This stage took way too long and way too much money.  One guy started it, another did some roof work, and a third finished it.   Below are the steps it took to get it ready and get it painted.

Body after base filler and epoxy primed.

Next up was a gallon of filler primer.

This was a before picture of the car in the booth awaiting a second coat of primer.  Most cars are flat after this stage, but not mine. Lucky me.

This is a shot of the car after being wet sanded for the final time.  This also was the final pictures taken at this shop. The whole ordeal started when I got a call and was told the roof caved again.  While in the booth being taped off for a final seal coat the painter noticed that the roof went haywire, again.   I told him it was over and I was taking it home to think over my options.  His cure for it was to put a roof skin on it. I didnt want to do that until I got a real bodymans opinion.  This guy could make cars flat, but couldnt work metal.  So I knew he couldnt fix the roof the proper way.  I told him I was picking it up, got a borrowed trailer, and set up a time to drop it off at Biggs Auto Renonvation, the shop that did the quarter panel work for me. When I arrived, the painter was awol.  The owner of the shop told me to get f#@ked,  "you're not getting your car today".  The owner made his  money by putting plastic high tops on vans, and one of those was blocking the door preventing me from getting my car.  At this point he was screaming at my father, myself and my two year old son.  I have never ever wanted to kill a guy as much as I did that day.  Threats of ass kicking, shop torching, and police calling were made.  Thats the first time my father and I were that close to beating the shit out of someone.  If my boy wasnt there with us that probably would have happened. After a two hour wait I finally got the car out.  We loaded it in the dark and hauled it away on the advice of the painter to not to leave it there overnight.   Once I got it to Biggs I saw just how bad a job he did. The roof was a mess, the quarter panel lines were not straight, and the tail light holes were a joke.  One of Bobs guys fixed the roof by metal working it and rebonding the center support brace that had come loose. With that piece not attached the roof skin just flopped up and down on its own.  Now it is in place and will not move anymore. The first guy, not being a good metal man, didnt see that problem.  So now a big hurdle has been fixed, but not all was well. Bob closed his shop after completing the roof job.  He invested over a million dollars into his state of the art restoration shop.  The place was truely an archectural gem. He designed it after an old time garage in Detroit.  No expense was spared in the building of it.  Hardwood floors and brick fasades with custom mason work was just the beginning of his downfall.  The State of Michigans economy didnt help and he just couldnt cover the costs of the place with the cash that was coming in.  So it was on to the next shop.

These were from the day I brought it home from storage.  You can see that the roof has been repaired by the different primer color.

Here is how the dash looked after I applied some primer to it.  Just like every other spot on this car, the dash had some dents in it.  Must have been from the occupants knees because the dents were down low and in front of the seats.

Finally something on this car has paint on it.  It took longer than expected but the dash is now finished.  Had some trials and errors but it came out real nice.  I used PPG Delstar gloss black on the bottom and Dupli-color flat black on the sides and top.

Here are the first shots of the car with paint.  I took these at night so they arent the best.  The car looks awesome, everything that was wrong has been fixed.  The guys started wet sanding it so I cant tell how straight the quarters are but Ive been assured they are real flat.  So after three years its finally in color.  What a feeling.

These photos are from the night I got the car back.  The front clip is on and the car is ready for assembly.