As Walt said, the pockets do run deep now a days. You may want to re-think the "Hate" factor of finishing the body work and here's why.
Depending on your age, health, and bank account, doing the work is a definate option. I am over 55 years old, out of shape, and basically a lazy put-it-off-till-next month type of guy. When I want something bad enough, the drive, inspiration, and desire over come most of my bad habits. I will post a few photos of my car in the finishing process versus the above finished look. The chopping, cutting, welding, and panel fitting was the fun part and I agree it's a quick fix and the change is exciting. No one wants to do the grueling grunt work except the guys who want to make lots of money. I had help when chopping my '40 by 2 60+ year old master 1950's customizers, who were past their prime , but still gave me the inspiration to get in there and sweat, swear, & save. I asked them for a ball park price if they did all of the work themselves and I was was floored by their response. They said most commercial body shops charge $75-$100/hour for labor plus the material cost. I spent 4 months of after work 4 hour stints, most every weekend for at least 8-10 hours, plus the 1 hour round trip to get there! My wife was not very happy with all of the away time (maybe she did like it a little) but understood that I was learning, and saving $$ at the same time. It was an investment! By the way, I did a conservative estimate of my hours using a $25.00/hour rate and came up with 200 hours and that comes to $5,000!
The two old guys that helped me and did it as a second job, said that would be very accurate to what they would have charged.
Like I said before, what's the rush? If you cannot do it, I completely understand, but if you do not want to do it, that's where I question your goals as a true hotrodder! Just my opinion not a criticisim.
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1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe