Who do you use for body work? SF area

[DesmoDork]

Looking for recommendations for Seven savvy body shops in the Marin county/San Fran area. Has anyone found any places they would be comfortable reffering?

My spare tire rack got pranged and needs to be re-done/replaced. Also it would be good to have place for future needs.

Thanks in advance. :-)

[rnr]

I dont know about Se7en-savy but Cars Dawydiak(http://www.carsauto.com/) in SF did a fantastic job on my Elise. Plus they also deal in Classic cars so I'd expect that they should be able to find their way around anything.

[DesmoDork]

That is the best showroom in SF! I love that place. Always something interesting. They had a beautiful orange Europa for a while that really got my revs up.

I might swing by and see what they say about the Seven.

[Doug Liedblad]

How did it get bent?

[DesmoDork]

I had it parallel parked and a woman in an SL Mercedes drove into the space behind it nose first. I was watching as she drove right into the back of the 7. When I asked her for her info she denied doing it. :-( It took a bit of haggling to get her to admit. I was pretty flabbergasted.

[Doug Liedblad]

Is it just the spare rack that's bent or did it bend the rear chassis tube where the rack mounts?

The proper way to fix it is to send it back to Arch Motors. $$$

I took mine off as I've never used the spare and it's just extra weight.

Easy to do with a pipe cutter and a couple of vinyl caps. I remounted the License plate to the point where the spare bolted thru. I'll post pictures.

For the plate I got a license plate mount from the Cobra forum, drilled a hole thru the frame and light then used threaded tube that is the standard for a lighting fixtures. It turned out to be the same thread size as the spare mounting bolt. A couple of jam nuts and reroute the wire.

If you want to do this and need more info send me a PM. I have plenty of the vinyl caps and will be happy to send you some.

[DesmoDork]

Yes it's just the rack. I have thought about cutting it, but I kind of like the look of the car with the spare tire on. It makes it even more olde tyme. :-) However I really don't need the spare, and it would add lightness to chop it off. Hmmmm....I could always chop it now and put it back on if I changed my mind.

Thanks for the pics! Do you remember approximately the price of the license frame?

[Doug Liedblad]

I left the stubs so that I can put it back on if I ever want to. I'd ask for at least the price of the rack from Arch, including shipping and installation. I've had my Honda car hit a couple of times in recent months and not seen a quote for less than $1000. Usually more like $1500 to $2000 for what I consider a minor damage.

The mount was $20.00

http://www.finishlineaccessories.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=311

If you have the std British car license plate light it fits right on.

Doug

[DesmoDork]

Caterham says the rear tire holder replacement costs 35 pounds, which would put it at about $100 delvered. Forgot to ask if that is painted or just primed.

I may order one. Not sure yet.