A wise man once told me, "INSPECT WHAT YOU EXPECT". For every nine guys turning out great work there is always going to be one turning out pure unadulterated shit.
Besides being unsafe ,the chassis was just so damned ugly! The rust/paint finish was hard to understand on a car that looks so good on the surface.
Its the fear of crap likethat that leads to some of our countries having much tighter rego laws, that would not get anywhere near the road legally here in N.Z. and much as I hate buracratic crap in a case like this it all makes sense.
...scary.....thanks for posting, though ! As said, good thing this "hot rod chassie" didn't fall apart during driving in traffic, ... don't even dare to think about what could have happened to the driver and everyone else out there. tell your buddy to keep it up and get it fixed.......hopefully he didn't pay "too much" for the car so he can afford to do a proper build up. The rest of the car, looks great ! Hang in there and keep us posted. / primerkid
On that picture of the trans mount, are those the brake lines ZIP TIED to the ladder bars? You are a class act Reggie. Looking forward to getting to talk to you again. Thanks for the insight on this. jerry
I havent seen butcher work like that since the 50's on some circle track cars. No inspection back then and some cars never made it past a few laps. While you got that thing captive tell your friend to get rid of those 8CM heads and put on EAB's even if it has a Merc crank. The boost in CR will be very worthwhile. You can go with a .375 lift cam even with a .040 mill but clay to be sure if a cam is in it.
Hey Reggie how bout making all the pics available in a pm or something with your comments.Or making this a feature on the tech site?Sometimes a pic of why you shouldn't do something sinks in a lot better than than a" how to "ever will ,And I do think that this shop SHOULD be named !It is crystal clear that this shop needs to be CLOSED!This isn't just some sloppy tack welds under a 1/2 in of bondo in a fender this is peoples lives at stake here !I hope your friend is taking a full set of those pics to Whom ever is in control of liscencing shops where that work was done.I'm sure that he'll get closed and all his work will be called in for an inspection. Not only should your friend get a full refund of all money that they got paid ,but they should be paying for the new frame you are doing for him.How many folks are driving around with his shit under them and they don't know it!
...and this is why in some places it's illegal to modify a car at all. If people keep abusing their privilidge to do so in this country, sooner or later nobody will be allowed.
Thanks for taking the time out to show this kind of stuff. Amazing that your buddy had the self control not to jump in and go after gettnig his "finished" product. Mike
fortunately. Buzzards coupe runs early juice brakes. let me know if you need any help with that chassis--we have a nice straight jig that we can use to get it lined out--if it has to go that far. Hell you need to come by and let us see that smilin' face anyway!
Well...I would like to say that I'm guilty of ignorance here and there...Also the Greazies are guilty of ugly work here and there.... BUT DAMN! I've not really ever seen crap like you posted in person. Thats just not right.
Reggie, Thanks for bringing this up. When I had the '40, I was looking for a local shop to build it, as I didn't have spare time for the garage, and won't, for a few years (young 'uns, you know). E-mailed them a few times; and sounded ok on the phone, but something wasn't jiving. Now I know. At least the place is gone now. Sorry for the folks who lost their projects. The worst part, at least for central Texas shops, is that my deuce project and $ is going to MI, as I have full trust in their (Ionia Hot Rod Shop) work... The whole 'bad apple' thing, you know. I have WAY too much to lose if my car breaks in a bad way. -Tom
This shop was closed down after not paying rent. He moved to another place, started up again and was closed down for the same reason. Shortly after that is when the San Antonio TV station aired the story. I'm not sure where he is now.
Hey I recognize that car!!! Your freind is just lucky he has something to call a car still. Im willing to toss in some weld time if you need to help get that on the road for the Round-Up! PM me if your interested. You need to just roll that thing over to a Sand-blasting shop and let then completely strip the frame and start from scratch! All the pieces are there though so I should come back together pretty quick! Good Luck christian
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