Fabricated One Off  $100
  Retro fitting a body kit designed for one car to another or Projects involving many parts like Lambo's, body kits, Suspension etc.  Estimates for what we would consider and big project.
• Ridiculous $200 
  Any project involving engineering, in depth parts research such as:  Convertible top conversions, door conversions where kits are not available, front or rear conversions that have never been done or no pricing information available online.

You can always call us:  919-655-5620

Lambo / Vertical / Suicide / Gull Wing door conversions

How much will it cost?
(all our pricing includes the kit)

Depends on what shop you ask, how busy they are and how complicated your install will be.  Always look for bolt on kits first, they will cost a little more to buy, but you will save on installation labor and if your a hard core do it yourselfer, you may even be able to pull off the conversion yourself.  A bolt on kit is pretty straight forward, the most complicate part is trimming your inner fender and maybe getting the adjustment right without marring your outer fender.  Universals will set you back more on labor, they almost always require some welding and if they are not place just right initially, the door will not function properly.  I can't tell you how many botched lambo jobs we have had to tear out and redo from another shops install.

Below we have a basic guide of what we have had to charge in the past to do various door conversions.  Always keep this in mind "the biggest mistake a person can make on a car is not charging enough to do it right"  Door conversions can become a nightmare if you lack the skills and experience.  If its your first time, then you can bet you won't make enough to justify your time.  Unless you've done the work before, custom work is almost always under estimated.

Bolt On's $2500 - $3500

Bolt on kits are the easiest to install.  The most complicated part will be trimming the inner fender for clearance.  The most time consuming seems to be splicing all the wires and managing the fat harness you end up with.  Ideally you want the harness to recoil into the fender or jamb area without pinching as the arm closes with the door.  All our prices include the cost of the hinge.  If we do your install we can save you money on the hinge kit.  Note:  ALWAYS CHECK YOUR WIRE COLORS!  Before you make any cuts in the harness to separate things, make sure the wires coming out of your door, color match the wires going into the kick panel.  If you make a cut and your wires don't match, good luck trying to connect the corresponding wires.  Some Porsche and BMW's have the mis match wire syndrome.

Universal Bolt On's $3500 - $4500

We call them Universal Bolt On's because they are universal in design but we locate the mounting holes, drill and weld as needed so they are removable, this will allow you to revert back to your factory hinge if needed.  Weld on only conversions are a big comitment.  The replacement cost to go back to factory will cost more then the conversion itself.

If you have to go universal because no one makes a kit for your project, this is the way we would recommend.

Universal Weld On's $4000 - $5000

These are universal sets that install on a vehicle that has welded on factory hinges.  Vehicles with a weld on factory hinge will not allow a bolt on situation at all, this type of install will be a weld on only.  The only other option you have is to use a stud, welded on custom style.  Complicated and time consuming for sure.  If your a novice installer, forget this one, it will drive you crazy and cost a fortune to get repaired later if you botch it.


Porsche and Mercedes Depend on the Jamb Arraignment

These cars have a unique hinge pillar area, some have a opposite door seal, meaning: the car side of the jamb protrudes to meet the door, instead of the door meeting the jamb.  in other words:  you will have to notch it to clear the arm and the door wont seal properly, it takes extensive modifications to pull of this type of conversion and is very expensive.  An install of this type can exceed $6000 and if not done properly you can actually total loss the car.  This particular job was a redo from another shop, we had to remove the entire set up and reinstall.

Botched Prior Attempts

Botched attempts are particularly difficult to deal with because the job has to be undone before it can be done over, in most cases the hinge kit will have to be replace.  Repair work and painting will have to be done to get the assembly working as it was designed.  You can pretty much add 50% to whatever price you are quoted to redo everything.  This one came from another shop, but we have seen a failed do it yourselfer attempts as well.  Like the white one here.  This do it yourselfer (although we can appreciate the guts and determination) ruined a set of brand new hinges and almost destroyed the assembly.  We did manage to get it back and working as they were intended.  But its not a project for the timid and some customers don't have what it takes to see a project like this through.

Well, we hope this gives you a better idea of how much you can expect to pay to do your door conversion.  Suicide doors cost about the same, most are a little more because there is more finish work involved and most are weld on only.

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How Much to Install a Body Kit?

How much does it cost to install a body kit on my ________ ?

If I had a nickle for every time I heard that question, well;   I would retire.  So here we go, the most in depth explanation you will find on the internet on the subject.  Oh and this comes from experience in the field and from many installs on all types of vehicles.

Researching body kit installation prcign can be an extensive task.  The goal of this post is to help you save time and money on your next project.  Hopefully this information finds you before the lure of a cheap body kit does.

