Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Good days and bad days
Good days and bad days. We take them as they come. I had a couple days here where things were all out of wack. I made an effort yesterday to get it all back into wack. I got the radio cranked up and got a set of frame rails ready for the next rod build. I like when the phone is off and the tunes are loud and no one bothers me. I was able to clear my head a bit and even remembered to take a few pix. as I worked. I got back on track with the shop and had another good few hours this morning. Maybe I'm due for a few more good days? Man, I hope so.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Satisfied customers
I spent a good portion of the day doing paperwork, running shop errands, and waiting for delivery guys to drag a washer and dryer across my recently new kitchen floor. They turned out to be real careful and went above and beyond my expectations. I was real pleased and now I can wash some clothes so I won't stink so bad. I thanked them for their efforts and bought them a coffee and a snack. That got me thinking about the way I do business. I always hope that I am giving the customer what they want while guiding them a bit if I think they get off track. In other words do they get their money's worth, and are they really happy in the end. Did I drag said washer across the floor or did I do right by them? So I made a follow up call, as I always do on bigger jobs, to check on the most recent big job to leave. I was pleased to hear the guy was happy with the car. He has been using it every chance he gets and says it has been flawless so far. I was very pleased to hear that. Will was a great customer through the time it took to build his car from the ground up. We started the 29 sedan with 2x4 box tubing and custom built the frame. Custom fabbed motor mounts for the Nailhead, custom trans. x-member to hold the Muncie 4 speed in place, and a one-off triangulated rear suspension with coil-overs to keep the 9" ford posie rear where it belongs. Then added a full tube sub-structure to sure up the body. Add in all the little extras like under dash swing pedals and custom headers, etc. It took a while to get it right and where he liked it. More work to be done in the future like a roof insert and body work. I am glad he likes it so much. And I'm thankful for customers like him who keep me in business. Thanks Will.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Class and Style
Ralph's '53 Buick Special is a long term project here. When we first got it and found out the engine needed a rebuild he was a bit disappointed and was about to go the Small-Block Chevy route to get it back on the road. I was able to convince him, quite easily, that was not the way to go if he wanted to have the class and style that the car deserved. Yes I have a Chevy in my hotrod but there was just no need to do that to this car. And if we did it would have lowered it's style rating big time. We found a good used replacement engine and now have it where it belongs. There's a lot to do on the car still and Ralph's a family man so there's a budget to keep under control. This will take a while as there are a lot of things on this car to tend to. The engine bay was cleaned up and given a spritz and we're about to start the rewiring. Point here is if you're gonna spend money on a car, it may as well be spent on something with class and style. An ideal that Ralph understands and more people to need to. More on Ralph's car in the future.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Had a pretty busy week here. My good friend Joe rode his bike into a ditch on the East Coast Gypsy Run a few weeks ago. He couldn't hang the turn and scraped the peg all the way in. He got a nice 4 day stay in the hospital. He was a bit upset about being down and his bike being hurtin' so a few good people chipped into the effort and we got some parts and got his bike back together. He's made a fast as hell recovery and is back on two wheels.