Interior, Waiting for someone else to work

Browniepetersen
Browniepetersen Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
This is the part of the restoration that I hate. Waiting for someone to do the work that I can not do. In this case it is the interior. The gentleman doing the work is great!!!! Slow, but Great!!! He has done a few cars for me so I understand the process. The car has been in the shop three weeks and he is "planning." We used to say at work that there is no lost time in planning? I stopped by yesterday and the work has started. One front seat is done, the second about half. He gave me two long bent rods and some dark material and told me to go home and hand stitch it. Well, I guess I can do that. His time frame is: seats--one week, door panels-- two/three weeks, carpet--one week and the headliner and above the belt line a week give or take... Looks like the 4th of july is out. As soon as there are some photo's to post I'll add them....

Comments

  • dougson
    dougson Senior Contributor
    Couldn't agree more. I dropped my engine off in September ('09) for rebuild. Block is still on the floor. I started looking for an installer of the front and rear glass in September ('09), lot's of "call you back", but no takers, Finally found a guy early this month and they're in. I fortunately have a good interior guy, but he's good and everybody wants him, so yes, it takes a long time.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    My '37 took THREE different upholstery people a full year to do! This was with ME providing the seat material. First guy gets the car, has it for a month, and does NOTHING on it. I was hoping to have the car at the '05 Nats in Reno...fat chance! I take just the seats to a second person, who was working in/for a local Chapter member's resto shop. She had the seats eight weeks before a stitch was made. She hemmed and hawwed for another six weeks. I actually had to stand in her shop and watch as she did the damn seats, or she would've had them sitting another month! Other things came up that took seemingly forever to find another sticher. I take the car to a third guy, who was doing the headliner, door panels, carpeting, and interior trim. He was quite a bit faster, but again, the car was down for over a month. From start to finish, the upholstery saga lasted eleven months! I can only assume that upholsterers are independently wealthy, because the ones around here really don't care if they work on your stuff or not!



    I'm not impressed any more by most upholsterers, or their promises.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    66patrick66 wrote:
    My '37 took THREE different upholstery people a full year to do! This was with ME providing the seat material. First guy gets the car, has it for a month, and does NOTHING on it. I was hoping to have the car at the '05 Nats in Reno...fat chance! I take just the seats to a second person, who was working in/for a local Chapter member's resto shop. She had the seats eight weeks before a stitch was made. She hemmed and hawwed for another six weeks. I actually had to stand in her shop and watch as she did the damn seats, or she would've had them sitting another month! Other things came up that took seemingly forever to find another sticher. I take the car to a third guy, who was doing the headliner, door panels, carpeting, and interior trim. He was quite a bit faster, but again, the car was down for over a month. From start to finish, the upholstery saga lasted eleven months! I can only assume that upholsterers are independently wealthy, because the ones around here really don't care if they work on your stuff or not!

    I'm not impressed any more by most upholsterers, or their promises.

    Sounds like I need to go into the upholstery business . . .
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    I started doing bodywork in a collision shop when I was 18.

    We were always looking for someone who could do good quality interior work and turn it around fast.

    Seems like nothing has changed much in the last 30 years ;)

    Of course there's many horrific stories with bodyman as well - but interior guys seem to be even worse :D
  • duncan
    duncan Expert Adviser
    I have been waiting for three years for our nephew to do the interior on our 54 hirnet hollywood . I have worked as much as I can on his farm to aqumulate as many hours as I could to put towards the labour Last winter I asked him if it would be done and he said the paying customer comes first.

    that realy hurt as I thought helping get the crop of isnt important. any coments. duncan:confused:
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Duncan , your nephew needs a kick in the butt , or something . You paid in advance by helping him and I allways thought the guy that was there when you needed him came first . Think I would retire from farming . ---BUD
  • kamzack
    kamzack Senior Contributor
    dougson wrote:
    Couldn't agree more. I dropped my engine off in September ('09) for rebuild. Block is still on the floor. I started looking for an installer of the front and rear glass in September ('09), lot's of "call you back", but no takers, Finally found a guy early this month and they're in. I fortunately have a good interior guy, but he's good and everybody wants him, so yes, it takes a long time.
    My 254 has been in the machine shop almost 5 years now. All the parts are there, I've paid chash and barter, scuze me, he did deck the block and install guides and hardened seats, but that was last fall. What burns me is, he has a 66 Nova he been workin on right steady. I don't get it. I don't want to wizz him off, he's the best there is. "What a revolting developement this is" Riley used to say. (William Bendix, Life OF Riley, remember?). Oh well,

    Kim
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Well guys , patience is a worthy trait , but YEARS waiting on work to be done ? Every time I see somebody in a situation like that they end up getting had pretty bad . I never expect or ask to go to the top of the list , but I do expect to be put on an "in the door" list and move up every time one moves out . If not I move out , real fast . BUD
  • onerare39
    onerare39 Expert Adviser, Member
    A friend had his buddy paint his Hudson Jet, it took the guy ten years to complete it... one year out of the shop and the paint is falling off in sheets.



