Oh dear...

Took my B to a well recomended bodyshop last night for a quote on getting the rust sorted. I thought I was looking at maybe £2000 for a tidy up and respray, but apparently things are more serious and the work would cost closer to £4000 for a new rear quarter panel, new sills, shot blasting the remaining rust, sorting the dents and respraying.

As you can imagine spending £4000 on a 11 year old B does not make any economic sense, so I'm a bit stuck as to what to do next. MOT is due in May and it probably won't pass unless I fix the rot in one of the sills. I'm not sure if I can be bothered. Maybe it's better to cut my losses.

So - options are:
- Sell it without MOT for spares/repair - how much do we reckon it is worth? Anyone interested?
- fix the sills and MOT it - sell it with MOT
- break it up for spares.

Sad days....
Doogal.

Break it up for spares and make enough money to get a replacment.

doogal post an ad in the classifieds section.links at the top.
no selling on the threads :nono: but hopefully you can recoup enough as B parts are not that common
you may even get a buyer to take it complete

Sorry - was my intention to use the classifieds. Just trying to get some general direction as to what to do. As you can imagine I'm still a bit shocked to find that my car is basically a scrapper.

Won't happen again, etc...

Sounds a bit expensive for a few dents and a bit of rust. Can you not get away with doing the sills and touching up the rest?

Even if you got another two years out of it it'd be good value for money.

Mine's ten this year, but the way I look, at it, I paid less for it than my wife's car lost in depreciation last year

Matt.

PS. If it is broken up I might be interested in some parts.

Dougal sorry to hear about your woes, get it MOT'd if it's not going to cost that much for a sill repair & ebay it with years MOT. Unless you charge good prices for bit's it won't provide as much as expected Plus it will be left for some time as people call for bit's & pieces and you will see it steadilly deteriorate in front of your eyes (not a good thing)

As Custard says when you decide, put an add in classifieds and if members want to contact for an idea what interest there is please take it to PM or Email.

Thanks.

I'd break it (i'll have the gearbox off you ). You could always get a decent shell with a shot engine and swap it all.

Thats mega mate. My gf paid less for her flip cinq and that had to be rewelded at the rear.

Ross

Get a second opinion mate, The repairs you described sound more like a restoration than anything else.

How much for the MOT? What were you getting for 4k exactly?

Got any pics?

I would love to see some pics too, I have never seen a rusty B Try and post some close-ups of the sills matey.

Anyone got any rust around the back wheel arch edge ?

Thanks for all the replies. Still deciding what to do exactly.

I understand that the quote seems high for the work, but bear in mind this is our 3rd car (2 company cars, you see) so I want it to be pukka for wekends out with the hood down.

Most places won't touch rust work, those that do charge accordingly - and yes, it it starts to look like restoration as Iskander put it. Problem is that "restoring" a B is not economical - not like restoring an old Alfa, say. There are plenty of newer ones around for the price of getting mine looking good. Also worth noting that I asked DTR for a quote and got no response so I assume they are not interested in taking this on...

Some photos for Superspotter - first the rust at the bottom of the b pillar:


and the wheel arch:



I think the car had a repair involving a new rear 3 qtr at some stage in it's life and this is now rusting from within.

...and the RH sill:



IN addition every panel has at least one dent, some chips and scratches. Plus I've got another front bumper for it that I need spraying silver... So you see how the cost can mount up.

I'll decide the best course of action - watch the classifieds.

Cheers

Doog.

Poor B. Looks like she's well rusted . Hope somebody who knows how to restore cars buys it from you in case you choose not to have it fixed. But, if you chose to take it apart and sell it for parts I'd be very much interested in buying the plastic cover in the attached pic

I dont know all these concerned people exhibiting pity for your situation and in the next breath wanting you to part it out
That rust most definitely points to poor repair after accident damage to me Quite common on a galvanised car when sub standard repair panels are used

Have to agree rust is not normally an issue with the barchetta with it being galvanised. It more than i expected to see to be honest

mmm, looks a bit bad eh :chin:
I'd still get another opinion. I reckon you could find a body repairer who could make that look a million dollars for not too much cash. You mentioned you thought it'd be around 2k to do. Filler, paint and a bit of love and care you could be back driving what is essentially one of the prettiest cars on the road.
Just got to find a repairer who loves his work, not just a garage who looks at you as a source of income.

It's in the classifieds along with my spare front bumper.

Cheers
Doogal.

If it was mine, I would look for coachbuilder in the area with a good rep, but not necessarily Barchetta experiance.

My 1972 VW Camper was awful and would have cost well over 5 grand for a VW Specialist to restore- one wants £2000 for paint alone.

The solution? - a mate of mine is an ace on body repairs and his paint is good - he was up for it as it owuld look good on his portfolio.

Cost? - £2,500 with loads of new panels and paint that looks mint 4 years later.

Now I know the VW scene is not the same but the point is that local good body shops would be a better bet IMHO.

analord

Couldn't agree more, its what I'd do but i can appreciate how you feel doogal.

Robot said:

Poor B. Looks like she's well rusted . Hope somebody who knows how to restore cars buys it from you in case you choose not to have it fixed. But, if you chose to take it apart and sell it for parts I'd be very much interested in buying the plastic cover in the attached pic

Click to expand...

I need one of these as well. The part no is 119907080. I'm going to try and order one tomorrow.

John