So...Has Anyone Ever Had Paint/Bodywork Finished On The Originally Promise Time Schedule?

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ocdart

ocdart

Inland Mopars Car Club
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This is getting really discouraging.
My '69 Dart has been an ongoing 9-year project with the first few years eaten up saving up for parts and also bodywork and paint. It took three times of saving before I was finally able to commit to taking the car into a shop for the body and paint work - the first two times the funds got diverted to home needs and repairs.
But the bodywork/paint has been the major source of frustration:
* Paint shop #1 - Found an 'old school' painter who did great work at a very reasonable price. I paid him to buy the paint before I was ready to take the car into his shop. When I was ready to take the car in I couldn't get him on the phone to schedule the body/paint work. I went to his shop and found it empty and my paint gone.
* Paint shop #2 - Found another painter that had turned out some outstanding results while working for another shop. I waited until he opened his own place, took a tour and found he had all the right equipment and waited about six months for a spot to open up on his schedule. When I was ready to take my car in, it was deja vu from shop #1: no answers to my calls. I went to his shop and found he'd moved out of state!
* Paint shop #3 - Based on recommendations from one of my car club buddies and a fabricator that had done work for me on my car, I made arrangements with shop #3. He started right in on my car but then the progress started tapering off after about six months. He had my car for just over a year and then started refusing to give me a completion date. I pulled the car out of his shop about a month before he went out of business.
* Paint shop #4 - Again, based on recommendations I took my car to shop #4 - a well established shop. After looking over the car he told me it would all be done in four months. He's been working for the past eight months correcting all the bad body work from shop #3. Two months ago he told me the car would be finished the end of August. The end of July he told me he had three more blockings to do on the passenger side before it would be ready for the first bit of color - the white for the butt stripe. He said 2.5 weeks and he'd be ready to locate the paint mask for the stripe so we scheduled the date to get that done - supposed to be in four more days. I sent a text yesterday to confirm he'll be ready and just got a reply that the blocking is still ongoing.
Obviously the car won't be ready to pick up the end of August.
This is getting old - and each time my car goes to a new shop the cost goes up.
Just wondering if anyone has ever had body/paint finished on the originally scheduled date - or even close to it.

 
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once ! It was a friend that was just shooting color on my Barracuda... charged me 1200$ including paint .
 
Body shop has completed the refinishing in 13 working days. The charges of $20,000 Mexican Pesos (about $1,400 US dollars) included both labor and materials. We tried to match a 1971 Bahama Yellow color and included flat black accents on both hood and rear valance. After stripping the old paint, an olive green polyester primer was followed by a yellow tinted primer. This is single stage acrylic enamel with a hardener.(exterior only-did not include interior, engine compartment, or chassis)

(Factory finish was originally tawny gold, previous owner painted it blue)

painted.jpg


painted1.jpg
 
Everytime.
When I decide to paint my car on a certain day, it's done that same day.
It's DIY with a paintroller. If you want quality, add a day for polishing.
 
dibbons said:
Body shop has completed the refinishing in 13 working days. The charges of $20,000 Mexican Pesos (about $1,400 US dollars) included both labor and materials. We tried to match a 1971 Bahama Yellow color and included flat black accents on both hood and rear valance. After stripping the old paint, an olive green polyester primer was followed by a yellow tinted primer. This is single stage acrylic enamel with a hardener.(exterior only-did not include interior, engine compartment, or chassis)

(Factory finish was originally tawny gold, previous owner painted it blue)

View attachment 1715210923

View attachment 1715210924
Click to expand...

Can't quite reach that knife you stuck in my back! Ouch.
 
Four months was probably a reasonable estimate, another month or shouldn't be detrimental.

My Polara from the point I handed it off to it being painted was seven months, that was including some metal work.
Work was done in my garage 3-4 hours at a time in the evenings.
In that time my body/paint guy opens his own shop (at my encouragement) and became more difficult to schedule.
It then took another nine months to get all the panels on the car and buffed out.


Alan
 
I am at that stage.
I had a good friend from school come up a couple of Sundays ago, to look at finishing my car, he has his own shop, a couple of guys working for him and does good work.
I normally do all my own paint work, but this one just has taken me too long.
He drove over to my house one weekend.
He looks the car over, rubs it down, says its real straight, and he can get it in his shop in the beginning of September, it would be done in a month.
He said he would call me this week for a price quote, he never called to give me a price?
I have already done the work to the sides, stripped, new 1/4s finished in, engine compartment painted, just needs the roof and trunk lid stripped and prepped. Just no time on my end to finish.
I am actually having second thoughts about letting him do it, since he cannot pick the phone up to give me a price.
I have known the guy for over 40 years.

I may just finish it myself this winter.
 
