Graverobbers sheetmetal in GA

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classicsguy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 27, 2011
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Location
Puerto Rico
My Car
1968 GT/CS California Special
Just curious if anybody has had work done on a Mustang with Graverobbers sheetmetal in GA.?

I know about a member of this forum that has had work done by them on his 1972 Mach 1. I have called their number and left several messages,contacted them by facebook to ask them questions and haven't received a reply.Has anybody tried to contact them and were successful?

I have also read that they specialize in GM cars but also work on Mustangs and other brands

 
If someone ignored my many attempts at contacting them i would steer clear of them. That simple of act not replying is unprofessional in my experience of dealing with any business in life

 
Just curious if anybody has had work done on a Mustang with Graverobbers sheetmetal in GA.?

I know about a member of this forum that has had work done by them on his 1972 Mach 1. I have called their number and left several messages,contacted them by facebook to ask them questions and haven't received a reply.Has anybody tried to contact them and were successful?

I have also read that they specialize in GM cars but also work on Mustangs and other brands
What are you looking to have done ? I have a beautiful shop in Danbury Ct and specialize in Mustangs I'm sure you've seen plenty of my videos , posts and cars I have built. PM me for more info

 
If someone ignored my many attempts at contacting them i would steer clear of them. That simple of act not replying is unprofessional in my experience of dealing with any business in life
I AGREE with you 100% .Its very unprofessional...

 
If someone ignored my many attempts at contacting them i would steer clear of them. That simple of act not replying is unprofessional in my experience of dealing with any business in life
I AGREE with you 100% .Its very unprofessional...
Classics tried to respond to your pm but your pm box is full so it couldn't go through please delete cleanup so I can send my response

 
If someone ignored my many attempts at contacting them i would steer clear of them. That simple of act not replying is unprofessional in my experience of dealing with any business in life
I AGREE with you 100% .Its very unprofessional...
Classics tried to respond to your pm but your pm box is full so it couldn't go through please delete cleanup so I can send my response
Thanks Q CODE you can send response now

 
They have been a great shop in the past. They did a Dodge Charger for local guy and pretty much replaced every panel including inside panels and roof. Built him a car around the rare VIN# for I think $24,000 for whole car including panels. They do about any model car not just camaro. Camaro is easier than mustang you can get a one piece floor from tail light panel to the firewall all ready welded together. My friend that does restorations took the old pan out and in two days had the new floor in complete with one helper to hold panels in place. He had a platform to set the body on.

I will go to their web site and see if I can get in touch from here. Will report back later.

 
Ok I just called their number 770-287-4240 answered first try and talked with Jeff the owner. He said he does not look at the social media but maybe once a week, facebook, emails too many. If you call this number he will answer the phone old school, lol.

He said they usually do two cars a week with a 3 man crew. That is all they do no body work just panel replacement and I have heard only good things about their work. They have the fixtures and equipment to do panel replacement. Be very specific with what you want replaced it is usually more panels than you think once it is opened up.

Let us know what you decide.

 
They have been a great shop in the past. They did a Dodge Charger for local guy and pretty much replaced every panel including inside panels and roof. Built him a car around the rare VIN# for I think $24,000 for whole car including panels. They do about any model car not just camaro. Camaro is easier than mustang you can get a one piece floor from tail light panel to the firewall all ready welded together. My friend that does restorations took the old pan out and in two days had the new floor in complete with one helper to hold panels in place. He had a platform to set the body on.

I will go to their web site and see if I can get in touch from here. Will report back later.
Tell your friend I can get him the full floor including the trunk with rockers, frame rails,torque boxes, rear shock mount cross member and seat platforms for Mustangs all welded and ready to go. They have been available for a couple of years. All coated in weld-thru primer.

There are several variations

65 8 convertible

65 - 8 coupe and fastbacks

69-70 coupe and fastbacks

We can get him away from those Camaro's :whistling:

 
They have been a great shop in the past. They did a Dodge Charger for local guy and pretty much replaced every panel including inside panels and roof. Built him a car around the rare VIN# for I think $24,000 for whole car including panels. They do about any model car not just camaro. Camaro is easier than mustang you can get a one piece floor from tail light panel to the firewall all ready welded together. My friend that does restorations took the old pan out and in two days had the new floor in complete with one helper to hold panels in place. He had a platform to set the body on.

I will go to their web site and see if I can get in touch from here. Will report back later.
Tell your friend I can get him the full floor including the trunk with rockers, frame rails,torque boxes, rear shock mount cross member and seat platforms for Mustangs all welded and ready to go. They have been available for a couple of years. All coated in weld-thru primer.

There are several variations

65 8 convertible

65 - 8 coupe and fastbacks

69-70 coupe and fastbacks

We can get him away from those Camaro's :whistling:
Heck it seems that is the only people with money to do one are GM, lol. I will let him about them but I am sure he knows. He is doing a couple 69 Camaros now. One was in a house fire burnt up his Chevelle, Camaro and another I think maybe Nova. Clay is doing them again he had done them previously for about $85,000 each. This guy pours concrete and must make good money.

