Like many clients, John is a fussy guy. The first contact with him started out like, “ My name is John D. and I have a 544 that's been to 3 shops already. I've spent way too much money on it ; and it isn't done yet; and I'm not happy with some of the work that's been done on it at the other shops. What can you do for me?" As with most of our clients he's 1000 miles or more away.
Yes, this is not an uncommon scenario, but John is as stubborn as he is fussy and isn't either settling for mediocre work or giving up on getting his car the way he wants it. Yes we would have liked to have seen him earlier on in the process; but we are happy to be able to turn this around for him.
This project brings home the fact that general repair/restoration shops typically struggle with getting cars which they are not used to or have not worked on multiple times before right. Learning as you go can be 1) a costly process and 2) result in substandard results 3) be a source of client shop frustration.
In this case the body and paint work was decent (“commercially acceptable” is a term we use when trying to be not overly critical). It was the assembly/reassembly which really fell short.
The pictures may illustrate some of this otherwise nice job's shortcomings:
Having good (reliable, punctual, trustworthy, experienced, and other virtues ) subs to do specialized jobs is vital to highest quality work. We all like to think we can do it all but let's get real; IT AIN'T SO. We do everything in house but plating, front end alignment, glass work, and headliners. The same techs do these jobs for us who have pretty much since we've been in business. They are very good at their specialties or we wouldn't be using them.
Yes, this is not an uncommon scenario, but John is as stubborn as he is fussy and isn't either settling for mediocre work or giving up on getting his car the way he wants it. Yes we would have liked to have seen him earlier on in the process; but we are happy to be able to turn this around for him.
This project brings home the fact that general repair/restoration shops typically struggle with getting cars which they are not used to or have not worked on multiple times before right. Learning as you go can be 1) a costly process and 2) result in substandard results 3) be a source of client shop frustration.
In this case the body and paint work was decent (“commercially acceptable” is a term we use when trying to be not overly critical). It was the assembly/reassembly which really fell short.
The pictures may illustrate some of this otherwise nice job's shortcomings:
- Problem:The holes drilled in the very expensive NOS bumpers for the front directional assemblies were ¾ “ higher on one side. The visual effect was to make the bumper look crooked. This was amplified by the fact that the passenger side bumper end was twisted downward from an accident and re -chrome plated in that condition.
- Problem: The doors fit like “a saddle on a goat”. They rubbed on the body and were starting to rub the new paint off. They didn't latch property.
- Problem: hood doesn't close properly. There's a gap between it and the body.
- Problem:door mechanicals did not fit together or function properly.
- Problem:headliner instalation looked like a Turkish towel draped over a shrub.
Having good (reliable, punctual, trustworthy, experienced, and other virtues ) subs to do specialized jobs is vital to highest quality work. We all like to think we can do it all but let's get real; IT AIN'T SO. We do everything in house but plating, front end alignment, glass work, and headliners. The same techs do these jobs for us who have pretty much since we've been in business. They are very good at their specialties or we wouldn't be using them.