So here's the synopsis:
There's multiple stories that unravel into one...take a deep breath...and you'll probably have to concentrate...
Anyways I've had the time of my life with my car this last month...
Even as long as this story is going to be, there are still stuff that I've left out...
This is in no way to bash anyone, just to explain THE month of my life and I really just need to vent.
Here goes:
So about a month ago, I ran my best pass to date...Took it down to freshen it up, because I thought it was lifting the heads...well...if you want more if this story, look under the search: "Some Irony since the 3.4 Crusher"...because this story is looooong enough by itself...
Anyways, this begins my story...
Right after the story with my engine begins this:
It's May 25 and it's my one year anniversary. My wife is already the coolest wife ever, after letting me spend the week putting my new engine together just to have it break the block in three dyno passes on our anniversary date (which we are suppose to be in Disneyland on that day) and still remains my wife must mean she really loves me...
While were at Disneyland I honor her wish to not talk about cars/business (as much) and to remain off the phone (as much as possible)...
A week prior I was talking to my customer (which became my friend and I am going to leave out his name out of respect) about finding someone really good to repaint my hood and front bumper (this was a week prior to anniversary week, roughly around the 20th) because it had alot of rock chips on it from the racing that I've done with this car in the past 5 years or so and I just wanted to freshen it up while I had the motor out. Well he had this brilliant idea, he wanted me to build his car (make it a 9 Second Full Weight Street Car on 91 Octane) but wanted to trade labor for labor and wanted to repaint my car, he said it was faded and he could redo my whole car and that he was really good. He insisted that I did my car because if he just repainted my hood or my front bumper, the paintjob would be SOOOOOOOOO superb over my factory paintjob that it would make everything else look terrible plus he said he could "pearl" in my "Voodoo Racing Innovations" into my door and fix the key mark (some one keyed my car 6 months after I bought my car).
I just had to buy the paint and when it comes time (while he's in Iraq) I get to build his motor in trade. I bought into it figuring he's a painter in the military, and his friends vouched for him so I figured I was in good hands. This car is pretty much for the most part the sole advertisement for my business. It shows my work, my pride, my love for Terminators/Modular Fords/ Racing and I have practically everything tied up in my car.
So I agreed, I said could you have it done in a week? He said probably two weeks because he has to come after work to do the car but it will be done well before he goes to Iraq for 7 months (which was on the 17th of June). As a matter of fact he said that we could also put my roll cage that I've been wanting to do for a while and put that in the car too!
I said "cool", I'm moving into my new house next month and into a newer larger shop next month so I'd like to have everything done by the 10th of June so it gives me time for my big move and my car would be done and worry free. He assured me it was possible however the problem was that he didn't have a paint booth.
Well, my painting knowledge goes as far as the VHT Flame-proof I used to touch up my headers...so I asked him, could he paint it in a RV Sized garage (Bay Door, Super Deep about 3 Cars-Door to door wide)?
He said he can...
Okay so...Back to Disney Land...I was already upset about the money I've torched over the last week and I wasn't much in the mood to get my car repainted but I kept it to myself. While I was at Disneyland with my wife, my friend and my employee Elton took my car apart. The new/old engine came out and practically everything exterior was stripped off my car. Door Panels, Moldings, Emblems, Trim, Front Bumper, Wing, Trunklid, Tailights, headlights, foglights etc...Then he went about sanding, and prepping the body for painting. Thankfully they didn't pull too much of my interior out.
When I came back I couldn't even recognize my car. I was scared to say the least...He assure me he was the man and that everything would be fine...So I bought alot of paint, about $1000 worth of PPG black, clear, and reducers, all this stuff that I have no idea what it does...
Well It was about June 1st when he was ready to paint, so he laid down a coat of primer and it came out good.
A few days later he started painting the base and that's when the problem started. There were what he described as "fish eyes" everywhere, and he said he's never dealt with it. They are pretty much little holes in the paint!
He called his supervisor and the supervisor said to use fisheye remover but he had to rescuff the whole entire car, and I needed to buy MORE PAINT! So he spent a few days doing that (around the 5th of June or so)...He used this Fish Eye Remover stuff and it works...so now it's around the 10th and I have to get ready to move into my new house and I'm already moving into my new shop plus this guy is leaving on the 17th so I'm stressing OUT BAD! He assures me there's plenty of time to get it done.
