Refugee From Body Shop Hell 

Never take a restoration project to a "body shop". Do it yourself, hire a friend, or find an honest restoration shop. Regular body shop repairman do not like restoration work. They make their money patching wrecks as quick as possible.

This is rampant throughout all skilled trades. We lose quality and experience as each day passes.

"We cheat you fair." This is why I do my own body work. It may look like crap when it's done, but at least I know why it looks like crap. And I did it for free.

My hat off to all of the talented Body work guys. I've built several engines, a few transmissions, etc etc etc. But the art aspect of body work is something I've never figured out.

This makes the idea of half-ass doing the body work myself more appealing.I have my sheet metal, rivets and tractor paint ready!! lol

When Tony pulled the tape off that frame rail my jaw actually dropped

You left out a very important part. "Shoddy work can kill people"

I do my own butchery and cut out the middle man..

Thank God my 71 Camaro was made in California and never left the state. Still have it today.

I'm just slowly working on my Torino myself. By the time I fix the last rust spot. I'll have to start over again. I'm pretty fond of primer grey

I feel sorry for these owners. they had a car they knew needed work, and tried to pay and have it done right. Whoever did this is a p.o.s.

Reasons like this is the reason I started learning how to fix my own cars. Its a very valuable asset knowing how to fix your car. Start simple, like an oil change, air filter, new belt, you can do it guys!

When I had my 56 F100 restored, I demanded access at anytime so I could spot check the work. Fourth shop I found encouraged it. They got the job and it was outstanding when done

I used to know someone who co-owned a body shop with his best friend, for over 30 years. He was a shyster too. I once saw him “repair” a rusty rear window flange by grinding the rust down and then putting chrome tape over it. He then slapped mud over the top of that and called it done. He showed his business partner, and to my surprise, he was ok with it. People like them is the reason why I do all of my own work. If I don’t know how to do something: I learn! In this case, I feel bad for the couple and how they were taken advantage of...There’s a special place in hell for the shysters...

"He did a good job of doing it wrong." My new favorite saying.

I took a 3 year course back in 1997 when I was in my last 3 years of high school and got certified in auto collision repair at Gibson Tech . You have to make sure both sides of the panel your repairing is properly preped ! if you have rust on the back side and you prep the front side and put bondo on it and sand it then primer and paint you will get rust pushing through from the backside through the panel causing the paint and bondo to bubble up and rust out. Also I've seen body shops do this which is a no no - when preping the panel you will need to make sure no rust then grind an area 2- 3 " around the the dent or area you are preping .then use a grinder with a side handle and wide disc with 24 grit and grind over the area you are going to be putting Bondo or resin and fiberglass. you do a cross hatch Patten but make sure to not to get the panel hot enough to warp! then you apply the bondo ect. then use a long retangler air sander with 40 grit to just knock down the thickness and finish off the Bondo with 80 grit till its smooth on the panel. after that you use a 5" orbital DA with 320 grit to start feather edging back the primer and paint layers till you can not feel smooth step edges going from the panel to the primer then to the paint . Also dont smooth aka sand the Bondo with orbital DA sand paper. remember a good autobody tech uses little to no Bondo to fix dent and dimples ect. they dont cake on the bondo .

