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Time to move on

davek

davek

Well-Known Member
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Location
columbia SC
Well I have been waiting a year and a half . Frustrated with the guy who said he would replace some panels on the charger. Finally dropped off 1 fender,very little work to be done dog leg patch on it, and its been sitting for a month at his shop. Charger needs dr floor pan, rear tail panel and valance replaced. Is this the new norm? Asked him today and he wouldnt give me an answer. My buddies camaro has been there for 2 years. Reason for that is my buddy dragged his feet on the parts. I bought everything I needed well over a year ago. At one point I was thinking of selling the charger. But Mike aka @Charles Cook slapped me upside my head to bring me back to reality. Thanks Mike. So tired of people now a days. If you dont want to do it then say so. And being in Columbia there isnt crap here for metal work on classic cars. Found another shop and was told bring it down and we will tell you if we want to do it. Then they will call me when they are ready to do the work. That means take a day off get a trailer. My buddy in NY said take two weeks off and bring the car there and he would do the metal and we could paint it. 800 mile trip and now its starting to sound good to me. CRAZY Thanks for letting me vent.
 
I've heard it said that many body shops hold the vehicle hostage. Tha absolute worst thing a fella can do is give them cash or even any money up front!
I know of one instance of that and the car ended up changing owners and not getting the work done that was paid for!
 
It’s the new norm and the old norm. Twenty years ago I took my wannabee eight hours one way to a very talented friend to do the quarters on my car. Two years later, nothing. So I I drove the eight hours there to find him just starting on it. I didn’t care by then. Packed up the car and took it to a shop here at home who weren’t much faster but at least did it. The guy who did the actual body work was phenomenal. A true magician on metal who should have had his own TV show rather than the current bunch of stars. Unfortunately, he ultimately became a crackhead and is probably either dead or living under a bridge now. A sad story as he was genuinely a decent guy, super talented, ruined by his demons.
 
My guy never asked me for any $$$ up front. He came down to my place with his truck and trailer, looked my project over, and said he would do it. He said he would not put an estimate on it, because there are always hidden surprises with any old car project. He told me his hourly rate, and would charge me for his time and materials. At the end of the month, he would send pictures of his progress, along with a bill for time and materials. I would have a week to pay the bill, or he would stop and go on with something else. I kept up with the bills, and things went along nicely. And then the Pandemic hit, and he could not get all the supplies he needed when he needed them. He allowed me to come down to inspect the project at any time. Of course, this restoration went over budget, because of those hidden surprises that he warned me about. No fault of his though. He actually did a nicer job than I really wanted, but he said he only does a job one way: to the best of his ability. Ken treated me fair and square and I count him as one of my good friends. He helped me a lot, and I was able to repay him some with advice during a couple of situations he was facing.

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it truly is difficult finding a good body repair situation. i’ve owned my car all most twenty years . went thru 2 body shopsand begged countless others to take on the project. nobody interested. they rather do fender benders then restore a great classic ( aka rust repair ) . we’ll thanks to a friend we’re getting it done . he didn’t want to tackle it alone so i offered to help , that he agreed on . we have been nibbling in our spare time , we both still working , he got a family to keep up with . but that’s cool as i’m not in a hurry but love to see it getting done finally. he also has a great shop to work in , me not so much . he is great at hanging sheet metal , i come in and weld grind and pound what i can . it looks like the body will finally be done soon !
 
BeepBeepRR said:
AMD has a shop in Georgia where they install their metal. The Installation Center | Cleveland GA Check them out and its not 800 miles away.....
Click to expand...
There was a thread on here not long ago that stated he had the AMD shop do his car. It was a train wreck to put it mildly. If that was indeed their work, I would run the other way from them.
 
hunt2elk said:
There was a thread on here not long ago that stated he had the AMD shop do his car. It was a train wreck to put it mildly. If that was indeed their work, I would run the other way from them.
Click to expand...
Really .... Wow the reviews didn't reflect that. Some people may have had an issue but they have mostly great reviews. Mostly 5 stars. I have never been there personally I just remember them doing that Bird. Here are some reviews.. Doesn't mean much I guess but they are all good. The Installation Center, Cleveland, GA in Cleveland, GA 30528 - (706) 3...
 
