I took my car to a shop that another Hamb'r had used, and dropped her off to be subframed and bags installed (yeah...I know, bags are for groceries). 13 months later...I'm ready to pull my car out. Irritated and Frustrated. Now I am looking for a shop with an awesome Hamb'r reputation. Anybody want to work on my 1953 Cadillac Coupe? Car is in Florida, but may be willing to ship. I just need this thing finished! Any recommendations?
Who is that guy in the Miami area? Yaris, or something like that. He built that nice 50 Ford and has a shop down there somewhere. Super nice guy, met him at Billet Proof, and he seems to be a straight shooter. Don
That's why many of us do it ourselves or don't do it......Perhaps it's hot rod divine intervention telling you the stock suspension is ok...
creative customs in dania beach fl is an awesome place and do quality work. not cheap but haven't heard anything else bad about them. i have been to their shop and it is a neat old time wooden floored warehouse and they have a chassis dyno also
Last night, while watching one of the dumb custom car shows on TV, we were just talking about this subject. How a shop will take in a new project that "has a deadline to make for an auction or show" and there are a bunch of other customer's cars sitting in the background collecting dust. I would be really pissed if I had my car in a shop and saw it on TV with nothing happening to it, while the clowns build some more recent car. We read stories all the time on here about how some shop took in someone's car and a year or two later is is still sitting there. I had a very good friend who took my 23 and my Son's 23 bodies into his shop and he promised us they would be painted in 3 weeks. When I went back to check 3 weeks later they were still where we put them, with dust all over them. I went home, got my trailer, and took them to another shop who did it them in 10 days. It is totally unacceptable when a business does things like that, and we have to hold them to their promises or take the car somewhere else, even if they are friends. Don
Yaril Kustoms he is in Hialaeh. He is working on the restoration of the Gil Ayala T Bird right now for a guy in Europe so he must have a fairly decent reputation.
Seems like this sort of thing happens with any sort of industry you are in. I am from down under in Australia and had a similar thing happen to me. I ordered and payed for a cnc plasma table from a guy in Florida on March 13 this year. After many phone calls and emails asking to get it built and sent, he still let it take as long as possible. After being frustrated long enough I told him I would come over and see him in person and get the machine myself. After that I had a tracking number sent to me the next day. After previously organising a holiday to the US for the NSRA in Louisville I told him I would turn up anyway. He probably didn't think that someone would travel 26000 kms to get something. When I turned up he had someone else waiting with him which told me he was a little "worried" of what might happen. After explaining my situation he calmed down and told me everything I needed to know. I received my cutter 5 weeks after getting back from the US. 17th September 2014. Almost 6 months to do a 3 week job which was quoted at the start. Now when I email him I get a response very quickly and he does what I want without any hesitation. The moral of this story is the 1 or 2 bad people in a certain field makes it hard for the people who do the right thing when asked about how long a job should take. This is the "only" bad experience I have had from the US. Everyone else has been very quick with sending parts etc to me. I now have got my table built and now working through some "technical" issues. By the time I get everything sorted it may be up to 9 months. That leaves 3 months with my warranty on parts etc which doesn't leave me much time at all. Mtw fdu.
did you get your deposit back alot times these shops take your money and never do the job cause next thing you know they went out of buisness. Most of these shops fail tv makes it look like we cold all make a boat load of cash look at some of the shows and how over priced the work is that they do. maybe the cost are just for TV I dont know but do the work yourself or find a fellow car guy that wont mind giving you a few afternoons in return for some fun getting his hands dirty
Most want money down, which goes to their " Survival Fund " which quickly gets spent, then they have no incentive to get it done. At 7o yrs old, seen it happen so many times. Makes ya puke.
Yep. 72 tears I've seen it too many times, too. When I had my shop, I had an abundance of work dropped off with a 'promise to drop $$ off for materials, parts, etc'. Cars would sit there in 'free storage' for days...then they would get the registered letter. "Shit or get off the pot"... Storage would be charged from the time the car was dropped off, per the signed contract. (work order) I still had problems getting money out of these flakes, every excuse from "Company dividends checks late" to "insurance check overdue"... One time I had a Sheriff's deputy friend go to the guy's house and get storage money. The guy paid $440 cash (!) for storing his '40 Coupe at $25 a day. Then, he called me back when I had the tow company deliver his '40 to his house...He asked if I didn't want to work on his car now? So, sometimes it may go both ways. But when a deposit is left, the shop is bound by the contract to act in a 'timely' fashion.
Yeah, that is him. Thanks. His 50 Ford was really nice and we talked to him for a long time, a really nice guy. Here is his site, I would call him and see what he can do for you. I think he is a HAMB member too. http://yarilscustoms.com/ Don Here is his personal custom 50 Ford, really sweet.
Do Boys!!!!......gonna DO this and gonna DO that and don't DO shit! Everyone seems to have at least one bad luck story.....I sure DO!