I live in WI. There are three kinds of professional body shops, and two small guy types. Pro type one: All they do is collision repair on new plastic cars. They want insurance money. Don't bother them with pesky requests for fixing an old car or pick up or getting a good paint job. You can't afford it from these guys, they want to charge MAX for insurance. This is the majority of "body shops" in WI. Pro type 2: and I quote" they made thousands of those things, you should just get one from the south with no rust." This was when I asked to get rockers replaced on my one of 400(or so, options) 1990 Ramcharger. These are the guys that made FAT CASH off of the boomer generation in the late 90's when they were willing to drop $100k on a 68 camaro that needed work. Now they have whatever they wanted over the last 20 years and all they want to do is crazy easy work to draw in more FAT CASH jobs and work part time. I mean after all, who would need rust repair in WI? NOTE: there are FIVE shops like this around me. Pro type 3: The guy that will fix anything and says he knows how and will do it for 2/3 of what the other two will. Except they don't know, because they do all the work for the poor people that hit a deer on their uninsured Ford Exploder and need a new headlight so the police don't fine them and can't afford the other guys. They did a paint job on their nephew's '88 Mustang and brother in laws '96 F150. This experience qualifies them as professional body (and mechanical) shops. I have no idea how many of these guys exist, most of them don't have signs in front of their "shops" and some work for cash only. There are three of them in a 25 mile radius of my town of 3000 people though, so I expect they are everywhere. Small guy type one: The guy(usually kid) that went to "body school" and is doing work on the side while he works at a dealership doing "hit a deer" headlight replacement for minimum wage while the dealer socks the insurance company. He has no experience so he has to deal with it. MAYBE this guy knows some stuff, but maybe he will work replacing plastic headlights until he is dead. You will find this guy on Craigslist and facebook and doesn't actually own a business. Small guy type two: this is the guy that worked for the second pro shop group above, but was never given any of the FAT CASH and eventually got super pissed about it and found a new job, or even line of work. He doesn't probably work at a body shop anymore, maybe he does, but he will do stuff on the side that he likes to do. IF you can find this guy, you should pay him what he is worth and make friends and buy him and his wife a steak dinner gift card somewhere once in a while because this guy will save your life, share with you how to do it right, let you borrow a tool, pop over to your own shop to help you with advice for a beer and some pizza, etc. This guy is around somewhere in your town. The trick is to find him. He won't advertise, you will likely need to stumble into him or get lucky through some word of mouth. Don't expect this guy to work on a deadline, he has his own life. But rest assured whatever he does work on(or helps you with) will be GOOD. PRO TIP: if for instance you are replacing rockers, and decide to do it on your own after getting pissed at pro group two above, and this guy shows you how to drill spot welds and a few other things and then leaves you to do it and says "just go for it, it's just metal, if you F it up we will just make a new one or something" THIS is the guy. And he means it, so you should go for it, because his time and knowledge is worth more than drilling stupid spot welds anyway and if you f up something he will make a patch for it that fits perfect in like 20 minutes anyway. Because after all, it's just metal. If you live somewhere outside of rural WI, your experience may vary.

He's right, it is hard to find someone to do good work. What is even rarer is a customer willing to pay for good work. Would like to hear his estimate of what it should cost to do a cheap job like this car got vs what it would cost to do it perfect. My guess is, the cheap job costs twice what you think it should and the good job, 2 or 3 times that. A simple car like that Mustang, that is easy to get parts for, could easily take 250 hours @ $100+ per hour + $5000 in parts and materials, just for the body and paint. I was in the body shop business for 20 years and practically every customer to come in the door tried to chisel the price down. We can do it cheaper, but you aren't going to get a $25000 job for $5000. The worst were people who never got their hands dirty and wouldn't get out of bed for less than $2000 a week who expect you to take the bread out of your children's mouths so they can have a play toy. Anyone who worked with their hands, whether a carpenter, plumber, or whatever, usually had some idea how long things take and how much they cost.

Had a couple of old guys bring in their 401k relive the old days trucks bought from a classic car lot, “I only paid $40k for it and someone offered me $75k!” I told him he should have took because he paid $30k too much. The story of non car guys thinking they’re car guys with their checkbook

I know this feeling all to well!! Had my first car 73 Type LT Camaro w/Z28 performance options redone at local body shop, didn’t care about the cost. Spent just over $10k in 1984/85. Sat in a friend’s garage for 4 months cause it was winter, six months later it was rusting around the rear wheel wells and every single exposed nut and bolt, didn’t get painted with the car, also rusting. It’s still hasn’t been put back on the street. Next year I can take $$$ out of my retirement to get it redone the right way. 😢

Tells me that a ratrod is a safer buy.

That's what happens when non car people drive up the prices on old cars. Crooks do crap job and make them look great to the untrained eye and sell them at high prices.

I learned how to body work n paint because of work like this. Thanks Tony 🙏😁👍

Thank you, Jim and Tony (and all the other folks Tony has on - be they expert or not) for the service you are doing for all of us. I like the way Tony really shows what's what by pointing his finger at it ... even if it's his own mistake. I'm liking this channel and where it's going more and more every day.

