PCA Tech Session at John Esposito's
 

no further comment - please delete the posting

Lol!

Wonder if there will be a class on the "icing a cake" technique for applying body filler?!?! :D

please delete posting

I see pitchforks and torches. This is ill-timed.

Bbq & bs
 

I will book a plane ticket for this event when the real date is announced.

this should be interesting - would love to see the sparks fly at this event.

is the car with all the bondo still sitting in the lot? Wonder how they explain that

whomever goes, perhaps I will, needs to ask to see this car. It will obviously be the elephant in the room. I'm wondering what someone like myself would have thought about the works in progress at his shop without 67's revelation? I'm still perplexed as to whether everyone else is just that dumb/gullible/ill-experienced and/or things just rapidly declined this year in that shop

Yep, the king of starting you at $40k and milking it from there. I have seen some nice cars that he has done. But like everything else, they get too greedy

please delete posting

I can't believe they charge for a tech session? Ours are always free and informative.

We have one at my friends shop and one year we showed a poor restoration that you want to run from. Interestingly the car was pulled from this shop and the owner was treated so poorly it was disgraceful the work done shameful and the price charged ludicrous.

Are you referring to John Esposito's shop?

Seriously?
 

Why is Pelican entertaining a bash session against John Esposito? This is completely not cool.

The true story: John's pathological customer Chad wouldn't pay him to completely reconstruct a car that was supposedly some famous race car, when it's in fact it is a nothing sandwich. This Chad guy is a complete idiot and a jerk and he's trying to demonize and cast John, as something he's not, to cover for his foolish moronic purchase.

Pelican get your act together and don't host this sort of nonsense. Please delete all those inane derogatory comments. This is not the place for that BS. It's not like your platform is twitter. It's a place to support the Porsche community not host the defamation of character of of the very skilled owner of an excellent shop.

For those people out there who don't like body filler, don't involve yourself in the restoration of old cars, cause it comes with the territory.

Are you John EspositoSmileWavy

I have no dog in this fight, but seriously Leety (with two posts)????Bondo is a necessary and welcome tool to smooth and even out a car and should be done as a skim coat. It is not designed to be a structural mud that you sculpt cars from. I don't care what shape that car was in when John got it, for the dollars that Chad has in it, it should be done and pretty nicely so...The shear DEPTH of the bondo all over that car is just appalling, and there is no way to justify it, other than shoddy workmanship. The welding looks like my first day welding. I know John has done some amazing work in the past, but this is some ugly stuff, plain and simple..Even if Chad is a lying toolbox, he wrote some serious checks, and absolutely did not get anywhere near the value..

lol, 2 posts and this is what you have to say? come on now! The other thread gave ample chance & benefit of a doubt to the shop to state their case & still nothing was cleared up, therefore i wouldn't buy a stick of gum from this shop..you probably caused the owner of the car many sleepless nights & agony with what you did to him...

The shop may have been a great shop at one time, however it seems they went dark side & milking all they can from unsuspecting customers!

What a gas!

So was sculpting most of the car in thick filler (not to mention the amateur welding, etc) John's way of getting back at Chad for being a "jerk" ("Hey, I'll show this guy!")?

You sir have no idea how the internet works.

+1
You beat me to it. This guy is either John or a buddy of his.

Some might argue that by posting about Esposito they are supporting the community by outing a “bad” body shop or shoddy business practices in much the same way that the community outed Motor Meister and eventually brought that place to an end. In this case, maybe these types of things have been going on for years but Chad is the first person to speak out publicly.

The bottom line is that this forum exists, the internet never forgets, and trial by public opinion happens. The point of whether or not you agree or approve is moot.

I'm still waiting for the explanation of the 1/2" thick bondo and booger welds on a $50k+ resto for which the customer ALREADY PAID FOR.

None of the JE camp have answered that. It's a really, really simple question.

There’s also a 4 poster on the other thread. Had to have been put up to it. This is exactly why yelp filters out reviews from new members

I have 4 times your post count but I would not expect that to factor into your reply to this post? :confused:

Is it true your many negative comments are based on NO real first person business history or personal history with JE?

Have you talked with Chad about your body shop finishing the restoration on this 911?

Your Yelp review should include a disclaimer that....
You have no history of business or personal experiences at JE and your obvious conflict of interest as a competitor and owner of a near by body shop.

Ethically its laughable, can you imagine a negative yelp review on your body shop from
the Earl Scheib body shop around the corner? :D

Like yourself I have no personal involvement with this 67 restoration.
Bummed Chad and John both are not happy.
After the dust settles this is just between JE and Chad, nothing here matters.

