|
Glad to see it's getting finished! Thanks for the comedy hour
|
Quote:
Like-like-like :thumbsup: I couldn't agree more. |
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:
|
Fantastic !!!!!!!
|
Awesome!
|
So the First Annual Defied Death Match at Thunderhill went off without too many hitches --- and we all had a blast!! Ron Schwarz - Rob Dickey - Dave Gordon - Scott Siegmund - Bob Braga... and Ron Sutton.... Paul and Mike also showed up and hung around for most of the day!! Good to see EVERYONE!!!
Then Charley calls and we discuss moving the 40 down to the shop in TexASS --- I had a Rotary Lift scheduled for installation on Tuesday -- so that got done - drove to Charley's and picked up the trailer and off I went..... to Winnemucca NV for the night -- then from there to Loveland CO where I am now. That's 819 miles with an empty trailer in 40 and 50 MPH gusting winds.... I think I wore the front tires out keeping the POS of the road. Tomorrow I'll load up and head south.... By the time I get all done this will be about 5,300 miles of trailer trucking. God I love living life!! Seriously! Life is such a "trip".... <see what I did there?> Oh -- I almost forgot -- the Lotus was dropped off at Charley's == Reliable will pick it up when they drop off HellFire -- and take it down to SW's in Austin and we'll see if he can't make it find a new home. It's been a great back up track car! Totally hassle free! Runs and drive so dang well -- but the new little trackside shed just doesn't need three cars in it... and with the lift installed -- that was even more evident. BUH BYE! |
Reliable is picking up that POS today. I'm not sure I like GW having a shop so close. He keeps showing up.
|
Can't say thanks enough for the invite Greg, that was a hoot. A track to ourselves with 5 cars to race around, and 3 of them were cool .LOL
Driving a Lotus, a couple Mustangs, and even a Miata, around a new track, what more could a car guy ask for. Racing, wrenching, eating, and of course drinking with really good friends is what life is all about. I've met Ron Sutton before, had no idea what a goof he is. Tagging Dave with a new bumper sticker for his ride home was priceless. Adventures like that, melt away the stresses of everyday life. The only problem is sooner or later we have go back to work. Thanks again Greg. As always, nice pic Scott https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/PW/i...6V0A5347-L.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/PW/i...95212057-L.jpg |
Quote:
https://s20.postimg.org/p946lpwkd/IMG_3566.jpg |
Glad to see everything going well Greg!
|
Quote:
I deleted your number -- Remember in the movie "Pretty Woman" where she answers the phone and he admonishes her for answering it?? Yeah == that scene... LOL |
Quote:
I couldn't have had more fun!! A very special time for sure! We ARE going to do it again! |
Hey you big trucker, I'm going to assume ewe lost service yesterday and that you didn't actually hang up on me....either way, sounds like you're making it happen and it was nice catching up.
Just a reminder...:ttiwop: Keep on keepin on! No bad days! ps, they let me out of the psych ward :fluffy: |
Quote:
Pits were a little crowded https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Thun..._110518-X2.jpg If that was GW's helmet the 'car' would look even smaller! :D https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Thun...V0A5277-X2.jpg .........and clill called the Lotus a POS :rolleyes: https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/Thun...MG_9817-XL.jpg The cars are great but its the people that make it special. :thumbsup: |
That's not the pic you guys sent me. There were more pointed fingers involved.
|
Quote:
|
I can have a blower belt on that Mustang in 2.8 minutes, but I can throw the belt in 2.8 seconds.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Yes ---- I did hang up on you.... next time call with something interesting. LOL I've just spent 3 days driving from Nor Cal --- thru Wyoming - Colorado - NW Texas.... Cell service should not include the word "service". Even with my new Verizon service (switched from AT&T after 15 + years) "service" was less than stellar in TexASS..... |
So back on track <see what I did there?>....... We'll defer to the OP reason for this thread. Something about a '40 Ford Pickup build.....
