Mostly no...:lol:

That pretty much sums it up :thumbsup:

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

There are so many shops that do rob Peter to pay Paul. I've had my fair share of them.

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....

Just take a screen shot of it...bruh.

:D