All right, I can trump all you guys. Unfortunately.
The story is over on Trans Am County. I now do all my own work or pay a very reputable shop to paint. No deal seeking anymore for me.
Took a 76 455 4Spd car with 35,000 original miles to be painted by the painter of a well known shop at that time. The car had zero rust. Anyway, he painted on the side and had painted a few buddies cars so I gave him mine.
Sometime over the next year he got heavily into drugs. Excuse after excuse for a couple of months and then I gave up and went to get my car. All the cars were gone. He had sold them to the scrapyard for like $400 each for drug money.
I had pulled the interior, the drivetrain and even the VIN. The car was gone. He went to jail and the day he got out he OD'd and he was no more.
Sued the car crushing place and we worked out a settlement since they bought a car without a VIN. The tried to lie about it initially by a detective found it on their scale log.
Also sent the Triple Threat Trans Am car to Frank Serafine at Prodigy Customs and then it went to Fletcher's Customs from him. That's a whole different multi-year saga but I came out with the car and most of the parts.
So now I build my own and it is far less stressful to learn the skills than it is dealing with questionable characters. I still don't like to paint, so I will hire that part out and just pay the going rate at a reputable shop. I learned to quit looking for deals. They cost more in the long run.
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