Classic Car Shop Horror stories- Was wondering if there are any stories in our group to share ?

not very much a horror story but.....when I first to my '72 in Feb of 2020 I brought it to a local restoration shop.  I needed the battery apron replaced, rust around the taillights fixed also.   Before I brought it to them I had tried to address a paint chip in the hood and F&%ked up down to the primer.   They said they could fix it by painting 1/2 of the hood as the argent in the middle kind of divides the two green halves of the hood.   They did paint it BUT about 3 inches from the chip I messed up were 3 other small chips.  They painted right over them, no attempt to smooth them out or climate them at all.   Paint matches pretty well, enough were you have to stare at it to see the difference, more pronounced under florescent lights.  My car is a driver so I am ok with it but why they could not spend 5 minutes sanding down those 3 chips I will never know?  I asked them if they ran out of sandpaper when I picked it up but at that point I did not want them to try anything else. 

 Next stop was looking for a shop to replace the windshield and back window, I did the size glass.  Rusty Classic Restorations was the only one I could get to do it.  When I picked up the car they said "we could not get the top of the back window trim down".  I said it is because you did not put in a clip there (I gave them a bag of brand new clips).  Of course the only way to fix that is to pull the window and put in a clip but again I took it home not wanting them to touch it any more.  I did manage to JB weld in two clips that make it work while the window was in place.

Not so much a horror story but they did try to swap parts with me. I was building a flathead V-8 and had a crank that was in great shape and never been ground so .010" grind was all that was needed. I have installed the bearings and measured them and had written down the diameters to grind each journal. I always stamp my initials on any parts I leave anywhere. When I went to pick up the crank they bring out a crank and it has been cut .020" or .030" and is not my crank. I demand mine and they say that is the one I dropped off. We were in the shop and I went to the grind area and pointed to a crank and said that is mine. They said not. I told them that if my initials were stamped on the second crank throw I was taking it. I picked it up and there was D.F.F. stamped so I walked out and never went back there.
Always mark your parts in some way to identify them. Grind, etch, stamp but mark them and with today's digital photos take pictures.
I have never taken many things for others to work on I have always done most of my work. Anyone that does not get a specific written, signed and even notarized contract is asking for issues. If they will not do that you need to go somewhere else.

Excellent idea, David. If I ever find a machinist that I think is up to the job I have a block and a pair of heads that need some work and I will do something to identify them. I've used initials and partial SSN on things in the past. The last time I had machine work done I knew the shop and machinist. Moved too many times, don't know anyone, now.

Last December I did some complaining about getting ripped off by a local Body shop. Or should I say you kind folks listened to my bitchin.   

I"ll Post there name.  Ron Zechman and his father SR. Shop out of Nampa Idaho. They run under several alias names. One of them is Idaho collision and customs. 3415 e. victory rd.  I hired an attorney and took 3 of my biggest friends and repoed it back. Chicken shits didn't even come out to meet us.  They pushed the car to the main road/street.   Took me for 5K. 

The video is exactly the scam going across the U.S as we speak.  

They would have some strange accidents if it were me.

Had an interesting interaction with someone who runs a classic car "restoration" shop last week.

I needed to get some measurements on an OE trunk floor on another mustang, and found a shop on Facebook that had a 71. Got there and went inside and there was this beautiful grabber green 71. The car was loaded up with options 429/C6, A/C, deluxe interior, convenience group, etc. And had only 31,000 miles. It looked to be unrestored, but in driving condition - very clean and well taken care of, so I asked the history of it. Apparently it belonged to a local business owner who passed away a couple of months ago and the shop was doing some work on it before they sold it on behalf of the estate. The previous owner had bought it new at the Ford dealership in Miami in 1971 and kept it in his private collection for 50 years.

Now the bad part... The shop had already ditched the autolite 4 barrel carb for an Edelbrock and was in the process of swapping out the c6 for a 5 speed. They had also already removed the factory compressor and were going to take out the factory A/C box and replace it with a modern retrofit kit. Needless to say I took my measurements and got out of there lol. There wasn't going to be any convincing him that it would be a lot more valuable if he left it unrestored unfortunately.

Supposedly it's going up for sale in a few weeks, so I might be able to get some pictures of the car.

That is ridiculously STUPID and sad. Sounds like ready, fire, aim to me. Chuck

Galucha said:

Had an interesting interaction with someone who runs a classic car "restoration" shop last week.

I needed to get some measurements on an OE trunk floor on another mustang, and found a shop on Facebook that had a 71. Got there and went inside and there was this beautiful grabber green 71. The car was loaded up with options 429/C6, A/C, deluxe interior, convenience group, etc. And had only 31,000 miles. It looked to be unrestored, but in driving condition - very clean and well taken care of, so I asked the history of it. Apparently it belonged to a local business owner who passed away a couple of months ago and the shop was doing some work on it before they sold it on behalf of the estate. The previous owner had bought it new at the Ford dealership in Miami in 1971 and kept it in his private collection for 50 years.

Now the bad part... The shop had already ditched the autolite 4 barrel carb for an Edelbrock and was in the process of swapping out the c6 for a 5 speed. They had also already removed the factory compressor and were going to take out the factory A/C box and replace it with a modern retrofit kit. Needless to say I took my measurements and got out of there lol. There wasn't going to be any convincing him that it would be a lot more valuable if he left it unrestored unfortunately.

Supposedly it's going up for sale in a few weeks, so I might be able to get some pictures of the car.

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Sacrilege…