Paint Jail!!

[MoparDanMan]

Hey Guys, my 69 RR 383 has been in paint jail for 10 months. Don't get me wrong the guy is actually doing a great job but I want my car back because I have a lot of work to do. I'm thinking of pulling it to bring it to another body shop that is also real good to get it painted. The problem is I have paid him most of the money and would need to try and get some back. He also tore the interior apart which I don't know how to put together along with some other stuff. If I pull the car I would have to do this all myself.

I'm not sure what the new guy will charge and the price quoted me by the current guy was $6400, which I think will be more around $8000. I'm going to bring the new guy pics and see what he will charge me. Its been 3 weeks and he really hasn't done anything to it. It is almost ready for paint, the drivers side and the engine compartment need to be block sanded. He has the doors, hood and trunk painted also.

What do you guys think I should do, pull it or hang in there? By the rate he is going I don't expect it to be ready for months. It was supposed to be ready in January but then Covid hit so I gave him a little more time. Decisions....Decisions!

I'd let the guy finish what you started.

 

[Larry Chilese]

I solved that problem by learning how to do basic body work. Stuff you can do with out a paint booth. take the panels off fenders, trunk lid, hood have them sand blasted, shoot some high build primer like omni 282, can be done outside on a not to windy day, dries real fast. Guide Coat and filler where you need it-use lead from Eastwood for deep fills (not hard to do) then sent it to them for final body filling, blocking and paint. It may still take 8 months but it will only be gone from your shop a month or so.

 

[barbee6043]

The part I hate seeing is someone paying a shop a big enough price and they screw the owner around. Riduculous.

Bottom line is IF the ins. shop stays busy doing the lucretive ins. work then the resto job gets a little work her and there. But we ll know that to begin with, Thats why I learned to do my own work I an make it as great or as not so great as I wish to put the effort in.

 

[sarjag]

I know a good paint job takes time and I agree that many shops pull in more work than they can handle. For these reasons I do most of my own work including painting. My paint jobs are not show quality, some are great, some are just decent. But they get done and I know what happened to get to the final product. But 10 months in a paint shop is not too bad. Like the others have said, keep on top of the guy. The squeaky wheel still get painted sooner???!!!

 

[Danny Tuel]

Take a video of saying "next week" play it for him anytime nothing happens.

Don't Piss the guy off who is responsible for painting your car. You are between a rock and hard place. It happens so just sit it out if you want to be happy in the end. As someone else said, A lot of shops have to do insurance work to have the money to stay open and these kind of jobs are done on the side. Same thing happened to me but my guy warned me up front so I couldn't complain.

 

[QOTHL]

Hey Guys, my 69 RR 383 has been in paint jail for 10 months. Don't get me wrong the guy is actually doing a great job but I want my car back because I have a lot of work to do. I'm thinking of pulling it to bring it to another body shop that is also real good to get it painted. The problem is I have paid him most of the money and would need to try and get some back. He also tore the interior apart which I don't know how to put together along with some other stuff. If I pull the car I would have to do this all myself.

I'm not sure what the new guy will charge and the price quoted me by the current guy was $6400, which I think will be more around $8000. I'm going to bring the new guy pics and see what he will charge me. Its been 3 weeks and he really hasn't done anything to it. It is almost ready for paint, the drivers side and the engine compartment need to be block sanded. He has the doors, hood and trunk painted also.

What do you guys think I should do, pull it or hang in there? By the rate he is going I don't expect it to be ready for months. It was supposed to be ready in January but then Covid hit so I gave him a little more time. Decisions....Decisions!

Paint jail sucks, a lot of us have been there and I know that won't make you feel any better. I hate to say it but 10 mos is nothing. I'm sure I'm not the only one to post that I've had cars in Paint jail a LOT longer than that. The car I just pulled was at the shop for 2 yrs. waiting for paint. I was lucky enough to get a chance to work in a body shop with a painter for about 6 mos and learned to do this myself. The interior I learned on my own while in automotive school. I just started taking things apart because I had to and realized this isn't that hard. Like most things with these cars, it's not rocket science, just hard work. Youtube is a great source. I did the carpeting in one car that was WAY better than the one the shop installed. I watched Auto Restomod who had really good tips for installing without f'ing it up.

For doing factory seat covers, Legendary has really good videos, and seat covers. Save any original parts you can and restore them yourself. I'm an idiot and if I can do it, so can you. Since I learned to do paint and body work myself, I'd pull my car, which as I mentioned, I did. They had a previous car for 3 yrs. It was "done" but they kept telling me they wanted to put 50 miles on it to make sure everything was ok. After hearing that excuse for over 6 mos, I said I was coming to get it.

Stuff that happened with that car after paying them a fortune should never have happened.

 

[QOTHL]

Don't Piss the guy off who is responsible for painting your car. You are between a rock and hard place. It happens so just sit it out if you want to be happy in the end. As someone else said, A lot of shops have to do insurance work to have the money to stay open and these kind of jobs are done on the side. Same thing happened to me but my guy warned me up front so I couldn't complain.

Just wondering, who was your guy?

