MGB: Body Shop Woes

I am getting very frustrated with the body shop where my B is at. I used this shop as it was recommended to me by a parts supplier in Vancouver. My car has been there all summer and all that has been done is the floor panels. I purchased all the replacement parts and there it sits. Every time I go there he has a new excuse as to why the car has not been worked on. If I had not already paid him $1500.00 I would pull the car out and tell him to put it where the sun does not shine. Has anyone else experienced this problem. Thanks for letting me have this short rant.

Yes, mine was out five months for body work and painting. One excuse after another. I ended up visiting and confronting the man (in a fairly friendly manner) every 5 to 8 days. Wish I had a good answer for you.

This is so typical of body shops that have to "pay the rent" on insurance claims [including ICBC] and lease-return rectification. They simply do not have time to take the care to do your 'finicky' work when they can cut and replace parts from a wrecker, shoot it and blow it out the door for a good buck in two days.

Your project just keeps getting bumped [with all good intentions]!

The only way to get them to work is to give them small money, agree to a schedule and pay them progress payments as the work is completed. Like $500 up front, $500 when the floors are in, another $250 when this is done and the balance when that is done.

I have seen this occur all too many times, which is why I learned to do it myself and bought the equipment.

Have you tried talking to the guy? Several months is not unreasonable for a lot of body work, Mine was floors, tail light panel inner & outer rockers, quarters, dog legs etc.etc. He got the car in January and finished it in May. But I could go up there and see he was actually working on the car. Is your guy a restoration shop or a production shop? Production shops make more $$$$ on collision repairs and often get behind doing restoration work. Perhaps you can agree to a reasonable amount for what he has done already, get the difference back and move it to another shop.

My brother had a similar experience with a guy who was doing his 1973 Mach 1. Guy told him it would be 10 -12 weeks, I don't think it made it inside his shop for over a year. I think it was 15 months before it was finished.

Good luck

Pete and I were typing at the same time;)

Ditto. Body and paint people frustrate the hell out of me. They often take their sweet time and don't always deliver as promised. I had light body work and a two stage paint job but it took six weeks. It could have been out the door in 10 days.
I've had other problems and consider it normal operating procedure with these guys. A good recommendation is no guarantee your job will be satisfactory. Good luck.

took me 7 months to get my car done....needed floors, batt boxes, rockers....and lots of other work....

the work was good, and the price right, so I was patient....and I knew in advance that this was going to be a long project....

good luck..

1 floor pan, 3 fender panels, 3 weeks.

Never never never pay all cash up front. In almost all cases you will get screwed. Look at it this way: he has got his and to hell with you. What are you going to do? take your car ? Get your lawyer? (the lawyer will want his/her retainer in cash up front as well - just been there - just done that and that is the problem you are having at the moment - paying all cash up front,.. sort of a bad cycle to get on.) Here is the lesson,.. anytime you are dealing in sums less than $5,000 you are in no man's land. It will take 7,000 in legal fees to get back your $$$ back. I do not agree with what is happening to you, I am just saying use the unfortunate incident as a lesson. Try to get your car and some of your dough back. I recently had a MGB short block in a machine shop here in Seattle and this SOB had every excuse as to why he was doing a "wall job" Whats a "wall job"? Its when the engine is sitting over there near the wall where I had left it 3 weeks ago. Because I only pay after the work is done, I had no problem getting my short block back. I was so pissed I just picked the damn thing up off the floor and heaved it into my van. The guy did not say a word, because if I was so mad I could pick up that engine without a whole lot of effort,... one false word from him and I would have layed him out. Period. And he knew it. These lazy bastards do not care about your timetable or schedule. They just want your money. Sometimes it pays to have a manical gleam in you eyes. Sort of a "make my day" moment. Scares the hell out of some of them. Someone going "Postal" is not something they want.

I just posted on Get it in Writing...and body work is ugly when it comes to get it back when promised...

The gods are aligned - similar posts - similar thoughts on workmanship promises or the lack thereof.

