[Chevelle-List] rip-off body shops

[Steve]

I waited for 6 years to save for the chance to fully restore my 1968 SS Chevelle I have owned for 26 years.  In that 6 yrs., I scouted body shops to find the best to fit my requirements.  I was met with  statements that the shop only did insurance work, or they will never do another restoration again!  But I was able to find 3 shops in the region who wanted to tackle a full restoration.    I chose a guy who had a large shop and did mostly restorations.  The owner had a day job and had mechanics working the shop in the day and he worked at night.  I had 3 yrs. to check out the guys work and he always seemed to know about restoration work and the problems associated with overhauling an entire classic car.   I had an estimate of about $6000 for the basic work, excluding any hidden problems uncovered.  He said it would take about 6 month to complete, starting in Nov 1999.   To make a long story shorter, it took over a year, I had trouble finding the owner at the shop when he said he would be there, the cost ended up at over $11,000. (I had him do the interior at an interior shop, so that added about $1500.)   After I finally got him to deliver the car to me, I found the quarters were original, with 1/2 inch thick bondo over the rustout areas. The agreement was to replace them with full quarters, which he charged me 12 hrs labor plus parts for each side.   There was still fist-size holes in the backside of the quarters, allowing exhaust to get in.  The trim was falling off and the new windshield was loose!  Some of the rubber/felt seals I had waited so long to have put in were in the back seat, still in the bag! I wrote up a list of complaints and gave the guy a chance to correct the problems I had found but it was then that several people told me to get the car back because the guy was known to remove SS emblems and such to sell, or not even give your original car back!   I had to find another shop fast to determine what was done/not done in order to sue the 1st guy.  I was lucky to find a shop up the road from the 1st shop who was familiar with his ways and had in fact redone several classic cars for the same reason as me!  One guy who got ripped off was a judge!  The second shop (Reflections Automotive, Belleville, IL) was great in assisting me and even sent a mechanic with me to small claims court as an expert witness.  They did 1 or 2 classic cars at a time and they were only fill-in work between insurance stuff.   These guys took my 68 apart down to the frame and repaired areas that I wouldn't have thought of.  Plus, they took digital pictures of the restoration as proof, and I was invited to review my car at any time!  In the end, I had more things repaired/corrected than the 1st guy ever would have done.  Door windows roll like new, no leaks, trunk like new, etc.  Paint looks like factory and all the trim lines up and is secured and tight.  There is no place I have found that was missed.   So there are a few shops in my area still accepting certain types of classic restoration work, but on their terms and cost will be up there.  But if you don't get the right person or shop on your classic, read the above again.  You will end up in some kind of mess like I did.   Steve ACES # 5494