Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy old man
You have entered the "Body shop time zone " Oh ! The Horror !
I'm sure you've done your due diligence on your "spare time body man" BUT be very careful when placing your baby into someones hands and telling them your ok with 2-3 years time period for completion the energy expressed will wane as fast as the deposit is spent .
Here are a few things to consider before hiring a part time body man to build your truck and save yourself from what might possibly be your worst nightmare !
Have you seen actual finished / completed "perfect" work done by them ?
Have you talked to recent past customers who have "perfect" completed work ? That are happy with it ?
Do they have an actual adequate building for your project ? Working out of a 2 car garage at a rental house won't work .
Do they have the correct equipment ? A 25 gallon harbor freight air compressor and 80 amp baby mig can't do the job nor the $29.99 set of body hammers, Do they own a shrinking hammer ? A masking cart ?
Are there half finished other projects covered in months worth of bondo dust waiting to be worked on ?
Do you have a written contract with whats expected and when and the agreed upon price ? also when are partial payments to be made ? (their not going to work on your project for months let alone years waiting to get paid .
What quality supplies are being purchased ? who's supplying them ? and when ?
I could go on for hours about the horror stories of hiring "after hours workers " and not just body men .You know after working a full daytime shift at their real job and "bobby " has ball practice on Tuesdays and Saturdays and "sally" has gymnastics 3 nights a week and Mom wants everyone to go to the lake for the weekend , Well you get the picture .
I'm sure everything will be fine with your project these are just some things to consider for those who are looking for a "cheaper " way to get their project done without hiring a real shop to do the work in a timely fashion . I've had More than a few DOZEN of these after hour shops "projects" show up at my shop on a flatbed with the owner holding a police report and most where with lost/stolen parts and supplies and shoddy work where the owner ended up paying 2-3 times what it would have cost if they had considered having it done by a reputable shop in the first place . 
You have very little recourse hiring anyone without a business license /stable location /or written signed contract .The days of a handshake are gone ! |
^^^^Very sound advice above^^^^
I would like to add that (In my opinion) the very worse thing the OP could have done was say "I'm ok with a multi year project". One day will come when he "should be working on your truck but he tells himself, no worries, he doesn't want it back for years".
Second worse (not mentioned) is to give up front money. Why should you? What has he done so far? Nothing? that's how much he should be paid. Nothing.
Much better deal is to ask him "what materials will you be needing/using on my truck this next 30 days. You can give him that money. Set it up so at the end of each month he invoices you for how much work he has completed and how much materials used. Pay the invoice. Simple.
You give him money and it gets spent and the next thing you know he's looking at your project like a burden as he's already spent the money and owes you the labor. You effectively lost the carrot.
You only have the carrot and the stick at your disposal. Spell it out in a contract what where when and how much/nice you expect.
If you already handed over cash it's a recipe for failure. But, the thread wasn't opened until after the deal was made.
"ASK ALL OF US OLD GUYS HOW WE LEARNED THESE LESSONS" Yep. The hard way.
J.M.O.
