Paint mega-disaster (long rant)

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That is crazy for any car at a "collision" shop. Sounds like they are taking you for a ride and draining your accounts in the meantime. A 65 Signet? to me it sounds like someone there either wants you to pay them all the money you have or they are trumping up your charges so you sign up the car to them. Get a lawyer or tell them to keep the car, it's not worth a fourth of that restored. My advise to you after that is to learn how to paint a car.
 
Just post up this guys shop info. It might do some good for a few people to call him up. I also like the idea about going to the local news.
 
Thanks for posting.

If anything this will be a WARNING to the other guys who may be contemplating body shops.

It sounds alot like what could have happened to me at the first body shop I took my cuda to, but I caught them before they screwed me too bad.

To make a long story short, i was smart enough to get everything in writing and work was to hault once the paint was stripped to bare metal, but they broke contract, and sand blsated instead of media blasting as promised, and warped the body panels, di a poor job of etch priming, yep right over top of sand.

I did not sue, but I was not in the hole you are in either, I was just out $1000.oo, but hey bait and switched me and now the price of 6-7-k was now $20-k.

I took it to body shop #2 which was also a collision shop, got everything documented and they still cut corners.

They still have to finish up a couple things on my car and they will repaint the car for life if it ever cracks, peels or whatever, and that is all in writing too.

Oh gosh man, I hope you get out of this.

You may also want to call some of your local new stations and threaten the guy with bad newsworthy watchdog type publicity as an alternative to a lawyer.

Sounds like this guy had you right where he wanted you since you had no documentation to fall back on.

Good luck, man that's just plain wrong.
 
45K on a car I can buy in good shape for 1k ...car will never be worth more than 10k ...? that is NUTS ! I've had sh*t fits over 3k ...now I do it all myself...all the body and paint. Its better to learn that then to be able to take a motor apart... NEVER TRUST THESE GUYS.......................
 
rmchrgr said:
If you agree to anything, do yourself a favor - GET IT IN WRITING!
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Any aggreement will definitely be in writing. Looked at the paperwork they gave me some more. They charged about 360 hours in labor & $4300 in materials without telling me. This was AFTER everything was in primer, all dents & metalwork were complete, & I thought it was just about ready for final paint. Some of the more amusing charges were over $2600 to install the frame connecters & $280 to slop on some seam sealer. Believe the guy actually thinks I'm going to pay for this, he was very cheerful. If I ever get this thing back I plan to do all the work myself. My garage isn't the best place to paint but I'll make it work.
 
You need to decide what you want at this point. I'm not usre what that may be: your car returned to you un-finished, your car painted, or ... ?

Remember that the money they want can buy about seven nice '65 Signets.

Unless you have a good original estimate or other documentation my opinion is that you should walk away from the shop and let them keep your car. I know it'll hurt because you've already sunk a lot into it but you'll find another car.
 
Like I said before. They don't WANT to keep his car. If they got a mechanic's lein against it and tried to sell it, all they will get is about $1000. The thing to do is let them take it, try to sell it, and have a ringer buy it back.
 
I too had a bad experience with a paint shop.See my post in member restorations(my 70 dart swinger restoration) by gcrow.I was lucky I guess after reading your post they only got me for 1000.I believe ahy lawyer or Judge would understand how bad you were reamed....
 
The guy is a SCUM BAG I said so. I`d find a great lawyer and sue the **** out of him then torch his shop you could get a great paint job for 8000 if the body was that good this guy is scummmmmmmmmmm
SUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HiSSSSSSSSSS ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
 
When I read the initial post I thought it was a joke.......sucks to see that it isn't

Make sure they have stopped any work on the car. They probably wont let you take your car out of the shop since you owe them $19,000.

The first invoice for $9,000 should have been a sign of things to come.....you need to figure out a settlement and get your car out of there.
 
man I'm glad I suffered through the bodywork & paint on mine. I haven't been happy in the past with bodyshops I have dealt with, but your situation is the worst I ve heard. Good luck working it out, but a lawyer is a good idea.
 
