sounds like you’ve made your decision that works for you. The communication effort ahead of time is great. And location is helpful to monitor things.
I’m going by results. If you read what I write, I acknowledged the painted underside could be owner preference. But the other stuff is just error. Plating something white cad instead of black phosphate. There no cost difference in that. That AAR was not a resto mod. It’s was being offered for around $130K by a second owner.
Roller dyno sounds cool. MCR has a great website and promotion.
I’m suggesting shops to the original poster for best value. Money spent to get the most results.