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The FB is back home (Pics too)

A

aslan

Member
I got my FB back from the body shop Wed. (After almost 2 years) Here are a couple of pics:
web.jpg

IMG_1810.jpg

The rest are on my webpage http://web.mac.com/stanedington/Stans_Page/Main_page.html  Click on Transformation of the Fastback then The FB is home link.
The color is Merlot Jewel.  3 coats of base and 5 clear coats.  I'm very happy with the results.  New wheels (AR Torqlites) are coming soon.
Stan
 
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Why so long. I took mine into paint 2.5 months ago and its not even thru prep yet but why the hell does it take so long.
 
My body shop was doing it at their leisure, which was fine with me.  I didn't want to hurry them and the results are spectacular!  I've had friends see it in person and they are totally blow away.  I really didn't think that it would turn out as nice as it did.  Why put a time limit on when it had to be done then not be satisfied with the results? The time was not a problem at all.
Stan
 
Why so long. I took mine into paint 2.5 months ago and its not even thru prep yet but why the hell does it take so long.
Click to expand...

Normally, because body shops are not in the "restoration" business.

I live in a fairly small town. There are four body shops within the city limits. I know all of the owners. I see them throughout the year at the kids school/after-school events, have a beer with them at the bar when our paths cross, etc. I helped one of the owners build his new house. Again, it's a small town.

If I brought a classic Mustang to any of these shops and asked for some minor body work, prep and paint, I know for a fact that two of the shops wouldn't even touch the work. One of the shops would F*&$ it up, and the other would say the same thing they told Stan.... "leave it and we'll work on it when time permits, but don't be in any hurry".

In this day and age, 95% of the auto body businesses are in bed with the insurance industry. Their livelihood depends on it. If they're out farting around on a "restoration" while an insurance vehicle sits waiting, their insurance work will disappear and so will they. There's just not enough "restoration" work to keep an auto body shop afloat.

While two years is at the long end of the spectrum, two and half months is not at all. Six months to a year seems to be the average. Also keep in mind that the "prep work" is 98% of the skilled labor. Once the prep work is done, a shop flunkie tapes off the car and rolls it into the booth for the remaining 2% of skilled labor.... then he rolls it back out and buffs it. While the prep work could take six months, paint and buff is only a matter of a few hours.

As with any other aspect of maintaining your classic Mustang, your best bet is to do it yourself.
 
"daveSanborn" said:
Why so long. I took mine into paint 2.5 months ago and its not even thru prep yet but why the hell does it take so long.
Click to expand...

Normally, because body shops are not in the "restoration" business.

I live in a fairly small town. There are four body shops within the city limits. I know all of the owners. I see them throughout the year at the kids school/after-school events, have a beer with them at the bar when our paths cross, etc. I helped one of the owners build his new house. Again, it's a small town.

If I brought a classic Mustang to any of these shops and asked for some minor body work, prep and paint, I know for a fact that two of the shops wouldn't even touch the work. One of the shops would F*&$ it up, and the other would say the same thing they told Stan.... "leave it and we'll work on it when time permits, but don't be in any hurry".

In this day and age, 95% of the auto body businesses are in bed with the insurance industry. Their livelihood depends on it. If they're out farting around on a "restoration" while an insurance vehicle sits waiting, their insurance work will disappear and so will they. There's just not enough "restoration" work to keep an auto body shop afloat.

While two years is at the long end of the spectrum, two and half months is not at all. Six months to a year seems to be the average. Also keep in mind that the "prep work" is 98% of the skilled labor. Once the prep work is done, a shop flunkie tapes off the car and rolls it into the booth for the remaining 2% of skilled labor.... then he rolls it back out and buffs it. While the prep work could take six months, paint and buff is only a matter of a few hours.

As with any other aspect of maintaining your classic Mustang, your best bet is to do it yourself.
Click to expand...
Here's the longer story: The owner of the shop is the father of a friend of my daughter. I went down to the shop and the first thing I noticed was how clean and organized it was. I walked into the office and there were pictures of classic cars on all of the walls. There were also hot rod type magazines on the table. After spending about 30 minutes talking with Drew, the owner, I knew that he was the one who would do my Mustang. He said that he obviously did the majority of his work through insurance companies but that he loved doing old cars. He showed me his 66 Impala (no flaming here! LOL) which was black and very nice then took me on a tour of his facilities. After almost an hour and a half we came to a price and I brought my car down to them the next day.
Was almost 2 years a long time? Yes Did I bug him about getting it finished? No After looking at the results there is no way I could have completed the job with the type of results I got!! All of the guys, and yes, there were some turnovers in employees during the 2 years, were great. I went there at least once a week to see the progress. Sometimes nothing, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. They were all very friendly and they loved to talk to me about the car.
Would I do it all over again. You bet.
Like I told many friends: The good news is the body shop guys are perfectionists. The bad news is the body shop guys are perfectionists. LOL
Sorry for such a long post but that's my story and I'm sticking with it. ;D
And thanks for all the kind remarks.
Stan
 
Your story sounds a lot like mine for the '66 I sold in Az. Just stick to the story...........
 
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