I have a friend who teaches at the local BOCES. He was telling me about one of the projects they have going on. So I got to thinking and asked if they take peoples projects on. He said that they do but it's not a quick turn around. He said that depending on what needs to be done,it could take up to a year or longer.

I've been so busy lately with no sign of letting up(heck I haven't even had a chance to post on the board in a month!). I know ElcaminoNYC(Pete) would be disappointed in me saying this,but I just haven't had a chance to lay one finger on the Elky for a few months now. I would have these guys do all the bodywork,welding,and paint but I'd handle the suspension,engine,and interior once they got done with it. This BOCES is for college aged students,not kids still in high school. He said that all I'd have to do is supply the parts,everything else they'd cover(paint,labor,ect.)

Is this a good or bad idea? Anyone have experiance with this sort of thing?

that's not a bad deal. what i would do is check out the projects they are working on right now and see how they look. if all you have to do is supply the parts and it won't cost you anything for labor then i would do it if it looks like they've done a good job on their projects so far.

I say go for it Chris. The work will be done under the supervision of the instructor so it'll be done right. I've had work done at a local trade shop school in the past and I don't have any complaints about it. Heck, once I had a TH350 tranny completly rebuilt by them for the cost of parts, only $94.

And on another positive note, think of how many people there will get bitten by the El Camino bug and want to buy one as a result of working on yours.

Hey Chris. Sounds like your one busy person. I'd also say to go for it and take advantage of the offer to let them redo your elky for you. I remember when you got that elky a while back. If you had given it to them way back when, it might be done now :-) .

Besides, you still got your Z28, correct???? So, it is not like you won't have a nice toy to drive????

Go for it!

If I had the chance in my area, I'd do it for sure. Same boat with the time to work on it, toooooo damn busy with other things right now. I better watch out, life's gonna get away from me before I know it 8O

Those guys are there not because they have to be but because they want to be. They're enthusiastic and take pride in what they've done. They're graded on their work. I know, when I was in High School (many years ago). A couple of my best buddies went to a VocTech school for body and fender for all 4 years. The teacher even had his car done by his students, a 47 Chevy ragtop (no wait I'm not that old, I graduated in 72). They did a complete frame off restoration, that car was a beauty when it was finished. You just have to be willing to tie the car up for a whole school year or more. You bet you should go for it...you'll probably get a better job done there than you would at any body shop. 8)

Hey Chris. Sounds like your one busy person. I remember when you got that elky a while back. If you had given it to them way back when, it might be done now .

Yeah it's been nutty for the last few months. My helper quit(and went to work for my competition)and I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. So I've been working by myself (including Saturday's)for the last few months. On top of it I'm helping running our other store and my boss said that next month they are going to start looking into opening up two more locations. He said that he might have me oversee all 4 locations! Thats great but means I REALLY won't have any free time during the week. Now factor in what little free time I have is mostly consumed by grass cutting,weed killing,playing with the kids,ect.,ect.,ect. and you'd see that lately there just isn't enough time in the day! Just to give you an idea,this little post has taken me a little over 2 hours to write. 8O Remember that movie Multiplicity? I'd give my left nut to clone myself and let him work and then maybe I'd get a chance to work on my cars.

Anyways,I talked to my wife about it(cause well it's technically her car although I'm sure I'll be doing my share of the piloting). She likes the idea as well so I guess we're going to do it. It just kinda sucks cause I so wanted to do this all on my own. However there it sits with me doing nothing which is just a waste. So your 100% right that I should have done this awhile ago.
you'll probably get a better job done there than you would at any body shop.
You know I was thinking that too. I can either do it this way or pay some guy $2500 and have it sit in his grimmy body shop for a year. Then a week before a year is up he'll finally get on it and then when it's finished he'll say I owe him another $1000. I'm thinking they'll have the instructor there making sure they get it done right where there is no one looking over the body shops shoulder making sure they do it right. Not to mention if you got 20 hands on the car for one year,thats a hellva lot of man hours. I guess when you add up all the positives,it really makes perfect sence to do this.

The body shop department at the school is going to be contacting me at the end of the month. My buddy says that it will probably be evaluated and I need to give them a clear picture of what I want done to it. In the meantime I'm going to try and pull off all the moldings,bumpers,trim,ect. Once the ball starts rolling,I'll update my website with the progress(comming soon....www.coldbastard.com...thanks to another friend).