Continue restoration or get new body shell.

[Bitsilly]

My sprint had an engine fire and so had a lot of body cut out and replaced.
It also had two prangs, one which bent the lattice work on the drivers side, the other which led to a crap repair at the front.
The burnt out wing has been replaced but some further work is required.
It is now with the painters for preparation and before anything else, some delaminated bits will need replacing, some panels will need cutting, realigning, and resetting. Then, due to crazing it needs to be taken back to gel coat and repaired then either gel coated or spray painted. And of course the lattice will be sorted and everything sorted back to standard.
It is planned the car will be concourse, at least until I have driven it for a couple years.
It has original block, lots of perfect original bits, NOS bits to replace most worn bits, 9K miles, two owners who were married and a Nick Stag head. It is worth doing properly and hang the cost.

So before I fork out an unknown amount on restoring the original body, what is required to get say a Boss Motors body into paintable shape?
I was also told that it is best to keep the original body as all the holes etc are drilled, but i will have the original body for reference so I don't think that matters much in this case.
Any opinions would be appreciated.
Cheers

[Pastapesto]

How good are the repairers and have they done this sort of repair work before? What did previous customers think of their quality, wormanship and service? Who are they and what made you choose them?
Those are the questions I would like to have an answer for before you make any decisions moving forward.

IMHO, I wouldn't worry too much about concourse just do the very best you can and set yourself very high standards and you will end up with a very nice car to enjoy and live with...... If it is too perfect, you will not want to drive it and although these cars are stunningly beautiful to look at, they were designed to be driven and enjoyed.

I wish you good luck with which way you decide to go........
All the best

A

[berni29]

Hi

Sounds like a great project.

I would get an unmolested and uncrashed replacement body shell without a shadow of a doubt. It's just never going to be quite right otherwise, and to what benefit?

All the best

Berni

[661]

I have a Boss shell on my S4.
I spent many hours getting it how I wanted. I have done the same to a TTR shell.
They all take a lot of hours before any paint is applied. Nothing wrong with them, that's just the way they are.
I would desperately try to keep the original shell

[Bitsilly]

Thanks everyone.
The chief painter man is soon to check it over. It is a superb place, I know their work well and it is awesome.
I’ll see what he says and take it from there.
Cheers

[LaikaTheDog]

Hi, you mention re-gel coat OR paint.
If you are going back to gel the best finish will be had with a full re-gel over all the panels, it gives the paint shop a uniform and stable surface.

[Bitsilly]

We only had a quick chat about that but we did decide that it would have to have all the current gel coat removed.
Once that is done we will have another chat!