1952-59 Ford My baby is going to the paint/body shop

Good luck man!

Hope that you can shortly start putting this all in the rearview mirror...

 

I have been following your posts from the start, what a nightmare. Anxiously waiting to hear what happened. Hope it's good news.

 

this is killing me , i thought we would have word by now.

 

cant wait to hear how this ends, while my dad didnt own the car in the 60's its been in the family for 20 plus years. my dad p***ed away in 2003 and the car was in the "shop" getting re-painted. I was not living in town at the time and nobody knew where the car was or how to get in touch with the guy. He called my mom in 2006 and ask what she wanted to do with the car. she had it towed to her house in orlando and thats how it ended up with me in miami. not trying to steal your thunder, just glad that that our guy was still honest enough and didthe right thing.

 

Guys, sorry to keep you hanging. I just got home. Starving, will update in a bit. I have car safely home, and all parts appear to be there to. I didn't end up in jail woohoo

 

No jail. Good day.

 

Well done. Reading your posts I was of the same opinion as most, that you had lost everything. So long as you have the bulk of the car, you should be able to replace any little bits missing.
It is because of shady characters like this that most of us do all the work ourselves. I cannot bear the thought of leaving my cars with someone who then has control over when you can get it back. I don't know what the answer is apart from posting the blokes name to save someone else going through the same nightmare. If you stick to the truth you can't be sued.
Once again I felt for you the whole way through the saga.
Consider yourself very lucky you got it back. Others in the same situation haven't.
Regards

 

Ok, well its been a good day for the most part. I got there and he and another guy were there, the other guy was just standing tall trying to look tough. Pretty funny really, his narrow *** would been no problem . I also noticed he had a large deer skinning knife in his back pocket, which wouldnt have helped much against the 45 strapped side saddle, although not visible.

I went in and went about my business and looked the car over everywhere. I had 2 pages of parts list I knew I gave him, and started going through that. Surprisingly I accounted for everything on my list.

By then I think they realized we were being cool about it considering, and just wanted to load and go. So they were cool then, and were helpful loading the parts and the car on the trailer. So all in all, it went well.

Very, very dissapointed in the car. Its a lonnnng way from being ready for paint. It has been 10 months exactly tomorrow. None of the jambs or wheel wells were even sanded yet. The lower back end below the trunk wasnt sanded yet either. Thick bondo still all over the place. The white roof is ok at best, still see a couple of waves in it, and there is no clear coat on it and it will definitely need re-doing. The fender panel they cut and welded in is screwed, its going to have to be re-done. Could go on and on.

I am very pleased just to get the car, my expensive stroker motor and TKO trans still all in tact, and all the parts (best I can tell).

Oh, the best part....So on the way up there, he texted me, twice, "i would be glad to come to your place on the weekends and finish the job". I never responded. After we loaded up and said well thats it, he says "i will give you a call next week, I am going to hit the paint store and get some more paint, maybe I can come down and finish your car". I kept it cool and said I dont think so, I dont know what I am going to do right now but I will probably let it rest for a while I am too worked up over it at this point.

Really? He is going to drive down (2 hrs away) on weekends and finish at my place? Is he going to drive home, stay somewhere? Whatever, he will never hear from me again.

Here is a few pics, doesnt really tell the story of how little work has been done on it.

 

Glad to see you finally got it back and most of the pieces along with it. He wasn't even close to painting that thing. Count yourself lucky enough to have gotten away with what you did and stay the hell away from that idiot in the future.

 

GREAT NEWS!

You'll figure out the next steps soon enough, you have all winter to come up with a plan.

Take a few days to relax....

 

Glad everything turned out the best it could. Skoh's right. Not even close to paint. What a freakin' jack***. Now it's time to decompress. Again, congrats on getting it home. ( why a .45 ? Because there is no .46 )

 

yeah! good news glad to see it back home!

 

well im trying to figure out why they painted the roof , other then they could show a photo of progress to you. looks like it might need to be totaly striped and start over. but im not the best judge on that im not seeing it in person. i hate it for you , i guess id be glad i got it back without going to jail. a deer knife, lol. must be they didnt watch croc dundee. who brings a knife to a gun fight? not me i take a gun with me. dont leave the house with out one.

