Why I am worried about Body Work Guys in General

[ko-lek-tor]

Hmmm, too much huffing on the thinner fumes? Stripe and emblem WAY off (not even an SS)! Kind of person who would buy this would say, "Got me a Camero Sport Special[sic]."

[X33RS]

I do it for a living.  You really have to watch some shops, and also alot of owners that don't want to pay for quality at the same time so it's kind of a rock in a hard place.  What you show above is a rookie mistake.  Either the owner didn't want to spring for a cheap stencil kit that lays it all out for you (correctly) or the shop suggested they could do it on their own and just didn't have a clue as to how it should be.
   I'm doing a Mach 1 for customer as we speak and he doesn't want to spend $40 for a stencil kit on the black out hood     Just another case where the customer takes the car this far and then starts penny pinching.

[KevinW]

Wow, I am speechless! Other side is just as bad.  Funny the stripe is flat, maybe it is a vinyl stripe! That could be removed, still have to fix the emblem holes

[z28z11]

Badstrip and emblem placement, but you gotta admit the N66 wheels look awesome -

[BULLITT65]

I like the (N66) wheels. In the ford circles we call them magnum 500's, they also offered them on Mopars with an even longer center cap.

They even make an aftermarket  17" alloy version for all 3 makes now.

I am actually running a newer modern version of this wheel on one of my rides.

[lakeholme]

When I had the 68 repainted, the shop manager made pictures and took measurements on the original paint, etc. and gave me the documentation before they started for approval. Not a bad idea....

[69Z28-RS]

When I had the 68 repainted, the shop manager made pictures and took measurements on the original paint, etc. and gave me the documentation before they started for approval. Not a bad idea....

That was obviously a meticulous shop manager, who desires to make/keep his customers happy!   AND an excellent idea for any shop (whether it's your own or a commercial shop) to follow...    (Some of us know this.. but still get in a hurry at times and forget the 'before photos'.. thinking.. 'I KNOW where they go!"..  until 1, 2, 4, or 10 yrs later..   

[X33RS]

I have thumb drives full of before and after pics that I keep on file, not only for the car owner, but also to cover my own butt.   Luckily I own an original paint Mach 1 so I'll use that for measurements on the customer car I mentioned above.  Otherwise you run into issues like I mentioned when customers don't want to spend the money on what's needed.  There are other problems I won't get into with this car as well that the customer doesn't want to fix properly, so I document it again to cover myself.  It's not always the shop,,,,most people just won't or can't spend the coin.  It's not cheap to own these cars anymore.  Unfortunately you spend a small fortune just to buy a basket case nowadays, and then people quickly find out what a "real" restoration costs, so corners are cut, or the project sits and doesn't get finished.   

[69Z28-RS]

X33RS..  Where are you located with your shop?

[X33RS]

Arizona,
shoot me a pm with an email and I'll send some pics of stuff I've done.

[lakeholme]

I want to see, too. PM sent.

[69Z28-RS]

Arizona,
shoot me a pm with an email and I'll send some pics of stuff I've done.

Arizona is too far away for north Alabama for me to use; my email is in my profile.

[rsr]

It's the same problem everywhere with skilled labor....most only care about getting it done asap..paid and move on to the next quickest payday!! The collision shops take on restoration work to help during the slow times and the bodyman or tech has no idea what the vintage car will need to be correct without spending some research time and that costs!!

[X33RS]

Big shops suffer like that because of the volume they handle and the overhead they cover.  It's the insurance work for them that really pays the bills so most shops don't care to take labor intensive restoration work.  Major shops that do take on classic car restoration work and specialize in that can cost $100 an hour labor or more plus parts.  Most people just aren't willing or simply can't afford that.   I do one car at a time so I can devote 100% of my attention, research correct finishes etc...to avoid those issues.  Not trying to sell myself here, just showing both sides of the coin.  It's not always the body shops fault for certain things.  There is alot more behind the scenes that reflect some of the poor decision making.  I run into it quite often and have actually turned work away if I think the customers decisions are detrimental to the end result.  I don't like my name on something that's going to fall apart in 5 years.

[VINCE Z28]

Bentley, aside from the emblem placement and the stripe the paint job looks real good, is this your car?