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Buying Your Parts

Yes buying parts is part of the installation process.  Because if you buy low quality parts, expect to pay more in the body shop.  You see;  you think your saving money, but all your really doing is shifting cost.  Shifting costs meaning;  your paying the body shop to take your low quality parts and turn them into high quality parts.  All the blemishes and defects that come with your cheep body kit has to be repaired.  Any body shop worth any money, will want to repair the blemished kit before painting.  Otherwise they will be blamed and your friends will be laugh at you for getting such a cruddy job done.  Bite the bullet and pay more for quality, you body shop and your budget will thank you later.

Unfortunately in the body shop business your not buying a tangible item, what your buying is time.  Your paying a body shop for the amount of time it takes to do the work you are asking them to do.  How long it actually takes depends on the skill of the person doing the work.  Higher skilled people can do the work faster, but, they want to charge more because they have more skills and are proud of their work.  So when a body shop writes you an estimate for any work, they have to guess how much time it will take, then multiply their labor hours, guess how much in materials, then add a little for mistakes and hope to God they got close.  The smart ones charge on an open ticket (time and Material), basically however long it takes, that's how much they have to charge.  This is the most accurate way.  That's why we say, as many people you ask, that's how many different prices you will get.  There are all different skill levels in this industry.

A Word About Doing It Yourself


We completely understand the "Do It Yourself Phenomenon"  Its how most enthusiasts start at a young age, mostly because they lack the funds to pay someone else to do it.  Understanding that there are hard heads out there (me included) that will do it themselves no matter how much we recommend having a professional do it.  You may want to consider this other project specifically designed for your type.  Its a project that is still in the planning phases but, will allow you to access a fully equipped shop, utilize the facilities and take advantage of the knowledge and skills of other members.


OK Back to the Body Kit Installation Price Discussion


Now with collision work, we have software for pricing time and its a little easier to guess.  But even that's not perfect, its why we have Supplements.  Insurance companies understand the difficulties when estimating anything, they hate supplements.  But they also understand its a fact of life.

So keep in mind when pricing your install, that all a shop can do is guess.  Ultimately its up to you to pay the bill.  Our advice to you would be:  Get a few estimates, take the highest one and add 45% to it as a contingency.  This way your car wont get stuck in a shop or worse, end up with a lien against it.


So, with the above information as a start.  We will list the most common body kit installation prices we've had to charge our customers and hopefully you will get a better idea of how much your going to have to pay.  Also, you can view our past projects web album for pricing information, we post a MSRP (for lack of a better word) on most of our past projects.  This helps to educate you, the customer.


Basic Installation No Paint $600

This one came already painted.  The installation was simple.  No big blemishes to deal with.  We did have to build 2 tabs for mounting bolts.  Mounting screws or bolts are normally exposed on this type of low budget install.  But all in all it looks good.  Customer was extremely happy, only took 2 days to complete and she was able to make her trip to FLA.

Basic Installation and Paint $1600 to $2500

Full body kit, normally consist of 4 pieces.  Front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper.  Normal blemishes and triming required.  The usuall amount od headache and poor fitment.  But otherwise an easy install for the skilled body man.

Extreme Installation and Paint $3000 to $4500

Same as the above type of install, but with major blemish repair, more polish time on the paint and molded side skirts.  Side skirt molding mean they are installed with no seems or gaps.  Very clean, very nice and very durable.  We have never had cracking on any of our molded parts.  Even after years of service.  This type of install includes mesh, brackets for durability and rubber washers on all mounting points to minimize vibration and cracking.  We can also add ($400) an extremely durable chip resistant coating for those who want their fiberglass parts to last a good long time.


Wide Body Conversions $6,000 to $15,000

Certainly the most complicated of all the installations but also the coolest and most unique.  Usually involves more then 13 pieces and painting the entire car.  Extensive mods are usually required to get a clean factory look and fix all the blemishes in the multi part kit.

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Molding Body Kit Parts / Spoilers

Needless to say a cool mod.  Not cheap, basically time and materials charge.  How long does it take?  Depends on the skill of the person doing the work.  The higher the skill the quicker the Job can get done but, the Higher the labor rate as well.  Molding body kit Parts can be very time consuming but, if you want a product no one else will have, molding your parts is the way to go. 


Keep in mind when looking for a shop that can mold body kit parts, if you ask a shop to mold a body kit and if at any time the words save money comes out of your mouth, you may get escorted out of the office, lol.  Expect to pay for this type of skill.


Custom Wide Body Creations $25,000 and up.  These are one of those projects that if you have to ask then you cant afford it.  Taking an existing body kit from one car and custom fitting it to another and adding panels where needed to create a one off wide body project.  Why don't we have a  picture of this service?  well we have yet to find a budget with room enough to do the kind of work we are capable of doing.  Its not can we do the work, its can you right the check.  This type of project is reserved for the most elite of customers.

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To view any of the above projects in our web album or for additional pricing examples, use this link.