Thankfully after he rebases, most of it came out fine...except one part, the doors, long story short it needed to be rebased and he said he needed to get it done before he can reclear the car but he needed to start "clearing" within 24 hours before the base shrinks and sets (he had a problem with pearling in "Voodoo Racing"). So he takes the rest of the night and rebases the door and said he will come back the next night to "clear" it. Another Long Story short: Two Mornings Later I call him and I ask what the result was he said it was horrendous...I said you're kidding me right? He said "no". I went over to see my car and it had the worst Orange Peel I've ever seen in my life. It's already the 13th and my car looks like a total disaster. It looked so bad I didn't even take pictures of it. There were places he missed, and there were paint reactions (like it was bubbling up) everywhere...
So he spends another few nights scuffing it up (while I had to buy more Paint AGAIN) and shot "clear" on it again...Disaster still, it was still orange peeled and there were still parts he forgot to "clear"...he said there was nothing he could do about it (with 2 Water Filters and 2 Compressors T'd into one) because water was getting into the line and he missed spots because he couldn't see because the garage had poor lighting. The quality was not as bad as before though but still BAD compared to any decently painted car (like good factory paint)...He said it's fine and there is enough clear (4+ Coats) where he could colorsand and buff it.
Long story short AGAIN...by the evening of the 15th (I've already moved into my new shop and I'm in the process of moving into my new home) One of my doors and my rear quarterpanel was done. That's it...he said I'd have to take it to somebody to get it finished. He said he will pay for the colorsanding but I have to front the money until he has it...(not like it isn't a big enough month for my as it is...)Don't get me wrong, the part that was colorsanded looked good (so far)...but the car was incomplete...
Needless to say I was devastated, we got into a little argument and he tells me how hard he tried and he did his best and (I interpretted what he was saying) how much easier it is to build a 9 second street car than it is to paint a car black 2 times, and "Clear" it 2 times in over 2 weeks. I dunno maybe it is...but I don't paint either!
I'm not really a confrontational type of person when it comes to friends so it was really difficult to explain how much my car meant to me and how unhappy I was at him...I understood he did his best, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that his best wasn't good enough for my standards and that the quality of his work made me unhappy. I mean I was REALLY REALLY unhappy. I have a half finished car and I didn't know anyone else that would do a better job for me which is the reason why I never really wanted to paint my car in the first place!
(A few days ago, I find out that he only has a 7K budget and wanted me to do it with that! Needless to say, I was a bit insulted! His car needs everything: Engine, Tranny, Rear End etc...I explained to him that there isn't a way I could possibly do it for that and he seemed to semi-understand.)
I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't attempt to promise anyone of my customers something if I didn't think it was possible. I'm not a large business and my shop isn't huge by any standards and my only real advertisement is "word of mouth"so I can't afford to exaggerate or be over-zelous about things to my customers, plus it's not my character.
But being a man of my word, now I owe this guy a fully built motor for an unfinished product that I'm fully dissatisfied with that's SUPPOSE to represent my business etc. mean-while I'm still dealing with moving shops, moving into a new house, dealing with customers etc...I didn't know what to do anymore, I went home after work that night to my wife and...
So the next day I called up my good friend Dana Westover from Virtual Works and told him that I really f***ed up. From the sound of my voice, he thought something had happened between my wife and I. I said, "No, I went to a guy to paint my car that I shouldn't have...who can you refer to me?" He told me a guy named Chris which has a paint shop called Candyman Customs that painted his blue car was really good and he setup an appointment for me.
I met Chris, which was a real down to Earth guy and he told me everything the guy did wrong. He also said the guy seems decently skilled but doesn't have the neccessary experience to finish the job in different types of scenarios. He said with more experience he'd probably be okay, but at his skill level he couldn't tackle a job like this alone. Chris said that he would attempt to colorsand and buff it to see how it turned out.
3 Days later it was finished, it looked good for the most part, but there was a good bit of bad as well. There was solvent pops everywhere (little pin needle holes which are kind of like fish eyes but smaller), and he showed me places that the other guy forgot to "base" and clear. He told me if I was anything like Dana that my car like this would be unacceptable. He was right, he told me that he could start over and make it right...and that he does...
He called me the next day and asked what my budget was and if I trusted him.
I said I'm already a few grand into my car's paint already, I want it to be perfect and one of a kind. He then told me he was teaming up with Danny from "Devious Designs" and he wanted to make my car stand out a little bit more than just black. I felt alittle uneasy at first but I let them talk me into it.
I'm glad they did, four days later my car was sprayed:
Danny from Devious Designs
Chris from Candyman Customs
