[notime]

WOW! So many bad stories. I've been there too once. So I taught myself and now have a full resto shop with 2 employees. We now put out about 3 full restos a year on average cause we actually work. Just because your a good bodyman doesn't make you a good business man. I was lucky enough to marry a very smart woman who runs the business part of it after her full time job that way we can get **** done. We've finished many cars with this same story. That spot with the car sitting there collecting dust doesn't bring in any money and it took me a few years to learn not to bite off more than we can chew. Good luck

[Johnnygoose]

I think you've got a pretty good case, you got the amount and description in writing. Hopefully you have receipts for what you've paid. Unless a judge is a total idiot he would have to see that the amount of time he's had the car is more than a reasonable amount of time to finish it. Probably not worth suing him though unless it's a decent amount of money and he has the ability to pay it.

I think the best plan is to go check on the car and if anything is missing get it out that day. If everything is still ok have a talk with him and set a deadline. Tell him you'll be there with a trailer to pick it up done or not on that day and if it's not done tell him you're going to sue him. I had a similar problem getting a guy to finish my driveway, I pushed him and he rushed it and did a crappy job. Since he really has no incentive to finish it maybe you can give him a bonus if he finishes it by a certain time.

These are just ideas, you'll be there in person and be able to make the best decision based on what he says. Good luck.

[Babaoriley]

Did the exact same thing for a early 240Z I restored a few years back. Paid up front with promises of the car back in 6-9 months. 3 years later I rolled the car out and was missing parts that are nearly impossible to find. Very disappointing. Many people arent like you and I that would feel guilty NOT getting a car done that had already been paid for. Learned to NEVER take a resto to a primarily collision shop. Still pissed about as I think about it today. Conversely I found a killer body and resto shop that is nearly two hours from my house to resto my 67 GTO and they are moving so quickly on it, I cant keep up with the payments and they are doing an awesome job on the car. Do your home work otherwise your car will be in body shop jail...good luck

[cdnjudge]

Hey Tom,
Just read your painter problems. A close friend of mine bought a 55 Safari Wagon 9 years ago. We stripped the car down to the bare bones and sent it off to a well known and "reliable Painter". He wanted 20% down and said it would take about 3 months as he was very busy. My friend agreed and we continued working on the other parts like the interior, engine, transmission etc.
Three months went by and we traveled to the painters business. The car was sitting right where we had left it three months earlier. Not one thing was done on the wagon. We questioned the painter and he told us he had been very busy and had not got around to it. He also told us he had run out of cash to start the safari. My friend reminded him that he had paid him the 20% down as requested and the painter replied he had run short of money on other projects and had used Dan's money to finish the other vehicles. The painter told Dan that he had under quoted him and would need an additional $4000. to work on the Safari.
My Friend very foolishly paid the painter the additional money and the painter told Dan that he would start working on Dan's car the following week.
The story goes on for another 3 years where the painter started on the Safari. and pushed it back outside to start a NEW project for a buddy.. It took another 2 years to get the car ready for paint. Dan even bought the paint and other finishing material and took it to the painter. When the vehicle was finally finished we found the painter had used Dan's paint on another car and had replaced it with a much cheaper quality of paint.
Overall, it took Dan over 5 years to get his safari back and only then because he threatened the painter with a law suit. The total paint job including the materials Dan bought cost him over $20.000 and in the end he go a crummy paint job.

[bird72]

This stuff happens because these shysters know "The Game". And "The Rules". And "The Consequences" (lack of). And "The Probabilities". And "The Moves". They skirt the bounds of criminality and could have worked a second rate carnival in another life. Beyond that, I even have some bad to say about them

[60 SHARK]

Wow, hope lesson is learned, and others take note not to do it as you did, ,,, , You could have done it yourself and have been happy, for the time it's been away,, I agree wit others,, go get it,, take your paperwork proving it's yours, get law enforcement To go with you,and put the lean on all he has,, have him sign papers that he did not fulfill your agreement, but took your cash, and you get the heck away from their,,,,Please, every one learn from this!!!

[Doug1]

Get the car back. I went down this road more than once until I finally learned. Stick to agreed deadlines and do not advance money. If they can't afford to buy the paint up front, they probably aren't someone you should be dealing with. I was a softie when I started this 10 years back but now I understand that being this way will only lose you money in a hurry. I had to go through a number of people before finding ones I could count on. I lost plenty of money in the process but it was my price of admission for being soft and buying into sob stories. I'm finally comfortable because I can now do it myself and only hire people who prove they can do better than I can.


Go get the car while you can is my advice.

[Captngeetch]

Originally Posted by dataway

I'd be happy as a pig in slop to have that paint job for $4000. There ARE some quite talented, old boy sort of painters out there that do decent work for reasonable money. Many of them have an excellent work ethic too. Not an easy option for some people. But I've lived in this town for 35 years, and have been hanging out with the gear heads here for a long time. So you get to know people. Makes it easier.

