I took my 72 out running errands yesterday and parked in the back of the lot as usual. When I came back to my car an F350 had run into the front left corner. Luckily the driver stooped and waited for me and has decent insurance.

I'm looking for recommendations for body shops for where to get it repaired near Houston. It is not a show car but is a nice driver. The paint is 25-30 year old lacquer that is in really nice shape. I know replacing the fender on one of these is a pretty specialized task and want it done right and the paint fixed properly but I'm not looking for a concourse paint job.

I've seen a lot of recommendations for Houston Corvette Services and I'm currently waiting on a response. They seem to be on the higher end and may take forever. I also assume that they are pretty backed up after their shop was destroyed a few months ago.

Hagerty recommended Classic Collision & Restoration in Bryan. From what I can tell they seem to know what they are talking about and have some good experience. I don't know if the quality is up to Houston Corvette services but again, I'm looking for a really nice driver quality job.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on where to go. I'm willing to travel a little way to get a quality job in a reasonable time line.

 

Consider also posting your question in the geographic regional section, in this case Southwest:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/southwest-44/


You could target people familiar with the area this way. Best of luck.

 

First I would call Classic Collision and Repairs to see if they will do paint work on a Vette. I went to their website and looked at the gallery, and all of the cars were metal cars. They may be fine, but you also may be able to eliminate them. I think you will be surprised at how many shops do not wish to deal with fiberglass. Some shop owners also think Vette owners are too hard to deal with because we expect perfection. (Why is that a problem?)

 

I will try posting in the Southwest section also.

I did talk to the guys at classic collision and they said they have done a bunch of vette work, had another 1972 in there currently and just put a new fender on another C3 last month. Beyond the distance the thing that makes me nervous is they don't really have a waiting period and I haven't had been able to find many vette specific reviews. It would be nice to get it done faster but are they available because of their location or because they aren't as good as the other shops. They are a Hagerty recommended shop.

The guy who hit me was actually incredible nice. His was was very upset and they both apologized. He even called me later to make sure that I made it home safely.

For some reason he had parked next to me even though it was in the back of the lot. When leaving he couldn't see my car and he just make a hard right and ran the running boards into the front fender.

 

It is a hike to east coast of florida, but RVZIO does some nice work and he basically shelves his own projects and cranks the car out if/when he takes on a customer job. Might be worth PMing him.

 

My sympathies. I can't imagine how you felt when you came out and saw this, mortified I'm guessing.
I have to ask though, how does someone in an F350 manage to hit a parked car in the back of the lot? Short of a medical emergency, what acceptable explanation can there be? Could luck on your restoration. It looks as though you may have a couple of suitable options.

 

Hagerty Clalims folks need to HELP YOU find a repair place that will properly repair your car AND get the paint to match properly (TO YOUR SATISFACTION) and get it completely painted.
You need to get them involved so that you end up with your car in AT LEAST the same condition it was in before the accident.
You are paying Hagerty to insure you AND to represent you if there is another party at fault. They will not step up to support you if you do not request them to do so.

 

Nice car-that sucks. I hada similar situation late last year when someone backed into my parked Harley at a gas station while I was inside. He was waiting for me when I came out, his insurance fixed my bike, all ended well. I was very grateful that he stuck around and I told him that. Good luck with your repair.
Peter

 

Check out Richey Collision in Houston. Very good online reviews and I have seen many recommendations on FB about them.

 

thats a shame, im guessing the wheel is turned from the hit. did anything bend or tear? tie rods, steering rods, rag joint etc? id recommend a wheel alignment and suspension check on the bill just to be safe

 

I appreciate all the feedback.

The F350 had for some reason parked on the drivers side of my car facing the same direction. When he went to leave my car was well below the window line and he make a hard right before actually leaving the spot. He caught my fender with his running board and luckily stopped right as it was contacting his rear fender flare (single wheel F350). An honest mistake on his part frustrating as hell on my part.

When I walked out I wanted to puke. No point in screaming and yelling even though it may have made me feel better since they stayed and were nice about it.

Hagerty has been great, no hassle so far and accommodating. They basically said do whatever I need to and they'll take care of it. They did send me a couple of shops to look at including Classic Collision and Bumbera's. We will see if that changes when they start seeing prices. His insurance called and said it was 100% covered by them and they will wait to get the bill from Hagerty, so again hassle free.

I have called Richey Collision and they seemed uninterested and said they had a long wait and to go somewhere else.

The wheels were turned when I pulled into the spot. I did a quick look over the suspension (aftermarket rack an pinion) and everything looked good and it drove straight on the way home. I appreciate the advise and will have them throw it on an alignment rack before all is said and done.

The biggest issue I'm facing right now is the car is 25-30 year old lacquer in really nice condition with only a couple really small spider cracks around the hood corners. Some of the shops want to replace the fender then blend modern paint over the lacquer on the rest of the front clip. I'm not sure how I feel about that and I think I'll push to have the whole front clip stripped and painted. Ideally they would strip and paint the whole car to get it to match but I doubt insurance would cover that.

 

Good luck finding someone who shoots lacquer anymore. The modern paint blended into the lacquer isn't going to look right. If you can get the insurance to pick up painting the entire front clip I'd kick in the extra to do the whole car (I know, not my money but you can probably negotiate something with the shop).. The lacquer will never shine nor look like any new type paint applied so you'll always be able to tell where the repair is. Good Luck and sorry about your car.

 

Bob's Auto Express in Spring, 281-655-4444
5429 Spring Cypress
He paints lots of corvette's, mostly C2's, he will paint mine once we finish the drivetrain. Honest and reasonable