Rust repair, panel fabrication and structural work on vehicles worth saving, taken to the point where the shape is right and your painter can start.
4.9 50 reviews from Cleveland customers
Rated with the BBBArc Wheels Welding LLC, since 2023
Black ownedIndependent shop on Cleveland's southeast side
Restoration metalwork is judged differently from repair work and it is worth being clear about how. On a daily driver a patch has to be strong, sealed and safe. On a restoration it has to be all of that and invisible, with the original body line carried straight through the repair so the panel reads as one piece once there is paint on it.
That means forming metal rather than filling gaps, and it means checking the work along the length of the body rather than at the seam. It takes considerably longer and it is the only way the car looks right at the end.
Lower quarters and wheel arch lips, where the lip traps everything the tire throws at it.
Rockers and the structure inside them, which on a lot of older cars is the actual strength of the body.
Floor pans and trunk floors, particularly under anything that has sat outside with a leaking seal.
Cowl and plenum areas, which drain badly by design and rot from the inside where you cannot see them.
Door bottoms and fender lips, which are cosmetic until they are not.
A reproduction panel that nearly fits is worse than fabricating one, because the gaps get filled and the body line breaks where the filler is. Where a panel is available and fits properly, we use it. Where it does not, the section gets made.
Welds get stitched to control heat, then dressed back flush and checked along the body line with a straightedge rather than by eye.
Closed sections get treated inside before they are welded shut. On a car that is going to be worth something, sealing untreated bare steel inside a rocker is a decision you regret in six years.
We do metal, not paint, trim, upholstery or mechanical. Being clear about that early stops you paying us to be the wrong shop for two thirds of your project.
We do the metal stage. Rust repair, panel fabrication, structure and chassis, finished ready for paint. Paint, trim, upholstery and mechanical work go elsewhere and we will happily tell you what order to do them in.
Yes. On a car old enough that the parts supply has dried up, fabricating a section is often faster than hunting a used original that will need repairing anyway.
It depends entirely on how much sound metal is left, which is why this one genuinely needs the car seen rather than photographed. You get an honest assessment including the cases where the car is not worth what it would take.
Sometimes. It depends on the car, what it is worth finished, and whether the structure is repairable or gone. We will give you a straight answer rather than a quote you did not ask for.
Most quotes come back the same day the shop is open. Free, no obligation, and if it cannot be repaired you will hear that straight.