If you don't mind me asking, what color is this ?
I'm at the block sanding stage on my '69 Firebird and plan on painting it the original Crystal Tourquois. Being color blind i can't tell if yours in blue or tourquoise lol

TIA

[oldbirds]

It often gets said as a joke, but take it to Maaco can be a reasonable option. I did this with one of my "very nice driver" cars when my local painter was not available. They clearly know how to spray paint, and if you ask and pay for a quality job using quality paint they are, at least in my one experience, very capable of doing a very nice job for a great price.

I had them do a little bit of body work including filling in an antenna hole with metal, align the front end body panels and had them include wet sanding and polishing. Actually turned out a bit better than my local independent guy for just about the same price - about $3500 in 2008.

Before and after pics attached.

[gtohurstjudge]

A friend of mine who is an avid car collector of muscle cars bought
a 69 Cougar eliminator 428 4 speed car that was a complete car needing a total resto from a gentleman who supposedly specialized in restoring these cars who
lived in a neighboring state. When my friend went to pick up the car the guy
talked him into letting him restore the car vs. the local shop back home that normally does his restorations since he claimed he was an expert on these cars.
A bunch of money was paid up front and the guy was reporting the progress
that was taking place over the phone, and more money changed hands, etc.
This went on for a year then the guy quit answering his e-mails or his phone.
My friend went to retrieve his car and the shop was cleaned out and his car was gone. After hiring a private detective, the guy's brother was located who told him
that the car was stored at his Dad's house in a neighboring town. The Dad let him have the shell of the car which had been completely dismantled then parted out. The entire interior and driveline had been sold from the car and only the main body shell remained. The money from parting the car out had been
used to pay for the guy moving to California after he went through a divorce.
My friend is now restoring the car with the shop he normally uses after buying
a complete show quality 302 Cougar in the same colors to part out to build his
Cougar Eliminator.

[First Bird]

This common scenario never gets considered in the "Should I paint my own car?" threads where the only criteria is "Will my paint job be good enough compared to a "Pro".
Next time that thread comes around someone can reply: "At least you'll get your car painted."

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Captngeetch

If you don't mind me asking, what color is this ?
I'm at the block sanding stage on my '69 Firebird and plan on painting it the original Crystal Tourquois. Being color blind i can't tell if yours in blue or tourquoise lol

TIA

It's Meridian Turquoise. Crystal is almost identical..maybe just a hair more bluish on the blue/green scale.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by oldbirds

It often gets said as a joke, but take it to Maaco can be a reasonable option.

Before and after pics attached.

That looks awesome!
There have been a few others here who got good results with their local Maaco. The point I remember is that those shops are independent of one another. Some are better than others. You obviously found a good one!

[PurelyGTO68]

IMO, the actual spraying of the paint is the easy part. Most all of the serious work happens before the color coat is mixed and loaded into the gun. Laying down a color coat on a well prepared car is one of the most satisfying parts of the hobby.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[oldman]

That' s really a shame. I live in PA and if you were closer I would paint your
car. I have a building that is my body shop that is sitting idle. I hate to
see people getting the shaft.

[jciwolf]

I have been through this myself. A "recommended shop turned out to be a pay for somebody else's car and then maybe we can do yours. Two years later after actually working there( for free) I had to force this guy to finally paint the car. A large chunk of the restoration was done by me, while he did some mechanical work on other cars to finance his drinking habit. Took the car home two days later, and did final wet sand. The time I was there I notice two '67 gtos on rotisseries, wasn't too interested because they were not mine, as I was getting mine prepped to go home, a guy came in madder than a hornet. Apparently the two gto's were his and they had been there for 4 years! After some serious swearing, name calling and thoughts of , lawsuits two tow trucks showed up along with a police escort and took all the equipment and parts! I thought I had the worsted problem ever, but This guy topped me out! So you are correct, got to investigate who you use and check their finances before dropping any money or time somewhere!

[dataway]

They should selling painting insurance. And only approved shops get on the list. So if your car or parts disappear, or the job isn't done by a certain time you have recourse.

Before I make my decision I'm going to buy the necessary materials and do a spare fender I have. If it turns out ok, I'll try the car. Haven't painted a car in 25 years ... so who knows, but I've heard the products make it a bit easier these days.

[DRI]

Originally Posted by CDN2PLS2

Went through this with my '68 GTO Also!

Tell us more !

[CDN2PLS2]

YOU know the story!!

[Zoojelly]

I also made the mistake of paying a"friend" who used to be one of the best mechanics in the county to tear down and build the short block for me because I wanted it to be done right and not have to worry about reliability.
The shop got closed down due to alcohol and my engine was found in the machine shop which I had to pay for again. So I paid $800 for a tear down and a few parts missing.
I decided to paint my own car and practiced on daily driver before, and painting turned out to be the hardest part of the project, it won't be show quality paint and I'm intending on driving it often but at least I have a great feeling about doing everything myself (except the convertible top and alignment) and hope you either go to mayco or do the job yourself.