If you have not read our previous post in series, we suggest you go back and begin at Part I of How to Locate the Right Restoration Shop.
Once you have done your research outside the shop and determined what you are looking for in your restoration and what type restoration shop best fits your needs, it is time to take the next step. It is time to do some research and information gathering as to what goes on inside the shops.
As we said at the beginning of the last post, the rule of thumb to looking for a shop to assist with your restoration is: Restoration shops are not body shops, and body shops are not restoration shops.
The following is the second in a four Part Series on How to Locate the Right Restoration Shop
A Restoration Shop Visit
When you visit a restoration shop, be certain to inspect the actual work area. Do not be awed by all the pretty cars – look at the shop itself. Is it clean and well lit? I have known horrendously messy shops that did excellent work and meticulously clean shops that did horrible work. Generally speaking though, a neat, well-lit shop is more likely to do quality work than a dismal, filthy one.
Does the shop look organized? Are they using fender covers? Does each car in the shop have its own space and its own door to enter and exit the building or are they constantly jockeying cars around? And, while they are moving the cars, are parts from one vehicle being placed on a shelf with parts from six other cars? If you bring your 289 engine to a machine shop and they happen to have four other 289s there at the same time, are they organized enough to make certain you get your block back or will the parts get mixed? If you go into a chrome shop, are there parts in various stages scattered all over the place haphazardly with no clear delineation between one owner’s parts and another’s?
How about the employees? Do they look like they have some experience under their belts? Watch them as they work. Are they enjoying what they are doing or are they obviously miserable? Most of the time you can get a good idea how somebody feels about their work by watching them for just a couple of minutes. Now, anyone can have bad day, and some people look sullen when they’re not, but if you go into a restoration shop with 10 employees, and all 10 look like they hate the world and are ready to attack the boss, I think it says a lot about the quality of work those people are likely to produce.
Take notice of the equipment in the shop. Is it a machine shop without many machines? Is it a paint shop without all the necessary paint equipment? In other words, does the shop farm a lot of the work out to others or has the owner made the serious investment necessary to do the job himself?
Once you inspect the shop and observe its employees and take note of its equipment, it is time to look at the cars. But do not just look at the exotic or rare cars, look at all of them. Are there cars covered with dust being used as workbenches or storage shelves? Are the show-quality exotics given quality treatment while others are relegated to afterthought status?
Everything I am talking about has to do with respect for automobiles, respect for automobile parts and, ultimately, respect for you, the owner of that car or those parts. I have noticed that shop owners and employees who do not respect the cars and components they are trusted with usually do a lousy job.
When you speak with the owner of the shop, do not be shy about asking questions. Many of the questions you need to ask do, in effect, question his ability and integrity. But that’s part of running a business and he should be used to it and should not take it personally.
Shop Appearance
A person who takes the time to stay organized, work neatly and keep their surroundings neat, organized and up to date will probably care more about the job and the quality of work they are doing.
As you visit prospective restoration shops, you should pay attention to the appearance of the facilities and the equipment with which it is furnished. If you have a car that will require extensive metal fabrication, look to see if they have a metal brake, an English wheel, a shrinker/stretcher and a bead roller, among other important metalworking tools. They should also have a blast cabinet, a lathe, and a half-ton press as well as gas and MIG welding equipment.
When you are working on a car, it’s often hard to keep the workspace clean, but it’s important that there is room to work on a car and good access to the parts and equipment that will be needed.
There is something to be said about a clean shop. If the shop has pride and workers and owners take the time to clean their shop, they will take the time to fix your ride too. Now this does not mean a shop void of all “junk”, but a general organization and cleanliness to the shop. We do not know about you, but for us we cannot do our best work in a clutter of tools and leftover parts. It is not efficient and causes accidents or things being misplaced. Put it this way – if you were going for open heart surgery, would you want to be in a clean room or in a dirty room with the last patients’ bloody tools laying around?
Shop Knowledge
How knowledgeable are the people at the shop? There is an old saying about asking for advice – do not go to the meat man for advice on jewelry. The restoration shop is no different. If they are amazing at building engines, go there for that. Do not ask them to paint your car. Build a relationship with the shop you are going to pay thousands of dollars. Does it seem like they have been doing this for years and know exactly what the issue is with your car and how to solve it? Do not take your Chevy to a shop that specializes in Porches. A car is a car, but they will not have that knowledge on the intricacies of that fire breathing LS under the hood.
Experience
The only way to gain that knowledge is with experience, and a lot of it. Before handing over the keys make sure the shop has experience. Check references and see what kind of work they have done in the past. Going back to the surgeon, do you want the guy that is done this same procedure 1000 times or the guy that has done it once?
Experienced crews can save you money in the long run too. Sure, you pay for that experience up front, but the knowledge they possess can save you dollars over time. For example, if you ask them to build a powerhouse engine and trans, but they neglect to upgrade the rear-end, that is going to cost you a repair bill down the road.
Proven
When a shop has knowledge and experience, well then, they will have a proven track record. Are they cheap and do okay work or are they fairly priced and do great work? Even worse are they expensive and do junk work?
Talk to past clients and inspect their cars. See the proven track record of the restoration shop. Do they stand behind their work or are they always chasing that dollar instead? Taking the time to find a shop with a proven track record can save you literally thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars.
Participation
Is the shop passionate about their work and the hobby? Sure, they might be a good chassis builder, but if they are not participating in the hobby then there is a few issues that arise.
First, the shop will not be on top of current trends and technologies available.
Second, they will not have the same passion to have the best products and services like a shop that participates does. We all get busy and they might be slammed with work – but a shop that takes the time to participate in car shows show genuinely care about the hobby and will likely take greater pride in their shop and the results it produces.
Just as in the first blog in the series, the theme continues to be, collect your information before you commit to a shop.