A friend used to call Bondo wagons "Sculpted" it's a sculpture of a car made of Polyester...

I've done shoddy bodywork to my own daily just to get the inspection, but never something cool, or American! It was still a thinner coat than what you ground off, and It did adhere!

Classic case of CAVE AND PAVE!

The thing that grinds me the most about these people that do this kind of s@#t is that they give a bad name to all involved in the industry. I have been a professional mechanic for over 30 years and take a lot of pride in my work. This stuff really grinds my gears.

Great video guys. Coming from the UK, rust is a fact of owning a car. I've replaced entire firewalls, chassis legs, inner fenders and everything else under the sun. The amount of terrible repairs I've seen and repaired properly is silly.

The crooks are proud of everything that you pointed out. I can't stand the whole attitude and worldview of people like that. They are much worse than just thieves, which are horrible. They enjoy the fact that they can steal, lie, and any other scumbait thing. As long as it requires no skills or talent. They could never be anything worth a damn. It's pitiful that human beings can be so low. I don't know how someone like that would even want to live at all. It's downright depressing. Rock it Tony! One of the good guys!

Almost brings tears to the eyes! I bought a new '67 Mustang convertible, and through the fog of age, I remember several things that look wrong on this car, such details as the little die cast "fins" in the depression behind the doors, and the wrong back window. The original was of tempered glass, with a silicone hinge in the middle, so the to could be lowered without the usual need to unzip the window. And installing trim before painting? Who does that? The gas tank definitely would have been installed after paint. A good friend of mine recently completed restoration of a '67 convertible, starting with a rust bucket, and ended up replacing nearly all of the sheet metal, and most of the trim. Painted it OEM candyapple red, and clear coated it...before installing any of the stuff that would have been installed at the factory after paint, which is most everything screwed or bolted on! He also owns the best body shop I know of, and does customer work to the same standard!

I’d love a ‘bad bodywork’ series. Some of what we used to see come in when I was in the trade would make this thing look really good.

i remember the 57 chevy story you told a couple years back nice to hear it again it definitely sticks with me. it frightens me to get body work done on my car because of things like this

This is why I buy my stuff non running in the tree rows. The cars are more honest, and the starting price is cheaper.

Magnet in a sock. Better than a lie detector.

I watched the videos from a classic car lot in Hendersonville Tennessee. That's always in the back of my mind how much bond is on that car.

I feel bad for the owners. There is a lot of dishonesty out there. Good to know there are still men like Jim who take pride in what they do.

Im proud to say Im a certified fully licensed autobody technician and truly take an enormous amount of pride in my workmanship which reflects on my reputation. Areas that are hidden should be prepped in the same manor as a highly visible are

and seeing this from a worker experience is why I went back into aviation after working at 1 shop.

You guys should put this guy on BLAST and let everyone know who this guy is. He got shut down but you can bet that he'll find a way to get up and going again.

All rip off mechanics need to be hung up by their toes. What's so hard about being honest? Everything done in darkness will be brought to light.

Puts a dark cloud over good shop's... Take Pride in your work mentality is a dying breed..

Hey Tony, thanks for giving us Jim Bennett’s shop for our restoration hobby❗️I’m looking forward to letting him do my ‘66 Fairlane GTA convertible!!! 👍🇺🇸

Also, on the subject of shoddy repairs, I bought a Checker that had spent its life up north, and being used to the southern cars, I wasn't used to the amount of rot and poor repairs. Every piece was rotted and bondoed over, including holes in the tops of the quarter panels, bondo on the floors, bondo across cracked door pillars, and finding more bondo around a quarter inch thick in plenty of other spots. I'd never had to do a magnet test before, because I had never seen a car with this extent of plastic filler. The back panel of the car, (under the tailgate and between the tail lights,) I found out was a bunch of maybe 24 gauge AC duct type galvanised with bondo on top of it. I was jacking the car up with the bumper jack, bumper pressed into the panel, busted out a chunk the size of the sole of my shoe.

