Bodywork
Repairs

Here's the thing about bodywork repairs — anyone can slap filler over a dent, sand it flat, and blow some paint over the top. It'll look fine for a few months. But a proper repair is about more than what it looks like on the surface. It's about the metalwork underneath being straight and solid, the panels sitting where they should, and the gaps lining up the way the factory intended. That's what I focus on at my workshop in Wicken, just outside Milton Keynes.

I deal with everything from minor collision damage — bumper scuffs, creased wings, caved-in doors — through to serious structural panel work. If you've had a knock in a car park or someone's reversed into you, I can sort it. If the damage is worse, I'll still give you an honest assessment. Panel beating, welding in new metal, replacing entire panels where the damage is too far gone — it all depends on what makes sense for the car and your budget.

"I've turned down jobs before because the owner's been quoted a cheap repair elsewhere. For that kind of money, I know the result won't be right. I'd rather lose the work than put my name to something I'm not happy with."

Rust repair is a big one — especially on classic cars. A lot of older vehicles come to me with corrosion that's gone way beyond the surface — it's into the structural metalwork and the only way to deal with it is to cut it out and weld in fresh steel. That's not just a welding job though. Once the new metal is in, the bodywork needs to be dressed, shaped, and finished so it flows with the rest of the panel. If you've seen the 1986 Ford Capri Brooklands, you'll know what I mean — that car needed serious metalwork, but by the time the bodywork was finished, you'd never know where the repairs were.

The difference between a cheap repair and a proper one comes down to the details. Panel alignment, door gaps, how the bonnet shuts, whether a wing follows the same body line as the door next to it. Get those wrong and the car might look passable from a distance, but up close it'll always look off. I take the time to get it right because once it goes into the paint booth, there's no hiding poor prep. Whether it's bodywork as part of a classic car restoration or getting a daily driver back on the road after a knock, I treat every job the same. People come to me from across Milton Keynes, Northampton, Towcester, and Brackley because they know I won't cut corners.