 

[Hilljack68]

If your body and paint guy works alone in a small shop, you might save time (and money) by offering to help with the project. I did, and the response was an immediate "oh heck yeah - I'll put you to work!"
I have learned quite a bit, and he can use the help. He usually has two or three projects going on at once, so he's happy to have the help. I've even gotten to spray some color on my own car... pretty cool for a dumb electrician.
And the payout is coming soon. My Coronet should be back home within the next two weeks! The sand-blasting was in October of last year, so Oct. to Aug= 10 months... not so bad.

 

[QOTHL]

If your body and paint guy works alone in a small shop, you might save time (and money) by offering to help with the project. I did, and the response was an immediate "oh heck yeah - I'll put you to work!"
I have learned quite a bit, and he can use the help. He usually has two or three projects going on at once, so he's happy to have the help. I've even gotten to spray some color on my own car... pretty cool for a dumb electrician.
And the payout is coming soon. My Coronet should be back home within the next two weeks! The sand-blasting was in October of last year, so Oct. to Aug= 10 months... not so bad.

You're lucky they were close enough and they let you help. The shop I was at is too far away.

 

[QOTHL]

I solved that problem by learning how to do basic body work. Stuff you can do with out a paint booth. take the panels off fenders, trunk lid, hood have them sand blasted, shoot some high build primer like omni 282, can be done outside on a not to windy day, dries real fast. Guide Coat and filler where you need it-use lead from Eastwood for deep fills (not hard to do) then sent it to them for final body filling, blocking and paint. It may still take 8 months but it will only be gone from your shop a month or so.

Just posted something on another thread about sand blasting - chemical dipping is the way to go, no damage and a rust free part when you get it back. I've heard too many horror stories about body panels getting ruined from sand blasting. And, the car they blasted for me had pounds of sand in the frame rails - I was pissed! What can I do about it now? Not happening again.
You're better off doing anything you can yourself.

 

[barbee6043]

Chemical dip? You better be able to prime the insides!!!

 

[Chickenman21]

I know, what I don't understand is we are paying the same money as the insurance companies. We are paying for the time but why do they keep it so long. I know insurance claims takes priority but if we are paying the same money what's the difference?

Insurance companies are usually have to pay for a rental car while the car is in the shop and so they really press the shops to get it done. Plus they send the shop a lot of business. Need to stay on their butts like the insurance companies do. Stop by a lot.

 

[QOTHL]

Chemical dip? You better be able to prime the insides!!!

That's why you get it E coated afterwards. I mentioned it on another thread, forgot to add it here.

 

[QOTHL]

Insurance companies are usually have to pay for a rental car while the car is in the shop and so they really press the shops to get it done. Plus they send the shop a lot of business. Need to stay on their butts like the insurance companies do. Stop by a lot.

They also don't pay till they get it done while people like me pay in advance and are not a priority. Then they want to clock the hours and rush things...stupid **** that is easy to do but they didn't take the time and ended up making a f'ing mess out of my oil pan because they didn't take five f'ing minutes to flatten the flange. They also managed to forget to tighten the cam shaft bolt. Luckily it failed in my garage rather than on the road. When we fixed that, we realized why there was a ton of silicon sealer on the pan, and it still leaked. After I spent less than ten min flattening the pan flange and we put it back together, it hasn't leaked a drop. My automotive instructor was a stickler for fixing things like that. Needless to say, the clown who did my engine will never do another one. The guy is a dick. They're trying to blame me for the problem because I took the car out of there with 7 miles on it.

 

[Hilljack68]

They also don't pay till they get it done while people like me pay in advance and are not a priority.

My B&P guy charges me little-by-little. Between $150-350 at a time as the work progresses. It has been very manageable, and it keeps him (us) working on it.

 

[barbee6043]

That's why you get it E coated afterwards. I mentioned it on another thread, forgot to add it here.

BEAWARE!! some primers even Epoxy can react and sometimes months later. I like Southern Polyurethanes as many others do, but check their tech sheet and the use of Ospho and their E primer. BEWARE!
I have also been told the trouble arises from the acid wash and if the primer has some sort of acid?? Don't know the chemistry.

 

[mpro69rr]

My B&P guy charges me little-by-little. Between $150-350 at a time as the work progresses. It has been very manageable, and it keeps him (us) working on it.

Wish I would have done that...

 

[QOTHL]

BEAWARE!! some primers even Epoxy can react and sometimes months later. I like Southern Polyurethanes as many others do, but check their tech sheet and the use of Ospho and their E primer. BEWARE!
I have also been told the trouble arises from the acid wash and if the primer has some sort of acid?? Don't know the chemistry.

The guy who recommended chemical dipping has done 42 cars and had a concours restoration shop. They didn't have any problems or he would have told me. He doesn't get any money for making that suggestion. Hand stripping is not complete.

 

[QOTHL]

My B&P guy charges me little-by-little. Between $150-350 at a time as the work progresses. It has been very manageable, and it keeps him (us) working on it.

Where is this guy you mention?

 

[barbee6043]

The guy who recommended chemical dipping has done 42 cars and had a concours restoration shop. They didn't have any problems or he would have told me. He doesn't get any money for making that suggestion. Hand stripping is not complete.

I still say you better be able to get primer into the insides.Think about it. I have seen people simply pour Rustoleum tractor enamel into the insides of trunk lids and hoods and it works. Lots of the sheet metal of our old cars rust from the inside not the outside.
Carry on.