I pulled the build from Pinkee's Rod Shop... for no other reason than I'd like to try to get it done before I die. I love Eric - the shop does fantastic work - but I no longer have the luxury of infinite time. I might live to be 100 -- or the stents in my liver could plug up tomorrow (or today!).... and I'm on the GREG WELD time table now. That means CHOP CHOP GET IT DONE! Left the smiling douchebags in California - and headed to Loveland Colorado with an empty trailer (in 40 and 50 MPH gusting winds!! OMG)..... and loaded up the poor old '40..... and headed off to Georgetown Texas... got here yesterday and unloaded. http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/IMG_0067.jpg http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/IMG_0066.jpg http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/IMG_0069.jpg |
Adrienne is currently working under Chef John Carver at RED ASH in downtown Austin. They're opening another new "concept" restaurant - with a completely new menu in a couple weeks - and then she'll move there and be the Sous Chef. I have to tell you -- I ate at Red Ash last night.... and it was OMG good! So you guys in Austin.... bring your appetite and wallet - and do it.
By the way --- the LOTUS was shipped from Charley's to SW's in Austin.... maybe he (SW) can make it go away. I just don't have room for 3 track cars in my new little space at Thunderhill.... It's a FANTASTIC car... but old yeller is the one that cranks my heartrate up... Gwen and I will be flying back here for Gwen's birthday (undisclosed number) and maybe the grand opening of the new restaurant... and a trip out to Custom Hot Rods of Andice to come up with a plan for the 40 after they do some assessment. |
Quote:
For those that don't know names and faces..... this is THE TEXT TRAIN (AKA: Bozos - except Sutton is NOT part of that because he has an actual life). From Left to right looking at the photo (the other left, dumbass.... LOL) Rob Dickey (FETornio) - Dave Gordon - Ron Schwarz - Bob Braga - Payton King (sitting).... other side of table in back - Scott Siegmund - Ron Sutton (hat) and Fat Ass Dead Guy. |
I lost 1 belt and figured it was when engine was stuttering at the rev limiter so I shifted below the rev limiter and never lost another belt. Then I look at the pic of the bozos and see what happened.:lmao:
|
Quote:
I only drove it once on my last session of the day to verify over-heating was due to low coolant. Never threw a belt, though I doubt I took it over 5.2k and didn't miss a shift. It does have a bit more power than the Miata. One thing about Team Bozo....... they were fast at belt changes. :D |
Nice to have some faces to go with the names. It looks like it was a good time!
|
Quote:
It's no different than the other car I bought from you... it'll be fine after a complete rebuild. LOL I managed to drive it just fine without tossing the belt. Dave couldn't even get out to hot pit before he tossed one.... however it is a dumb issue that shouldn't happen. |
That white car and I did have a love/hate relationship, every time I left in it I ended up wrenching on it. Really nice car, just needs a day or two of sorting. Trying to road race while never taking your eyes off the tach, was harder then I thought it would be. Funny when you purposely try to baby something, and not run it hard, you almost can't drive it.
Old Yeller on the other hand, was like being home. Much like my Mustang, its a hammer. You take it out of the box, beat the crap out of it for as long as you want, and put it away til the next time. That was the best mancation ever. |
Quote:
:flag2: :cheers: |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
And then there were 7..... |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Pinkee's may eventually figure out a couple reasons for why they lost this project....
#1 - When you provide detailed billings, and every single item - page after page of work items - they're all "magically" 10 hours per item.... Funny.... Some of these guys must think the customer was born last night. I've personally done ALL of the work to build a car - many times over - in the last 40 years.... and have had 3 high end cars professionally built. No work - ever - takes exactly 10 hours. End of story. I don't care what the explanation could be. ****** Just so people understand***** a builder is never BILLING ME..... they are always working off of a cash deposit that is paid IN ADVANCE -- usually 20 to 25 grand at a time (more if the project is just getting started - so they can order stuff and have it ready to go). I understand the needs of small business... cash is king... I expect my projects to become "important" to the builder. I'm the kind of customer any shop should want to have. I understand the process... I know exactly what I want to have built.... and I pay up front. What more is there a guy could do? #2 - Once again billing issues.... Funny that all the "freight" items are in even dollars. Never a $197.65 --- nope! $200..... Not a $10.95..... that turns into a $20 Well of course it did. LOL #3 - All that metalwork -- and there's still patch panels left to do in the cab area? WTF.... That seems real efficient - floors are out - firewall is out - corners of the cab are cut and replaced.... and the cab is mounted on the chassis - fenders mounted - doors mounted - hood mounted - bed mounted - and there's still holes in the cab..... YEAH