I've just got my car back from the panel beaters, and I am less than impressed with the results.  Let me tell you the story so far, but before I begin let me just remind you all that I know absolutely nothing about panel beating, and because unfortunately at the moment I work away I am limited with what work I can do with the car myself.  Anyway...

Back in early January I took my car into Greenies panel and paint after getting a few quotes.  Ed (the panel beater) quoted me 10k to sand blast the car, strip it back, take out the rust (there were no dents to speak off in the body), and paint it the original colour, all in around 3 months.  Ed seemed like a good honest bloke, and the price seemed reasonable for the amount of work he said he would do on my car, so I felt confident that he would do a fairly good job.

So anyway after Ciliberti's strip the engine bay, I organised for them to transport my car to Ed, along with some new rubbers/seals/window fittings etc for the car.  So throughout the coming months I take a couple of visits to the shop to check up on things, and also send my dad down whenever I was away working.  Alarm bells started to ring when I had to constantly remind Ed to actually do some work on my car, and that we had an agreed deadline of 3 months (I had already paid him in full - stupid I know).  Another worrying thing was when I found out that he could not weld to save his life, and he was getting someone else to come in and do any welding.  One bit of weld I did see was on the drivers door where there was a significant hole that they were patching up, by using on weld alone to bridge across the gap of the hole (I don't know the correct term, but I'm fairly sure thats not what your meant to do).

4 months later - I had to give him another month - I took a visit to the shop, expecting him to be just putting the finishing touches on the car.  Of course the panel beating was no where near finished, so I give him another few weeks, explaining to him the cost and hassle of me not having any transport and Ciliberti's were waiting on the car as well. 

Finally just last week and after many phone calls, he delivers the car to Ciliberti's, and I'm thinking I'm on the home straight - wrong.  Reno from Ciliberti's calls me while I'm away at work and say's I better get down there and look at the car.  My good mate Ed failed to: attach the bumper on the car correctly, fit the rubbers/seals I provided him (apparently he wasn't sure if I wanted them fitted or not), put the rear window in properly so the rubber seal was badly pinched, do anything to the engine bay at all (it wasnt painted or even stripped), etc, etc. 

At this stage I'm fairly disillusioned with the whole affair, but I just want the car finished, so I pay to transport the car back to Ed, and convince him that work still needs to be done and I want it done asap.  Some of his excuses would have been amusing, if I wasn't out of pocket 10k - 'I didn't know you wanted the engine bay done'; 'You keep on adding to the list of things to do' ('thats because you were meant to do these things in the first place ed'); 'But I don't have a sand blaster' ('Ed you said you were going to sand blast the car, how did you strip the paint off originally?').

After all that my car eventually makes it to the mechanic, this Tuesday just gone, and yes the job done on the engine bay was terrible (Leo at Ciliberti's said I should ask for my money back), and yes I need to take the car back to Ed's after my engine is refitted as there are a few more bits of the car that has not even been touched yet.  But hey the engine does look awesome!

The moral of the story? Don't go to Greenies Panel and Paint? or maybe 10k isn't enough for what I was asking?

In the end though, once I do get my car back in a couple of weeks, I will have a damn nice engine, and I will just have to start saving and get the body properly done in about 5 years

Here are some pics of my car in the panel shop anyway.  Don't let the photos fool you, the car does look good in them, but that's just my clever photography...just kidding...if you did see it close up you would notice a lot of things wrong with it.

I feel better now anyway, letting all that off my chest.  Cheers for listening.

Wow,  I feel for you mate that’s woeful, when I got my car done I had to go down to the panel beaters every Friday after work to make sure something was done each week.  I think 10K is defiantly a reasonable amount and should have expected a professional job for that.  I’d be asking for your money back to, but I doubt you’ll get it.
As far as suspension goes just find your local Koni distributor they’ll be able to sort you out with new shocks and as far as springs go the rears do have a tendency to sag a little, lowering the rear ride height and pointing the nose in the air

Ishamael,

Sad that its so hard to find a good trustworthy panel beater these days. Unfortunately weve gone to an era where most panel beaters dont even repair panels etc anymore ( its cheaper to replace themthan spend the labour straightening them) so its hard to find someone that has had the necessary skills handed down to them.

As for shockies, they are easilly sourced. Im in Perth and would fit them for you over a few beers no probs at all to help out a fellow cash strapped alfa head.

I have a tinter working for me so I could organise the tint at a very good price for you. That also applies to any AROCA members out there who want tint.

Cheers

Meizhak

Thanks guys for all your support.  And I agree Colin, there is no chance of getting my money back, that's why I'm pretty philosophical about it all.

I get my car back in two weeks Ed, and thats when I will get my tinting and shockies done, so I will join up to the alfa club after that - I just won't let anyone look to closely at the body

Meizhak you will be receiving an email from me in about 1 and a half weeks for help with the tinting and shockies, if you don't mind and presuming i save up enough money from now till then.

Thanks again guys

Hi , i feel sorry for you and the car . Its a shame there are crooks in the industry .Anyway i think you have a few options !1st  talk to him and explain your disappointment with the finished product , perhaps he will repair the work that needs doing . 2 tell him you have spoken to a solicitor and will be instigating legal proceedings if a result cannot be achieved , i suggest a 50% refund , if you have too send him a letter of demand. 3 if he doesnt want to play ball , tell him you will file with small claims tribunal , and the tax department for undeclared income 10,000$ . You,d be suprised what happens when you mention the tax department !!! anyway good luck . ps if you don,t stop this , he,ll do it again to some one else

Just some advice for Ash, I think your should go with it as there are plenty of reputable Alfa repairers in the Melbourne area and these cars are absolute classics that aren't getting any cheaper.
I wonder what qualifies you to think 'south of 10K' is going to do your job? The hours and hours involved in panel repairs/rust repairs plus the cost of painting in modern two pack paints can (sometimes) run to twice what you are thinking. And that is usually at an hourly rate much less than you and I are probably earning. Everybody says 'but I am not looking for a concourse job'....but how do you think a repairer is supposed to react to that?  Do half a job? leave it a bit rough? leave half the rust? use excessive bog? You see the real people that should be entrusted to do your job is the guy that IS trying to do a concourse job. In the end that is the only standard that you will be happy with and the finish that you will be proud to show your friends. Like others have written above it is important to have a trusted repairer, one who you can visit regularly and one who you can confidently discuss your desires wishes and budget. Also I would recommend progress payment to soften the final blow and to keep the repairer motivated. Good luck with your decision.

ash
there is a panel shop in bendigo called continental body restorations they deal mostly with alfas they r very well priced and if you are not in a rush they will bring the price down abit you can call them on 0354478692 they will do from bear shell to touch ups. let me know if you want to give them a call and i will have a word to them

I'm not sure if I have an old picture floating around, I will have a look when I am back home next.

The body had no dents or major dings, just rust was the main problem.  The usual rust spots you find on an old 105 - near the wheel arches, door, boot (I bought a good condition second boot lid to save him doing any work on the old one), etc.

I was not able to do any work myself, mainly because I work away from home, and besides that I would not know where to start when it comes to doing any body work.

On another note, I have decided to see if I can possibly get back a partial refund from this guy, after talking to all you guys and some people at work...keep you posted.