Build thread

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:14

Any updates on the car? I need to see how this thing is doing soon.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:14

Assuming it's not coming along too well, based on this post he made in my build thread:

"I'm back in CS now but my car is a total mess, not even close to being finished, looks like someone backed into the front while the bumper was off because the bracket is mashed in, can't get leave, trying to find a place to live, haha. I'm about to start working on the car again, but I'll get on here and see if I can give you a hand when I get a chance."

Eric if you need any help, let me know. I'm not the most knowledgeable mechanic but I'll gladly lend a hand if it'll help get your car done.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:14

Yeah Corey was right, it wasn't finished when I got back. And even after I went straight to the shop from the airport, they STILL weren't working on it a few hours later (or even a few DAYS later) when they KNEW I was back and needed my car. I'm so sick of them BSing around. They already had the doors and fenders off and sanded, along with the body kit, but I had to flare one of the rear fenders myself, and I took the hatch off and Simon took off the rear bumper. ALSO, it looks like they backed into the front of it because the front bracing behind the bumper is all crunched in. Well, it WAS (it's still damaged actually), but it looks like they tried to pull it out with a chain and it crushed another part of it too. Supposedly Sean is gonna order a new piece and weld it into place, but he has yet to do that. ALSO, the powdercoat is already chipping off 3 of my wheels, so the guy is gonna take them back and redo them, but I think I'm gonna make sure he takes all 4 back to redo them and see if I can watch him to make sure he does them RIGHT this time. AND, my stereo was stolen too, and while it was being stolen they cosmetically damaged one of my gauges too.

I'm telling you guys, I'm so livid about this whole situation. I'll never have them do work for me again, friends or not. Regardless of whether they do a good job on the paint or not, they have forever tarnished their reputation in my eyes. Not that it was all that great to begin with, but I was willing to give them a chance anyway. Now I know that was a mistake. The only reason I left my car there was because Zico was there, then he took off for Hawaii. I'm certain if he had been there the whole time it would have been done by the time I got back, because I know he knows how I feel about my car because he feels the same about his.

They started doing some work to my car again tonight because I basically got onto them last night about it. I ground the paint off the rear fenders tonight myself so they could start applying bondo to smooth out the flares. They've been making every excuse known to man for why they don't have it done yet, and why they still weren't working on it. I've heard "man, these doors had to be sanded down and blocked 4 times", "it took about 80 hours on the front bumper alone", "we could have had your car done a long time ago (um YEAH?!), but if we'd done that we would have had a $30k car sitting here and something could have damaged it (to which I replied "I would have paid you and had someone come pick it up and put it somewhere safe"), "we're trying to get all the smaller jobs out first before we gangbang your car" (to which I replied "you won't accomplish that if you keep taking on smaller jobs like you are, you'll never get to my car"). I was told today that my doors, fenders, and body kit should be sprayed and ready by Monday or Tuesday if I remember right, and I guess the rest of the car will follow shortly after, I don't know. I'm sick of the excuses, I just want it done.

Thanks for the offer Dillon, but really all that's left at this point is getting these guys off their asses to do the work that I'm paying them for. And the part that kills me is that Sean is basically trying to get me to do the work myself. I mean, seriously??!!

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:14

WTF what shop is your car at?! Remind me not to take it there :lol:

What'd you use to flare the fenders? I want to do my fronts. I'm just hammering the lip for now but I don't think that will be enough with the size I want to run.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Sat May 23, 2009 9:14

Street Dreams Auto Salon is the shop. I used a fender roller (made by Eastwood) but it worked a lot better on the rear than the front. You have to really work with it to make it work though. It would be better if they had different rollers you could swap out, like a ball shaped one and stuff like that, instead of a regular roller, that way you could get different angles. There are some limitations to it, but AFAIK it's the only company that makes fender rollers.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:14

Sorry to here all this but it doesn't surprise me really.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:14

Yeah I should have known better. Sean left for Hawaii again yesterday. It's funny because I could have sworn the last estimated time of completion he gave me was before he left for Hawaii, and yet it's still sitting in his shop. The fenders aren't complete yet but the manager (Chris) is actually doing more work on it now than has been done in the last couple weeks, and WAY more than what has been done in the last 4 months. One of the fenders is almost complete and smoothed and everything, the other fender still needs to be done, and there is a bit more sanding to be done on the car before primer is laid. I've noticed that none of the door jambs or inner parts have been sanded or primered yet, even though the outer parts have been, which makes me wonder if they're not gonna do the jambs now. They haven't even touched the new mirrors yet either. It just seems like this whole project is taking longer than it should, even when they're jamming on it. Especially considering it was SUPPOSED to be done when I got back. It's really pissing me off, and what pisses me off the most is all the lame excuses as to why it wasn't completed on schedule. THEN they didn't even start working on it when they knew for a fact that I was back!!! Unbelieveable. I'm talking to the powdercoat guy today too about redoing my wheels.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:14

The car is finally finished. It would have been finished a couple days ago but I had to get it started and the battery was SUPER dead. But, I got it running last night and they wetsanded it, then I took it to a friend's house so he could buff it. I picked it up today at lunch and it's beautiful. There are several flaws with the paint, but considering how much it took for me to get it out of the shop, I'm not surprised. And I will NOT be taking anything back there. I did tell them I didn't care so much how the paint came out as long as most of the dents were gone, and I stand by that. But since it was such a hassle getting it finished, and the damage to the car and all the other crap, I hope they understand when I don't give them any more money. They still have to paint my gas door and headlight covers. The core support and bumper support on the front still needs to be replaced (I picked up the new piece from Mazda the other day, it just needs to be welded in), then I can put the front bumper on. I still have to assemble the interior and the seals for the doors and windows, and put the mirrors on. But I'm just so happy to have it back and it's running pretty well for sitting for 6 months. I'll post at least 1 pic either this afternoon or this weekend.

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:14

cool, any pics?

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:14

Hey that's good news! So are you bringing it to the meet this weekend then?

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:14

Zico and I are both gonna try to make it to Denver for the meet. We couldn't make it tonight because we were working on both cars. We'll be working all day tomorrow too. Here are some pics I took yesterday. There is a little more done, I've done some reassembly. And we pulled Zico's engine tonight.

*DarthRX8* · Postby ***DarthRX8*** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 9:14

HURRY! you have to bring your 7s to the meet!

That black looks amazing!!

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:14

Guess the car didn't make it, lol. Good to see you though.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:14

Black is such a great color for our cars

Looks great! Thanks again for bringing those hoses. I'm gonna check that out tonight.

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:14

RX-7 Chris wrote:Guess the car didn't make it, lol. Good to see you though.

Yeah what can you do, ya know? LOL Like I said, I don't think I'm meant to have my car there for that specific meet, it was down for the turbo swap last year IIRC. I'm damn sure gonna try for July 25th though, although my new turbo kit will probably be here and getting installed at that time hahaha. Good to see you too.

Ranger wrote:Black is such a great color for our cars Looks great! Thanks again for bringing those hoses. I'm gonna check that out tonight.

Thanks! No problem, let me know how it goes.

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