Well...we did it!

We did it...

My brother and I sent the car in for the collision repairs back in October. After straightening the frame and aligning the front bumpers, the body shop outsourced the fiberglass repair for both fenders. The fenders were returned to the body shop a few weeks ago and we had to decide on the new paint.

I was here in Chicago when Mario called from the shop. They needed our decision within a few days and there wasn't any time for me to travel back to Michigan. The Clenet-approved DuPont paint specifier happened to be with Mario at the shop, so I made my decision by memory.

I truly value and appreciate the advice and thoughts from a few friends who suggested keeping the paint colors original...

The paint chip I liked was located in the center section, right column about midway down. A deep lustrous red that wasn't too tomato, nor too burgundy. However I did not know the shade name, nor paint number. I had to trust Mario as he described the shades to me. The shop owner told Mario that he'd have a card painted for us by mid-month so that we could make a firm decision on the new color for the fenders.

Last weekend I was in Michigan, enjoying the weekend prior to the Christmas holiday week. I mentioned getting the painted card sample from the shop to Mario. He was busy the prior week and did not hear from the body shop. We had a few free hours on Saturday and I was hoping to drive to the garage where the car is being stored. As the weekend ended, I headed back to work in Chicago on Monday morning. It was difficult getting back due to a horrible blizzard in Western Michigan, however I finally made it to the office just after the noon hour.

As I was getting caught up with many e-mails and voicemail, I picked up a call from Mario. He exclaimed that the body shop called and needed the car to reinstall the fenders. They went ahead and painted the fenders without giving us the option of seeing a card. There was an obvious communication error and misunderstanding.

Mario immediately drove to the shop to give approval and was very happy with the color and the application. He retrieved the Clenet and drove it back to the body shop (yes, in the blizzard) where the car is now getting reassembled.

It's been a week since this all went down and I have yet to see the car...just some poorly lit and very fuzzy pics from Mario's cellular.

I'm preparing for a new year (today is Monday the 29th) and for a new look with our beloved Clenet. Let's hope I too like what he saw!

rz