the resto shop idea from the customer's perspective

[eldubb440]

so you drop your car at a high end shop....... every so often you show up, sit in a chair across the desk from the shop owner (who doesn't get dirty) and hand over a pile of money

you have no idea who is actually laying hands on your car, could be the new guy........ he may be gone in a month, cause his work was shitty....... next guy buries the hack........

do you blindly hand over the money on trust alone?

I'd be out of the hobby if I had to do any of that

 

[5.7 hemi]

Kindigit, they have guys/gals that know what they’re doing.

 

[mopar4don]

That's why I do everything myself! The down side to that is it takes longer.

 

[YY1]

If your hobby is "paying someone to do work", is that a hobby?

 

[eldubb440]

Kindigit, they have guys/gals that know what they’re doing.

BIG, BIG bucks........ and his actual profit margin without a TV show is likely minimal, I'd be amazed at his monthly overhead

and no way the average guy who wants a nice car is a player

 

[chargervert]

That's why I do everything myself! The down side to that is it takes longer.

I agree with Don,I do all my own work except machine work,and my Hemi engine has been in machine shop jail for almost 5 years thanks to the scamdemic!

 

[eldubb440]

my Hemi engine has been in machine shop jail for almost 5 years thanks to the scamdemic!

scamdemic was 3 years ago....... somebody needs a kick in the ***

 

[68BabyBlue]

This is why I've paid the piper for nicely preserved drivers or older restorations.

 

[gkent]

Hobby or not there are some things that, if done by inexperienced hands, will end up devaluing the car in the end. Do what you're good at - if you're good at woodworking, spend your time making money there to pay a pro to do what you're not good at.

Also, consider the actual skill level of the individual(s) you're hiring. My mistake was hiring an experienced sheet metal fabricator to install replacement panels. The job simply did not require his skill level nor the cost of his services. And the end result was a huge disappointment.

Hire someone close so you can make frequent visits. If you want to keep tabs on the progress, pick a shop no more than an hour away.

I personally like the idea of a one-man owner-operator shop. I like the fact that he knows if he screws something up he's just going to have to fix it later. Going back to my sheet metal experience there were a number of things that were left for "the body guy".

 

[Richard Cranium]

I can't/won't do body work & I trust my body man. In the last 13 years I've known him, he's painted two cars for me & I've had him do a bunch of other work. Fortunately, I can do just about everything else. Unlike some, I sure wouldn't feel comfortable having a shop do over a car completely, soup to nuts.

 

[dadsbee]

What ^^^^ he said ! I hate body work and paint more than doing drywall. I can do everything else!

I've known my painter for over 35 years. His house is attached to his shop, hell he has his first truck parked in his living room. His lead hand has worked for him for 37 years, his metal guy damn near as long. Took the Bee to him 7 years ago and it came out mint and was a patch work quilt when it went in. Took the Bird over after the door fiasco and I wasn't overly worried when I walked away, but know enough to check progress regardless..

Big difference to the original question though, in my case the owner gets dirty and knows what he's doing when he does! Owner George on the cut, Kenny on the polish..

 

[XS22J8R]

I can't do body and paint so there was no way I was going to be able to do my ground up restoration myself.
I did end up in a restoration shop jail situation with the car. it was in a small shop in MI for more years than I even want to admit, a shop that had been highly recommended and many fine restorations under their belt. I realized at some point that the only way the car project was going to get back in gear there is if I was there regularly holding a gun to his head, and being a 3-1/2 hour drive from me, that was not practical.
I eventually moved the car to a shop closer to me, about 1-1/2 hours away, and things didn't go well in different ways. Shop owner didn't seem to want to work with me or accommodate my desire to do parts of the project I could handle myself, just send me inflated bills and have an attitude if I asked any questions or worked on parts chasing and component sub projects myself.
After the body and paint were done and enough of the suspension and such installed it could be moved, I quickly got it out of there and to my garage where I finished it up by myself with the occasional assistance of some local Mopar friends, including an ace bodyshop guy who fixed up some panel alignment problems the second shop did.
However I did eventually have to take the car to a 3rd shop, to further fix things the second shop did, a one man shop run by a guy I've known for some time.
Soul searching how things went off the track with the 2nd shop, I asked the 3rd shop if I was hard to work with, and he said not at all, and you pay your bills instantly.
The car got 986 points at MCACN when I finally had it judged so maybe it was all worth it??
The owner of the 2nd shop got angry when he heard I'd complained about the work done on my car, even though I hadn't (and won't, don't ask) said his shops name. He came over to my garage one day to go over it, he said he had a body guy who my car was the last car he worked on before retiring or something like that, and admitted some mistakes were made on my car but didn't offer anything to make up for this admission.
But in more recent times when I left messages for shop 3 about doing some more work, he hasn't returned my calls. I know he's pretty buried with work, and been getting projects from some mega rich guy who probably pays him a premium, and a guy I know even has a hemi Charger project that has been sitting in that shop for years not getting progress, so I doubt I will be able to get any work done by him again, and I'm out in the dark about where to get work done for me currently if need be.
Never say never, but that being said, unfortunately I am not likely to ever restore a car again! And I envy those whose projects at shops have gone off pretty well with friendships developed between them and the shop that did their work. My life has never played out like a fairy tale with happy endings though.

