Pinto Car Club of America

Hello Members:

I will be having my original stock 77 Pinto Cruise Wagon be restored starting in about
2 weeks.  Before this starts do you all have any suggestions that could help me in this
process and to avoid any pitfalls?

Thanks again!

77pintocw

Hello 77pintocw,
DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY UP-FRONT MONEY!!!!!!!!

If they ask for front money? Find another shop!!!!!

From Pintony

Be very clear on what you want them to do. Put it in writing. Don't try to go the cheap way, if you do you will get plastic when you were expecting gold. If you get my drift. It is better to pay out and  cry once instead of going cheap and crying for years to come.

ask a lot of questions

if your doing any major electrical work, try to get a wiring diagram.

These are my thoughts about a shop restoration. First, work out a tentative schedule with a reputable shop (get referrals) for what will be done and when. If you don't hold them to a schedule, you may not see your car for a long time. This is especially true when money is put up front so I definitely agree with Pintony on that point! I have seen "restorations" in shops end up taking close to ten years because it turns out not to be a priority to get it done. Another consideration, if you are going to have a shop do the full restoration, you may want to work out some sort of agreement about the storage of the parts that are removed while the body and paint work etc. is being done. You may even want to collect the boxes of parts and put them in a storage facility if you don't have the room at home. I can't tell you how many times I have heard of shops doing restorations that end up losing (ie stolen) parts or having them get ruined sitting around a shop. You could label everything and bring the parts by when they are needed for either there own work or reassembly.