I have 3 cars in different shops and every one is in an abyss--- a black hole of promises unfulfilled ( dramatic enough ) . So I am now officially on suicide watch. There is no one who commits to s_____ anymore...
The track car is now at 3 months waiting for the carburetor Nazi ( you know who I mean) to ship the big ones that he demands the money for when you place the order.
Another project for body work that would "take a week" ...Waited about 5 months to get in and now at 2 more without progress.

Last car was simple engine bay paint that I mistakenly added a fender to improve ..."but don't even attempt unless you get perfect match"
"Call me when you get back from vacation I should be done" ( week and a half) one ...
I got back to ..."I'm leaving town for 1/2 week"...then this week ..."oh I missed the color" ) then " have to go in for outpatient surgery "......but I'l be back Monday ..........( yeah but wont be able to lift a gun to paint dumb ass)
Do I sound F-ing bitter ...No I' m on suicide watch I can't be bitter ...And my guess is we all get the same shit ! And we F ---ing tolerate it ..>Seriously we are pinheads and I am Prez of the club



Don't worry I am obviously too stupid to pull the trigger and there are no cars in the garage to take a midnight cruise to nowhere in.

Oh ..I forgot
Have a NICE DAY

Uhhhhh.....calm down now, it's all going to be OK.

(Caution: Hi-Jack ahead)

Besides, If anyone gets to go on suicide watch it should be....

My Six has been gone for 4 years and 3 months so far. I am going to be in a wheelchair soon enough and unable to drive it- according to my wife. Scotty has had it almost twice as long as I have. I bought it in Feb 2010 and it went to VA in May of 2012.

I am just bitching because I miss my Six. I know Scotty is doing all he can to get it moving along.

Sorry -back to your thread now.

One of the big reasons why the Big Box paint stores are seeing a raise in paint jobs on classic cars. The prices are right and they get the jobs done Fast.

Sure its not a 10/10ths car, but spending 1/2 you spend at a hot rod shop you can get a nice 8.5/10ths car pretty quick...

I feel for you, I deal with broken lead times all day long in my line of work (commercial distributor..) Its enough to pull your hair out...

Damn, we can do a Thelma and Louise together. Seriously, I'm in the same boat, but with only TWO cars.

We could start a support group?

This is why I drove my rust bucket for 6 years before taking it in to get the floor jack points and longs fixed- and when I finally did it was in at end of May and I took it home last weekend- 2 &1/2 months -
So don't they want to get paid?? I mean if I had a patient come it and it took me 6 months to make a diagnosis and I didn't get paid until I did I would not be able to pay my bills- no wonder so many places go under! Do you pay before the work before its done and then it sits? Most shops here have a lot of turn over - I just don't see how they stay in business if you don't do the work- I'm in South Carolina too- I took the car to Connecticut to get done this summer- if you need mechanic work bring it down to Beaufort and have Bob Woodman work on it he will get it running and it won't sit for ever. Ask Billh1963 how long it took George over ther to rebuild his / 6! They charge but it gets done and on to the next project. Don't leave your car where it's not getting done!
Yes I'd say you are to blame for your problem, somewhat at least. So get your cars and take them where it will get it done and done right!
Contact me or bill if you want info on local shoots in the state that will do the work - not let it sit for 6 months. N
But it won't be cheap- you do get what you pay for .....

In the world of old sports car works, you can have it
- cheap
- quick
- done right

You pick which one.

Lets go get it!

I'm working on Dad's car but its not a reliable runner. The ABM needs a motor pull for an alt and a dist. and I have no money.

I can help with that.
Get a 3rd car and send it over to for, let's say, detailing.

Now seriously, I have a couple of heads at a shop for 3 years now. I think I'm writing them off.

I actually have a very strict rule. No more than one 914 can be at a shop I own at any time. Now screwing up my own 914 I can do at any time but do less frequently over the years. I have been there with the marathon work done by shops. MY LE restore was a classic example. I had issues with every phase. Guy I had paint it took over a year & my 5k paint job at the time was not even close to worth 5k. My engine rebuild that I had a close friend do. Took about that same year but I wasn't riding him about it to much. Once I put it all together I had so many issues trying to get it running. I had no luck & took it to a local shop that was recommended to me. I was disgusted with the LE at that point & just glad to not look at it. Guy had it over year & left it outside in the rain constantly. Didn't realize how much until later & I found rust in my freshly painted car. Rear trunk & my floor pans. I finally went & picked up my car in worse shape than when I dropped it off. Towed it down to McMark & he had it sorted & running like champ in 3 days. Long story short

