Sampson

I am so frustrated. Sent my car to the body shop 05/15/2013 with the thought it would be ready in 30 days but 60 days at the longest. It is now Oct and car is still not in paint. I am happy with the attention to detail and quality of work but pardon my pun it is like watching paint dry waiting to get this thing back. Any body else going thru this?

allyolds68

I waited nine months for a six week job and they f-ed it up so bad they took it back for a two week repair job that took five months the next winter

oldcutlass

Sometimes body shops a pain in the buttox. I don't know what you can do to light a fire under him. I see it all the time here.

Olds64

I had the same problem when I had the interior redone on my 71 98. I had to contiually call the guy for updates. I felt like a looser calling more than once a week though. I think if you don't call or stop by at least once a week then they will just sit on their laurels until doomsday.

lazy394

I had the same thing...small repair to the bonnet and rust removal from the guard...5 days tops ....14 days later !!!
seems putting my own coffee cup in the smoko room did the trick
Now after a fire in the engine its back at the same shop, guess which panels got burnt hmmmm here we go again..

oldzzy

Mine was in for 5 months, but i thought that was a decent time. I always hear of peoples projects that are in "jail" for a year, so i couldn't complain.

Octania

I get this at work too with parts I order and need. If there is no need-by date, it'll never happen. Like the TV shows.... "we got an auction this week, need that car done by tomorrow!" Pick a car show date. Gotta have her done by then. Stop in frequently and ck on the progress. Expect SOME progress each time.

Olds_71_442

I can relate in the other direction. I've been working on a 1929 Model A Ford for about a year and a half. Just when I think I'm getting close to being done, they want me to do more. I work on it a bit, then I lose my motivation and work on something else for awhile. It also doesn't help when I ask them to get me parts for it and they take weeks to get them. It also doesn't help that someone else did some of the body work on it and I can see it's going to crack if it gets stressed at all. And I'm sure I'll take the blame for it. I just want to get it done and out of my garage.

oldstata

I think if your paying top dollar you need to be with in a week of said date. if it's one of those we will do it in between jobs for a lower amount it needs to be with some reason of 6months

Sampson

That would make sense. But that was not our original agreement. He told me in and out in 30 days but if we found any issues it could be 60. The guy is doing good work and communicates well with me. I have paid up front when he reaches certain stages of the job and bought many parts myself so he doesn't have to upfront cash. I rushed my end of getting the body back on the frame so I could get it to him because he had a spot to fit me in. If I had known it was going to be like this I could have kept the car longer and completed some of the other work that needs to be done. .......sorry for the rant.......just venting

1970cs

Sorry to hear that your having problems. I work closely with a local dealer body shop, they discount me $10/hr and did my Cutlass and a Grand Prix both body and complete paint jobs. I tell them take your time, call me when it's done!

But I also stop by once a week to see how things are going. Max time frame was 5 weeks for either car. With show quality results!

Pat

Bunser

I've been on both sides of the fence. Anyway you slice it, it's a crap shoot. (If you have money to burn, you can get it in and out in a reasonable time.)

68conv455

I have no tolerance for shops that don't honor their commitment. Being off by such a large amount either means that he is not good at running his business, or, that he just deceived you to get the business. Either way, I'd be worried. I bet the cost comes in more than you expect as well.

ScottoW31

Brought mine to the body shop in mid April. Got it back just after Labor day. It all depends on the body shop. And $$$$

lemoldsnut

Took mine in the last week of August, Back in 3 weeks as promised. With a show winning paint job. Yes it was expensive. But, I wanted that kind of job done too.

oldstata

What type of surprises have you run into during body work ?
Also did you take it to a body shop or a restoration shop ?

Sampson

Actually there have been no surprises except we found a bonding issue with the previous paint that prompted us to strip the car to bare metal and start over instead of prepping on top of the existing paint.. It is at a restoration shop that has a good reputation.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

I painted my car myself, Why?

Supposedly back in the 70's, guys used to paint car in their garages and buff them to a showroom finish. Start to finish took me 2 months.

Keep in mind it was raining like hell that day.

Sampson

Thought I would give a little update. Went in last week expecting a lot of progress after a lot of promises the week before. Nothing Crickets
Told the owner to figure the bill. Calmly told him that I wanted my car back. He made a couple of excuses and told me it was going into paint by the end of the week which is what he had told me the week before. And the month before and month before that. I told him that was an old story I had heard before. Anyway I agreed to leave it one more week. Went by today and body was painted and looking good. His crew was working feverishly prepping the rest of the panels! . I don' t want to get my hopes too high but hoping it will be back in my garage sometime next week.

