I can't be the only one

[sam z]

I'm getting my car back this coming Wednesday.

Car looks awesome guys. Believe me. But, the experience I must say has sucked.
Some of you guys were preaching patience a few days ago on another thread. Ok fine.
But when you go to the shop and see nothing done for days at a time, and plenty
of excuses why, that s--t starts to get old. One of the guys doing a lot of the work was
just as annoyed and felt my lack of patience was totally justified. He actually told me
I should have been far more vocal about sharing my displeasure. I was told mid June.
Due to laziness and a lack of ambition I'm getting it back in late august. It's having an
effect on my household as well. My usually unconcerned wife is burned out on the BS and
wants it back here too.

I can't be the only guy to deal with this crap.

 

[69B5]

Most of us who have restored our cars have had, at one time, the same experance your having.
Try to be patient
You must have been confident in choosing this shop to do the work
I know first hand how frustrating this all can be and it's easy to be discouraged
Even though it took longer, your now at the end of that faze
The end result is what your after
You may have other challenges as you work towards completion of your project
Try to take them in stride, as part of the deal
You will forget the frustration your feeling now when your driving that beauty around
I, along with many others, here can't wait to see her
We'll just have to be patient
69B5

 

[ACME A12]

Some really good collision/body shops take in resto work as "filler". They only work on the resto projects when everything else slows down. Such was the case with the shop that painted our Swinger. They are independant, but are contracted to the local Bentley dealer that does not have its own body shop. They had the little Dart for 23 months...but they told me up front that they were NOT promising to have it done by any particular date...

Doesn't sound like this was your arrangement, but unless your shop is exclusively a resto shop then you likely got pushed back in the schedule several time by much more lucrative collision work...and that is what pays the bills in that business... :cents:

You're getting the car back now and you're (I surmise by your comments) happy with the results. To paraphrase Fran: That's really all that matters. He's right.

:jester:

 

[sixgunrunner68]

Some really good collision/body shops take in resto work as "filler". They only work on the resto projects when everything else slows down. Such was the case with the shop that painted our Swinger. They are independant, but are contracted to the local Bentley dealer that does not have its own body shop. They had the little Dart for 23 months...but they told me up front that they were NOT promising to have it done by any particular date...

Doesn't sound like this was your arrangement, but unless your shop is exclusively a resto shop then you likely got pushed back in the schedule several time by much more lucrative collision work...and that is what pays the bills in that business... :cents:

You're getting the car back now and you're (I surmise by your comments) happy with the results. To paraphrase Fran: That's really all that matters. He's right.

:jester:

x2
It's the nature of the beast.

 

[69hemibeep]

Sam, I don't recall if you were a member when my car was being done. I pulled it out of one shop after almost a year and into another 3 months later for 7 more months. That's why I call it paint jail. The first shop was an actual restoration shop and he would tinker with it once and awhile as I watched 4 other cars get done that came in after mine. After I pulled the car he told people that asked about it that I ran out of money :brickwall:

 

[sam z]

My car was the ONLY car being worked on. Two guys were responsible: body / paint guy and mechanical guy. Mechanical guy dragged his heels, avoided the project, and put stuff off. Period. It was becoming increasingly apparrent with every weekly visit. I saw the storm on the horizon. The paint / body guy voiced his frustration as well. You're right Bob, the car is basically in jail. You're absolutely at the mercy of these people. I don't remember your experience, but I'm living my own version.

I signed a contract with these guys littered with dates and dollar values. I held up my end and this is what you get.

I'll post pics when its in my driveway. Keep your eyes peeled on the pics page.

 

[ACME A12]

You're just going to make yourself crazy if you continue to fret over this, Sam. What's done is done. Vent here as needed, get it off of your chest, but then do yourself a huge favor and let it go... JMHO :yesnod:

Then go and enjoy your beautiful car. :cheers:

 

[Basketcase]

yeah it sucks. I've never had to deal with it as bad as others. worst I had was when I had my '68 Charger R/T done by a "friend" thought I was doing it right. got new 1/4s,trunk. he dragged his feet, never did finish all he was supposed to. and every place he welded on the car rusted out. this and the body shop horro stories are the reason my new 1/4s for the runner are hanging in the garage instead of the car.

 

[moparchris]

Sam,

Let me tell you my nightmare, maybe it will make you feel better about your situation. I dropped off my 70 Swinger at my cousins body shop. Mind you he is a successful businessman that specializes in high end resto body and paint. I tell him that I want to be treted as a paying customer and that I dont want any discount. I have used him several times before and had outstanding results. I dropped the car off stripped to a bare shell and no mechanical work or disassembly needed, BTW I had installed the roof skin, quarter panels, and trunk floor prior to dropping it off. I also dropped off a check paying $5000 in full at the beginning as I always have. Well after 3 years I went and picked it up in the same condition as I had left it now featuring surface rust so I have to have it blasted again. I have had many other experiences similar to this over the years and thought I had finally found the perfect situation. So now I am out 5k and my car is worse off. It make me sick to even look at the damn thing and i have been tempted to take a sawzall to it just to make it go away. So I guess what I am saying is regular business rules dont apply to restorations on our cars, especially when you have multiple things being done at one shop. The way I have dealt with it over the years is I found that I need to do as much myself as possible, now that is slow!