Find a good shop you can trust & pay them. Won't be cheap but will be when you take all things into consideration. Taking it to a regular shop is going to take them all longer as they need to figure out what the hell is wrong with your 914. They have no clue how to do it & really don't care. Even if there shop rate is half what the shop that knows 914's. You'll end up paying more as they will take so much longer. The trick is finding that shop. Then hoping they don't move back east or some shit (Damn it Mark )

You need to get the shop to sign a contract. Have them give you an estimated time of completion. For every day they are late, you subtract $100 from the bill. Having said that, how many shops would sign a contract like that.

...remember my "offer" during our Sunday morning conversation????

PS: What SA is not sharing is this is a "light" schedule...he usually has 4-5 projects going on - things are actually getting better!

Also: If you do pull the _ _ _ _ _ _ _; let Becky know about the early door (please).

T

HI my name is _______ and I am a (enter you illness here) --coholic !
I feel the love guys .......
Notice my good friend ( Cracker) is ready to "help" ( and I could be driven to go that way...because the battle makes the 'hobby" to cease being fun )

Frankly , I "get" the long term restoration builds taking time ...because unless you are paying BIG $$$$ a guy can't make a living doing those...and I am most irritated with carburetor NAZI ( thanks Seinfeld ) because he wants $$ up front which should mean shipping should be a couple of weeks.
Had ( and still have, a really good and reasonable) body guy who once said "you can have it FAST, GOOD, or CHEAP ....but not all three.

I feel so much better now after our " meeting"....lets drink !
Oh that was last night !

One of the best things about doing all of your own work is that you can only blame yourself.

Mark at Original Customs has done a lot of work for me at different times. He always finished the work within the time frame he quoted. Also the work was outstanding. .

Of course he's in Michigan, but better to have a car hauled to someone who's going to do it right and on time, then to go through the frustration.

The biggest mistake I made when first flaring my 914 was relying on a local body guy to do the work. When I finally pulled the plug and took it to another "body shop" I ended up with the same situation. Finally took the car to Tony at TC design and he sorted it all out.

What I learned was if you buy body parts from someone that publishes perfect finished pictures and swears that all the body parts fit easily, take it to him and say I want the car to look just like your published pictures, i.e., in all aspects like fasteners done right and such. In my situation it would have been worth a trip to AZ to get it done.

Over a year to get my engine done. The line ahead of me was so long. We need more kids to get into automotive work and not just playing video games.

At the rate we're going in schools these days with shop classes (aka - alternative learning programs) being eliminated, I doubt that will happen any time in our lifetimes.

This is why I try to do everything I can myself.

The stuff I can't do I have friendly relationships with mechanics, upholsterers, and autobody shops for over 30-40 years, most of which are fellow car club members. I don't ask for a price, I don't bust their balls to get it done fast. End result? I get it done reasonably priced and in a timely fashion. If you are a PIA, it will work against you in every aspect of the project.

Just my experience. Being a nice guy pays you back in spades.

I hope everything works out. It will eventually.

Dave

I am in the collision repair industry (35 years) and work for PPG paints. The average age of a collision tech is almost 50!!! Very few younger people are coming in. Even fewer are the types who are willing to or have the technique to work on our older stuff.

Sorry x2 post

Same in my country,poor turnaround time even with insurance work,lots of promises and smiles they appear to be good at that.
My last Audi was 6 weeks to get minor work done,they couldn't get it started so they jumped it without protection and fried the CCM ,they admitted the fact and quess who payed me ,worse thing is the owner and I had been friends for 20yrs .
My current Audi was very badly damaged in a mall accident,not my fault but did I complain, no,went all around town asking all people I know the best company and they all came back with the same answer.
Went to this repairer we talked and he knew these cars,parts arrived and car was repaired in 14 working days to a very high standard as I told them I was fussy RIGHT from the start.
One revisit for a few small items and car is good as new taking into account this was a 10K repair,oh and by the way the clever guys there are all older (45- 55yrs old) the young guys do the wet sanding/buffing and not much else.
Restoration work is just the same as you guys have to put up with,you get a good price from a good shop but become an in between job ,they get more work and you become a ''must get round to that job'' customer.....