I wanna give you all a little heads up. I work in a very well known body shop that has done quite a few 4 month complete bare metal to show paint jobs and my advise is to find a shop that specializes in restoration work. We do all insurance work anymore because it’s fast easy money. Unless you find a shop that can stick at least 1 guy on your project car then you will have to wait til insurance work slows down before they work on it. That’s just the cold hard truth. Sounds like ocdart has been lied to and strung along. That is sad because not all shops are like that but from a making money standpoint it’s easier work with regular insurance jobs. Sorry for your grief. Hope you find a good shop.
 
Good work takes time, but for a lot of shops the lure of easy insurance work is hard to resist. So that pushes your work into a corner. That’s why I do everything myself metal work, bodywork and painting. The only thing I won’t do is tear into an automatic transmission. I have restored 70 cars so far, but I am getting old and have slowed down a bit.
 
Unicorns, leprechauns and sure I can have it done by then
 
My brother and myself have done cars for others as well so I know it's a tedious task, but I have also farmed out some work with bad lengthy results, that is the reason for my first post.
 
Yea, I did... Well.. OK, they took 7 1/2 weeks instead of the 6 they estimated.


Started with this, stripped all the paint, fixed some spots etc.
2SSGqJg.jpg

k2DHBef.jpg

SMRhWJs.jpg


I bolted the trim back on myself.

At Carlisle this year.
9E8GwoZ.jpg


A thread on the work: Finally in the body shop!
 
Well, my paint guy is the polar opposite! He gives you a date to bring your car, and you bring it on that day or you lose your spot. Whatever time he gives me, it’s always done before that. Then he calls and tells you it’s done, and you go pick it up when you say you’re coming. He doesn’t have time for excuses, doesn’t have to do paint work at all because he’s a retired painter of 30 years from GM Truck and Bus, and only does it because he wants to. He’s getting a little finicky about rust repair, doesn’t mind a little here and there, but doesn’t want to do a full resto on anything but his own stuff anymore! Best of all, he’s super cheap, maybe because I always pay in cash!
 
Actually I have had pretty good luck with paint....1st car 71 Dart actually went to prison to be painted, Indian Spring Correctional Center has a full restoration shop inside the prison...5 weeks to get it painted..excellent paint job....great price too...

2nd car 73 340 Duster just got it done 2 months ago....again about 6 weeks...Racer painted it. Saw several of his paint jobs on race cars...finally got a spot in line..and great job....he looked at the Vin and said...wow...a H code Duster....gotta do this one right...and the price was right...actually I thought he was too cheap...lol

And now his has my AARCuda....told he can take his time and we can spend alot more money on it....LOL

Then I have a friend whose 64 Fury has been in the paint shop for several years now with no date of completion...keeps getting the run around

Before and After on the 71 Dart

Picture 784.jpg


Picture 870.jpg
 
6966235A-FE0F-450B-8D0C-F74DBBAB9C11.jpeg

This is a ‘68 Road Runner I restored.



Lildart said:
Good work takes time, but for a lot of shops the lure of easy insurance work is hard to resist. So that pushes your work into a corner. That’s why I do everything myself metal work, bodywork and painting. The only thing I won’t do is tear into an automatic transmission. I have restored 70 cars so far, but I am getting old and have slowed down a bit.
Click to expand...
 
I have the skills. I have the money. I unfortunately don't have the time. I wish I could just throw cash on a table and get the body done. I can't even find a shop to entertain doing a job more involved than peel and stick insurance work. I'll be doing this friggin car myself too. Most body shops I've seen and dealt with only work hard enough to buy the next bottle of vodka, bag of meth, or needle of smack. They could be millionaires if they'd put in 40hrs a week and have a few beers when they go home to count money. I also don't understand why they have paying work to do, but spend their time dicking aroung on their own projects.

My good friend was a body guy and I learned from him. He doesn't drink or do drugs, and retired a multimillionaire in his 50's. He lived pretty damn good along the way too. Him and a helper, that's it. Was in the shop at 6-7am and actually worked on customers cars till 6pm. Weekends off too.
 
cosgig said:
Well, my paint guy is the polar opposite! He gives you a date to bring your car, and you bring it on that day or you lose your spot. Whatever time he gives me, it’s always done before that. Then he calls and tells you it’s done, and you go pick it up when you say you’re coming. He doesn’t have time for excuses, doesn’t have to do paint work at all because he’s a retired painter of 30 years from GM Truck and Bus, and only does it because he wants to. He’s getting a little finicky about rust repair, doesn’t mind a little here and there, but doesn’t want to do a full resto on anything but his own stuff anymore! Best of all, he’s super cheap, maybe because I always pay in cash!
Click to expand...
i may have to hit you up for his number sometime
 
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