Sounds like my hardtop! I had a shop put a original floor in it , a repo trunk floor, a full quarter and a partial quarter and things didn't line up to well ! About $4000 worth of work! I couldn't get any bodymen to even consider working on it! So it sat for about 5-7 years! Then I found another shop to take it on ! They basically cut the whole back half off the car of and started again! This time with a original trunk floor, nos left quarter and used right plus a use taillight housing! I was happy with how the floors were done but how the quarters were put on is another story! I pulled it out of the shop! This time $11,000! I put it back in storage didn't even look at it for 6 months! It has now been sitting over 10 years! I really want to crush it and move on! But it is a numbers matching,pop plate ,factory 4 speed car! I bought it with my Dad I lost him 18 years ago now! I have a very bad opinion about restoration shops!
Wow, sounds like my story. We're on #3 shop now, and I believe we're going to get it done this time. I'm not stupidly optimistic, but the guy who is helping us now is a true fabricator, not just a panel popper or slammer or mud slinger. "Right tool for the right job" applies to humans too. He has already been working through several other messes created by the other shops and has done an outstanding job with all of it.
I used to do my own work, long ago in another life and I have been hard pressed to find anyone who has an interest in doing the level of work my brother and I have achieved on our past restorations or required from others, so maybe my expectations have been too high. I've seen lots of slam jobs rolling out of these other shops since pulling my car out and am more surprised with each passing day that others would be satisfied with the poor quality of workmanship being done on their cars.
In both cases, the car went into the shops under one set of circumstances, but things changed and I didn't catch the queues. In one case, a guy was working at a shop on his home property. He was doing outstanding work and had one other guy working for him. Then he bought a building in town and moved his business there, adding 2 more guys...and the original guy left. That is when things fell apart.
With the other, the owner moved to another city and started a new shop there. He sold his old shop to one of the guys who had worked for him in the old shop. Again I didn't catch the queue, and things went south. I know it is not a new story.
I feel I'm finally in a (hopefully) solid stable relationship with my new guy now, and it truly a relationship, otherwise we won't get it done this time either. He knows I'll be watching for the queues. If this attempt fails, the car comes home and I will finish it and the others myself...somehow.
That is awesome that you found a good shell. Your car sounds like an awesome Buick! Love the stick cars!
Thanks for sharing your story. It gives me hope!