He has done several Mustangs and some older Fords. He is a GTO guy himself. One of his 66 or 67 GTO restorations won the Pontiac Nationals one year. I think there were over 900 cars and his won on it's first time shown with only deductions for non stock battery and I think radial tires. It was a total basket case. He had to replace entire floor. A post were rusted into. You could not tell when it was done. I tell him he is too picky, lol.

 
Ok I just called their number 770-287-4240 answered first try and talked with Jeff the owner. He said he does not look at the social media but maybe once a week, facebook, emails too many. If you call this number he will answer the phone old school, lol.

He said they usually do two cars a week with a 3 man crew. That is all they do no body work just panel replacement and I have heard only good things about their work. They have the fixtures and equipment to do panel replacement. Be very specific with what you want replaced it is usually more panels than you think once it is opened up.

Let us know what you decide.
You were lucky to get someone at the phone,I called about 4 times on different days and hours and left 4 voice messages to return my call and nobody bothered to call. Not a good business practice.

 
Ok I just called their number 770-287-4240 answered first try and talked with Jeff the owner. He said he does not look at the social media but maybe once a week, facebook, emails too many. If you call this number he will answer the phone old school, lol.

He said they usually do two cars a week with a 3 man crew. That is all they do no body work just panel replacement and I have heard only good things about their work. They have the fixtures and equipment to do panel replacement. Be very specific with what you want replaced it is usually more panels than you think once it is opened up.

Let us know what you decide.
You were lucky to get someone at the phone,I called about 4 times on different days and hours and left 4 voice messages to return my call and nobody bothered to call. Not a good business practice.
Interesting just for the heck of it I took a look at the web site and fb page,

I have no Idea how the hell in the world they can work so cheap (price page) The get 295.00 labor to do a shock tower with aprons thats 4.5 hours at 65.00 per hour, Book time from the Mitchell collision estimating guide is 7.5 AFTER all the items required for removal are taken off. Theres No way your walking out of there paying $295.00 in labor for a shock tower and aprons replacement heres why, (cut and paste from their price page below)

"The following prices are based on reductions for certain panel overlaps and are subject to change based on services performed. Some operations can not be performed independently and may require additional charges"

Having been in the collision restoration biz for over 30 years I know this game well. Once the car is in and apart you get the phone call...Mr so & so we found more damage or we need to do xxx and x since now thats it open we can really see. What are you going to do pull the car ?

Those prices are artificially low (lower than book time) and theres a good chance that your walking out the door with a much higher bill.

I lost lots of work to shops over the years because I refused to play that game. Was up front about what it really cost to do the repair. Using the book time at the bare minimum $295.00 divided by 7.5 =$39.00 per hour. a decent I-car certified collision tech makes at least $25.00 or more a hour that leaves 14.00 dollars a hour left to cover your overhead and expenses and profit. The numbers just don't work at least here in the northeast New England states.

I guess the cost of everything down there must be really really cheap although consumables (mig wire gas grinding wheels primers etc) are the same price through out the U.S.

I'm not putting them down I'm just trying to figure out how they can do a quality job at such low prices. A member here bkdunha had his car done there and I remember him posting I think that there were problems with the work they did / work that had to be redone when it went to Mustang Central

And heres my take on having a social media page presence saying you only check it once a week, It's a poor excuse for not calling back or answering emails. If you want to have a face book page or web page then be prepared to be married to it. It requires a commitment of time and energy. It's one of the reasons I don't want a web page nor a face book page for my shop it's a full time job just handling that. It becomes a burden which is why most company's have a full time web person. Theres no half way in, it's your in or your out. As you can see because of not answering the original poster it actually makes the company look worse puts them in a bad light than it does any good. I guess at the labor rates they work at they can't afford a dedicated web person. They should do themselves a favor and take down the fb page they don't even respond to anything on it so why bother

 
I was going to do a new post on this shop Graverobbers but thought it would be better to keep it all together.

My friend Clay Parham, he does high end auto restorations, is taking a 1972 chevy short bed pick up to them today. They are about 200 miles from me. I would have gone with him but have someone coming by my shop today and cannot leave.

I looked at the truck and laughed, this is before heading to Graverobbers. It had scraps of 3/16" plate welded in the floor and the rocker install was a joke. So I believe they will be doing the following.

Install new floor complete.

Install both rocker boxes.

Install new cab corners.

Install new bed sides.

This is one of sentimental builds it was the owners grandfathers truck. Will probably have double what the truck is worth in it.

Clay can and has done the panel replacement many times in the past but they can do it cheaper than he can in his own shop. I will go with him to pick it up so I can see the shop first hand. If this one turns out ok the next to go will be and early Firebird coupe that needs floors, quarters, wheelhouse and probably trunk floor. I will get before and after pics of the Firebird.

This gives him more capability to do the final fit and finish in his shop and make more money than doing it all.

