Body Shop Blues - Car Jail Plus Other Issues

[69SportSatellite]

Been there before...

It's a sad commentary that so many of us on FBBO (myself included) have run into similar problems. I went through the exact same issue with BOTH the bodywork and motor on my 1967 Mustang K-Code fastback. The shop building the engine was of course in dire straits soon after I dropped the engine off -- even though they had been in business for 20+ years -- due to a divorce....The money I had paid him was long gone, and my motor with all of its rare parts was half done. I ended up figuring out that I'd have to ransom the motor out, so I had a heart to heart discussion with him and it cost me an extra $1,200 to get it done. By this point, we were on a pay by task basis, i.e., the first $300 when the heads were done, etc. I wasn't happy about paying the extra $$$, but his landlord was ready to padlock the place, so it was either pay something extra or try to deal with the Sheriff after he was evicted. Happy to say the engine is done and waiting an install.

For the bodywork, same thing; established shop, owner got in over his head. I got a call one day from the foreman who told me the owner was months behind on his rent and the landlord was coming to evict them; plus the employees were all quitting "that day" due to having not been paid in weeks. At least the shell had been painted an all of my original parts were there. I hired a flatbed towing service who did high-end wrecker work to bring it home. The owner was glad to have it gone, I guess since it was one less headache for him. I'm probably out more than I want to admit on that one. But, I have my car at home, two-thirds finished.

I can always work a few extra months before retiring to recoup the loss, but given the rarity of the car, had it been damaged or "disappeared" I could never have afforded to replace it. My gut feeling was that this was going bad, so I got my car out ASAP and never looked back. I heard from a local Mustang parts dealer that others who didn't move as quickly ended up faring much worse.

If your instincts tell you it's time to pull the plug, my advice, based solely on my own experiences, it to get your car home....hard to accept, but so much better having your car under your own roof. Just my 2 cents.

Best of luck with this.

 

[Wijns07]

Run....now and run fast.

Grab some of his tools when you are on the way out and offer to sell them back to him for $2800!

 

[mmissile]

Been there. You can get more money....not time. Move on and get that water under the bridge.

 

[BarrsRestoration]

I hope by now the OP has his car back home in one piece. i hear stories like this way too often when a collision shop takes in something that needs to be in a restoration shop. The collision shops that take in old car projects are usually doing it for fill-in cash flow, and the guys working on the car hate it because they have no experience with older cars. They are not doing it on commission pay so it sits, or takes forever to finish. The shop owner sees dollar signs and could care less.
Where I live, many of the busier and successful collision shops send restoration type work to me because they've known me for so long, and because they are not geared for it. In return, I send late model collision work to them, even my family members and friends. If it's a classic or muscle car insurance claim, I take care of it here.
Bottom line is this, if you can find a legit restoration guy to take your project, stay away from the insurance shops. It will be worth it.

 

[67GTX440]

Update-

Car in the shop 16 months as of today. Went down and drained the gas tank and refilled with new gas to see if car would start. No fuel getting to carburetor. Put on new fuel pump and it powered right up.

In my discussion with the shop owner last week I told him I wanted a firm completion date, and that I did not care if the date was before Thanksgiving or before Christmas. I also told him that by firm I meant if he did not deliver the car by the agreed date that I could come down and shoot him in the foot and he would agree he screwed up and not complain about it.

I honestly think if the guy would work on it five days straight it would be ready to paint.

The metal work is all done. The rust free roof has been installed. New door hinge pins have been installed. All that remains is to finish smoothing out the quarters from installation of the lower patch panels, smoothing out the bottom of both doors where was metal was patched and getting it primed and prepped to paint, The car will run and drive, but has no dash, front or rear glass, no trim or bumpers and no interior with the exception of the driver seat.

The car is sitting on jack stands and as soon as I get it back I need to detail the undercarriage. Maybe I should just take my tools to his shop and knock that out as well as painting the brake drums while I am waiting.

The shop is down to the owner and one other guy. The one other guy does most of the body work and the owner does all the painting. The owner is working on my car himself and won't let the other guy touch it, but he seems much more interested in finding cars that need a quick paint and to flip than working on mine.

Last two restores he finished looked great but took forever and both owners went through exactly what I am going through getting them done.

 

[64SF]

Hope it all works out....

 

[ws27]

Going there and working on it just might incentivize him to work on it. If you have a relationship that will allow it, go there and do something to it.