[MPKind]

I've been holding onto my angst for over a year now. I know I'm not the only one this has happened to, but I figured I could let others know to be very cautious when choosing a painter.

My restoration of a '65 Catalina Sport Sedan is near end after starting it in 2001...yeah, it's been that long. I was shopping around for a local painter, and a fellow Pontiac brother recommended one in a neighboring state since he also was having a car painted with the same painter. I trusted him and went for it. What happened next was not his fault, and I don't blame him for my own situation.

Well long story short, it's been over two years, the car is 6 hours away, and I have no idea when it'll get done or return. To make matters worse I paid the painter half down and the remainder as time went by. Yes, I eventually paid the full amount. There were other mitigating factors that delayed the project, but I'm not going to elaborate.

I figured if I paid, he'd motivate and finish the project since he had other cars to paint as well. My theory is that he uses one customer's cash to finance other peoples cars. This is probably common in the industry of small time painters that don't have enough cash flow.

Some of my friends tell me to go fetch the car and all the parts, and take the loss on the cash I paid. Others say sue the bastard, or put a lien on his business. I just want it back with paint on it. I don't care if it's perfectly assembled or not. I can have a local shop help with the fit and finish if I have to .

I mostly try to not think about it, but I'm not getting any younger. I was 32 when I started the restoration, I'm going to be 50 this summer, and I'd like to enjoy it if possible. On that note, I'm not sure I'll even enjoy the car since the last couple years have caused so much heart burn. I'll finish it, but be so disgusted with things, that I may sell it and try to forget about it. Sucks that you put years of sweat, blood and tears into a project only to have some dink ruin the entire journey when it's near the end.

Please take your time when choosing a painter, don't be cheap or let get too far from home, get everything in writing, and make sure you're not financing other people's cars with your money because the painter is usually broke.