When someone calls me or comes over and asks me to do something, I look at it and tell them how much it will cost them. They usually leave. Another good answer is NO!. JC
All my blood relatives are dead or scattered to the winds.None of my in-laws are interested in cars and don't ask for help cause they are too fucking stupid to know when a car needs a repair."Hey,what's all these sparks and blue smoke coming from my front wheel? Do you think it's bad,it's only been doing that for 2 weeks,can you look at it?"
whats this got to do with TRADITIONAL rods and customs? been reading a whole lotta off topic stuff get closed that actually was decent and this still lives??? hmmmmm
When I first got married my wife's sister and her husband were just scraping by (or so I was told) I had gotten a call from them one cold January night there watter pump on there olds took a dump, and he had to be to work the next morning, (he was utterly clueless about cars),.... So I get my tools and a water pump and head over to change it in the parking lot of there mobile home park,..... we get there I tell my wife to go inside and stay warm and tell steve I was getting started. I get to taking everything apart, 45 minutes later no steve,... My anger is keeping me warm at this point, so I just finish the job,... and go into the trailer where they are all watching T.V. and eating pop corn,.... Steve said "the girls told me to go help you,.. but I told them I would only be in your way",... then he tries to give me a 5 dollar bill "For my trouble",... I told him it looks like you need it more than I do so, you just keep it. I never seen a fin disappear faster in my life !,... looked at my wife and said "Lets Go" Fast forward 2 years,... the night there son was born, I get a call,... steve just wrecked the Grand Prix and they don't have full coverage or the money to pay a body shop,... I was laid off at the time and money was tight,.... A few days later it was a HOT summers day, called in a couple favors and found a complete front clip for $250.00,.... I go to the junk yard and pull it myself and I paid for it with the understanding that steve was going to the bank to get the money to repay me, haul it to my other brother-in-laws house where the car was towed,... When I get there both of my sister-in-laws are there,.... but no brother-in-laws,... I start taking off the destroyed front clip,... just as it's loose here they come and there drunk,.... they sobered up fast when I made them help me pull off the old clip and lift the new clip into place,.... I get it lined up bolted up everything put back together,.. hand steve the bill and he just looks at me and says $250.00 !!! the paint don't even match !,....... I tell him thats the best deal in town and pay up !,.... Just before I totally loose my temper, my sister-in-law, while holding the new born says, they didn't have that much money, but they would pay me soon,.... (This was our food and electric bill money for the month). Well I only got back $50.00 of that money, but 2 months later that car had a new MACCO paint job on it,.... I told my wife "NEVER AGAIN!",.... a couple years later both sister-in-laws were divorced,... and a few years after that, they both found and married really great guys. Over the years for different reasons both of my wifes sisters have borrowed money that we will never see again, My wife was really upset about it for a while. then I said to her one day,... just forget the money and never bring it up again if you want a relationship with your sisters,.... Sometimes it just best to forgive someone and learn from the experience.
ive been in the position of helping inlaws without asking for any money.. than it comes one day where i could use their help and they cant seem to find their way to my place.. I forgive and forget..than again another time where they need my help..they find their way to my place..(amazing)..i help them. than another time where i could use their help..and they cant make it.. I than have a job where im glad to pay for their tallent (electrical) and i wait and wait and wait..never come ..so I do it myself..I get a call 2 days after im done and said inlaw wants to come do the job..I tell em hey I did it already..he's pissed cause he missed out on 600 bucks..( i waited for them over 2 months and he was out of work, layed off..too buisy pushing the couch around the living room i guess) lesson learned for me..the excuse they get from me from this point on...My shop is full, I cant fit your car in..im buisy with my kids school functions..and "I will not be home this weekend"..I put an end to my problems
If it was work that needed done...like the axle bearing I did for him,or the front suspension work that it needed for safety, or the other work the car actually needed....I didn't charge at all ....but for the bodywork and flame job I did charge him...(I pay over $1000 a month to have a place to play with cars and I do side work to help pay the rent) About 1/3 of what most customers would have paid. This really is a crappy post....guess I better get back in the shop and build me some traditional hot rods so I dont piss of the fucking new guys anymore! HaHa
After years of helping people, and getting nothing in return, I stopped helping "Friends/family because of the stress of it all. wife says I shouldn't be that way so... Helped wife's cousin do dream car, saved him over $3500.00 with parts discount, and NO CHARGE LABOR. didn't want to but wife said I'm to mean... so I tried it her way. 6 months later my wife wants to paint the living room, kitchen, and a hallway. cousin is a house painter, simplest job in the world, so call cousin. Need help painting house, OK $700 labor plus materials. what a douche.. painting these rooms is about the same as taking out the trash. I don't work on Friend/family cars anymore.....period, not even at full price, and do not give advice. Sadly, and not amazingly.... I now have alot less friends, and do not hear from family to much either..... life is less stressful however Wife doesn't ask me to help others after that one either
I spent 6 hours today helping my brother make some money on wood product I told him pay my fuel and thats it the second we finished the cash was in my hand along with a 12 pack of corona plus he showed me a 39 and a 50 plymouth and some studebaker pickups ,too far gone... I felt I was overpaid I know he will be there for me when i need him... some fools like me get lucky with famliy
If you can't fuck over you family and friends, who can you fuck over? I do not do work for family or friends, unless it's unpaid or compensated with food. It avoids me doing big jobs and running into situations like this.
