new paint job

[t-body]

hey thanks a lot to all you e body / mopar freaks this site helps a lot and has all the answers I've needed to rebuild my 72 challenger parts car into a really nice driver
I have a dilemma now that I'm nearing the end of my nearly 3 yr long project and I'm looking for some opinions. Here is my story.

I bought this car needing a full restoration including everything behind the doors, rockers, floor pans and alot more. I put the car together myself ,I brought it as far along as I felt comfortable. I had all of the rust repaired except lower patch panel on the driver side between the door and the tire on the quarter panel (which I provided ). I stripped all of the paint to bare metal except the new panels (front fenders,hood,deck lid)I painted the underside of the car, the engine compartment and engine ,the interior,and inside the trunk.(basically what doesn't show). The car is at this point running and driving But still needs a lot more than just paint now I went looking for an idea on how much $ to finish the body work and to paint the car. The guy that i hired said it would take $10000. ( no interior ,nothing in the trunk,nothing under the car,nothing under the hood)
I responded saying here are my 2 problems with $10000
1 i want to drive this car if i spend $10000 on a paint job i will be to scared of chips
2 I'm not building this car to sell but i don't want to put too more in it than its worth (if you put a $10000 paint job on a $5000 car you have a $5000 car)
He says okay put it in my shop Ill charge you $30/hr if you don't like whats happening take back it out
Okay here's $2150 to start. I understood i was prepaying the whole time. after 1.5 yrs of very slow progress he is finally nearing the end My total payments to him are $12150. When we went over the $10000 mark that we talked about I asked if this payment is going to finish . He told me that it would be close. After I paid him over $12000 he told me that it would be close Now for me to retrieve my car he wants another $9000 totaling over $21000 for painting a 72 driver challenger. Hes claiming 574 hrs plus 3600 in supplies .???? But I'm getting a good deal because the hrly rate is discounted what to do ?
1. pay the man ? (this i will not do willingly)
2. tell him to finish the car no more Money
3. I want my money back and $9000 and you keep the car And you can make a lot on the resell of the car
if your paint job is worth so much Hes claiming the paint job is worth $36000 but i only have to pay $21000
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[challenger6pak]

From what I can tell by the photos, in my opinion, you are being charged way way too much. What you can do about it varies from state to state and situation to situation. In other words, you need legal help.

 

[Adam]

21k is way out of line for paint, but if 10k is for paint and the other 11k is for "a full restoration including everything behind the doors, rockers, floor pans and alot more." then that is more reasonable. Pay him the remaining 9K, & take your car... what can u get for 21k, a Hyundai? All these cars generally cost more than the are worth, consider it a labor of love.

 

[DetMatt1]

Hire an attorney and see what happens when he receives correspondence with the attorneys letterhead at the top. You're being scammed.

 

[jimbyr]

It certainly looks like you are being scammed. Before I painted my 71 Challenger I got quotes to do the job in basecoat/clearcoat. Painting the whole car except the under carriage, inside the trunk, engine compartment, door jambs and interior. I did all the bodywork myself, welded up all the new panels so basically he only had to seal it, prime it, block it, paint it, clear it and buff it. I got quotes from 9k to 12k. I priced the paint, primer and all materials I needed to do the job and it was 1500.00 for good quality PPG products. I did the whole job myself and it took 114 hours total with buffing it after everything was dry. This time is only paint and obviously doesn't include any bodywork. At his price of 30 bucks an hour which is dirt cheap. No body shop works for 30 bucks an hour not even here in Florida. I would have had 5455.00 into the paint at his rates.

So the question is, What exactly did he do for his 21k bill. Has to be more than paint and the small repair by the wheel. Has he given you an itemized bill?

Jim