NO! Just stupid. I've learned a few things when dealing with these shops.... #1 -- when you become suspicious or just plain unhappy with the work - or the speed of the project etc -- MOVE IT!! I should have pulled the Frisbee '32 project about 2 months after starting it. I disliked the guy and his shop manager from the start - not pulling it was a big mistake. The best builder in the universe so far? Brizio. They tell you "about" what the job is going to be - they were so close..... Quote was "$250 to $275+ depending on all the choices" - actual $283. Car was virtually perfection. There were many upgrades that weren't included in the initial cost discussions (which were broad brush stroke discussions). The car was finished in MONTHS (18ish) not years..... I didn't have him build this truck - because I didn't want a "300k" daily driver pickup truck. Pinkees labor rate is $50 an hour - Roy's is $105 - (one is in expensive SF bay area - one is in Colorado)..... when you just factor the hours to build stuff like this ----- 1500 ish ----- that labor rate is a big swing factor. But I've said it here before, many times. If the "expensive guy" bills you one hour for something and the "cheap guy" bills you 4 or 5 hours for the same thing.... now who is "expensive"? I remember looking at the labor billing for the exhaust system on the '33 (Brizio)... it was $800 TOTAL.... I've paid that and more for "exhaust shop" work on normal cars! Pinkees billing might have looked more like -- 10 hours for exhaust tips -- 10 hours for cutting exhaust -- 10 hours for welding exhaust tips -- 10 hours for mounting exhaust -- 10 hours for removing and checking exhaust clearances..... :BlahBlah: :BlahBlah: :BlahBlah: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :bang: :bang: :bang: We'll see how this next shop does. So far - the conversations with the shop foreman have been spot on! The ideas of what should be done from here - right on the money. We'll see if performance is on par with the "talk". After building these cars all my life - I'm pretty hard to BS. The work "flow" --- What it takes -- yeah.... I understand all that really well. The talk and the fact - that's where we get down to the nitty gritty. :lol: :lol: :lol: |
I think it was 2012 at Russo and Steele that I spent 3-4 days babysitting a Corvette we were selling which was parked next to Pinkee's Mustang they were selling at the same auction. The car was fantastic, and the couple that was there representing it seemed nice enough as well.
There was something very "used car salesmanish" about the vibe I got anytime any interested parties stopped by to look at the car though and they seemed put off by those that came by just to look vs those that were there looking to buy something. Most car people LIKE talking about the cars they've built with just about anyone that is interested...potential buyer or not. Not so much with these guys. Hope the new shop does you well Greg. It continues to amaze me how many horror stories I hear from people having cars built by shops. The car my friend had built here in KC recently was just a measly $100k build...yet the shop still did just about everything wrong on the car and took 3 times as long as they said it would to get the poor job done. They used 100% flex lines used for the brakes, not a hard line ANYWHERE...just one example. This supposedly by one of the best hot rod shops in this area too... |
Explanation for Pinkee's billing method???
|
Jeezus. Not again. Sorry GW.
A friend of mine was discussing hotrod stuff with me the other day and asked if I had been by so-and-so "shop"... I had never heard of them. He asked about three or four other "shops" in my area... Never heard of them either. He said they were all full of cars, projects in various stages of build. None getting finished. I really don't see how people survive trying to get their dream car built. Jeff- |
It's really unfortunate to hear this. I bill for what gets done in a day, not a completed part. Every employee has a detailed log book and I convert those notes to billable time. My guys work over 8 hrs a day plus lunch and no breaks. There are no cell phones allowed in the shop and everyone keeps very busy. I never bill 8 hrs, because I do not believe anyone is 100 percent efficient. I typically bill 6 hrs for every 8 that my top guys do. Less for less efficient guys, but the quality is what remains my utmost desire and what we deliver. Also all work in my shop is scheduled, meaning that if it is in the shop its being worked on everyday till it leaves. My track record speaks for itself as do my customers. This is where we came up with the #wedontstorecars and we stand by it. We bill every two weeks, and only take deposits for parts we need to buy. We have enough capital and we are debt free we don't live off deposits. Nor do we rob Peter to pay Paul. Its just never works long term. I hope your truck is on the right path and you can be driving it soon.
Thom SaltWorks Fab Sarasota, Fl |
Quote:
|
I cant figure out how to post IG here, but @CHRAtexas just posted pics of a certain frame section of a "41" pick-up....looks nice, very nice....
|
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:
:D |
| All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:06 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2026, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright Lateral-g.net