ever wanted to choke a body man?

[machine girl]

Paid to have my fenders redone first was told 10 days,got them back 2.5 mo later.lost the headlight bar and taillight bkts,now trying to istall them and all the mounting holes are filled in with bondo also body work and paint is poor. paid$$$$ for the work.

[Ross/Kzoo]

Did you have any recommendations or any knowledge of his work?

[ronn]

Yeah, just went through that last month and was ripped! Only had very minor work done, but was flim flammed....

[Louis]

Originally Posted by machine girl

Paid to have my fenders redone first was told 10 days,got them back 2.5 mo later.lost the headlight bar and taillight bkts,now trying to istall them and all the mounting holes are filled in with bondo also body work and paint is poor. paid$$$$ for the work.

Where did you find the shop that did the work? was it an advertisement on a cardboard poster nailed to a tree?... did it say: "I fx yur car reel chep" .

Did you ask anyone in town about this shop ?
did you ck. it out with your lcl. "A" model club ?

some times cheaper, is not always the best.

I feel so bad for you,....But these rip off artist are every where,
Always get some advice before you jump into any thing that you are not sure of.
it's not a sign of weakness,...it's a sign of Intelligence, so sorry.

[62pan]

I have had bad luck with evey body man I delt with. The work is always top notch but none seem to have any concept of the amount of time it takes to do something. Then they complain about not making any money while my stuff sits in the corner untouched. I always pay in cash when done but it never seems to help.

[dumb person]

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Normal as far as i can tell. i try to do all my own work where i can, at least i know why it turns out terrible then.

[machine girl]

came highly recommended ,he looked over the parts gave me a price,and that's what I paid. expected way more for my money. this is my 4th and last car restoration .so ill get over it!

[bart78]

Most body shops are going to make their money off of fixing these newer cars. Just bolt a new panel on and paint it. The charge the insurance company what they want. That is why your fenders took so long. I grew up with a uncle that built hot rods and was a very good body guy. Spent many hours growing up helping him. The only thing I take to a body shop is my newer model f150.

[CarlG]

Our club has it's own resident body man -- 50 years of experience on these old cars. When he's done with it, it looks as good or better than it did coming off Henry's production line.

Oh, and he's retired and now only works on antique cars/trucks. You also have to plan ahead and book his time. He's that much in demand.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by machine girl

came highly recommended ,he looked over the parts gave me a price,and that's what I paid. expected way more for my money. this is my 4th and last car restoration .so ill get over it!

Did this shop do any of the work on your other three restorations ?
just curious.

sorry for your bad experience,... wish you well.

[fordcoupe]

A good body man is getting hard to find these days we had a heck of a time finding someone to do the body work on a coupe we had to do a lot of the prep work before we found someone who would do it

[Keith True]

I have a tenant in my old body shop building that just won't take any old car work any more.If he guesses 5 hours on a fender it turns out to be 10.If he estimates 10 it turns into 20.Rather than work for nothing or tick people off he just refuses the work,or makes it very clear that they will pay X per hour until it is done.Another friend does a lot of Henderson motorcycle restoration finish work.He used to do Steve Ciccalonnes work until he died,and he was in the middle of one at the time.After doing some work for Steve he seemed to become the go-to guy for the Henderson gang.It is by the hour,and getting the work done for $7000.is not unusual at all.It is all honest time put in,when you want the bottoms of the fenders to look like the tops with no plastic it takes time.Until they've seen it done most people don't have a clue how long it takes to do things correctly.I used to work on a 29 pickup for an old fellow that had it fixed and painted by a shop near him.After discussing it with him the shop agreed to do it by the hour,and he could draw the line wherever he wanted.They even told him he could stay in the office and watch through a window.He spent about $15000.on it,and their work was nice but a lot of other things could have been done.Nothing got painted over that wasn't done correctly.He watched most of the work,and felt he was charged honest hours.He got to see first hand just how many hours it took to do what he wanted.A good portion of the money went into new rear fenders,new bed,running boards,and a few other things that they felt would cost more than new to fix.

[William Kelchner]

Just remember, when the paint comes and the horrors underneath are exposed you are more or less committed

[Roadster62]

I've never understood how a shop could turn out "driver" quality paintwork, at the request of the customer,knowing full well the customer will bitch till the day he dies about the quality of the paint HE requested. Bob

[Great Lakes Greg]

I am in the middle of an adult education paint and body class to avoid just this scenario. Every paint guy I have hired (except Gerald and Sons in Nappanee, Indiana) have absolutely screwed me on time, cost, or both.

[Kurt in NJ]

Long ago I learned that I could screw it up 3 times myself for what I would pay someone else to screw it up ----and I found that I usually didn't need the second time

[eshaver]

As a retired Body and fender repairman, I have seen BOTH the good an the bad . I'm really sorry all ya'all could find were Bondo pushers . I guess that's why I retired and now , I build doll houses in my retirement . I re build a few Ford Flathead engines , do a little transmission work and of course , I do my own body work .

[Elcastor]

Bring it down here to Mexico! I use a wonderful guy that does wonderful work and the cost is not that much. Way less than some mentioned above!

[midgetracer]

I have worked with three body men on antique cars. The work is damn hard. If it was easy I would do it myself. Giving a quote of how many hours it takes is hard because straightening and repairing 80+ year old metal is very hard. Materials are out of this world high and the shop costs are high for heat and lights etc. My last gallon of paint was $800 and I am unwilling to practice with that kind of supplies. Every week I get a total of the hours spent and supplies used and pay the bill. I have never gotten sideways with any of these gentlemen and the jobs are flawless. I have never asked for an estimate because it is so hard to get an accurate estimate of the time it takes to redo 80 years of stress. When a shop fixes your modern car replacement parts are readily available and for the most part they bolt right on. There is a computer full of flat rate time available for this service. If body men are such crooks, tell me why it is so hard to find one to work on your deformed 80 year old classic. Too often an estimate is given as 2-3 thousand dollars and the customer thinks $2000 and maybe he will get it done for $1500 and the body man thinks $3000 and it may be a bit more due to hidden problems. There is a recipe for failure. Also, no one wants quick and dirty except for the price. We expect perfection, but only want a low price. IMHO respect your body man. He is a fading resource and if you tried to do what he does, you would find a different occupation soon. As for me I appreciate those that have done body work for me and I tell them so.
Sorry if I have offended anyone, I hate body work and respect the professionals that can make a POS into a show quality fender.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Maybe look at this different experience in this way.

One (1) bad deal in life is really not all that bad when we begin to reflect on how lucky we were with all of our many past good deals.

After all, we all fall in life; but it is our determination to get back up that is most admired by others.