This one hits close to home. A few years ago, my cousin (who I truly do enjoy seeing) and her hubby, visited for a couple weeks. My brother brought his hot rod up, and took hubby for a ride. The car's a pretty stout car, it doesn't just look fast, it IS fast. Hubby starts telling us how he wanted a chopper but my cousin put her foot down an denied it. But she might go for a hot rod. My brother had one too many beers, and volunteered that I had started a Model A sedan just like his a few years ago, but the project stalled, and I needed money for my Mustang. He also volunteered that if he bought it, "we" would help build it, after all, what's family for? He has tons of frequent flyer miles and agreed. I sold him the car for what I had in it, since family has always meant more to me than money, I do not make a profit from family. Anyway, a couple months later, he flew up as promised, money changed hands, we hauled it to my Dad's, and actually got the thing up on wheels within a few days of work. Then he went back, I did the sheetmetal for the floors, firewall and such. Installed the fenders, re-did some machine work on the brake brackets, Dad and I mounted the motor, and got the car mocked up. While this was going on, my car was not getting done, so I took a few months to finish it. Then he gets a girlfreind, he and my cousin get a divorce, he turns into a psycho. Now the car is in limbo at my Dad's, we stopped working on it, he can't finish it, my cousin can't afford to even buy the parts needed and it's taking up space. I cut him a killer deal on the car, did a ton of work for free and it's in the way. WTF?? When will I learn? I need to worry more about ME and less about people who live 1200 miles away. My brother wants to offer him some money and use the chassis for my Dad's old A coupe. Problem there is, he's a parapalegic and yet again, I would be doing the work, for free. So I'm not digging that scenario, either. I think I'm gonna pack my stuff and move to BFE in the middle of the nite someday soon.
I have a 30's cab which is really solid that I paid $850 for. I bought it to flip till my in-law wanted to buy it. I told him $1000 and he was pissed that I was making money off of him. I told him what profit? It took a 3 hr. drive each way to pick it up and $$$ for fuel. Needless to say next month it'll be a year and he only gave me $350 because I told him I was loading it up to bring to a swap meet. Although he did give me the option to bring my trailer over and load up a junk car and his scrap metal and subtract that from the selling price. WTF?
I sold my wife's brother a little car (87 Escort) that was ugly, but ran and drove great, just after he wrecked his then new LOADED Chevy cavalier. Think about it, base cavalier started around 8800, but this clown pays over 23,000 for his? Anyway, he gets drunk, wrecks it, and I help him do a voluntary repo on it to get out from under it. Anyway, he buys this little car that has a bad temp sending unit. Told him to buy a cheap set of gauges and I'll help him install them for nothing. Well, he winds up telling his mom and everyone who'll listen that this little car is overheating and he keeps having to pull over to let it cool down, and now it's making him late to work. However, he wouldn't bring it by to me to check out. Next, he trades it in, gets a loan from a hometown bank, and then falls behind on it. I'm only 36, and I've known the bank manager for 27 years - even dated his daughter - and he calls me and wants me to go repo the car for him. Well, I helped my brother-in-law get back on his feet - literally!
The Jalopy Journal