Sampson

Came out looking real nice Tony

tru-blue 442

I guess sometimes you just have
to get right in their face.
Good for you, hope it works out
to your benefit.

oldstata

Good hope it comes home soon just in time for assembly for next season cruising !!

ent72olds

Sounds like they did 5 months of work in a week......good luck....

scott_442

Good news Steve! Can't wait to see it!

Olds64

Tony, your paint job turned out great. I did the same with my 71 98 and it didn't turn out well at all. I think I'm going to have to sand the entire car and start over again. Essentially, my car is covered in orange peel.

That's awsome. Post pics when you get a chance.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Thanks!

You're seeing the result of many basecoats/sands/repaints.

Finally i threw out my crappy top loader HVLP garbage guns and used a 40 year old cambell hausfeld. it made a HUGE difference.

Old car, old paint, great results

The hardest part for me was painting the hood/roof because condensation from an old gun will make water drip/drop.

Anyway, i still need to cut and buff the clearcoat, i laid down about 5 coats on that bad-boy

Sampson

Well I got the call I have been waiting for today. My baby is being released from jail. We really ran into issues with the hood. (Glastek from The Parts Place) This put him behind since my last post and really was not his fault. I would not recommend this hood and will start a separate post to detail that experience. Just happy to be getting it back. I will post some pics after I get it home.

rustyroger

It seems a worldwide problem, by far the biggest complaint about body shops over here is work not being done on time. I asked a few people I know who run or work in body shops and they all told me to prepare a car (or anything else) for paint takes time, and lots of it. To paint a new car is easy, clean metal makes prep a breeze.
But to paint a car to original standards can mean hundreds of man hours dealing with corrosion, dents etc.
One guy who paints formula one cars - they are stripped to bare metal and repainted between races - told me his shop charges by the hour for all the time the car is in the shop, of course it is an intensive process with these jobs but the bills are eye wateringly high. Want a perfect paint job in a week?, certainly sir, that will be $40k please.

Roger.

Alb

Took mine to the garage for a full body off restoration. Three years later it was done. No matter how much I prodded the guy, he just didn't work too fast. Of course it was in my garage and I was doing it.
Alb

Sampson

That's is too funny! I am sure the work was done to the owners satisfaction though.

Johnd

When I had my 70 442 convertible restore about 10 years ago the body shop held it hostage for over a year. The owner refused to let anyone touch the car but him and would only work on it when he felt inspired. I use to get so angry with him, but in the end it was worth it, the first 3 shows I entered I won best paint and body. So remember the olds saying - good things come to those who wait

Sampson

Hey Roger, what part of England are you in. I spent some time in Lakenheath in the 70's. I get the Rusty part of your Rusty Roger. I bought a very nice looking 60's something Anglica from an older Bloke while I was there. No apparent rust issues showing any where. I had a flat one day and put the jack under the front frame. I kept jacking but the car wasn't going up. Looked inside and the jack had pumped through the frame right up to about the brake pedal inside the car

oldstata

Glad it finally coming home. don't forget for future reference sometimes you uncover past body repair that needs fixing right,I have uncovered many large dents simply filled with fiberglass then bongo on top and man you really have to work to get fiberglass !!!

rustyroger

Margate is in the south east corner on the coast. Nearer to France than London in fact.
Nowhere in England is more than 72 miles from the sea, I used to earn most of my living repairing rust damage to keep cars much over 3-4 years old on the road. It's fair to say it's much less of an issue now.


Roger.

Sampson

http://s1310.photobucket.com/user/St...tml?sort=3&o=0

Finally got my girl out of jail yesterday. She is wearing her new red coat! Now it is time to get back to work!

69ishHoliday

Looks nice, and a nice collection of pictures.

Jedidiah

I had a buddy spray mine; the first time. It had a bonding issue and didn't settle well.
After he sprayed it the third time, I just did it myself.
Cost about $400 and a week of time to spray it 4 times. I did the body work by hand and it took months.
Still turned out awful; rear quarters have blistered. Oh well, I think I did okay for a 15 year old at the time.

Sampson

I agree that it turned out looking good and I bet you learned a lot about painting in the process! Almost every thing I have learned about cars over the years has been by just jumping in and doing it then redoing it and finally doing it right

Sea five

I full year at the body shop(51 Weeks to be exact) It was well worth the wait

costpenn

What I don't understand is the math. My rusty vert I just had done took 325 hours to complete. The painter had the car for 18 months. I brought the completely stripped shell in on the frame with fenders and hood already off - no disassembly required. There was no waiting on parts, no waiting on money. That works out to less than 20 hours a month devoted to my car on average - or less than three full work days per month. I saw plenty of other cars come and go in the meantime. I must be missing something about the logic painters use. If let's say 50% of the time was devoted to my car it should have been been done in approx. 4 months.

All that being said, it came out great and am happy with the results. I just don't understand why it works like this.