Full Nut and Bolt Restoration

[bergy]

[QUOTE=Canuck;1681397]Unless the restoration shop does the same type of car over and over,let’s say a 69 Camaro

That’s the restoration shop that you want - the one with a lot of experience restoring your model car. Otherwise, in the absence of an up front estimate, you risk paying extra for someone else’s learning curve. As the disassembly progresses there will be unforeseen issues that surface & extra charges will be discussed.

I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of “body shop jail”. My 69 Pace Car was a prime example that was discussed on this forum. In that case - the community agreed that it was time to cut my losses. I retrieved my car - licked my wounds - and had a local shop make repairs & finish the restoration (which I’m now very happy with).

[R68GTO]

I had roughly $50K in body/paint in my 69 Camaro. I dropped the car off as a roller with interior stripped out. They disassembled, stripped, very minimal sheetmetal work with all GM panels, primer/paint, re-assembled and set gaps on body. I did the rear end, subframe, interior, wiring, trim......really everything but the body and delivered them restored components when needed. They were local to me so I could keep an eye on their progress. They had the car roughly 18 months.

[Too Many Projects]

If it's that close to done and they are dragging their feet, it's time to either strap on a safety harness and start riding their ass to finish it or take it out. 4 years is 1-2 years too long already for a "qualified" shop to have completed the work.
Too many stories the same as yours about this situation. I got caught in one several years ago too, but after 9 months of him screwing up all the metal work I did to get it ready for him, I showed up one Saturday morning with my trailer and loaded it all up and left.
Give them a timeline of when you expect it done and be there ready to take it out in whatever condition it's in.