Pre-paint jail

[carnut4life]

Thanks John. The other guys Z28 he painted looks amazing so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as he gets to me in September. If not I'll have to figure something out because I don't have a back up plan.

[Too Many Projects]

I've read about at least 2 high end shops in IA in the Goodguys Gazette over the past several months.
One is Lakeside Rods in Rockwell City, owned/run by Roger Burman. Bit of a drive for you, but highly regarded for top quality work.

[dustinm]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

I've read about at least 2 high end shops in IA in the Goodguys Gazette over the past several months.
One is Lakeside Rods in Rockwell City, owned/run by Roger Burman. Bit of a drive for you, but highly regarded for top quality work.

I am somewhat local to Rockwell City and I would not recommend this shop.

[SS427]

One mistake many people make is taking their collector car to a "body shop" and not a restoration shop. If the body shop does insurance work I can guarantee that you will be put in the end of the line any time any new insurance work comes in as that is where they make their money. Finding a good restoration shop can also be very difficult and that is where good research and references come into play. Even after doing that you can run into trouble. Right now people are literally throwing money at restoration shops so they are becoming overwhelmed with work thereby slowing their progress down. Not making excuses but that is what is currently happening.

[southernfriedcj]

In my experience most paint and body guys are clowns(Just like most construction guys.).

I've built 900+ houses and never missed a closing date. Ever.

I started when I said I would start and finished when I said I would finish.

I would not let anyone paint my junk.

As a matter of fact, I just finished priming 23,000 square feet of drywall in my new house. Tomorrow I start sanding the walls and ceilings and then I'm going to paint it.

It took me 11 days just to touch up the drywall after the contractor was finished. His hangers sucked, his finisher was the best I've ever seen and his sander was average.

It looks good now. I could paint it with gloss paint if I wanted too.

Basically, if you don't want a paint horror story, paint you car yourself.

[carnut4life]

I appreciate everyone's input but I don't want the thread go in the ditch or get personal.

I've always wanted to paint a car by myself but a late 70's or early 80's Z28 would be the worst car in the world to start with IMO since there so many pieces to them. I use to help Dad paint cars when I was a kid so I could probably do it if but it would take considerable to for me to educate myself about new materials and safety precautions. When I was a kid we'd wet the floor down the night before, put an exhaust fan in the window and paint away. Pretty scary now that I think about it considering what modern materials would do to you.

[Pro Stock John]

I hear you, but I run a 7 person consulting business and I simply won't spend money with a service provider who won't keep up with communication, I don't care how good they are.

[carnut4life]

Ended up finding a semi-retired guy who paints a couple of cars a year to paint the Z28. He picked it up the week after MCACN and said he would be done with it by the end of April.

[A12pilot]

“In my experience most paint and body guys are clowns(Just like most construction guys.).”

Clowns? I think I resemble that remark!

I think you’re approaching it correctly, but communication is a BIG sign of things to come when dealing with a service, in my opinion. I’ve contacted three radiator shops about building the radiator for my 507. The one that responded first with pleasant replies and no smart remarks, no matter how lame the question, got the job from me and I couldn’t have been happier. I can say by having approached a few jobs with “I’m on no time frame” results in “In other words, I’ll continue to do everyone else’s stuff but yours” and nothing ever gets done on my things. As much as we all hate schedules and deadlines, most shops need these for a little pressure to get things done.

A hobby painter is a great resource, but has its limitations with regular life getting in the way. Take it to a paint shop and you’re stuck behind insurance claims where the money is. What about trying to paint it yourself? What’s the worst that can happen? Sand it down and paint it again!

No matter if you use this guy or not, your thinking correctly. He needs to reach out and return calls more so than hers done with you. It’s not called “Paint Shop Purgatory” for nothing since your enjoyment in the hobby can take a turn for the worse dealing with an individual you’re relying on to provide a service you simply can’t do.

Best of luck! It’s not cheap no matter what anyone says.

Cheers,
Dave

[A12pilot]

…and whoops! I just saw the date on this thread. Nice work! It looks great!

“Clowns”….as in, people who don’t look at the date on the thread!

Cheers
Dave