I talk to TJ at least once a week and I look forward to driving around Columbus lost with them this year. They are truely great guy's and there work is pretty incredible.

and i love your new inner fenders. Now i just have to figure out a way to make them work on a Second gen Camaro.

Well thats easy... Send the car to bruning for some work!

LOL - Never thought of that.

An unbeleivable gesture to say the least! Awsome :bow:

have you guys ever thought of selling some inner fenders like the ones you have made? I love you work and I own a 71 cuda and would seriously consider buying some. Oh and some mini tubs too LOL

Bruining, I don't always go back and read after I post. There was no insult meant to you or the owner. The point I was trying to make is I have grown to understand that there are different levels of quality and they usually do go hand in hand with money. I never stated you were more expensive than the next as I have no idea what you charge.

The point is you are fortunate to have customers that allow you to perform such quality work on their car. The reality is there are tons of shop's on this board that will admit or not that they have pulled the trigger on a mig welder and who knows what the opposite side looks like? I agree 100% in doing the job to quality standards but there are guys on different budgets that want a nice job at the best quality that can buy. I do metal work and have the english wheel, power hammer, tig etc, etc but there is no way I am going to install a panel for the same price using either process. Guys plug weld spot welds where a pressure weld will blow it away but that doesn't mean the other is junk?

I am just not into bashing someone unless I know the entire story which I don't know here. That is why I think if someone is going to post a criticism thread they should post all the details. I agree the repairs look crappy and your work is what I would like to see. But again you don't want a 100 guys knocking on your door thinking they are getting that for $5000.00.

Again no insult meant and I enjoy your posts as I believe nobody is beyond learning something. The car looks incredible and glad it turned into the project that the owner always dreamed of. Nothing worse than getting 50% done and realizing you are in trouble.

you have got to incorporate this piece into the final build somehow, or better yet put it on a plaque to display at car shows:D

The car is in great hands now! Keep up the good work!

What if they could of done what the first shop did for $5k , or slightly more. Look at the fustration that this has caused. Well worth spending a few more bucks and getting quality work done right the first time. What you also have to put into the equation is that Tim has been at this a very long time. Work at one of the best restoration shops in the Pacific NW. What might take someone days to figure out and start tackling the job. He can get done in hours. Experience is a big factor in time savings which cut down the labor costs.

Damn I thought that was a single rolled panel in the earlier pics!!!! Nice work.

Where's the love!?! :lol:

These would be difficult to mass produce since the front end of Ned's car has a lot of "history" to say the least. From a cost perspective, you would be better off keeping the stock shape (upper radius/shock tower area) and replacing the flat section with a recessed panel.

Thanks for the reply Brian, and I fully agree with you on most of your points. My intention here wasn't to make this a criticism thread or a tig vs. mig thread. As I said before, each machine has its place - hence the reason we use both.

That said, there are so many crappy repairs done on this car that even the best body man couldn't hide... far beyond the mig vs tig debate. I try not to criticize work performed by other shops, but this is a special case. Ned would have been better off if no work was performed, but the shop ran off with his money. At least he wouldn't have had to pay for the time required to cut out and remove what was done, etc.

Oh, and I will keep waiting by the phone for those $5k phone calls... :lol:

Also,

A few people have asked about the step/recess/bead in Ned's inner fenders.

We have a Vibro Shear (similar to a Pullmax) which can be used for many different things, depending on the die set. Shrinking, stretching, louvers, shear, beads, channels, recess, edge turning, flanges, etc etc etc... Tim made the dies. Options are endless when it comes to replicating shapes, channels, etc.

http://www.garagescene.net/gallery2/...+Shear+001.JPG

http://www.garagescene.net/gallery2/...+Shear+002.JPG

http://www.garagescene.net/gallery2/...+Shear+003.JPG

The paint and pin striping were done by the previous owner... :wow:

Remember Bob - A.B.C - Always Be Closing... and Telling's not Selling.

Now continue on... :lol:

Ok so I won't be posting the pics of my shopdog hammer. He with the most tools wins!

Wanna sell dies? what size post? I know $5000.00

Brian

the magic number... :unibrow:

14mm.

The bottom line is that fixing all the crap work has cost me twice as much as it would have been to have a good shop do all the work from the beginning. Alot of labor has gone into just "undoing" stuff.

I made a huge mistake....and its costing me big time. Lesson learned.

TJ sent me some more update pix. The car actually saw the light of day for awhile when they moved the E-tikit car around.

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...terShow006.jpg


Some pix of the spoiler......
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...terShow008.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...terShow010.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...terShow013.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...terShow011.jpg

spoiler looks great!

Ned I finally got to see the photos. Looking great!