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?1,928145

It's the paint fumes. Creates a total disconect from reality.

Honestly, I do not think your experience is out of the norm. Body shops do not do restorations. It is an entirely different business

Pete

Gary & Peter have it pretty well. Thing I see is most people want these and other collector cars done as cheap as possible. So they shop around for a shop that takes it as "fill in work" and bids a price where they can make a buck but not the going labor rate. I have done it but explain right up front that this is a side job and it will get done when it's done. As far as being paid up front, I don't care for it myself. Maybe just me but ends up feeling like you are working for free cause the money is spent paying bills ect and the work still needs done. Much rather get paid when the job is finished. You want a schedule, go to a full blown resto shop and pay 10 grand or more for body & paint. Things move quicker when all the hours are being paid for.

Having said that, there are shady characters that make a habit of collecting money and letting things sit. They usually end up in court, going out of bussiness or both. Hope that's not the case here.

I'm lucky with the guy I got to do my paint, he runs a small shop taking on the work he wants to do. Hates to do insurance work and enjoys working on restoration projects. Won't let people pay up front, only when the work is done, and he wants payment every couple weeks. Does a good job and always undercharges considering that he has 2 retired friends that help him out all the time. Sadly the shop he's been renting is now up for sale and he doesn't plan to be at it long enough to make it worth buying the building.

Moral is look for someone who does only this type of work and is going to be someone that does what needs done at a good price. The people to talk to are those that build the Hot Rods.

What I have seen is that the excellent body/paint men are artist which is good. The problem is that they are really bad business men and under estimate time needed to finish the job.

Chris... so totally true AND when they get pressed they cut corners.
Then hate themselves for it afterwards and give the job away.

I know may programmers like that to. They over promise, under deliver and when pressed on a dead-line do sub-standard work.

Have you ever noticed that on EVERY TV show like Chopper, Pimp my Ride and the like they always are working to meet a deadline... but the work is super? That is because there is a business man behind the scenes.

here is what works for a friend of mine who does this as a Hobby/part time job.

He only does one car at a time. At most two a year depending on the size. He does not quote a price; time and materials as they go. He wants the owner to come around every two weeks and settle the bill and sign off on the work; does not want any mis-understandings to get too far out of hand. Also keeps the owner involved in HIS project.

A few clients have been known to pick up the sandpaper or take pieces home to work on...thats good too. Slow, but about the best way I have seen to keep two people happy.

Pete

Thank you all for your feedback. I feel much better now lol but I will go down again today and the "going postal" sure has me thinking. Take care for now.

Wiley1 Wrote:

LspikerG Wrote:

My limited recent experiences told me.

1. Most body shops won't touch a B. Or any other car more than 20 years old.

2. There do exist, especially in larger areas, shops that do very high quality work for older cars. The work of course costs more than what you'd pay to buy a pretty darn nice B. There is a place in my area where the paint job alone can run $20,000. It's mighty fine work, but my Bs would go to a crusher before that will happen.

When I had to have some work done I had to find a small shop, not a big insurance production house. I had to help lined up the parts, follow up occasionally, and ended up personally changing out the turn signal switcher on the column that they broke. And they offered me a part-time job for that type of work. Production shops are scared of LBCs, and nothing we can say will calm them down.

And my small job, less than $2K job took a three months. It was late Nov thru Feb, so I wouldn't have been driving much anyway.

My total cost was to be $5000.00 and the $1500.00 was for work done to date.

http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/read.php?2,918385

I took it in first oct 6 2007

Hmmm.

After trying to get around to doing anything with my GT for 12 years, I am pleased to see ANY progress on my car. I have a mechanic who stripped her down in a few months while only working evenings and a body guy who has done an excellent job over the last 6 to 7 months to do a frame up restoration and painting of the car. I pay as I go, and have been very pleased that progress, although slow, is at a faster pace than I had been able to muster over the previous 12 years.

JimmyCreek Wrote:

My car sat at the body shop for about 5 months. They are just so full of excuses. It's a bad feeling because you are paying they a lot of money.