slightly damaged my Griff......gutted - fixing questions

[RacerMDR]

ok - so, I was at Croft and one of the race awnings blew into the side of my immaculate Griff.....it then got bounced off the Griff a couple of times with the wind.

So.....I have a inch long piece of damage on the front of the rear wheel arch (offside)

I have had a quote from a Coachworks in Liphook Hampshire (near where I live) for 800 quid.

THe money isn't a problem to make the car perfect again - but I have a couple of questions.

1. I'm very anal about my car - I don't want some herbert driving the car around whilst its in for repairs. I also don't want the car left outside whilst it is in for repairs.

Am I being a big soft ste? Should I just leave it with them and forget about it?

2. Will it look 'exactly' the same as it does now? OR if you get a paint job done like that will it always look worse?

3. How long should this sort of repair take? Would it happen whilst I wait?

I'm keen to get it done - but like I said, don't want the car ragged from cold or anything.

thoughts?

[V8 GRF]

My first question is are they fibreglass painting experts? If they answer the question with the answer it doesn't make a difference whether it's metal or fibreglass make your excuses and leave.

If you're truly anal about your car and it's paintwork then imo the only place your car should be going is Surface and Design in Blackpool.

Clicky

ETA Answer to 3 is No, perfection takes time

Edited by V8 GRF on Thursday 8th October 15:49

[plasticman]

You are right to be worried about how your car is being treated when it is having bodywork done , especially in a garage that does not get a lot of work on performance cars .You could remove the ECU and say your are sending it off for repair at the same time to minimize time off the road.

[RacerMDR]

plasticman said:

You are right to be worried about how your car is being treated when it is having bodywork done , especially in a garage that does not get a lot of work on performance cars .You could remove the ECU and say your are sending it off for repair at the same time to minimize time off the road.

now thats a good idea on the ECU

the place I am thinking of using - is quite a big place (its where Fernhurst TVR dealers send all their damaged cars)

[Tuscan Jim]

Liphook come highly recommended by several people. I gather they do paintwork for Fernies, so are well experienced on TVRs. I was down there for a quote the other day after some emptyhead keyed my Tuscan. They had a few TVRs on racks, I had a look at a few, and was impressed with the standard of work. I will be using them to repair my Tuscan, and have the front painted while it is in.

[cs174]

I wouldn't worry about using Liphook Coachworks, they're very experienced with TVR's. Andy P on here recommended them after they did a small paint job on his Chim. Mine had a fibreglass repair and full respray done there recently. I'm very impressed with the quality of their work.

The guy there who deals with TVR's, Ian O'Rourke, is a bit of a petrol head himself. He had just returned from Le Mans when I got my quote. Very helpful bloke. I wouldn't take mine anywhere else outside Blackpool regardless of cost.

HTH

Colin

[Andy Pandie]

cs174 said:

I wouldn't worry about using Liphook Coachworks, they're very experienced with TVR's. Andy P on here recommended them after they did a small paint job on his Chim. Mine had a fibreglass repair and full respray done there recently. I'm very impressed with the quality of their work.

The guy there who deals with TVR's, Ian O'Rourke, is a bit of a petrol head himself. He had just returned from Le Mans when I got my quote. Very helpful bloke. I wouldn't take mine anywhere else outside Blackpool regardless of cost.

HTH

Colin

Aaah beaten to it! mate.

To the OP,

As Colin said, they did a top job on my Chim when I had her, minor rear end shunt resulting in bit of fibreglass work and a spray over costing a similar amount to that you have been quoted. It was a good quality repair couldn't see any marks around the work area. They either paint to complete panels or distinctive body shape changes ie the bumper on a Chim, and mine matched perfectly with no imperfections. I have since sold her to Fernies and the new owner got them to blow the front end over, this was also done at Liphook and looks just as good.

As with you I was wary about leaving my car with, at the time, an unknown garage, but the mileage was the same (allowing for movement around the yard)when I picked her up. They had the car in for just under two weeks total and as I dropped it off the day they started work it was inside for the whole duration.

Hope you get her fixed soon.

Cheers

Andy 'P'

[RacerMDR]

Thanks all. That has really put my mind at rest with regards to Liphook. Not that I had any reason to doubt, but you know, it's a bit of a worry.

Looks like I'll be taking them up on their quote