Hey guys,

How are you all going? Hope everyone is well.

I bought a Datsun a couple of years ago and brought it with me down to Sydney (Australia). I was hoping to find out from some fellow Aussie's if they could recommend me anyone in Sydney that could take a look at my Datsun and give me an estimate on getting all the rust cut out and the car resprayed. I am not interested in a half assed job and bog. I want every inch of rust cut and new parts welded if necessary. I will be stripping the whole car and bringing in just a rolling shell when its time to do the work.

Has anyone had similar work done in Sydney and could recommend me a honest, reliable good guy?

Thanks,
Milan

edit: Its a 1979 Datsun 1200 Utility.

Whats your budget?

I don't really have a budget. I am pretty happy to pay whatever so long as the job is done ONCE and PROPER.

a job like what your saying can add up over $15 grand dude and i have worked on resto jobs and there well around $25k thats just the body work

True that.

Soda Blast & wash down.

Cut-out & Re-weld.

Panel beating & prepping.

Prime, basecoat/undercoat, topcoat, clear coat, cut, cut & buff etc etc.

Best place to go would be a classic restorer?

A good idea is to head around to some of the shows/meets etc and check out some cars that are all stickered up... you'll get a pretty good idea who's good and not so good. If you truly don't have a budget go to Motorex this month and talk to some of the guys there, the whos who of the paint and panel world are generally there.

Thanks for all the information guys.

In the end I don't have unlimited money! I was hoping the max I would spend is around 6-7k. The main thing for me is getting rid of all the rust. It has rust now coming out everywhere, doors, sills... Might be better looking for a shell even? Thats why I want someone to tell me if its even worth doing at this stage. :)

Thanks for the help and advice everyone!

Milan

Yeah, I think if you can't do it yourself and it is as bad as you say, then looking for another project makes more sense.
I've heard of people paying anything from 5000 to 25000 just for paint.

Only rich old men (or wellpaid mining men) pay someone else to do a bare metal restore. When you have heaps of rust, you need to remove most of the paint.

You need to find a good minimal rust 'granny spec' car for $3000-$4000, and spend $2000 on a respray.

Unless you are prepared to buy a bunch of tools/equipment and learn about panel beating, spray painting?

once you start pulling cars apart they take forever to finish and then you end up selling as a unfinished project...

some projects take years dude..

before giving up & looking for another shell post a bunch of pic's so we can offer real opinions as to the quantity of work needed.

Mine looked pretty bad and was a lot of work but the reality of me finding a really rust free shell at least over here was pretty minimal.

It may be much more manageable then you think....