Paint shop jail... No parole!!!

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Mad Dart said:
Where are you located at in California?
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Fairfield CA. AAS American Autobody Specialists. We do mainly production work, collision repair but on occasion we will do completes. I do stuff on the side. Getting ready to shoot a 65 Belvedere next week. It's clean so it will be a quick job.
 
I rebuilt a 72 Grand Prix a few years back. I paid my painter up front and let him take the car for several weeks. Around the 4th week I got a call from a buddy of mine saying that he saw my car in a shop that they were foreclosing on. Luckily my buddy gave me a heads up because the remaining five cars he had in the shop were seized with the property. I lost four grand and had an unpainted car. The painter ended up having a gambling problem and was using all his money to pay back gambling debts. I will never pay up front again
 
No kiss first. I truly believe that he will complete the car. He works at a nationally known resto shop in Oklahoma. I spoke with the owner of that shop and he recommended my guy ( his employee). The owner said "he is the best metal fabricator and painter i have seen"(still talking about my painter). Their cars have been featured on PowerBlock and other publications. He works in his shop every other week. So if i try to convince myself this is really like he has only had it six months. I'm just really tired of waiting and worrying if it is ever gonna get done.
 
You might wanna stress to the owner that it's now over a year and you've GOTTA get it out of the shop to get it ready for summer. That bad weather excuse can only fly for a few weeks IMO......I would be very politely forceful.
 
Yeah, I am wondering when the "it's too hot to paint" excuses are coming.
 
FJ5 said:
Yeah, I am wondering when the "it's too hot to paint" excuses are coming.
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For what it worth my car was painted in the middle of the summer in AZ. It was in a booth, but it was not cooled in any way. The booth had the floor soaked, so I am sure the humidity in the booth was up there some as well. I am not a painter but I do know this is why several different hardeners (?) are available, you use a certain one based on temps from what I remember.

My car took a while to get painted, but then again EZ works a regular full time job and does body/paint on the side so it was to be expected. Really hope you do not get screwed over.....
 
I truly believe that he will complete the car. He works at a nationally known resto shop in Oklahoma. I spoke with the owner of that shop and he recommended my guy ( his employee). The owner said "he is the best metal fabricator and painter i have seen"(still talking about my painter). Their cars have been featured on PowerBlock and other publications. He works in his shop every other week. So if i try to convince myself this is really like he has only had it six months. I'm just really tired of waiting and worrying if it is ever gonna get done.


When you are dealing with an individual (not a major shop) the person is liable only to the point that he can pay. The shop that he works at obviously won't assume responsibility if you made a side deal with him and this guy could disappear any time.

IS he doing your car on the shop's dime? That is important to ask the shop owner! WILL he guarantee that it will get done? Do you have paperwork from the shop?

If this is a "side job", get your car NOW!

Those who say "contact the BBB" or "spread bad media" etc are not taking this into consideration. A person who has nothing can't be sued. I speak from experience! I watched this happen over and over. You HAVE probably lost every dime you gave him BUT you haven't lost your car yet. What is the car worth? You could lose it too. Every day you wait, you are gambling on that.

One other thing you could try: Email the bodyman a link to this thread! Of course, he could haul *** and leave town.
 
We used to do late model rebuilders without a paint booth and there has been several good days lately that we would have shot paint. If he is a professional and has a paint booth then he should know how to get it done in any Oklahoma weather.
 
Amen!! Thanks for all comments. I'm going to try the high pressure approach. Just so everyone is clear. He has his own shop that he is at every other week. Yes he has a paint booth. No it is not heated.
 
gregpurcell said:
Those who say "contact the BBB" or "spread bad media" etc are not taking this into consideration. A person who has nothing can't be sued.
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This very true. If it is in a shop with LLC after its name you will only be able to go after the shop, not any one there. LLC's are created to give the owners personal property protection from this very thing. So the owner could have a garage full of Original HEMI cars, might own a 1000 acre spread worth millions and you can not touch it.

Then there is the other side of the coin. You sue him, costing you x amount of legal fees, of which if you win will be reimbursed for. But guess what, you only have a piece of paper saying he owes you, the famed judgement. Good luck collecting on it.

We got ripped off to the tune of 21K a short while ago. The guy admitted he stole our money, even started making payments to us. But he has fallen on hard times.....again. Have talked to an attorney about him, and the attorney told me that he will gladly go after him for us. Going to take a 3k retainer, plus anything additional he spends. But he warned that "you can't get blood from a turnip". He opened a filing cabinet containing all the judgements he has won........of which 95% remain uncollected. Which is why when some of the folks on here start the sue sue sue chant when someone gets ripped off for $300 I damn near p*ss my pants laughing......Some folks need a reality check....
 
I would make a sign that says my cars been here a year and its still not finished and sit on the sidewalk waving it at everyone that passes by.The local news may even run your story then. No one running a buisness wants bad publicity.
 
Thanks mike! When we doing yours!!!??? I'm thinking something sinister looking with true flames and something cool on the trunklid! It looks mean now but meaner is good. Lol!
 
Not a damn thing you can do about it. Piss him off and he can just kick your car out. If you are getting a resto quality complete at a production shop, it only get's worked on when things are slow. 1 year + can be normal.

If a guy is doing it on the side, I have seen 5+ years. I have also seen a month and a half. You just never know.
 
5+ years to do a paint job? Holly chit man! Well it makes sense I hired a kid from Oregon and he was slow as hell so maybe its just the state! Ha! Hell its raining all the time so I would think more stuff would get done inside?
 
gtmopar said:
5+ years to do a paint job? Holly chit man! Well it makes sense I hired a kid from Oregon and he was slow as hell so maybe its just the state! Ha! Hell its raining all the time so I would think more stuff would get done inside?
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It was a Corvette and the guy wanted a 100%, factory correct body restoration including common factory paint runs, over-spray and so on.

They actually have a book that details how to put a craptastic, factory paint job on old Corvettes.
 
we build a whole car in 9 months, from the day we get the order to the day the customer gets it... call in the muscle...

this one appraised at 137,500...
 

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Being to hot? Baloney, they make reducer/activators with different levels of the "tin" catalyst that controls cure. The hotter the temp, the less catalyst thats put in. The colder the temp, the more. Simple. It is an art, but it ain't brain surgery for Gods sake!
 
I don't understand... The OP is not happy that it has been a year and nothing is done to the car but will not go get it? What is the purpose of this post?:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
Good luck, I would either finish it yourself, or find another shop and pull it.

I read an article outlining how to pick a good body shop and the points that stuck out was, if there is excessive projects with dust on them, run, and always create a list of things to do, and pay them as they do them.

Here is the article, I hope it helps clear things up:

http://www.autobody101.com/content/articles/confessions-of-a-body-shop-owner/
 
Boosted, There has been progress. just slow progress. the complete floor pan was replaced, patches in the quarters, sand blasted fire wall and trunk. under coating applied. 1/8 inch gaps on all panels. just waiting supposedly on one or two more days of sanding before it is ready to paint. but it seems to have stalled at this point.
 
poison, there are about 9 cars with varying depths of dust on them. wished i would have read this a year ago.
 
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