Some of you will be aware that I run a small classic / retro restoration business, I also own a few Jowetts and for my sins sit on the committee of the Jowett Car Club, because I retain good knowledge of the cars I am seen has one of the go to guys for panel & paint - hence the phone rings on regular basis - sometimes it's just helping a member out with some knowledge / knowhow / contacts etc and sometimes it's can you price / sort this - I have a good reputation but take nothing for granted - if I can help - I will. Over a substantial period (40 years) I have seen / viewed some excellently restored cars, I have also seen some poor attempts but what I viewed today was nothing but shocking.
So a few weeks ago I took a call from an elderly club member (88 years old) who had taken a Jowett Javelin to a so called restoration company for work - it required welding in all the usual places along with some paint over the repaired areas. The car has been with them for 2 years - they made an initial start but the owner had become frustrated at the lack of progress over the last 18 months - like nothing has been done in that time - so he has had the car recovered back home - would I go and view it and advise accordingly with a view to sorting the car and returning it to the road.
On opening his garage door I was met with this:
It was a largely original car when it went to them, trim & component parts have been stripped from the car & lost - nothing has been boxed / bagged or labelled - stuff is just strewn everywhere and a load of general debris / rubbish not associated with car has just been piled into the interior
What work that they have done is abysmal - welded new metal over rotten metal - welded the sills & jacking point into place without checking the doors for the aperture fit with a net result that the doors now don't fit the apertures - no work has been primed hence it's all now full of rust - then after a few months in their workshop they shoved the car outside and threw a tarp over it - hence the car has sweated in a bath of rainwater leaks & condensation under the cover & the nice original paint on the upper section of the body is now full of rust blisters & pitting hence ruined
The panels require work to address rust perforated areas but thank god that they never started work on them has given the shocking workmanship - I have little doubt that they would have been rendered to scrap in no time. Said so called restorer had been highly recommended and undertaken previous work on behalf of several club members - obviously he will not be getting any further work.
I was left seething at what I viewed - the idiots have done more damage than what they have done any good - I already have a workshop diary that is fully booked and currently nudging into 2019 - the owner has been a statesman for the club having been a member for in excess of 50 years! - So I have enlisted the help of a few fellow members that will go and strip the rest of the car to a rolling shell - remove the remaining trim / engine & box etc - I will then take the car after Easter which will give me time to progress my immediate workshop workload and advised the Javelin owner that I will need the car for 12 months - I will somehow fit it has a hospital type job - doing what I can when I can - on one hand I'm a mug for tying myself down with work that don't need but I simply cannot walk away from the situation that these idiots have left the owner in. Ok I get paid for what I do but it's not really about the money being the sole reason for what I choose to do for work - if I can return a smile to the owners face once I complete his car to a great extent it will be payment enough - right then - just going to drop my phone in a bucket of water before anyone else calls me with a restoration gone wrong tale of woe
So a few weeks ago I took a call from an elderly club member (88 years old) who had taken a Jowett Javelin to a so called restoration company for work - it required welding in all the usual places along with some paint over the repaired areas. The car has been with them for 2 years - they made an initial start but the owner had become frustrated at the lack of progress over the last 18 months - like nothing has been done in that time - so he has had the car recovered back home - would I go and view it and advise accordingly with a view to sorting the car and returning it to the road.
On opening his garage door I was met with this:
It was a largely original car when it went to them, trim & component parts have been stripped from the car & lost - nothing has been boxed / bagged or labelled - stuff is just strewn everywhere and a load of general debris / rubbish not associated with car has just been piled into the interior
What work that they have done is abysmal - welded new metal over rotten metal - welded the sills & jacking point into place without checking the doors for the aperture fit with a net result that the doors now don't fit the apertures - no work has been primed hence it's all now full of rust - then after a few months in their workshop they shoved the car outside and threw a tarp over it - hence the car has sweated in a bath of rainwater leaks & condensation under the cover & the nice original paint on the upper section of the body is now full of rust blisters & pitting hence ruined
The panels require work to address rust perforated areas but thank god that they never started work on them has given the shocking workmanship - I have little doubt that they would have been rendered to scrap in no time. Said so called restorer had been highly recommended and undertaken previous work on behalf of several club members - obviously he will not be getting any further work.
I was left seething at what I viewed - the idiots have done more damage than what they have done any good - I already have a workshop diary that is fully booked and currently nudging into 2019 - the owner has been a statesman for the club having been a member for in excess of 50 years! - So I have enlisted the help of a few fellow members that will go and strip the rest of the car to a rolling shell - remove the remaining trim / engine & box etc - I will then take the car after Easter which will give me time to progress my immediate workshop workload and advised the Javelin owner that I will need the car for 12 months - I will somehow fit it has a hospital type job - doing what I can when I can - on one hand I'm a mug for tying myself down with work that don't need but I simply cannot walk away from the situation that these idiots have left the owner in. Ok I get paid for what I do but it's not really about the money being the sole reason for what I choose to do for work - if I can return a smile to the owners face once I complete his car to a great extent it will be payment enough - right then - just going to drop my phone in a bucket of water before anyone else calls me with a restoration gone wrong tale of woe