One more note with regards to the machinist's post. A machine shop charges for the setup and programming on CNC work and the run time recovers those costs over time. A professional body man charges for their man hours which is completely labor intensive, and a painter charges out for the prep time and finishing (also very labor intensive).
You then have the newer skilled body techs in most shops who are primarily trained in current panel style replacement using adhesives with very little metal work skills compared to old school body men. Try and get one of those repair shops to touch a classic car??? The old school skills are now charging out as a premium because most who choose to do restoration work are an older cut of the cloth and have often become masters in their craft. That dictates a higher shop premium in most cases and if the same guy is capable of high quality prep and paint work, you can expect to pay for that level of service. I know painters around here that won't touch a completely prepped car for less than 20K and that means the car has to arrive 100% ready to paint.
My point here is you simply cannot compare a master craftsman to a Macco style painter or an economy paint job. If all you want is a simple cover up splash job, there are few options for you these days and that's due to fewer shops wanting to touch cars with any potential for rust. For those who still perform restoration work, that's what pays there bills and keeps their shops staffed and operating, but it comes as a premium.
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I like solid lifter cars, big cams and cars w/ 3 pedals in them. 
Last edited by NorCam; 05-22-2017 at 03:56 PM.
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