Stripped to bare structure, assessed honestly, and rebuilt from the frame out. For projects where doing it properly matters more than doing it quickly.
4.9 50 reviews from Cleveland customers
Rated with the BBBArc Wheels Welding LLC, since 2023
Black ownedIndependent shop on Cleveland's southeast side
A tear down is the point where you stop guessing. Everything comes off, the structure gets seen for what it is rather than what the paint suggested, and the project gets planned around reality. It is also the point where a lot of projects should stop, and a shop that will tell you that is worth more than one that will not.
The vehicles that justify this are the ones where the metal work is going to be extensive enough that doing it piecemeal costs more. Once you are into floor pans, rockers and structure on the same car, working around trim and glass wastes more time than removing them.
The extent of the rot, which is reliably larger than what was visible. This is not pessimism, it is what rust does under paint and sealer.
Previous repairs, which on any vehicle over thirty years old are almost guaranteed and are frequently the reason something does not line up.
Filler, sometimes in quantities that explain the panel gaps.
Structural damage from an old accident that was straightened rather than repaired.
The honest answer on whether the project makes sense, which is the most valuable output of the whole exercise.
Structure comes first, always. Floors, rockers, frame rails and mounting points get repaired before any outer panel is touched, because the outer panels have to hang off something that is straight.
Then the panels, fitted and aligned with the gaps set while there is still access to adjust them, rather than at the end when everything is welded up.
Then treatment and coating, inside and out, including every closed section before it gets sealed.
What you get back is a body that is straight, solid and ready for paint, with a record of what was done rather than a mystery under primer.
Projects where the budget and the scope do not match. If a tear down finds more than the plan can cover, you get told at that point rather than at the point where the money runs out and the car is in pieces.
Months rather than weeks, and the honest answer only exists after the strip. Anyone quoting a timeline on a rusty project before seeing it stripped is guessing.
Yes, and some people should. The assessment is the point of the tear down. If the answer is that the project does not make sense, that is a useful thing to find out with the car in pieces rather than after another year of spending.
Space is limited, so this needs discussing before starting rather than assumed. A long project that has to sit is a different conversation from one that moves.
No. This shop does metal. Engine, transmission, brakes, wiring and interior go elsewhere, and knowing that up front lets you plan the order properly.
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.
