How many "body in white" cars has US car tool finished? I worked in this shop from June 2013-Oct 2014 and in that time frame 1 was "completed". A 1973 Charger that had sat in the shop for 3+ years. During my time at US Car Tool I seen some abysmal work ethic, amateur craftsmanship, and in my opinion the two biggest posers in the hobby. Still (1/14/15) I do not know of any "body in white" that has left US car tool as a completed body in white.

The stories:
-70 convertible cuda
-The 68 Coronet quarter panel
-Sand blasting for dummies
-73 Charger deadline
-Wave...you're a body panel
-Mustang experts now
-How long has this been here?

Oops! Its fixed.

I met John when he lived in New Jersey and wasn't impressed so never expected much from his company.
Ron

I understand people have had bad experiences in the past with Paseman. My experiences with him haven't been bad and they havent been good either. During my time at US car tool I dealt with him very little. He was never at the shop. I don't believe John is a crook or scam artist like some make him out to be. I have heard the stories, and concluded that bad things happen when dingbats on both sides do business. The other guy, Chris Lewis, is Johns business partner. He operates the shop. He is the guy who, supposedly, has completed 12 body in whites and is an expert in mopar unibody restoration. I never seen any pictures of these 12 body in whites and concluded that claim was a LIE. When I went full time at US car tool in August 2013 I worked with Chris everyday. Within 2 months I realized I made a very bad decision leaving my stable job that payed better. I put myself in that position and blame nobody but myself.

I got more coming..

I'm just wondering what question was asked to generate all this sh!t slinging !!!

Is it US Car Tool's fault they've only done one body in white? Seems to me that "volume" would depend on customers coming through the door. Since they pretty much only offer a body in white program, people most likely go to a full service shop that will finish the entire car. And you need to have a pretty rotten car to justify the price they charge for that body in white service. You don't sign up for that if you only have a rusty floor pan !!!

They post local Craigslist ads here in North Carolina offering a hand full of different services.

This thread is just a story of my time at US car-tool. Hopefully with this information people will ask more questions before they hand over a wad of cash and their car to US car tool and other shops like them.

There is a 1970 convertible Cuda that has been at the shop for 10 years, and has swapped owners several times. At least that is what Chris, the manager, told me. I didnt have to feel the qaurter panels to know they were warped beyond repair and had to be cut off and redone. Chris was the one who did the botched quarter panel job. They advertise metal finish body repair, NO BONDO is used to repair your car...which is true they do not use bondo to repair your car, but whoever paints the car is going to have to use a couple gallons in order to block it out straight, if they decide to even take on the paint job. A metal finish repair is when a a panel is patched and the final product is straight enough that very little filler and block sanding is needed. Any paint/body guys will know what I am talking about.

The long and the short of it all..

This is what I foresee happening with at least 4 of the body whites US car tool has done during my time there. 1 of which the customer has recieved, the other 3 are still in the shop. The Body in white is done, customer receives, customer then takes car to a paint shop. At the paint shop 1 of 3 things is gonna happen. 1 The paint shop will refuse to paint it..WHY? because the body is so damn wavy its not worth the headache re-doing what someone else screwed up. 2 The paint shop will take in the job and charge ALOT, and they'll explain why they are charging alot. 3 The paint shop will just dough the car up and launch it, and the customer will never be the wiser..until the paint is cracking or has shrink spots in it after a year. No matter which of the 3 I explained happens, what can you do? You paid for the body in white. Are you gonna try and get Car tool to fix it?

Im skeptical of this thread with an ex employee bashing his former employer!

Thats great! Skepticism is a good thing. Do you have a car you're thinking about restoring?

I know the first owner of the Cuda convertible and he took a bath with the car. He was afraid to speak out on Moparts at the time because he was a regular posting member. He spent a lot from a distance to find out very little was done.

I have personally seen a white Superbird body that they had done and were displaying at Carlisle about 6 or 7 years ago. The body work was not good. I was doing better as a hobbyist in my home garage at the time.