Many here have known JE for years so we shared some positive JE experiences based on years of first person real events. :):)

Wait are you insinuating that I’ve left Esposito’s a negative yelp review? No I certainly have not discussed finishing Chads car. I’ve never even met the guy. We shared two brief pms one thanking me for “getting it” ie understanding his situation and dilemma. and the other was me asking about a local meet up that I saw mention of. I have very clearly stated that I am two years backlogged and have zero interest or ability to gain any business from this. There is no conflict of interest as I have never lost nor gained a customer to or from JE nor will I ever. My post was just to point out that 2 guys popped up out of nowhere coincidentally after the field trip to johns shop to defend him. Not sure whether they are real, not sure if they were asked to come on here or what. Just doesn’t seem genuine even if it is. Regarding me having personal experience no I do not but a metal crafter that I entrust wholeheartedly has seen another car that was pulled from JE’s and told me all about it, not to mention pictures speak a thousand words. A judge will also not have ever had his porsche restored by John and will be able to make a judgement

Sir? No I'm not John, not a relative, nor am I a sir. This is a pile of bull**** and I'll call it when I see it. I'm a customer and have been to countless shops and seen scads of work over the course of my life and John's work and his work ethic is excellent!!! This Chad dude, your pal, is a complete duche bag. That is all. He bought a car he thought was something special, decided to invest too much into it without confirming the validity of his assumption, turns out the car is a nothing sandwich and he's an idiot. But if you jackholes want to stand behind your douchy pal Chad be my guest. I know John and his work, as a customer, and he's not the problem here.

If your boy Chad paid for it, why would there be a lien sale on the car? Or did your boy forget to tell you that part of the story?

You will not find 1/2" thick body filler on that car or any car John does. That is a fable.

Do you even know what you are looking at?
 

This is in process, not finished work. Are you kidding me?

You may be right about that, this bodywork is in fact a work in process, except according to the customer he was told the car was "ready for paint". So which is it? Ready for paint, or did he pay $50,000 to get a car that wasn't yet ready for paint?

---Adam

I can attest to the fact that works in process aren’t supposed to look like that. What about where Chad ground down the primered area adjacent to the deck lid and revealed 1/2” of filler? Are you telling me that area and every other was going to be ground back down to the metal, re-worked, and then re-primered? Come on.

people, we have no facts!

just a bunch of bickering and armchair quarterbacking.

it's getting old...

The customer is both and idiot a sucker and a spinmaster liar, obviously. Anyone who brings a clapped out 911 to a restoration shop that wouldn't be worth restoring, unless it had some kind of historical racing cachet, but he never did his homework to determine if that back story was even true. That makes your boy Chad a fool and sucker and he's trying to make John pay for his pure stupidity. What a perfect ass.

He purchased a pile of rusted scrap metal, called it a famous race car, spent way too much money on it, and he's making someone else, their business and that man's family pay for his mistake. It's that simple. And that is jacked up.

I'm a actual customer of Johns are you?

Oh yea I have some nice swamp land in Florida for your boy Chad.

Chad is not "my boy", never met the man, but all we have to go off of is his word since the restorer has only made one post about the situation and didn't provide any real info.
Don't know John either, but none of that has anything to do with what we are talking about here. The story we have is Chad paid John over $50,000 and was told his car was ready for paint, the pictures we were shown show a car that is far from "ready to paint". No one has provided an alternate story farther than bringing up the reputation of John and his previous work, that looks top notch. But neither his former/current customers/supporters have provided any info on this car and this situation, so bringing up his reputation and his previous work only goes so far. If someone knows the "other side" of the story, please share it with us here. John said on S registry
"we have nothing to hide. As has always been the case, my number is posted and it's my personal cell phone. I welcome any calls, and again- invite anyone to attend who may have questions."
If that's the case, how about someone that knows him, get him to tell his side of the story and they can rely it here, or he can. But as of yet, no one has told the "other side".

But I do want to hear more about the car and it's history, Chad has not shown any pictures of the car before, nor has he elaborated on the history or lack thereof. If that has a bearing on the situation and he is asking for everyone's support and advice, we should have the full story if it's relevant.

This is a lame ass witch hunt spun up by a moron (Chad) who has his little messengers propagating non-facts and his altered and spun reality, in an effort to destroy someone's reputation and business to compensate for his foolish mistake. There is no history of bad reviews on this shop. There are reviews and history on pretty much everything these days. Do the math people.

So those pictures of a car with more padding than a Kardashian don't fairly represent the vehicle?

Got any that do?

Because without a counter argument the OP is way ahead in the proof-of-work stakes.

Without another side of the story, what are people supposed to think? This is easy to clear up, John or someone who knows should tell us what happened. How hard is that? If Chad is such a lying moron this should be incredibly easy to clear up. Except we have 24 pages of one side of the story and people talking about that one side.

---Adam

The Chad story is a lie. The witch hunt is baseless. The lawyers have the real story and John and Chad. The story being propagated by Chad is a false narrative. You people seem to be happy to run with that.

I'm 3rd generation Porsche and a customer of Johns becuase I know what I'm looking at. I have over half a century of exposure to all things Porsche. I've been working on cars since before I could drive. Today I'm working on my 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins diesel 4x4 with a 6 speed manual transmission, becuase you have to have something proper to tow your Porsche with. Hell I even know about Tatras do you? The number of posts I have made is completely irrelevant but attacks on character seem to be the theme of this thread.

Check your moral compass man!!!

You are funny.

You call someone a moron but then whine about ad hom attacks.

And wtf does I'm working on my truck tell us? That you are a customer of a wildly expensive restoration guru but can't afford to have a mechanic fix your clapped out hooptie. Something doesn't add up.

Their lawyers have advised them not to engage in this thread. But for real ya'll have a hair pin trigger on a witch hunt with no facts. Chad's good at manipulating people, apparently.

It's not that difficult, since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed working on my own vehicles.

And what does that add to this discussion?
I'll wager more then 50% of people on here work on their cars.