finally got to see my car since the painter got it almost 3 years ago
There's a local guy where I live, I was introduced to him by my best friend and Mopar brother. He does great work, and I had him paint match my AMD N96 hood with the existing "Lemon Twist" yellow and satin black stripes. Now the yellow on my car is very close to Lemon Twist, but it's actually some Dandelion yellow paint color. If it wasn't indistinguishable from Lemon Twist, I'd be unhappy, because I've seen other yellow Roadrunners and their yellow wasn't close. Regardless, he was able to match it.
The point I wanted to make is he is a genuinely good guy, and talented in his work, but he's also a fireman, AND he's been building an awesome new, really big shop to work in that's his, vs the shop he's been renting for years. The problem is that he can't really take any new work, and my best friend has been through hell trying to get his 70 Cuda body work and paint done.
At first, he brought it to a mutual friend of ours who has been doing body and paint for decades, and we've known each other since we were teenagers, so over 40 years. He had already gone through waiting years to get a Starion painted, because of the quality of work and a price that was really cheap. When he finally got it done, it was a trophy winner, but he went without for so long! Against ALL of our advice, he brought his Cuda to him. Not only did it sit for 2 years, our friend's shop had a fire, and that messed up some of the metal and other stuff on the Cuda, but it could have been worse.
So he brought it to the first guy I described, the one who did my hood, and it has sat, untouched, for at least another 2 years!! At 60 years old, that kind of **** is something that I think is foolish. I know, after going to 3 of our friends funerals in 3 years, the last was 2 years ago, that we just don't have that kind of time to piss away. Not just waiting for the car to be done, but all of the shows and events that we miss, with no guarantee of "I'll go next year" being a possibility.
It's CRAZY how long some shops take! Even Mark Worman takes years. I understand if you want factory correct, to the "T" there are limited choices, but if you die or miss a lot of events waiting, is it really worth it?
I know I'm going to have to get some paint work done eventually, with a few very small bubbles in a couple of small places starting to show, and I want it done right, which as nice as my car looks, obviously someone used filler or something is making these few tiny bubbles come up. If I get the rear wheelwells tubbed, I guess I'll have to get it painted, and I don't want some shitty paint job, but whoever does it is going to have months, at the most, or I'll have to keep looking.