I asked a friend to work on some of my projects and because he had recently been screwed over by some customers, we made a unique deal that worked well for both of us. He agreed to work on my stuff 8 to 12 hours per week without fail and I agreed to visit every week and pay for his time. I was free to provide parts or he'd provide them and I'd reimburse him at his cost. If I didn't show up and pay for 3 weeks, I agreed he was free to push my project outside and it would be my problem if it got stolen, vandalized or rusty. If he didn't work as promised, I could simply haul it away. By visiting every week and discussing the next week's work, there was never any miscommunication or lack of communication so everything turned out just the way I wanted it. And because he got paid every week, he was never on the hook for any real money. He did a lot of fab work on 3 projects and finish work on 1 and we never had any issues ---- because we both got what we wanted.
Moby's setup was how we did it in my shop for long term projects. Worked out great for both parties every time, kept the tab low so neither of us would get too nervous about the bill. Had a 49 F6 (I believe) pickup that took well over a year due to the amount of hand fabrication and the owner changing the direction every few months. He'd pay us weekly. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Talk to Joe Shulman at Graveyard Classics, in Hollywood, he works on a lot the big cars, Continentals, Caddys.
I set up a contract for each piece of work with a time line, if it's not acceptable I go somehere else. None of this drop it off and give us 5 grand and we'll let you know how far we get. If the shop can't bid work, I dont want to work with them. Paint and body is the toughest to bid so it's more difficult to stick to these rules. Paint and body I lay out what I want done and pay as I go, if I don't see progress each week I ask the shop owner if we're done. I also take pics and get an invoice every week with hours and materials. Weekly updates and payments prevents large discepancies on what the shop claims for the bill and what you owe. If a shop can't honor these terms I go elsewhere. I've seen too many guys drop off cars leave a few thousand and nothing happens, the shop claims storage and work and runs up a large bill, no terms are in place for the couple grand that was left. Pretty soon the shop can put a lein on the car and put in very few hours. I hire out very little vehicle work, when I do its clearly defined by written agreement with a max amount of cost change from the bid, over that I get a call, I never go into a blank check deal. I pay on time and pay often and we review the plan and bill every week.
nothing wrong with a shop taking a deposit to start the job but asking for large sums up front is usually a tale tale sign nothings gonna get done fast. deposit to pay for parts is smart on the side on the shop. i can tell you i've taken stuff in and had the "order the parts and get me a total and i'll get you a check right over" only to have that check not show up for weeks/months. then i've spent my money to sit on their parts because if you can't pay for the parts how am i to believe you WILL pay for my labor. i'll usually try and gather price on any parts i'll need the first week and a deposit of that amount plus 1 full day labor(at least then i got paid for 1 day if the customer is slack). in fl i'd say get up with Yaril. he's been a personal friend since before he had a shop and as said above is about as good a guy as you can ask for and does good work.....
oh and be prepared to be billed and pay weekly. thats the way it should be......... if the car is being worked on weekly be it 5 hrs or 40 that should be billed out at the end of the week for work to continue next week......
In the end I found a great guy, two hours away from me and every weekend sometimes every other depending on different things, I would drive to his place go over the bills and hours make my payment, and talk about where we were going next. He would always email me pictures so I was always on board with my car. If I build another car later on I would use Rob again (Rob Purcell).
I often see folks suggesting written agreement, but I have never seen and example of one posted in any of these threads. So here is an example of the one I drew up for a paint job not long ago. We both signed it and everything went just fine. Defined Scope of work. In general, Xxxxxxx’s Paint and Body Shop agrees to provide materials and labor for the preparation and painting of one 1972, Ford F100, Truck. It is agreed job quality will meet or exceed that of industry standard commonly referenced as “very good driver quality”. To include: Remove all emblems, side moldings, door handles and side mirrors. Remove front and rear bumpers and grill. Remove bed from truck frame to allow access to rear of cab and front of bed, Sand all surfaces allowing for a blemish free and adhering paint application. Remove rust where present, treat area to prevent recurrence and seem seal all joints. Apply appropriate primer and sealer. Coordinate with glass company to remove and replace windshield, windshield rubber seal and rubber seal around rear glass. (Cost of glass work and materials is not included in price). Areas to be painted are all outside surfaces, door rams from door seal out, inside of bed and underside of hood. Paint materials will be of high quality and base coat /clear coat type. If needed water-sanding will be utilized to achieve desired finish. All removed emblems, side moldings, door handles, mirrors, grill and bumpers will be reinstalled. All overspray is to be removed and truck washed for final inspection and turnover. Agreed price for the above scope of work is $x,x00.00. Estimated duration of project is four weeks. Three $x00.00 weekly draws will be made based on work progress. Final $x,000.00 payment due upon turnover. Xxxxxxx’s Paint and Body September 22, 201x Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
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