 

A good, experienced bodyman does not apply mud in that manner.....you are extremely lucky he didn't do anymore than he did. Glad you have your car back under your roof.

 

man, glad you got your car back. next time you need someone to glob filler on like that, let me know. i can do it that good im certain. now, which end drives the nail... the big flat end or the forked pointy end?

 

Sadly this kind of thing is and has been for years all too common, i recently did the body work/paint on a 1970 Challenger convert. The customer was really stoked when i completed it in 6 months. His other car, a 74 Cuda was in the paint shop for 6yrs. Thats right folks 6 fn years. The same shop has i believe finally completed another cl***ic after 7 yrs. I ask you how the **** can you leave a car in a shop for that long? I'm retired from time clocks and schedules, normally work alone and still did a show quality job in 6 mos. Currently finishing a makeover of a 38 Chevy Coupe, screwed up by Bad Boy Customs of Cullman Alabama. The bodywork was hideous and ALL THE CLEARCOAT BLEW OFF WITH AN AIRHOSE. The only way to get a top quality job is to use a small shop that takes in 1 car at a time and completes that job before beginning another. It has to be done for the love, not just for the money. There are 3 ways to get any job done, good, fast, and cheap. You can select a combination of any 2 of those 3. Kill em all, let god sort em out.

 

Here in Oz we have cases like this where workshops have held onto a car for that long, that the owner must have forgotten they owned the car. From the workshop point of view some owners probably expect more than what they paid for so work slows down to a crawl.
I know of one case here where a motor trimmer (upholsterer) took that long to finish a job, a freshly painted car needed to be resprayed because the continuous use of glue and solvents over the years it sat in his shed caused the paint to fry up.
There is of course the bloke who leaves his car with a workshop because it is free storage.
I must say I agree with the situation of one car at a time til finished. The job goes smoother and the overall result must be superior.
This post is a reflection of the frustration of most of us who use outsiders to do work for them. I am a firm believer of the three times rule. Three times harder than you think, three times as long and three times the cost.
Regards

 

Afaulk speaks volumes. Us older guys who've been in the car hobby/business for a while have all seen and heard the horror stories from customers. Correct: you gotta love cars. Too many guys are getting into the resto/rod/custom business lured by the money, then they can't deliver. Result: frustrated, pissed off customers. If you do what you agree to do, in a quality, timely and reasonably priced manner, there should be no shortage of customers and business. Works for me.

 

I definitely think he sprayed the roof when I was at one point saying no paint, I am coming to get the car. The roof still has some imperfections, and has a couple of sanded spots on it, and it was never cleared. Clearly just a "send a picture of painted roof, buys me some time"

While I was looking it over closer today, the trunk pan might as well been done by my 2 year old son. I dont think you can tell by the pictures, but basically they left the trunk pan I bought as it was and laid it in the car. First, it was still all rusted, and was supposed to be blasted, primed, painted, etc...before going in. Second, they didnt make it fit in, they left it larger than the hole that was in the truck and allowed it to overlap all the way around and just laid it in there. They tacked welded it in about 5 spots. Then they mudded/bondo'd (something) over the edges inside the trunk to avoid hiding the fact its bulging, sticking up higher because its not flush. F&%#ing losers.









So, I am meeting a highly recommended guy tomorrow to look over my car and price it out. Have talked to many around here, they say he is the best they know. He does all the work for a "friend of a friend" and has produced him with more than one best of show car in local shows. We will see how that goes, I cant afford the "best", so may not be an option anyway. He was/is very agreeable to everything in a written contract, and offers a lifetime warranty on any work he does, for what thats worth. He has been in business around here 19 years. Offers all the references I want, and plenty of pictures from start to finish of his past projects, as well as showing me clients cars he knows will be willing to show me in person. So, we will see how that goes.

 

Sounds like you have a reputable guy on line. Hope springs eternal...........