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- Joined
- Dec 31, 2020
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- Location
- Ontario, Canada
I had the '64 Polara 500 convertible I restored trapped in paint jail for about a year and a half. I had done my due diligence by inspecting this guy's shop before committing to having him do the work. At the time, this shop was completing a 1968 Camaro project for a GM engineer from Detroit. He was a well known guy in the Camaro fraternity, so Car Craft magazine was doing a monthly episode on this build. Two of the episodes were photographed at Mike's shop so it was pretty clean and orderly. In addition to this Camaro to inspect, there was also a 1970 black Hemi RoadRunner coupe to look at. Both of these cars were stunning, so I figured this was the shop for me.
At the time, there was a white Polara 500 convertible that had been restored in U.S. that had won a lot of car shows, and was featured in a few car magazines. One of these magazines had gone to a lot of work documenting what was correct for one of these cars. My car was not a rust bucket, having spent most of its life in Georgia. The passenger side looked kind of wobbly under its poor dark green paint job, so I figured there was Bondo there. I had sourced a very good passenger front fender and door for this project. Mike came to my place to look the car over, and I could see that he was looking at places where these cars typically go bad. I gave him a copy of the magazine where the American white convertible was featured and told him this was the type of work I expected from his shop. He told me he could have it done in 2 months, and gave me an estimate that we both agreed on. He loaded it in his enclosed car trailer and took it away. It was all downhill after that.
The 2 months came and went without much progress. Sometimes when I visited Mike's shop, my car was sitting outside, while work was being done on a car I had never seen before. A few times, I could not even find him at the shop, and his two grunts did not know where he was. On another inspection, I found the tail light panel pushed in. I was irate! I explained I had my car at his shop to get better, not worse. He said this happened when his workers were pushing it around, and bumped another car. I told him that I was going home to borrow a trailer and get my car out of his shop. Somehow he talked me out of this and promised to make my Dodge his priority. I suggested that if he could keep it in one spot and actually work on it, this would not be happening. I made a big deal, that when my convertible went on his rotisserie, that I wanted the doors back on it or bracing welded in the openings to support the body. Sure enough, in another visit, my car is on he rotisserie, with none of this done. I went nuts on him again! He told me I was a worry-wart; he had done lots of Challenger and 'Cuda convertibles this way with no problems. I pointed out that my car was two feet longer and likely 500 pounds heavier. On another visit, I could not even find my car, and feared the worst. Mike showed me he had had it tucked away in his enclosed trailer, so he could work on another project. After 18 months, I got my car back, but by that time, he had lost some of my convertible top frame pieces, that I had to replace. In the end, he tried to jack me up for another $4000.00, because he said that his grunts had not been keeping track of their hours right???? I told him that this was not going to happen. I explained that I had kept a journal of my visits, with dates and pictures I had taken. I had already been to my lawyer, who assured me I could get my car back. My convertible finally got finished, but I told Mike I would never recommend his business to anyone. About a year later, his shop burned down with a 1960 Chrysler 300F convertible and a 1958 Thunderbird in it. I had an alibi for that night.
At the time, there was a white Polara 500 convertible that had been restored in U.S. that had won a lot of car shows, and was featured in a few car magazines. One of these magazines had gone to a lot of work documenting what was correct for one of these cars. My car was not a rust bucket, having spent most of its life in Georgia. The passenger side looked kind of wobbly under its poor dark green paint job, so I figured there was Bondo there. I had sourced a very good passenger front fender and door for this project. Mike came to my place to look the car over, and I could see that he was looking at places where these cars typically go bad. I gave him a copy of the magazine where the American white convertible was featured and told him this was the type of work I expected from his shop. He told me he could have it done in 2 months, and gave me an estimate that we both agreed on. He loaded it in his enclosed car trailer and took it away. It was all downhill after that.
The 2 months came and went without much progress. Sometimes when I visited Mike's shop, my car was sitting outside, while work was being done on a car I had never seen before. A few times, I could not even find him at the shop, and his two grunts did not know where he was. On another inspection, I found the tail light panel pushed in. I was irate! I explained I had my car at his shop to get better, not worse. He said this happened when his workers were pushing it around, and bumped another car. I told him that I was going home to borrow a trailer and get my car out of his shop. Somehow he talked me out of this and promised to make my Dodge his priority. I suggested that if he could keep it in one spot and actually work on it, this would not be happening. I made a big deal, that when my convertible went on his rotisserie, that I wanted the doors back on it or bracing welded in the openings to support the body. Sure enough, in another visit, my car is on he rotisserie, with none of this done. I went nuts on him again! He told me I was a worry-wart; he had done lots of Challenger and 'Cuda convertibles this way with no problems. I pointed out that my car was two feet longer and likely 500 pounds heavier. On another visit, I could not even find my car, and feared the worst. Mike showed me he had had it tucked away in his enclosed trailer, so he could work on another project. After 18 months, I got my car back, but by that time, he had lost some of my convertible top frame pieces, that I had to replace. In the end, he tried to jack me up for another $4000.00, because he said that his grunts had not been keeping track of their hours right???? I told him that this was not going to happen. I explained that I had kept a journal of my visits, with dates and pictures I had taken. I had already been to my lawyer, who assured me I could get my car back. My convertible finally got finished, but I told Mike I would never recommend his business to anyone. About a year later, his shop burned down with a 1960 Chrysler 300F convertible and a 1958 Thunderbird in it. I had an alibi for that night.