Spoiler all done..turned out awesome....
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates009-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates012-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates016-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates015-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates020-1.jpg

Next was getting the bumper to fit nice and tight and flow with the body of the car...as you can see, in original form it didnt fit very well

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates026-1.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates025-1.jpg


Lots of cutting. slicing and tweaking....once again. Tim's work is amazing...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...perday1007.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...perday1002.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...dates024-1.jpg

Now it fits perfect....nice and tight and it really flows with the car...amazing...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...perday1020.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...perday1018.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...abumper001.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...abumper002.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...abumper006.jpg

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...abumper007.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...valance012.jpg

I couldnt be happier with the bumper...it really fits perfect now.

Tim also mocked up the stance again.... I'm running the RMS front and Air Ride all around (just solid bars in place right now to make it a roller)...19's front 20's rear....... the stance is "so-so" at the Air Ride ride height.....but its not good enough....IT SITS TOO HIGH....so once some other stuff is done. Tim is going to mess with the mounts etc and get the car to sit lower and still have decent ground clearence....

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...updates007.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...updates008.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...updates009.jpg

Hopefuly we can get it to drop at least another inch at ride height and still have at least 4 inches ground clearence.... then when I drop the bags it will look awesome......

looking great! :hail:

Those are the big updates for now.....we're still messing with the lower rear valance design so hopefully Tim can finnish that up this week.... then mess with the stance and then I'm done for now, I wish I could have them do more, but I'm having to put some brakes on myself since I still need $$$ for the rest of the car :)

Looks good :thumbsup: :cheers:

Ned let me know if you need the valance TJ called about.

Looking good!

Man that looks SWEET!!! To bad metal rust because its a shame to cover up all that metal work. Looking forward to more pics.

Josh

ahh I just hope this is what I have in my mind when i fall asleep. Absolutley amazing work bruning has done.

Looks awesome. I think the ride height looks fine.
Rear bumper and spoiler look great.

What about the front bumper?

that thing looks sick! I agree the stance can come down a tad.

I agree the ride height looks "okay".....but it can be better....the stance is so important, I dont want to settle for "okay". It has to look bad ass at ride height and then absolutely sick when I drop it.

As for the front bumper....not sure. I wish I could have Tim do that one too, but its just not in the budget, The front bumper has a decent look to it already but I hate the end shape. I may try my hand at some mods and see how it goes. Nothing fancy...just re-shape the ends some...we'll see.... I may even get bold and try the Camaro bumper design like Sick Fish. Worst case is a destroy 2 camaro bumpers :)

So what is the actual ride height right now.

Just an FYI during the build of my truck. I bought another Sonoma GT and set the ride height at 5". Man it looked good - but boy did driving it suck. In my short 8 mile drive to work i would bottom the truck out at least a half dozen times. and let me tell you after a month the frame had so much road rash it was almost funny.

We moved the truck up to 6" and it made a huge difference. Scarry what and inch can do. ( please no comments here )

Marty - for clarification, where are you measuring ride height? The changes we're talking about making will not change the ground clearance under the engine/front cross members. An inch will do wonders... :_paranoid

The odd thing about the s10 is the engine crossmember & tranny crossmember are the two lowest points on a s10. But that is only by a 1/2".

So my measurements were:

crossmembers: 5"
Frame at front of cab: 5 1/2"
Frame at back of cab: 5 7/8"

Oddly enough many times i would actually hit the frame under the cab and not the engine crossmember.

The Syborg project is set at 5 3/4 front of cab & 6" back of cab ride height and will air down to just shy of 3" when parked.

Don't forget i'm tucking a 31" tall tire in the rear.

Oh you started with adding an inch
 

and now you are talking about "tucking" Does it never end with you. LOL

Car looks great and yes an inch can turn a perfect driver into a rubbing, scraping PITA to drive. Lowered my Camaro an inch in the rear...suspension bottomed on the frame rails, tires rubbed, etc. Put it back and all is well with the world. Sure did look cool that low though.

Lowest point on my car is 5.5 at the header flange, any lower and I could not get it on a trailer. You have air ride so you can jack it up to get over stuff and into driveways. Got to love air.

If you have the room another inch all the way around would be perfect. The rear spoiler and bumper are worth every penny spent.

great looking project. so nice to see mopars on this forum. you are so fortunate to have bruning auto work on your car. their work is art. i live in ripon which is next to manteca, and havent found anyone near by to work on my challenger.

Send it up to Bruning they love mopars. They take pills to stomach working on my camaro.

I would keep it the way it is for ride height. Your on air so your going to drop it when its parked anyways. The money spent on lowering it could be spent else where like front bumper, roll cage, etc

Very well said.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: