Dealing with body shop guys: need some advice

In the process of having my CJ5's hood fixed and body painted (among other things), I had them fix the tail gate too. The problem, I believe, is that the chain brackets on the body of the Jeep were replaced at some point, and it appears that the left and right brackets were swapped accidentally before being welded. The result is that the holes, which are oblong ovals are slanted...on the tailgate, they slant toward the front of the Jeep at the top of the whole; on the brackets, they slant toward the back. This caused the holes not to line up right, preventing the hook from going through both holes on one side, and barely enabling me to get the hook through both holes on the other. Since those chains are such a ripoff on sites like Walck's ($50-60), and I can't find the hooks themselves anywhere, I was going to make my own with some chains, homemade vinyl covers, and D-rings (which still cost me $15-20 for the hardware, but whatever). Of course, the D-rings wouldn't fit at all.

The Jeep is 95% finished, and when visiting the shop yesterday I noticed they had only replaced one of the two brackets before painting it! Now, those oblong holes in the two brackets are opposite: one slants forward, the other backward. Most people wouldn't notice, but I definitely do. And, of course, one one side, it's still going to be nearly impossible to get that hook through, if at all. Apparently the guy that made the bracket was only told one bracket by the sketchy dude he works with (the one I negotiated with), even though I was very clear when we initially talked that I needed both fixed.

I'm going to get the Jeep today when they finish putting everything back together. My problem is where to go from here. If I had them fix it the right way, they'd have to cut off the hold bracket, weld on a new one, and repaint that entire back corner since all that paint will inevitably be ruined by the welding. Or, I can have them try to grind out the one hole to allow room to fit, IF that will work. I'm paying them close to $2000 for all this work, and I want it to be right, but I can't decide if I want to have them redo that whole section (and wonder if the fact it was repainted in one part will be obvious or if they can make it look right by blending), or just grind it out, touch it up with paint, and call it done, having to deal with the opposite holes and hope no one notices. If so, I'm thinking they should come down off the price a little considering they messed it up.

He also told me he was removing all the gauges from the dash; which they didn't, electing instead to tape it off. My original speedo's paint around the rim of the gauge is now almost all gone from the automotive tape (surprising), and I'm either going to have to repaint that or strip the rest off and hope I don't mess up the dash, so there's that factor as well. Any advice on how to proceed?

 

I would tell them to fix it. If you both agreed to fix it right just have them do it. My choice would be to make the tailgate match the body because they can shoot the entire tail gate easier than blending the body.

It is not difficult to remove your speedo. Four nuts on the back and you can let it down. Use care though as the wires will be brittle if original. Once down you can probably sand it a little and touch up with model paint and a small brush. @ 35 mph no one will notice.

As far as the chains go if you spent two grand on the paint what is $50 for the chains? You could also try WTB in the classified section. While you are waiting you could put a nylon bolt in the hole.

 

Keep 'em honest. Make them fix it.

 

Just to clarify, the body brackets are off, not the tailgate. If the fixed the tailgate, which is possible, one side would have the hole slanted forward, one back. I suppose that would work, it would just be asymmetrical. The tailgate brackets are symmetrical right now, if that makes sense.

 

Fix the tub. If you damage your tailgate in the future you don't need to be modifying the new one to fit the weird brackets....Should be on the shop to fix it, and deal with the paint if they neglected to do the complete job as quoted and requested.

 

Whatever you do, don't leave until it's right. We've all been there, my dad had his 300zx turbo worked on after an accident. Something didn't look quite right, and he pointed it out. He told the dealer that he really liked the rental they had given him. He liked it so much, that he might not pay for any of the work unless they did it right and just keep driving the rental. It got fixed real fast.

Moral of the story: Persevere! Get it right now so you don't have to worry later.

 

I worked in a body shop. Have them fix it right. They will try to get away with shady work. I've seen this. Complain about everything that you notice. Look over everything. Take your time. If you see seething that doesn't look right. Tell them about it. Do not except nothing less than perfection. Do not leave the shop with it until it's done right. I had my truck fixed at a shop. To this day I still notice clear coat over spray on the door glass.

 

Ya know, it's not a 'vette or a Masserati but, it's still a classic vehicle and deserves to be treated with similar attention. I say have them fix it. If you wait and end up trying to make it right years down the road, it will be very noticable. Do it now and the paint blend and then, age the same.

 

Just to be clear, each pair (on one side) of slots for the tailgate hooks are supposed to be opposed, in such a way that gravity acting on the hook will draw the tailgate snug, like a wedge effect. Probably everyone here knows that, but the shop guys didn't.

 

X2 PeteL. The slants are opposite to allow the hooks to snug it up. One of the brackets on my tailgate has the hole close to straight up and down. Gotta remember though, it's a jeep, not a Caddy, they weren't perfect when they rolled off the line.

 

In the future the easiest way to deal with a bodyshop is not to use one...I too worked in a body shop

 

Either way, we'll of course be waiting on lots pictures when you get the jeep home.

 

Finally got the Jeep back. After looking at it a while, I realize no one will ever notice the difference and said F' it. I'm going to Lowe's this week to look at possible alternatives for a chain hook to attach to the Jeep, and he's making me a custom hook in the mean time. I have to go back so they can fix my windshield later, as well as a laundry list of other crap that isn't done. Some of it are aluminum parts being fabricated by another guy, such as a custom defroster duct that will move the ducting out of the way so a stereo receiver will fit, and a box to cover my ugly heater install as well. In the mean time, here are a couple pics I snapped in a hurry (the first 3 were before they finished removing all the tape and such; I'll have to nab the other ones later):

 

Nice - I really like the color!

 

perttttttt. did original glass fit that frame

 

That is sharp, good color choice. Paint job looks well done.

 

Thanks. As for the glass, that's a good question. The guys broke it, so I (at their expense) ordered another, but quadratec messed up and sent me one for a YJ, that obviously didn't fit. I replaced it last year, but it was through an auto glass shop and they didn't say if it was for a 69 CJ5 specifically or if they just used the frame measurements (I do know they ordered one, not custom cut it, though). Does it look like a different frame? If it does, that would answer a lot of questions. I'm still waiting for the glass that is supposed to fit the frame to arrive from quadratec.

As for the color, the PO had it the same color but had a very half-*** paint job, with only one coat of paint (looked that way anyway), no primer, and maybe one coat of clear. This was four and three coats, respectively, or the other way around [probably]. I'll take some more tomorrow to show the rest of the work we did.

 

While that is not necessarily the action I would have recommended, I hope you're happy with it, it looks great.

 

Who knows; perhaps I should have handled it differently, but I was honestly just ready to get it back on the road. I only bought the windshield myself bc it was taking them so long to order it; I needed to expedite. Here are some more after pics...

 

Great color. Paint job looks pretty good. I like it a lot.

I would hold out for the right fix for the tailgate problem though.