 

[moparwacko]

My body and paint guy unfortunately passed away 5 years ago. I trusted him without question. He turned me down on 2 cars I wanted done, he point blank said you can't afford this.
They got sold off. He was a tried and true Mopar brother, as I knew him over 30+ years. We were next door neighbors for years before his eventual divorce. He was going to do my Roadrunner over properly as it was done hastily by someone else. I just kept pushing it off until it was too late. If and when I find my 67 R/T convertible it's going to @eldubb440 if it needs a redo.
I've waited this long, but if the right one pops up I'll pull the trigger.
Now I'm in the midst of being a self taught apprentice, I'll try my hand on my old 64 D100. We'll see how that works out.
Damn, I miss Pat.

 

[eldubb440]

What ^^^^ he said ! I hate body work and paint more than doing drywall. I can do everything else!

I've known my painter for over 35 years. His house is attached to his shop, hell he has his first truck parked in his living room. His lead hand has worked for him for 37 years, his metal guy damn near as long. Took the Bee to him 7 years ago and it came out mint and was a patch work quilt when it went in. Took the Bird over after the door fiasco and I wasn't overly worried when I walked away, but know enough to check progress regardless..

Big difference to the original question though, in my case the owner gets dirty and knows what he's doing when he does! Owner George on the cut, Kenny on the polish..
View attachment 1537784

perfect.....

I want no parts of disassembling/reassembling someone's car. I have no issues with installing suspension and engine if the ducks are in a row. Clean, cut, fit, weld, grind, fill, sand, paint and polish are all within my wheel house......... I have found a niche, doing the part others cannot or are unequipped to do...... minimal overhead keeps everyone in the game, me included.

I prefer to deal with people who are knowledgeable and somewhat capable.

the average B body needing the normal sheet metal replacement takes roughly 700 hours +/- to follow through to finished paint. It requires efficiency and relentless persistence

 

[moparwacko]

perfect.....

I want no parts of disassembling/reassembling someone's car. I have no issues with installing suspension and engine if the ducks are in a row. Clean, cut, fit, weld, grind, fill, sand, paint and polish are all within my wheel house......... I have found a niche, doing the part others cannot or are unequipped to do...... minimal overhead keeps everyone in the game, me included.

I prefer to deal with people who are knowledgeable and somewhat capable.

the average B body needing the normal sheet metal replacement takes roughly 700 hours +/- to follow through to finished paint. It requires efficiency and relentless persistence

View attachment 1537903View attachment 1537904View attachment 1537905

View attachment 1537902
View attachment 1537911

Wow! 700 hrs!!!!!
Good thing your rate is $22.50 per hr., or I wouldn't be able to afford it!







Guess bribery with food isn't going to cut it.

 

[RemCharger]

Wow! 700 hrs!!!!!
Good thing your rate is $22.50 per hr., or I wouldn't be able to afford it!

 

[eldubb440]

Wow! 700 hrs!!!!!
Good thing your rate is $22.50 per hr., or I wouldn't be able to afford it!

if new hood, fenders, or trunk lids are available, it cuts down the labor time....... but 50+ year old parts need a lot of miracles

 

[eldubb440]

unfortunately, he isn't too far off

the above hood and fenders were some of the nastiest junk I've ever resurrected

 

[chargervert]

Wow! 700 hrs!!!!!
Good thing your rate is $22.50 per hr., or I wouldn't be able to afford it!







Guess bribery with food isn't going to cut it.

Is he a manager at Taco Bell?

 

[eldubb440]

lower skins vs full quarters......probably a hundred additional hours