Stay "friendly", but GET THE CAR. Otherwise, he may stick you with a STORAGE bill which is twice the car's worth. The only good Corvette repair shops are the ones who get recommended by Corvette owners who have had their vehicles repaired there- PERIOD. Then get a written estimate/contract, otherwise it is "He said, She said". And the courts tend to lean towards the "professionals".

 

In my opinion, document all of the communication you've had with the shop (verbal, written, and digital), give them a final chance to return your funds and car within a specified timeline. If they do not respond nor deliver on this attempt, contact an automotive fraud attorney. They will most likely draft a formal letter to the shop outlining your demands and once more a timeline to deliver what is specified. From there it will be up to you and the attorney as to your next steps.

 

Do you have signed contracts with this fella?
If so....get your car carefully and then hang it in his ***........
This is sooooooo classic, guy spends your money and has zero aspirations of finishing. Tell him exactly how you feel but get the car first........
Hope it works out for you....but 7k is a huge hunk to get a Vette painted and you are going to need that.

Jebby

 

I wouldnt do anything like this until I got my car out of there. you run to an attorney without the car, the bodyshop may hold her car ransom. the guy already spent your 7k so trying to get anything off him is going to be a fight.

get the car out- you dont need to make up any stories. show up with a trailer and take YOUR car. never discuss money. once you have everything out of there then start worrying about getting money back

 

I would go and pick up all the 'loose' parts that he has for 'sand blasting/etc'. When you think everything is accounted for, then show up with a trailer and few fellas to get your car. You have to surprise him so he doesn't remove/take anything valuable from the car. Once you have the car, document the overspray/damage then take actions if you think it's worth it.

 

Why would that be a sign of a bad birdcage.

 

por-15 is bubba's favorite rust cover-up. pouring it on thick ( as the op has stated) has a high potential of one trying to cover up holes because it dries so thick and hard and does cover holes, or freshly bondo'ed holes.
it is an old bodyman trick.

rust holes in any car usually means rust holes in other places.

now I have used it as a rust preventer and metal sealer over bare metal as some use it to cover freshly sandblasted clean metal. but why pour it on thick?

sorry folks there a lot more to this story and I would like to hear the other side. I struggle to follow the op's logic.

if the shop bought the clip and the hood and add the labor to remove the old. plus priming and misc. prep. that is probably your 7K right there. even before installing the new clip and hood, which I would want more money for...
there's got to be a reason the shop stopped work and let it dangle for 2.5 years.

you should have picked it up after a year.. and not even agreed on a year. get on their schedule and let them have it for a month.
have it all in writing, have weekly checkpoints, agree on the project failure points, and agree on a money settlement to get paid on what has been spent and labored already.

again , perhaps I am making some bad assumptions from reading the OPs comments on this thread.

I would want several thousands to disassemble the entire front end, remove the clip, install, shim all required, reinstall adjust all the attached mechanisms, set the body clearances.. all this before even beginning the paint process.

C'mon people.. sit down and talk to each other..

of course all IMHO

 

Giving an updated. If everything goes right i will be picking the car up the following Tuesday. I explained that a person doing fiberglass work for me is going to attach the front clip onto the vette and clean it up. Though a few brackets and a box of NOS parts i purchased that i dropped off for him seem to be missing. To answer some of the other questions though, the $7k was a deposit not the total for all the work. All materials like front clip & hood, along with all materials I purchased myself. The only thing the body shop was responsible for was removing the old clip, reattaching the new clip, fixing any small issues in body and painting. The car already had the windshield and all interior removed. As for the por15 he pored on outlined in red, on top of everything in that bay. (wiper arms, brackets and all). This is a picture i took prior to taking the car to the body shop. I have receipt and documentation of everything we agreed on, deposits, and took picture before taking it to his shop as well as every couple of months following up on things and retaking new pictures.

 

People mentioned Birdcage issues. If there were any Birdcage issues, the guy in the shop is duty-bound to inform you about the birdcage issues and the extra problem and expense and time of doing the repair and whether or not he is capable of doing that work. He can't just keep the car there and keep the money and say eff it. Now, about the seven thousand bucks. Even if he has it in his pocket at the moment as far as it is concerned "I ain't got the money!" You file a lawsuit, and you will win a judgement. Not a penny. A judgment. someday, when he dies and his heirs sell the shop you might have a chance of getting some of the judgment back. Get your car, get your parts, don't look back. The por-15 he dumped in there was to make it look like he was doing something.

 

Take it from someone who has been there pull the car I am repainting my 69 because they did not seal the primer right before painting the white.

I gave my guy the benefit of the doubt and it is costing me.

Pull it.

Jack.

 

x2 Get the car now, then take him to small claims. Dont tell him nothing you dont have to.
Its yours.


Benefit of the doubt, now theres a phrase Ill never use again. IF theres doubt then..
Mine spent almost 10 yrs between 2 shops neither finished it sure learned my lesson.

First sign of bs get firm, otherwise yank it and go after the $ later or walk away.
1at place stripped my entire car there was nothing but a bare shell had to start all over.

 

Whatever became of this? Hopefully good for you.

 

I ended up picking it up. Unfortunately lots of original parts where lost or damaged and about $6k in deposit for painting was lost. The place closed up a little over a week or so later and the guy disappeare . Cut my losses unfortunately. Different note is I did find a new places and things are FINALLY starting to move forward.

 

Sorry to hear of your problems, there are many many stories on this forum alone where people have been taken by these "gonna do" crooks, I imagine you are one in a long line of people taken by this guy before things have gotten too hot so he disappears but most likely will surface elsewhere to repeat the process.
Good to hear that you are now making progress though!

 

Another reason why i say do not waste your time-money filing lawsuits. You win a judgement, not your money back. Few shop owners own the shop itself. With a judgement, you can collect when they sell their building. But if renters, the building owner got screwed too. And the tools, lifts, etc are sold for cash.

 

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck on the rest of the restoration.

 

I would still file. 6-7k might be too high for small claims though. No matter.

A judgement could result in a lien on the property. The building or the property inside of it.

The fact that he closed up works in your favor. If he or the owner of the property try to sell the property you would actually be able to collect your money on the sale.

I know you’ve mentally moved on but now is your opportunity to get some redemption.

6-7k is a lot of money.