Wilkinshc

After my post Monday and comments from a few people, I deceided to call Gary Tuesday morning to talk with him to clear up my concerns. Gary answered and was very short, and said he was sending me an email and to check it out.

I recieved a very long email full of excuses. He had been informed of my posting by some friends, and was upset. Ironically, I received a very long email with lightning speed, but couldn't get an estimate from him in two weeks. I called him after reading the email to discuss my concerns, in particular getting a written estimate for cost and time-frame, which he has continually said he would provide but never did. I also addressed the problems we have had communicating and suggested that instead of him telling me he would start on it "right away", he should give a day or amount of time before beginning. He agreed. He again said he would send the email with estimate, which never came.

After much contemplation, I decided that Gary and I were not compatible and would not be able to work together on this project. I called him this morning out of courtesy to let him know I was coming up to Denver from Albuquerque to pick up the car. When I arrived, my car was sitting outside by the street, unattended. Most, not all, of the parts were put in the car, with the windows down. I went to the office door and it was locked and lights were off- at 3:30 in the afternoon. I went to the shop door,which was unlocked. Walked inside and yelled out for anyone. No one answered or was visible. I walked to the back, and yelled out again, but no one was there. I went back outside and I began loading the parts into the trailer. There was a woman standing outside the business next door, who asked me if I worked there, and I stated it was my car. She then said she couldn't believe they just left it out there with no one around. I asked an older man who was there if he could help push the car into the trailer, and we couldn't get it in alone. Another man from another business came over to help. They all expressed that they couldn't believe the car was left outside unattended as the neighborhood is not the best. There were also 3 other Vettes sitting outside, one with driver window down. Once I started strapping down the car, I noticed that the rearend cross-member had what appeared to be paint stripper all over, which caused the powder coat to peel and bubble. I would hate to think this was deliberate.

I cannot believe the unprofessional behavior of Gary, and I am glad I found out so early in the game that this is his character. No amount of excuses can explain what happened today. It was simply vindictive and childish behavior. I will be posting pictures of the damaged powder coating, my car sitting unattended by the street and other 3 corvettes sitting outside unattended. I am very concerned now that I had better take my engine in to a local shop, to have them take the engine apart to be sure nothing was put into the engine, just to be safe, based on the damage to the powder coating. I can't imagine someone deliberately trying to ruin an $18k engine, but all bets are off at this point.

I hope this does not happen to anyone else. This experience has taught me to be very cautious when selecting a shop, especially when it is 7 hours away.

Chuck

o2bnkc

Unbelievable!

Jack60

That's why I do all the work myself, and I will be doing some bodywork too.

Hope you find a good shop closer to home.

a smith

I had a very bad experience with Frank Beck of Becks Racing Engines in Phoenix, AZ. I to am sorry that I choose to use a vendor a days drive from my home. Never again. Vegas

tentuna

Agreed, the best shop I know of and the most trust worthy is my garage. Best is if I get in an argument with the owner I always win!!!!!!!

firstgear

When I first started looking for a shop to do my body, I had been given a name of a guy in Ohio, perhaps a 30 minute drive from my office. I tracked this guy down at Carlisle and showed him some photos.

The attitude that the guy gave off told me that I didn't want to do business with him. In 5 minutes of talking with someone I can usually size someone up. When I had my 5 minutes with him, I had already decided that this would not work. His attitude and mine did not gel.

I found Amherst Classic Cars, which turned out to be less than 2 miles from my office. There I met Harry and from my postings the rest is history. He has been fair to me and that is all I can ask of any supplier. When I built my first house I interviewed several contractors before I selected one. These kinds of projects are like getting married. You had better be able to work with them or there is going to be a problem.

I also try to limit my upfront dollar exposure. Paying a large deposit for work not yet completed is not a good thing. I keep my upfront exposure as small as possible and then have progress payments, did this with the house and did this with my car. Both worked out and I never felt like my money was going to disappear on me without having something to show in return.

There is my 2 cents.

Did you get your monies all back?

crw41

ADVICE:

Check out the shop in advance - is it clean and organized

The owner - is he timely in his call backs

The work - inspect cars on the premises

Referances - ask around, bad work and reputations spread like wildfire

Estimates - get it in writing, alot of guys bid low to get the work without giving the estimate much thought - then when they have your car apart it becomes - "Didn't expect this."