 

[chapdog105]

I feel your pain on this one.
My vert was coming along so great...or at least I thought it was.
If you remember, the undercarriage of my car was supposed to be fixed and the body guy half-assed it.
I have everything sitting in the garage ready for reassembly, but you can't lipstick on a pig.
I contacted another body shop with a sold reputation to fix the $25,000 mess I'm in.
Hopefully they can realign the crooked quarter panel, put in my new tail panel, and fix up the undercarriage.
I'm considering having it painted in base/clear too while it's there.

This is the service I got for my money...

 

[sam z]

Nuts. Almost as if this is the routine with this stuff. I don't get it.

 

[69hemibeep]

Nuts. Almost as if this is the routine with this stuff. I don't get it.

Too many paint fumes :crazy:

 

[moparstuart]

Nuts. Almost as if this is the routine with this stuff. I don't get it.

Too many paint fumes :crazy:

yup paint fumes and laquer tinner :lmao: All i can say is i deal with body men every day and most of then are just a different breed of animal .

 

[abodybill]

Car looks awesome guys. Believe me. But, the experience I must say has sucked.
Some of you guys were preaching patience a few days ago on another thread. Ok fine.
But when you go to the shop and see nothing done for days at a time, and plenty
of excuses why, that s--t starts to get old.

I can't be the only guy to deal with this crap.[/quote]

Sam,

I took my car in when I was 55 years old and now going on 65 and just got it back last fall.

Yea I know but they did my 71 Demon in 9 months and it was beautiful so can you do my Runner I say and sure we can.

Well after 9 years I pulled it out and yes I should have after the first year but they were so called racing buds that we all took are cars to the track.

And the worst part is I lost 9 years of fun with this car that I have owned for 35 years.

Off my soap box!

 

[Big John]

In the early eighties, a good friend took in his Firebird T/A to a local painter with "good" reputation. The car was a 73 Super Duty 455, a fairly rare car and it just needed paint and a little work.

He went over to see the car's progress and he was floored... the car had been stripped of the doors, fenders and (worst of all) the quarters! There was no way this car was supposed to be done like this... and the quarters were rust and damage free! It took a couple years to get the car back and what he got was a lot worse then what he dropped off.... Nothing fit, nothing was straight and it looked awful. To top it off, this car took a deep (even for then) dive in value as it was no longer an original car.

This is the worst part... my friend was a good body man and painter... He was working at NPG and no longer in the body shop and put in so many hours overtime that he decided to have the car done rather then doing it himself.

He ended up in court over the deal and finally got some $$ to settle the case and pay for a portion of getting the car straightened around.

He started painting his own cars after that... but his health wasn't the best and he had to quit a couple years ago. The last car he had done (64 Fury) he worked out a schedule and plan for the bodyman... let's say a list of expectations and at what point he would pay for work done. He told me it was the best thing he did... the body man even liked it because he had a record of exactly what my friend wanted! The car came out really nice and on time without any suprises.

 

[sam z]

Like I said guys, the body man wasn't the problem with my job. It was the not-so-driven mechanic that was (is) causing the holdup.

I think a few aspects of it really suck. One, I'm obviously eager to get the car and enjoy it after years of wanting this. But, two, you just feel friggin' helpless. Car is there in pieces and what can you do? Start an argument? Those typically go nowhere in a situation like this except create animosity. And, some of you guys met me at Carlisle. You may remember I was probably the smallest guy in the crowd. Doesn't help much in an overheated argument.

 

[ACME A12]

And, some of you guys met me at Carlisle. You may remember I was probably the smallest guy in the crowd. Doesn't help much in an overheated argument.

I feel badly for you, Sam. I'll be glad when you have your car back and this will become just another story in the history of you and your car. :cheers:

As for arguing, I'll take a sharp mind and a sharp tongue over height any day. But if you go and THREATEN someone in the course of that argument, well, then that's when it's nice to be Jason's, Harold's, or George's size...or own your own tae kwon do dojang...

:jester:

 

[69hemibeep]

In the middle of my mess this ex friend of mine, a little guy that had recently moved out from Jersey was telling me I needed to go in and kick some ass, that's how its done back where he is from, I said to him that's like pissing the guy off that's preparing your dinner :crazy: Besides all this dufus could do is talk them to death.

 

[Big John]

FWIW, you can never win a fight with someone in their own shop or on their own property.

I was in my friend Dave's shop once and a couple guys came in. One guy started really complaining. Seems his Ford was still apart, the new convertor flexplate he needed and the dealership said they had, turned out to be bad. They had torn the car apart in anticipation of the part arriving as they knew the guy was in a hurry. They did the next best thing and ordered a new flex plate, the last one in national inventory by the way. He went ballistic because his car wasn't done, started threatening and then made the very, very big mistake of shoving Dave. Dave was (he has passed) a big guy, very quiet and pretty laid back... The next thing I knew, this guy was on the floor, his buddy was up against the wall, held by Dave's brother.

They kicked them out, told him to get a tow truck because his car was coming off the lift and he could have it towed. He yelled he was calling the cops as he left. Of course, the cops showed up and NOTHING was said about the fight. The cops just asked if the car was ready to be towed and asked if they had any problems that they hadn't already handled.

The car went to the shop down the street, the mechanic there called a couple days later and asked if the new flex plate had been delivered there because he couldn't find another... it had been and was now hanging on the wall in the office... because Dave knew it was the last one.. anywhere. :devil:

 

[ACME A12]

the mechanic there called a couple days later and asked if the new flex plate had been delivered there because he couldn't find another... it had been and was now hanging on the wall in the office... because Dave knew it was the last one.. anywhere. :devil:

:lmao: :banana: :lmao:

Perfect!

:jester: