Federal Coach Repair on Coachbuilt Funeral and Limousine Bodies

The rear quarters on a funeral coach are formed rather than stamped, the roof is reframed with bows to carry the landau treatment, and the floor is a stretched and reinforced structure. None of that is in a collision parts catalog, and no dealer can pull a quarter panel for it.

So a rear impact is metal work. We form, weld and finish the panel, restore the structure behind it, and re establish the gaps and lines against the untouched side. It is slower than bolting on a stamping and it is the only way to put one of these back correctly.

The formal vinyl roof is not decoration, it is a covering over a reframed roof structure with bows underneath and a defined seam line. When it lifts, the cause is usually adhesive failure at an edge or water that got behind it and rusted the substrate.

Resetting one properly means removing the covering, addressing the substrate and the bows, then re covering with the correct adhesive and working the seams so they sit where they originally sat. A landau reset that leaves the seam a half inch off is visible to every family that walks past the car.

These cars are usually finished in deep blacks or dark metallics with a great deal of clear, and the paint has to look identical across a transition between a factory stamped panel and a hand formed one. Those two substrates and their preparation differ, so a blend has to be placed where the eye will not compare them directly.

We map the panels, match to the aged finish rather than to a code, and place blends at natural breaks. On a black car in daylight there is nowhere to hide a mismatch, which is why this work sits with our refinish lead rather than being handed to whoever is free.

The table and its roller mechanism are working equipment, and they wear. Rollers flat spot, tracks collect debris, and the mechanism binds at exactly the moment nobody wants it to. Rear door and hatch alignment on a stretched body also drifts, since the structure is long and flexes more than a factory shell.

We service the mechanism, replace rollers and clean or repair tracks, and reset rear closure geometry after any structural work. Those are small jobs individually and they are what makes the vehicle acceptable in service.

Body, metal forming and refinish work bills at $210 per hour with paint supplies at $55 per paint hour. Mechanism and electrical work bills at $260. A written estimate is $150 and is credited in full when the repair is authorized. Deposits are 50 percent over $2,000.

OCRV Center is an independent shop with no dealer agreement or affiliation with Federal Coach, Cadillac or Lincoln. All work is performed in shop at Yorba Linda. For funeral homes we schedule around service commitments and will hold a vehicle for a specific release date rather than a general week.