I have a couple cars that might also go after I visit.

So keep an eye out for a first hand report to settle all the doubt about the shop being real and their prices being real.

It finally got cold in the mountains I guess the fires went out.

 
"Sentimental builds" Reminds me of a story one of our local restoration shop owners told me 'bout 15 years ago. I had stopped at his shop to ask a technical question and while I was there I saw a 1970 Fastback Stang he had recently finished that was waiting for the owner to pick up. The end product was very nice insofar as finishes, etc. The car itself was a plain jane 302, C4, stock interior, pretty much a basic model.

The car had come out of a local barn where the original owner parked for 30 yrs it after a decade or so of year 'round daily use. Here in WNY, anything from the 60's or 70's that got used year 'round for any length of time rusted out pretty quick and this was no exception. Just about every piece of sheet metal top to bottom was badly rusted and required replacement. This was the owner's first car, bought while he was in high school. He decided he wanted it rebuilt back to original. The shop owner told him the cost would be several times over what otherwise could be purchased rust-free and repainted & rebuilt to duplicate the original one. The car owner said, 'No, I want my car rebuilt.' In the end it cost him a little over $100K to bring his car back to what he wanted.

The shop owner said the owner planned to drive it once or twice a year, but that was it. I've never seen it since at any local cruises or show, so it may be back in the barn. So whenever I hear the phrase 'Sentimental build' I think about this one.

 
"Sentimental builds" Reminds me of a story one of our local restoration shop owners told me 'bout 15 years ago. I had stopped at his shop to ask a technical question and while I was there I saw a 1970 Fastback Stang he had recently finished that was waiting for the owner to pick up. The end product was very nice insofar as finishes, etc. The car itself was a plain jane 302, C4, stock interior, pretty much a basic model.

The car had come out of a local barn where the original owner parked for 30 yrs it after a decade or so of year 'round daily use. Here in WNY, anything from the 60's or 70's that got used year 'round for any length of time rusted out pretty quick and this was no exception. Just about every piece of sheet metal top to bottom was badly rusted and required replacement. This was the owner's first car, bought while he was in high school. He decided he wanted it rebuilt back to original. The shop owner told him the cost would be several times over what otherwise could be purchased rust-free and repainted & rebuilt to duplicate the original one. The car owner said, 'No, I want my car rebuilt.' In the end it cost him a little over $100K to bring his car back to what he wanted.

The shop owner said the owner planned to drive it once or twice a year, but that was it. I've never seen it since at any local cruises or show, so it may be back in the barn. So whenever I hear the phrase 'Sentimental build' I think about this one.
Clay has done several of those. He did a one owner 65 mustang coupe 6 cylinder that was an original owner and had over 1,000,000 miles, several engines. I think Clay charged him $85,000 The car was driven from the shop to his garage and never moved again. He passed and one of the kids is having Clay quote putting a stroker 351 W in it now.

Old cars and restoration is either sentimental or vanity for the owners. The builders are the only ones to gain in most cases.

 
I am going through this today... doing as much of the restoration myself as I can...

In reality, the body and paint were sent out to a high end restoration shop; 600 hours labour at what ever rate you want to do the math for + materials ... The engine was done again by a top notch builder in my area; 77 hours labour + parts and I did not go cheap... The original pre restoration purchase price of the car could have gotten me 2-3 complete convertibles in good running and local show car ready condition... but I had to have it.

I don't think I can ever drive the finished product..., but I will.

I agree, at the end of the day you get what you pay for, nothing less.

 
As classicguy noted he knows someone who used Graverobbers. That would be me on the 72 Mach. My builds are very much on a budget. I searched extensively just for a shop to do metalwork on my car. After 2 in person visits to their shop and seeing their work I decided that was the right path for me. They did extensive frame a metalwork on my car. These are the 2 errors I found in their work. Top hat for the heater motor in the passenger side firewall. I used an AC donor firewall that did not have the motor housing that extends into the right wheel well. Thankfully I noticed this and a box of sheet metal parts when I picked the car up. I retrieved it for later installation. The other issue was some heat warp "tin canning" in the left rear quarter. Overall I was pleased with their work and cost. The shop I took the car to next for bodywork and paint critiqued their work and well done. All of the frame dimensions checked out and their welds required minimal prep. The second shop was able to install the blower housing in the firewall and repair the warping in the right quarter with minimal work. I specifically sought out Graverobbers for their ability to return my shell back to me without any filler. This way I could see and verify the metalwork done versus it getting buried under filler and paint only to show up years later. This is how it worked out for me.

 
Thanks for your input BK! It will definitely help our forum members with your experience with this shop. I am sure more from this forum will chip in ...hopefully North Carolina Mustangs .

 
BK, I wish all my customers were like you! I would love to do just metal work. But most people want everything done. And I really don't care for body work. I am confident enough in my metal work to leave it bare for anyone to see. Glad you found a place to take care of you like that!

 
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