This is why I learned to do my own bodywork and paint 30 years ago. Just a hobby, but my work is done right - because I’m my only customer and I’m a picky SOB!

Love that truck in the background.

Thanks for the informative ( and in this case , sobering) content , Jim and Tony.

The brain of a good body man is something I will never understand. Bless you guys. I just don’t have that type of patience.

Got a similar situation going on with my car, except the body work isn't hidden by the paint, or at least the bit on the fender isn't.

Wizards from the woods of Kentucky strike again.

I think a lot of the problem is is that I cost so much to restore a car that when your done there’s no profit to be made on the resale. If you spend 60 k to restore and book value is 58 k. No profit.

The classic case of the paint hiding a world of heartache. I'm from the UK and can remember as a 17 year old looking at a friends 1965 Mini that his father bought as restored. It was a typical mini fix up with new wings, A panels, door skins and front panel. It then had the Ton of filler it was beautiful in June. By the following spring the road salt had worked its magic as it was a daily driver. After a winter it had the classic rash of blisters everywhere with water in them it was well on the way to looking like it did before the new paint and smelling like a pond with the foot Wells full of stagnant water.

Almost as bad as my 79 camaro. Difference is I paid $1000 knowing that the car was full of mud, rust, and flaking paint.

I think I would be sueing that shop

I have a friend that runs a restoration and hot rod shop, specializing in pre ww2.. Most of his work has been fixing others mistakes. He doesn't believe in using body filler. It is nice to see other that care about the their work.

Great video thank u Uncle Tony and Ultra Uncle Kathy 👍

It makes my ears steam when crooked folks get one over on the elderly.

Bruh... that car would be great if it was the ol' Uncle Tony $400 Duster job, not a $25k build!

Uncle Tony for the WIN, as ALWAYS!

this is so heartbreaking for the owners, you just can't cheat hard work! It's bloody hard work to prep a car - my husband is totally fed up of the body work he has been doing on his '52 Wagon, but now he's at paint stage. It has taken a year and a half of bodywork and primer, metal repairs to the doors etc, but it's straight and rust free - we have a good friend who is advising on the painting, and we're doing it all at home. The good guys who do this as a Profession are so talented and worth every penny, I hate scammers and charlatans so much!

You guys only showed it for a moment, but it looks like the guy cut away half the VIN that’s stamped into the fender apron.

Personally I blame squirrels 😂😂😂😂

Im just learning how to do body work but i love learning and knowing that i have the info to do it myself. It may not be absolutely show quality but its much better than when i pulled it from an abandoned shop and just never rush on things

Like my grandpa used to say: Why is it, there's never time to do it right? But there's always time to do it over!

I like original cars that people haven't had their hands in. They ar hard to find, but worth it.

NO SHOP OWNER WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO STOP ME FROM GOING IN AND LOOKING AT MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect video to bring all of us back to reality ! DANG it Uncle Tony this video Was painful to watch ! Sad indeed ! My uncle told me 30 yrs ago " I thought when I got older and had money I could get work done and no I was seriously disappointed , just because you have money don't expect anything " ! Sad but true . We have to know the reputation of anyone doing service work now!

Problem is do a competent restoration on almost any 50's or 60's car you will be well under water when you go to sell it. Only way a flipper can make money is cut corners.

As more of the graybeards that naively finance these shoddy restorations die off their cars will become the parts cars for higher end restorations.

i quit doing restoration work because most customers don't understand the amount of work and money it takes to do a good detailed professional job.

Jim’s a great guy and has integrity and ethics to do these car restorations the right way. 👍

Nobody wants to pay for or wait for quality work until they get to pay the second time.

Car was mummified in Bondo. There is a shop in San Bernardino known by insiders for the artesian craftsmanship with bondo - door sills rear door fender area shaped to perfection with mangled sheetmetal underneath.

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

After doing this for almost 30 years, Nothing surprises me anymore. It happens everywhere, Even here in Vegas.

when did meatloaf get into classic car restoration?

I always thought the body work I did on my car was janky but this is just horrible. 20k for that mess is unbelievable...