I do have a friend that knew him when he lived in Jersey and swears he is a standup guy.

I bought a U.S. car tool engine dolly from them about 5 years ago and it has served me well.

Just my

About me: I started working for US car tool part time in the summer of 2013. I am a professional welder/fabricator and an avid car enthusiast. Most of what I know about cars I learned from my mentor, who has built over 100 hot rods, classics, etc. I started working with car tool as an apprentice type situation where I would learn how to do the work necessary for the body in white program.

Now thats outta the way.

The 1968 Coronet body in white PISSED ME OFF! This car was a typical candidate for restoration. It was rusty, had rotted quarters, rotted floors, wheel wells, etc. They have pictures of it on their website under "Mike's 68 coronet". I took most of the car apart, and they had it sent out for sand blasting... This was what I was taught about cars and sand blasting...NEVER sand blast a roof, door skin, hood, or deck lid. Basically, any large surface area panel of thin sheet metal. Blasting the under bracing is fine. Unless the blaster really knows what the hell he is doing don't sand blast body panels. WHY? Sandblasting CAN cause mechanical warpage if the blaster is not careful. Large surface area panels get DA'd by hand. Anyways, Chris said their blasting guys are good and wont warp the roof. The roof was perfect on this 68. Car comes back from the blaster, the roof was warped. An area of about 10in in diameter was sucked in about an 1/8 in. I kept my mouth shut about the roof warpage when I noticed it. John and Chris had just fired a "partner" that was asking too many questions about a Dodge Charger Medallion project that flopped. This was my only job and couldn't afford to lose it at the time. I know roof warpage is very very hard to fix, I was suscpicious that they would be able to fix it but I just dropped it and began building the car by myself. I put a one piece floor in, one piece trunk in, mini tubbed the car, and successfully installed my first 1 piece qaurter panel. I did all the prefit work of all the new panels by MYSELF. Chris was in the office most of the time hiding. He would come out occasionally to straighten things up BS around and then he would disappear. This went on for weeks. I ran into some challenges that I had to work through myself, there were no experts at US car tool to show me how to do it. Despite all the challenges and the lame as work ethic I put up with, the car was looking good. It was time to do the final adjustments on the quarter panels and weld them in. I suggested that Chris and I worked on it together to make things go faster. Chris agreed but I could tell he didnt want to do anything. I made some final changes to the passenger side quarter and proceeded to weld it in. I was pleased with the final product, it was straight, body lines matched up. Door gaps looked great. Chris's side was ruined in my opinion. He tacked it in place crooked and left it. He wouldn't touch the car for a week. I worked around it and didnt touch it. Finally I wrote Chris's name on the botched quarter panel implying him to finish what he started. I left the car like that for a few days until he got cute and erased his name and wrote my name in place with an exclamation mark. The [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] hit the fan, and so began the downward spiral....

I'm also skeptical of these stories to but everything being said here sounds exactly like what I've heard over the years.
The partner that was let go or left about the Charger Medallion project is a member here and posted about the situation to if I remember right.

I believe he has a famous last name. I have a good nose for BS stories and so far not smelling it here.

They make nice driveshaft loops and frame connectors but wouldn't have them pinstripe my car.
Ron

Lots of folks say they are pros. I have in some cases seen guys in their garage to better work (professional level) than the professed pros. I also have in my experience found that some company's do very well at some items and not so with others. As in any business there are personalities that work well with one another and others not so. This is a lesson to all to be informed on what product or service we need done. We should have a understanding of the steps needed to ask the right questions so we get a product or service that is as we understood it to be for the money invested. Resources like this forum help us do just that. As in this post we have not just one negative comment but several from personal interaction to good purchasing experiences. I have not bought from this company and would not be afraid to if I was to purchase a product. However I would do more investigating if I was to consider any of their body services. One thing I have found to be true is the definition of metal finishing is wide and generally very miss communicated.