That looks great! It’s so hard these days to find a body shop that will actually work on our cars, I have found only one... most just want collision/insurance work. And your shop did a fantastic job! Keep that relationship.. .
The premiere body shop in my area is one that is, this year, celebrating its 70th year in business. The current owner/manager is the son of the original owner and his son is being groomed to eventually take over the business. Their work is, hands down, the best in the area AND if there's something you're not happy with, they fix it, no questions asked. The first time I approached them about re-doing the body and paint on one of my classic cars, they asked whether I was in a hurry. I said that I was not. Then they explained further: their bread-and-butter work is insurance claims for collision repair. Put simply, that's where they make their money, but they went on to say that the guys in the shop loved working on older stuff and if it could be left so that work on it could be performed whenever they had a little down time, it would allow them to do the job for less money. The car in question was a 1979 Lincoln Collector's Series in Midnight Blue Metallic. The body was rust-free but the paint was shot. It also suffered the malady that 1970's American automobiles all had; poorly aligned body panels, along with a handful of dings and scratches associated with 26 years of use (this was in 2005). Their recommendation was to strip it to bare metal and remove all trim; repair any dings, etc.; re-work factory welds that just missed being perfect; and realign the fenders, doors, etc.; and then prime, paint, and clearcoat it. He quoted it two ways. If they took it on as a regular job, he estimated two weeks @ approximately $14000. If I was able to leave it and let them work on it when they could, as described above, he estimated 8 - 10 weeks and felt sure he could bring it in under $5000. I chose the latter. All told, it actually took just a shade over 12 weeks, but the final bill was $3997.00; more than $1000 less than his estimate! I was invited to stop in and check on the progress anytime I liked and they photo-documented the entire process for me. One day I stopped by and one of the guys had all the emblems out and was hand-painting the black shading on the sides of the chrome script with a tiny little brush. That's the kind of detail I wasn't expecting! The guys in the shop decided amongst themselves that the trim should all be polished before it went back on the car; another detail that was above and beyond my expectations. The final result was amazing! When I picked up the car, I was told that the guys left something for me in the trunk. Believe it or not, they had fixed me a gift basket full of functional 8-Track tapes they'd all contributed - they had no use for them, but wanted to share with someone who did. I had a similar experience with the bodywork/paint on my orange '74 Pinto Runabout a couple of years ago. In that case, I was dealing with a body shop in California but, with a little friendly negotiation, they did a stellar job... again, because I put no time restraints on them so they could do the car and not interfere with their collision repair business. I believe most people in that business do truly love cars and are willing to work with you if work with them.
Bill, your car looks great! As Scott said: keep that relationship!
Dwayne
