With apologies to Tom Petty, the waiting is the second hardest part. Finding a good and trustworthy body man is the hardest part. It took forever to get my project in the shop for paint and body work. My paint guy was an independent businessman who worked in his home shop. He insisted on taking only one project at a time. Although it was a long waiting list before starting, once it was in, it was off the frame and back on with paint in 3 weeks.
However, we agreed to wait to paint the front clip while I installed the engine and front end parts. Meanwhile, he would work on other projects until I was finished. Long story, and many projects in between, he would have my front clip and trunk lid for another three years. When I finally got the front clip back, I had to install and align it myself. Later I realized the front fenders and doors were not a perfect Matador Red color match. It is not easy to see in person, but it really shows in side view photos. Three year old paint, poor mixing, different spray pattern? I don't know what happened. But he told me up front not to expect a flawless concours finish unless I wanted to pay a lot more. Otherwise he did a very good job on the bodywork considering the car had hidden body damage on every panel. I have briefly considered having it repainted, but I don't want to go through that ordeal again. I just want to drive and enjoy my car.
I did most of the rest of the restoration work myself in my garage before and after paint. There was plenty to do in between checking on his schedule.
At least I had most of the car in my possession for the four or five years it took to get the body work finished. The whole project is going on ten years now, though I have been driving it for the past two years. I cannot imagine trusting someone to do an entire restoration from beginning to end including mechanical, electrical, interior, etc. The suspense and drama would drive me crazier than I am now.
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