davek said:
Well I have been waiting a year and a half . Frustrated with the guy who said he would replace some panels on the charger. Finally dropped off 1 fender,very little work to be done dog leg patch on it, and its been sitting for a month at his shop. Charger needs dr floor pan, rear tail panel and valance replaced. Is this the new norm? Asked him today and he wouldnt give me an answer. My buddies camaro has been there for 2 years. Reason for that is my buddy dragged his feet on the parts. I bought everything I needed well over a year ago. At one point I was thinking of selling the charger. But Mike aka @Charles Cook slapped me upside my head to bring me back to reality. Thanks Mike. So tired of people now a days. If you dont want to do it then say so. And being in Columbia there isnt crap here for metal work on classic cars. Found another shop and was told bring it down and we will tell you if we want to do it. Then they will call me when they are ready to do the work. That means take a day off get a trailer. My buddy in NY said take two weeks off and bring the car there and he would do the metal and we could paint it. 800 mile trip and now its starting to sound good to me. CRAZY Thanks for letting me vent.
Click to expand...
I had the same thing happen with my Charger. It actually moved with the shop in 2018. Seeing other cars there for .months / years should have been the obvious warning. The work stalled after they hosed the paint job. Long story short, in addition to the payments, he charged me 18k to give me back 80% of the car and parts. I was so depressed I considered selling it as well. After a year of depression I found a local shop that has taken the car in and is almost finished after just 6 months. In the end, it will be worth it, not only to get it done, but we've found shoddy work at almost every part of the car. I'll end up 10k over the estimate, but I'll get the car I want, not a cobbled up disaster the first shop was doing.
Hang in there.
 
BeepBeepRR said:
Really .... Wow the reviews didn't reflect that. Some people may have had an issue but they have mostly great reviews. Mostly 5 stars. I have never been there personally I just remember them doing that Bird. Here are some reviews.. Doesn't mean much I guess but they are all good. The Installation Center, Cleveland, GA in Cleveland, GA 30528 - (706) 3...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't believe we ever did get the whole story. The pics he posted were quite the **** show. I honestly find it hard to believe it came out of the AMD shop, but who knows.
 
AMD does the metal replacement.... Not finished bodywork... Swapping out the metal goes pretty fast... Making the metal straight & smooth tales a lot more time...

When we did my Green Convertible we replaced the right quarter, removed repaired & reinstalled the left quarter, replaced the trunk floor, sectioned in the drivers floor well, replaced the drivers side inner fender & repaired assorted rust & damage around the car.... That was all done in a couple weeks working fours hours every day after putting in eight hours at work M-F and putting in eight hours on Saturday.... So in two weeks I had a solid car ready for bodywork.... Now getting the car truly straight & ready for paint..... The work schedule remained the same twenty eight hours a week... It took another eight weeks of massaging to det the car ready to go in the booth...
 
davek said:
Well I have been waiting a year and a half . Frustrated with the guy who said he would replace some panels on the charger. Finally dropped off 1 fender,very little work to be done dog leg patch on it, and its been sitting for a month at his shop. Charger needs dr floor pan, rear tail panel and valance replaced. Is this the new norm? Asked him today and he wouldnt give me an answer. My buddies camaro has been there for 2 years. Reason for that is my buddy dragged his feet on the parts. I bought everything I needed well over a year ago. At one point I was thinking of selling the charger. But Mike aka @Charles Cook slapped me upside my head to bring me back to reality. Thanks Mike. So tired of people now a days. If you dont want to do it then say so. And being in Columbia there isnt crap here for metal work on classic cars. Found another shop and was told bring it down and we will tell you if we want to do it. Then they will call me when they are ready to do the work. That means take a day off get a trailer. My buddy in NY said take two weeks off and bring the car there and he would do the metal and we could paint it. 800 mile trip and now its starting to sound good to me. CRAZY Thanks for letting me vent.
Click to expand...
davek, I hear your frustration and can relate. It can be disheartening with today's workforce in our favorite pastime of loving our Mopars and finding a quality, honest shop is one of the worst dilemma's of our hobby. However, in Easley, SC is a good friend of mines shop, King's Kustom's where the owner Gerald King has been doing custom's for over 20 years and one would be hard pressed to find anyone more honest and dedicated to his work than he is. He is **** about his work and it won't go out the door until he, and you, are satisfied with the results. One of the best painters in the upstate with quality and perfection as the goal. Of course it all depends on the level of "perfection" one expects that determines the price. But I can assure you you will not be displeased with his work. Word of mouth goes a long ways when it comes to body work and he doesn't advertise, doesn't need to.
Anyway just a suggestion since you are only approx. 120 miles from him. Here's a facebook link to some of his work.
www.facebook.com

King's Kustomizing | Facebook

Auto Body Repair Classic Car Restoration Custom Paint Vinyl Decals Easley SC.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

Happy hunting!
 
when the guy who installs it is the same guy who paints it....... it's like hitting the lottery :D
 
my painter is never pissed at the body guy, and my body guy is never pissed at the metal guy........... they are a well oiled machine
 
dadsbee said:
Yep, I have a real problem with the "level of perfection you expect dictates the price"! Thank god you just take pride in your work Mark !
Click to expand...

trust me........ level of perfection has nothing to do with price......

I really need to work on that :BangHead:
 
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