Finally got this thing settled today. The guy was a lot more reasonable than I thought he would be. He drastically reduced the charges & agreed to completely finish for a set price. Not exactly what I wanted but better than lawyers & potentially losing the car. Didn't even want to see the car but he dragged me back into the shop & have to admit the quality was to the level of a showcar although I never really wanted this as it's a lowly Valiant driver. Guess I'll have the dubious distinction of having the most expensive Valiant on the planet. Let this be a lesson to all to do the work yourself or be super careful if your hiring out.

It is a fairly neat car. It's a 65 Signet 2 door hardtop with a 273-2v & 4-speed with little else. Was owned by a little old lady school teacher & had 57k miles but the original 273 was blown as she neglected to ever change the oil. Bought it as a driver with a running junkyard 318 in place for $2900. It was a light blue color throughout. Kept the light blue original interior but changed the outside to dark blue metallic B8 which you can still get on new mopars. Have a complete new drivetrain waiting in the event I ever get this thing back. Engine is a 396ci hydraulic roller stroked 340. Will post pics if & when I get it back.
 
"Lowly valiant driver",,even though it's a costly paint job and lessons learned,it will be a bad *** car,,I had the same one with auto console instead of 4 speed,the hardtops look cool,,,I still have the drive train,buckets,steering column,console,and side windows laying around waiting for a new home,,,you'll love it forever when its done
 
Thats alot of dam money to put into a car that does have a Hemi. I know we all put alot into our cars, but for a driver? I love my car, and im sure you love yours as well, but thats a down payment on a house in most places.
Good luck with the car and im sure we all will want to see some pics. Be proud of your ride and enjoy.
 
Went up to the shop yesterday & settled everything in writing with an agreed final price for everything completed, was way way less than the last bill. He gave me those super expensive frame connectors for free. Still a mighty expensive Valiant though. Has the most detailed floor this side of a hemi, lots more than I ever envsioned. In my haste I thought I had the biggest problems, looked at Dave's 66 Valiant post & now don't feel so bad. These old cars can be a total PITA. Here's a pic as it stands right now-

underbody_painted.jpg
 
That`s a gorgeous color! If you`re happy with what you finally settled on with the shop then I`m happy for you. Can`t wait to see this one back together.
 
Man...I'm glad everything worked out in the end. O:)

By the way, that has to unquestionably be the nicest floor I've ever seen. At least the quality of their work kicks a$$. :thumbup:

Keep the pics coming! :burnout:
 
Dang man that looks really good way too good for stuff that you will never see I cant wait to see pics of the car when there is paint on the outside. Justin
 
jjr426 said:
Dang man that looks really good way too good for stuff that you will never see I cant wait to see pics of the car when there is paint on the outside. Justin
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Yeah, me too, hopefully next week. The body is way razor striaght.
 
396 Signet said:
Went up to the shop yesterday & settled everything in writing with an agreed final price for everything completed, was way way less than the last bill.
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Nice work! Glad to hear everyrthing is hunky-dory. Some of these paint shops... man they see you coming and ka-ching! I had one guy tell me (with a straight face) that he wanted $25K to paint my Valiant. A white Valiant - $25K! You could have bought twelve of them for that! But I digress...

The car's gonna be beautiful when it's done.

Just don't go putting dubs on it now...8)
 
Wow. It sucks you had to go through all that... its stressful and frustrating.. I know all about it.. and I didnt have that much money on the line... but.. I gave up about 5 thousand to a loser shop... before I pulled the car and had it finished up by pros. Key thing for anyone and all to note.... GET ESTIMATES !!. If anything comes up in the process thats not on the estimate... get new Estimate! Documentation is the only saving grace in court ! Without it you might as well try to sell the Judge daiseys!

Now.... from looking at your recent pics ofthe car on the roto.... yea... looks real nice.. better then what they did to mine... but then again... i dont have that much into it... just keep a close eye on all they do.... it will be one sharp car !

Good luck !

-RPM
 
Glad you and shop owner could come to terms which is a win-win for both of you at this point. I took my duster to a shop and they told me they couldn't give me a est. to fix and paint my car due to maybe hidden damage. Thay wanted a blank check and I would just come pay them what they wanted every two weeks. I had hunch maybe that would have turned into same situation as yours. Shop has your car torn down and you owe them more than it's worth. Still has old factory paint on it till I can paint it.
 
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