Work of mouth - ask, ask, and ask more

DZAUTO

UNFORTUNATELY, I do not do paint and body work-----------------------------AND DO NOT WANT TO, I HATE IT! BUT, I do everything else. By nature, I'm a mechanic, not a body man. Quite honestly, on older cars, EVERYTHING is really straight forward mechanics and almost anyone who is willing to do or learn to do, their own work, can. For example, engines. Not everyone has a complete machine shop, but you CAN remove, disassemble and inspect your own engine. For the most part, you can determine what needs to be done then take it to the machine shop for final inspection and evaluation. Once the machining and balancing is done, take it home, put it on a stand, wash and thoroughly clean and paint (I paint blocks/heads prior to assembly) the block and heads and assemble it. Install it in the car, connect everything and fire it up. You can do, or learn to do, electricals, brakes, trannys, rears, etc, etc. When you are done, you know EXACTLY what is inside.
If you cannot, or do not want to, do any or all of the above, then about the only option is to diligently seek out a reputable shop.
GENERALLY, but not always, it is true that you get exactly what you pay for. I have both seen and heard horror stories (here, classic Chevy and Chevelle web sites) from people who have spent LOTS of $$$$$$$$$$$ and received junk service/repairs. It happens. How do you avoid that? Good question. I don't know. I DO NOT advertise (because I don't want to be covered up), but I do a lot of work on older Chevys and Vettes and probably charge a small fraction of what "reputable" shops charge. For things I don't do, or don't want to do, I've been around so long that I know who or where to go for the rest.
If you have to seek out a repair or restoration shop, all I can say is to talk to as many people as possible and go look at the results they have had before selecting a shop.
I've seen a lot of places that can do excellent work, BUT, unfortunately, they do not understand restoration specifics. For example, there are lots of good top notch machine shops that can build killer engines that last a lifetime, but they don't understand the importance of NOT surfacing the block so that the numbers are not lost for eternity!!!!!!!!!!

achapman

That's not what your wife told us.....

Wilkinshc

No I did not yet. No one was there to even talk about it, I did put it on my card so I have cancelled that card and put in a dispute. Or I should say I called my wife from the road and had her do it.

By the way I did have a good recommendation on him before I took it to him. Also, believe it or not he is listed in Corvette Fever as a recommended shop. This month and last years. I will be sending them an email. I should have post here first because most recommendations I recieved were not positive.

Chuck

firstgear

if it smells bad...RUN don't walk away......

ghoastrider1

all the voices in my head agree,but one.

firstgear

Chuck, you have one of the nicest and cleanest shops I have ever been in. WOW is it organized and clean.....

And good communication as well......if you need a reference, send them my way....great service and communication!

Herb

Pop Chevy

Is this the same place that sells the wide fenders for the C-2's ? If it is I will look elsewhere !
Thanks, Pops

OldKarz

Great move in cutting your losses when you did! It sounds like it was only going to get worse. I always follow my gut feelings, and the few times I have not I got burned. Move on and find someone whom you trust and others have high recommendations of! Good Luck!!

Wilkinshc

Yes it is, another reason I thought to go there. Who better to put them on beside the shop that makes them. Unless I find another shop that makes them, I will not be going that direction.

Chuck

BlackbirdZ07

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

I just moved back to Albuquerque from Phoenix. These guys are in the process of painting my 19,000 mile Bloomington Gold '82 Collector Edition:

http://classicperformancerestoration.com/

I'll go pick it up with a trailer when it's done. Although my car isn't done yet, I do not hesitate to HIGHLY recommend this shop. They're all car guys. Tom, one of the owners, owns a beautiful '64 that he just finished restoring. He's also a member of this forum, although he's not very active. They take great pride in their work and do what they say they will. Great attitude, very nice, no BS. They do NOT have cars just sitting around... when they get something in, they work on it.

If you're going for custom work, they do that too. They're currently building a '64 with an LS7 engine and SRIII chasis.

I wouldn't hesitate to take your car there and leave it. From what I've seen, they don't need supervision like most places. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss CPR. If you contact them, tell them Ryan, the owner of the '82 CE, referred you. Good luck!

Wilkinshc

Here are couple of pics.

Powdercoating now blistering and Peeling



More Peeling



More on Trailing arm



Three other vette sitting outside unattended, one with window down



My vette sitting next to the street, windows down, parts inside, no one that works for him anywhere around. The lady in the pic was nice enough to ask if I worked for them since I putting parts in the trailer. I told her I was the owner. Still anyone could have been loading and saying they were the owner. She was amazed no one was there also.




Just no excuse for what happened. I plan on have the local Chevy dealer take off the oil pan, valve covers, and maybe intake to make sure that nothing was tampered with. I hope it was just an accident on the powdercoating and nothing else is wrong. My bother is an attonery and has recommend an independant person to inspect it as then cost to repair will out way any court cost to seek any monies for repairs, granted I get my 2500 back.

I guess it could have been worst.

Chuck

Wilkinshc

Ryan,

Thanks for the recommendation, that could be an option but at this point I am going check the engine out, probably strip the car back down to powdercoat the frame, maybe switch to the srIII frame. I have to check the frame more closely, most the damage is to the rearend crossmember and trailing arm so maybe I will get by just dropping the rear and sending out those parts. Not going with the SRIII frame was my only regret so far, maybe things happen for a reason.

Chuck

GCD1962

From the top pic, it looks like some of the bare metal has oxidized and that the damage might have been there before you brought them the car. When did you last look underneath the car in that area? I'm not defending the shop, but wondering if you are concluding something that might have happened elsewhere