[Keith True]

I work on an A from time to time that was painted by time and materials.What was unusual was that the shop owner agreed to let the car owner watch all he wanted.The whole shop knew the old man well and didn't care if he watched.The owners back office had a window looking into the shop and the owner spent a lot of time there watching.The tech liked him there.The owner got to make every decision every time something unexpected came up.He felt for every dollar he spent he got value.He spent a lot of money,and he had to let some stuff slide until later when he could come up with more money.The problem came later was with other people,not the owner.With people looking at the car and jibber-jabbering What came out the most was,for that kind of money you shoulda got this or you shoulda got that.He got what he paid for,and in reality a few freebies too.Because he elected to go over some old lead repair work the shop owner would not warranty the work either.I don't know of any shops around me that will flat rate work on old cars,and the ones that do it by the hour will not warranty at all unless it is done 100% their way,not the owners.