[brossow]

Blasting was $180. They wanted $200 for 2.5 hours of labor but when I pointed out that they had originally told me it would only be an hour or maybe two at the most, we agreed to split the difference. The $20 wouldn't have killed me but it was kinda the principle of the thing. I went out of my way to get an estimate (though not in writing) so I could decide how much or even if I wanted it done, so when the bill came to 25% more than the max I had expected to pay I wasn't exactly overjoyed.

But having said that, considering how long it would have taken me and how much media at $6-7 a bag, not to mention the incredible mess and disposal problems, I think it was money well spent and I'd do it again without hesitation.

You said you replaced some brackets. I haven't done any research -- are they available aftermarket or do I need to find a donor or just repair them myself? Repair should be pretty straightforward if I can learn how to weld (never done it before and I'm 35 frickin' years old -- what's up with that?!) but I may get lucky in finding solid donor parts with my local source.