Sydney area body shops

Got a mate wanting to backdate his '75 912 near the Sydney airport area, and is asking if there are any body shops who would have an idea and not break the bank with a Porsche tax (e:g not Zags or any other higher end shops). OR if any of you with half an idea would be interested in helping him out,  whilst paying for your services? I can guide you through the how to's etc He's not after a concourse job, just the earlier look. He's asked me to fly up for 2 weeks to do the job, but I just can't afford the time away from my own work. Any help or pointing him in the right direction is appreciated 👍

Lee, If your mate is prepared to travel, David at Analog does great work and I thought reasonably priced. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=701844275281606&set=ecnf.100063681183559

Do you guys do this sort of thing @Tips ?

Thanks @JWM yes but would not meet any of the criteria @LeeM has outlined. Zag are probably the most experienced shop at this type of work so they have their pricing model worked out. We do restorations not backdates and our model is based on hourly rates and difficult to provide a tight quote. The problem with a shop that dont have the experience in backdating is they will either over quote to cover any contingencies or quote to get the job then keep coming back at you for variations. My advice is always have a tight scope of work agreed prior including parts, if the owner wants to be part of the process and do some of the work themselves or make decisions on the scope of work at each stage it would in my experience blow out the cost and time. the challenge with an insurance based collision shop is the lost opportunity of the manpower on a 4 month resto vs what they could be turning out weekly on insurance work at a good margin. In my experience there is no money in restorations, that's why very few shops do them these days. We do a small number for specific clients based on just being enthusiasts and some of the very special cars we get the opportunity to work on. longish answer but hope it helps in understanding why there is limited shops doing restos these days

For someone totally out of the industry that’s a great insight, thanks @Tips !

@JWM I did think of @Tips first up mate, yet as he has basically said perfectly above, it's a 'How long is a piece of string?' scenario, and I also had a lengthy chat with a Porsche body shop owner very recently who also said resto's are not really worth doing when insurance jobs pay the bills, so I didn't wish to bother Tips with it. I've also discussed it at length with my mate where installation of all the bits is concerned. If I added it up, it took me 3 hours to remove the rear bumper etc and fit the backdate one, and probably 20 hours at the front on my car. That's a guesstimate at best, yet it's also far from a concourse job, so what hourly rate can I put on that to make it worth my while to take 2 weeks away from my own paying jobs, and away from home interstate with accommodation, travel, food for 2 or 3 weeks? Easy answer is you can't, and I can't guarantee it'll take me 30 hours or whatever, as there are unforeseens that pop up with doing anything, so even as he's a friend, I'd still need to be paid a decent wage to make it even remotely worth doing, which he also agreed with. And let's face it...it's not my car, so I can't cut corners and do an average job. Which I wouldn't do anyway. I'm encouraging him to do it himself due to his budget (or lack thereof to have a shop do it), and I can guide him through the steps of what to do, as it's not hard at all if I did it, so he just needs to take the leap and have faith in himself. Every journey in life starts with the first step 👍

Sounds like you’re giving him good advice 👍

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Trying to mate 👍

This is the kind of job that is best done with a blank cheque, not on a budget.

In a perfect world, maybe mate, though like doing house reno's, some people that aren't that cashed up can't just throw money at it.

Is he only backdating? If so, it’s pretty simple, especially if he buys a decent set of early front guards. I would have thought any reasonable panel beater could fit and paint the guards and bumpers?