Pedro
I knew going into the project from talking to others that it would be there a long time so it wasn't really too much of a surprise. He and I discussed trying to have the car ready in March but because of what I already knew I was HOPING it would be done by than but I wasn't too surprised that it wasn't. Actually, with the car almost done now at 10 months most everyone that I talk to that knows him says this has to be one of his speedier jobs! Pretty much anything less than one year is fast for him and considering the extent of the bodywork that was required (and unexpected) the time frame isn't surprising at all. remember, he is all alone - no helpers or anything. He has to do every single thing on every car in the shop himself unlike a regular collision/insurance shop with a lot of employees and their main goal is to get the cars in and out fast for volume turnover. There are one or two other Corvette specialty shops around that I could have used instead that I'm sure would have been faster but I doubt they would have given the car as much attention to detail as my guy has done and I know that their price would have been SIGNIFICANTLY more since I went to other shops when I was hunting around for where to get the work done. One shop that I won't name quoted me $20,000 just for a paint job without bodywork except basic prep work for paint! All the bodywork my guy did would probably have almost doubled that price at that other shop.
So, really the time the car has been there is really not unexpected, I was really just hoping it would have been done sooner so I could have enjoyed more of our limited driving season here up North. In the long run though it is worth the wait. A few weeks or months now means nothing for the bodywork and paint to be right for the next 15-20 years.
The ironic part is that by nature I'm VERY impatient! Probably the most impatient person you will ever meet. This project is testing me severly but mainly because of my own nature rather than the time frame which I had already expected.
A friend of ours owns a Volkwagen & Porche shop and he does repairs and a lot of custom cars and show cars. Mainly only volkswagen now because he says the Porche customers are a real PIA. Besides the mechanical work and custom fabrication he also does all his own bodywork and painting. He has seen every picture I've taken since day one on my project and he said considering the amount of bodywork required that the time frame we are in is not unreasonable at all and it's what he would have expected to see. And looking back, a number of months were used up with the car sitting around not being worked on. First, my guy let the car sit for almost a month after stripping to let any residue stripper vent out of the fiberglass which is good and greatly reduces the risk of solvent popping when we are all done, and than we had the whole fiasco of almost two months waiting for PPG to get my Milano Maroon color mixed properly with the BC/CC paint. If we had gone with lacquer again the paint would have taken about one day to order and recieve instead of 7 weeks.
so, the time frame is what it is but we are almost done. If it's done this Friday than GREAT, if not, it will be done next week. Looks like Baby's return home is sometime between the 15th thru the 22nd
I knew going into the project from talking to others that it would be there a long time so it wasn't really too much of a surprise. He and I discussed trying to have the car ready in March but because of what I already knew I was HOPING it would be done by than but I wasn't too surprised that it wasn't. Actually, with the car almost done now at 10 months most everyone that I talk to that knows him says this has to be one of his speedier jobs! Pretty much anything less than one year is fast for him and considering the extent of the bodywork that was required (and unexpected) the time frame isn't surprising at all. remember, he is all alone - no helpers or anything. He has to do every single thing on every car in the shop himself unlike a regular collision/insurance shop with a lot of employees and their main goal is to get the cars in and out fast for volume turnover. There are one or two other Corvette specialty shops around that I could have used instead that I'm sure would have been faster but I doubt they would have given the car as much attention to detail as my guy has done and I know that their price would have been SIGNIFICANTLY more since I went to other shops when I was hunting around for where to get the work done. One shop that I won't name quoted me $20,000 just for a paint job without bodywork except basic prep work for paint! All the bodywork my guy did would probably have almost doubled that price at that other shop.
So, really the time the car has been there is really not unexpected, I was really just hoping it would have been done sooner so I could have enjoyed more of our limited driving season here up North. In the long run though it is worth the wait. A few weeks or months now means nothing for the bodywork and paint to be right for the next 15-20 years.
The ironic part is that by nature I'm VERY impatient! Probably the most impatient person you will ever meet. This project is testing me severly but mainly because of my own nature rather than the time frame which I had already expected.
A friend of ours owns a Volkwagen & Porche shop and he does repairs and a lot of custom cars and show cars. Mainly only volkswagen now because he says the Porche customers are a real PIA. Besides the mechanical work and custom fabrication he also does all his own bodywork and painting. He has seen every picture I've taken since day one on my project and he said considering the amount of bodywork required that the time frame we are in is not unreasonable at all and it's what he would have expected to see. And looking back, a number of months were used up with the car sitting around not being worked on. First, my guy let the car sit for almost a month after stripping to let any residue stripper vent out of the fiberglass which is good and greatly reduces the risk of solvent popping when we are all done, and than we had the whole fiasco of almost two months waiting for PPG to get my Milano Maroon color mixed properly with the BC/CC paint. If we had gone with lacquer again the paint would have taken about one day to order and recieve instead of 7 weeks.
so, the time frame is what it is but we are almost done. If it's done this Friday than GREAT, if not, it will be done next week. Looks like Baby's return home is sometime between the 15th thru the 22nd
)
We hope the odd laugh and smile will help you get through this waiting period. For those of us who haven't met you yet we look forward to meeting you and Linda and seeing BABY after BABY's "Makeover" is done. It's great you take it in stride with your good nature and we all get a laugh together and it will be easy to pic out the CAC crowd at Carlisle...it's the good looking group that's laughing, having a great time together and the ones with the biggest smiles
That light at the far end of the tunnel is really starting to come into view now finally (just hope it's not an oncoming train).