    PS, well put Bud
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    It's inexcusable for a shop to have parts, or an entire car, in a shop for over a year, much less TEN years! Shops that engage in this kind of nonsense should do everyone a favor and close their doors.



    With the time they spend creating all the excuses they come up with for NOT doing work, they could actually HAVE the work done and out the door.
  • Kdancy
    Kdancy Senior Contributor
    kamzack wrote:
    My 254 has been in the machine shop almost 5 years now. All the parts are there, I've paid chash and barter, scuze me, he did deck the block and install guides and hardened seats, but that was last fall. What burns me is, he has a 66 Nova he been workin on right steady. I don't get it. I don't want to wizz him off, he's the best there is. "What a revolting developement this is" Riley used to say. (William Bendix, Life OF Riley, remember?). Oh well,

    Kim



    Kim, wizz him off or not, the 8 may never get done if you don't start calling him every week. 5 + years is a long time. My machinist turns my work out fairly quickly. He has now done the needed machine work on 4 engines for me and I do the assembly myself. He has learned what type of work I require.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Kim, go in that shop and get your engine. Do it today. Ask him for the bill for work performed FIRST, pay it and have him help you load the parts up. After that, tell him that five years is absolute crap and don't go back. You have let him blow you off without any worries on his part, so this is as much on you as it is him. When you go and get your parts, he knows you won't be back, and he probably won't care, but you'll have your stuff. So what about his feelings! Stand up and retrieve what is YOURS!
  • brumac
    brumac Expert Adviser
    My tale of woe!



    My 308 was in the machine shop since last Oct, for 7 months, three months after I started pushing the guy. I finally brought it home to do the assembly and found the valve guide distance from the top of the block were all over the place, with the intakes being upside down. Valve seats were ground but not correctly, #4 cam bearing only pressed in part way, the oil hole was open to the atmosphere, wrist pin bushings had at least 2 times the spec clearence! The only items that appeared correct was the bores, block cleaning, decking and head milling. There were many things to be done that were not!

    It is now at a well established shop and I should have it back in a week or two. The first shop owner told me that I pushed him and doesn't want to see me again! Well, you know my answer to that. Hopefully, all will be well soon and we will be able to attend a few shows and participate in some wine tours here in the NY State Finger Lakes Region.



    Brumac

    HETbrumac@peoplepc.com drop the HET
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    brumac wrote:
    My tale of woe!



    My 308 was in the machine shop since last Oct, for 7 months, three months after I started pushing the guy. I finally brought it home to do the assembly and found the valve guide distance from the top of the block were all over the place, with the intakes being upside down. Valve seats were ground but not correctly, #4 cam bearing only pressed in part way, the oil hole was open to the atmosphere, wrist pin bushings had at least 2 times the spec clearence! The only items that appeared correct was the bores, block cleaning, decking and head milling. There were many things to be done that were not!

    It is now at a well established shop and I should have it back in a week or two. The first shop owner told me that I pushed him and doesn't want to see me again! Well, you know my answer to that. Hopefully, all will be well soon and we will be able to attend a few shows and participate in some wine tours here in the NY State Finger Lakes Region.



    Brumac

    HETbrumac@peoplepc.com drop the HET
    Better have the new shop check his work VERY carefully , and especially the bore for high low spots . Been in the same mess on poor work lately , REAL NIGHTMARE
    BUD
  • essexcoupe3131
    essexcoupe3131 Senior Contributor
    My coupe is in the upholsterers as I type, has been there 2 weeks and had a look last week to sign off on the design hes putting into the front seat and the rear, no longer a 3 kid seat in the back but only to now, hes talking about being finished in the next 2 or so weeks



    Mike



    PS I hope i don't talk too soon

    Mike
  • Browniepetersen
    Browniepetersen Senior Contributor
    OK, I vented (I hope my interior guy does not read the forum) on the last day of May and last Monday I dropped by and half of the front seat was finished. I took a photo and seem to have lost it in the exchange/transfer of photos from my digital camera to my file? I came back to the shop today and nothing more had been completed. He has a day job and told me he had been busy. He also said that he was going to take all next week off work (his day job) and should finish up a lot by then. He tells me that he will have it out before mid July.... I LOVE THE GAME.....



    OK new photo-- I went back today and took the photo that I lost trying to transfer it to my thumb drive. I know that it does not look like any seat that you have ever seen in a 1936 Hudson, but I assure you that it is just like the original that Coachcraft built....
This discussion has been closed.

Categories

In this Discussion