Fun fact: I work for a plumbing company in the Hamptons on long Island (that's not the fun fact) but i watch the trim carpenters on some of the more high end houses, and on the nicest houses, they actually use bondo on all the nail holes instead of wood putty. And the whole house reeks of body shop.

I know it's generally frowned upon, but shops that do such shit work deserve to have their name in the video.

Dude, I got held ransom for my car like that when I was a kid. He knew I had $4k available for a custom 383 Stroker build and install where my buddy worked and I was able to help but he ran it up to $7k and was bragging to someone that he was gonna put the motor in his 68 Camaro so I had to scramble to pony up the dough and get my damn car back after like 5 or 6 months! IT's the motor in the Firebird in my 1996 VHS vids

I took a car to a guy who toted himself as a master fabricator once and this was pretty much what I got back. We agreed any holes would be welded and it’d be three weeks, but he just used about a gallon of epoxy smeared in the whole trunk and I could put a screwdriver through my inner fender. He tried charging me like 3K for an hour of brushing that crap on. I know that because he gave me that time frame and I’d periodically check on it to see it wasn’t started and one day was magically “all done.” If you’re in CT, stay away from “The Sandman.”

I have a 68 Mustang I bought in 1977. 289, factory AC, etc..lifelong Southern California car, never seen snow, or road salt. No rust issues ever. I'm fortunate to live in a climate thats excellent for cars. Hell, it hardly ever rains here! Lol. The car is in excellent condition and still on the road. Same for my 58 cadillac. Honestly, if people want to buy a classic car, They should get one that's from Southern California, Southern Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, etc....I feel very bad for the owners of this poor old Mustang.

At age 63, my bodywork only has to outlast me. Buyer beware at my estate sale.

Everyone who ever painted my car.... They SUCKED. I did it myself? 10 years later that area held up better than ANY shop and i'm not any good at bodywork. First step in doing good work is doing what you two are doing. Looking at crappy work. If you can ID it you won't do it yourself.

i am glad i am doing my mustang myself. i don't expect a show car but i am going after the rust everywhere , all i expect is a solid driver when i am done.

I'm not good at using Bondo but I can change panels out from the spotwelds

CULT LEADER UTG!!!

And the flip side of this is a car that is done correctly, no corners cut, that car is simply too expensive now. There is no winning.

I bought a classic vehicle with rust bubbles. But, it was bought from the Junkyard for a small work vehicle, a 1980, Ford Courier. I expected nothing and got nothing. I used it for two years and sold it for £300 to a farmer.

I’m glad someone else uses the phrase “body shop jail”

Plan Z!!

Put his name out so nobody has to deal with him again!

I worked on a 67 mustang that had the fender Bondo d directly to the rocker panel. I saw a chevelle in the junkyard that got rear ended it had a inch and a half of Bondo, the paint was shiny too.

That messager ping had me tripping I went through all my messages😂

I'm a body man. You have to get rid of the rust, then cover the area with epoxy primer or fiberglass filler to seal it, then do the final skim coat of plastic filler after that. And if it's still not smooth, use polyester filler or spray. But none of that will work if you don't get rid of the rust first. Cut or grind it out completely. Make sure there's no more on the back side of the panel. A lot of people think they got all the rust but there's still rust on the back side of the panel and it will just keep spreading like the cancer it is

That car kept dry and treated right would look the same in 20 years I bet. Lots of cars are like that. Is what it is sometimes unfortunately.

Sad . When I was 13 (1978 )my grandma left me her 1966 t bird convertible. The car spent its life in Cleveland Ohio. . I took odd jobs so I could buy fenders , quarter panels . I leaned how to rebuild the engine, hang the panels and by the time I was 16 it was ready for body work and paint . My dad and I interviewed several shops lol. We went with a shop called lead man . Well needless to say he went out of business 5 months into my car being there . IRS issues . When I got the car back 2 years later it had been ravaged of parts . I was 18 at this time . Took me another 19 years to rework the car . Now at the age of 56 I still own it and my 1966 hemi charger both are still mint and driven all the time.

I know you don't want this to be the whole channel but there are very enlightening

Seeing this kind of hackery always mkes my blood boil.

Patch panels and bodywork that is my kryptonite :(