how could one butcher this valuable t-5 cab

[Adam Wright]

You can always tell when the wrong person restores a Porsche, or Porch as the wrong people say.

I looked at an SC cab once, champagne paint, great from 30 feet. A Jag shop had restored it so the quality was there, they just didn't know anything about a 356. The most glaring thing I saw was they used new rockers, which is fine, but you know how they come over-sized and you trim to fit your car, depending on the wheel well line. They didn't trim, so the rockers bulged on either side, it was very strange. Then they lap-welded everything, it went on and on. The guy said he had $150,000 in the resto, wanted over $200,000 for the car, I politely declined to make an offer.

[Ron LaDow]

I have a problem here.
There are valid times to gripe about a car, its quality and provenance. Mostly when it is offered for sale fraudulently. And I'm sure my definition of "fraudulent" is quite clear by now.
That is not the case here. AFAICT, the owner offered to pay for professional assembly, and ended up with his car publicly held up as a failure of a restoration. You'll forgive me if I find that unprofessional.
Yes, the car was restored to a level which some find unacceptable. So? My second-owner car has too much paint on the trunk lid and it's cracked around the handle.
Hey, George, wanna whine about that if I asked you to do some work on the car?

[Eric McKinley]

Ron,

As I read this I was thinking exactly the same thing.

I would not be pleased if it was my car you were describing to the forum.

[Mike DeJonge]

If you had to assemble the car, does that mean you had to hang the doors and put the rear and front deck lids on, and install all the interior? What did you guys actually do? If you hung the doors and put the lids on, does that mean the body shop who painted the car did not do that prior to painting? Why did they not pre-hang the doors and deck lids? I have been in a lot of body shops and car owners routinely do not bring in the doors or deck lids for fitment, or they wait till the last minute, and then do not have time to do the adjustments. Maybe the customer did not want to pay extra? Let's not jump collectively on the back of the body shop, maybe it is the customers fault. we do not know the complete story.
There is always 3 sides to a story, the customers, the body shops, and the truth

[TomDoherty]

I have a problem here.
There are valid times to gripe about a car, its quality and provenance. Mostly when it is offered for sale fraudulently. And I'm sure my definition of "fraudulent" is quite clear by now.
That is not the case here. AFAICT, the owner offered to pay for professional assembly, and ended up with his car publicly held up as a failure of a restoration.

Ron, you beat me to it. IMO, this is totally unacceptable. This car isn’t being listed by the Owner on Bring A Trailer where all bets are off and the car is open to critique. I would expect that when I bring one of my cars into a shop that the owner of the shop would not point out all of its flaws to other customers, I would shurely not expect him to post about it on a forum!

[Norm Miller]

I have to say this site is getting a bit testy lately.

This is not a rare example, as it's seen quite often.
Take the before and after pictures, use them however you must but there is no need to post one man's problem on a forum.
The owner must be one hell of a nice guy to allow you to continue!

nuff said,
Norm

[Jim Liberty]

There is no need for that kind of workmanship. My FIAT 500 looks better, and was not an expensive paint job. One just needs to make their expectations knows up front. ................................Jim.

[Doug McDonnell]

There used to be lots of cars like this East of the Mississippi.. Maybe we are all forgetting since so many of our cars have had a lot of money thrown at them that they no longer look like this. Picture is from the right front wheel well of my car.

[Adam Wright]

There used to be lots of cars like this East of the Mississippi.. Maybe we are all forgetting since so many of our cars have had a lot of money thrown at them that they no longer look like this. Picture is from the right front wheel well of my car.

How about floors to remind you of the speed limit....

[Chuck Allard]

Or one somewhere that says "Uncle Sam Wants You" (borrowed steel recruiting poster from early '70s)

[Richard Shilling]

Remember "Any car, any color for $29.95." Looks like it's still around.

[Martin Benade]

Unfortunately I bet it cost more than $29.95. And they used to say "no ups" too, but my father found out that red cost extra. Jim, was your Fiat badly rusted out? It might have been an unfair comparison.

[Jon Schmid]

Unfortunately I bet it cost more than $29.95. And they used to say "no ups" too, but my father found out that red cost extra. Jim, was your Fiat badly rusted out? It might have been an unfair comparison.

"No ups, no adders." Riiight. Who can forget those old Earl commercials?

[Jim Liberty]

The Fiat was fully restored, but I am altering the body to accommodate Abarth wheels and tires. While we are ad it, we're fitting the doors with more constant gaps, not 356 but nicer than factory. We've been able to source virtually all the correct body, interior, dash binnacle, running gear, brakes, motor, etc. from Italy. Not as easy as 356 stuff, and a lot more expensive. Why you ask, because I'm crazy, and fell in love with one in the 50s. ...............Jim.

[Martin Benade]

I drove a stock 500 to work for a couple of weeks ten years ago, my customer was happy to share it. It surprised me how nicely it drove, sort of like a cousin to a VW or Porsche.