Looking to buy a General Lee? STAY AWAY FROM BK AUTO!! It's almost over!!!

[skip68]

Thanks hemi.  If you were to bondo a car (and I'm sure you wouldn't) like they did, What would it cost ballpark for that kind of job?  I know it takes time to sand and alot of bondo. 

[hemi-hampton]

$5k

[skip68]

You've got to be kidding me.     $5k could pay for bondo and time sanding and block sanding?       Man oh man oh man.     Thanks hemi.     Chuck............

[hemi-hampton]

Who said anything about block sanding. Blocking with 150 & a long Air File is the fast low budget way. Is $5k to much or not enough

[bogus]

JB -

I just found this thread... it was posted over on my site...

Wow is about all I can say. I am sorry to hear about this. I hope they fess up and do the right thing. Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

Infact, it seems pretty stupid, or, worse, criminally unethical.

I hope the resolution is fair. From what I have read, they owe you a chunk...

The comment that $20k was in body prep... that means, even at $25 an hour, that's 800 man-hours of labour... oh, yea, right... It wasn't even close. 800 man-hours should have made that uni-body PERFECT.

Either he is a crook, or all of his employees are crooks...

I will monitor this thread. I really hope it gets sorted to your benefit.

[skip68]

I just didn't know what it would take for a shop to make a car look good and was wondering.  I figured it was cheaper to bondo a car but thought it would still cost quite a bit.    Forgive me as I'm not to sharp on body work.   This just gives more of an idea of what it takes for us non-body guys.    Thanks again hemi.  

[joflaig]

jb666, my only guess is that this Brian was a bit ignorant and naive about the same sort of things that you were. And it seemed like when he dumped the car on you he probably knew there were more problems than he let on, but maybe was also somewhat uniformed to the true extent of the problems.

Still, if he advertised the car in an email like that and sent it to you and what you got is what we now see, well you could sue his ass off with a good lawyer. That email is short on real details, but certainly written to evoke an emotional reaction in the right person.

One real problem in this mess is that you started work re-doing the car instead of trying to return it as is.

[jb666]

JB -

I just found this thread... it was posted over on my site...

Wow is about all I can say. I am sorry to hear about this. I hope they fess up and do the right thing. Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

Infact, it seems pretty stupid, or, worse, criminally unethical.

I hope the resolution is fair. From what I have read, they owe you a chunk...

The comment that $20k was in body prep... that means, even at $25 an hour, that's 800 man-hours of labour... oh, yea, right... It wasn't even close. 800 man-hours should have made that uni-body PERFECT.

Either he is a crook, or all of his employees are crooks...

I will monitor this thread. I really hope it gets sorted to your benefit.

Andy!! I knew Jonny had posted the link over there, and I'm glad he did.. I wanted the word to be passed around as many place as possible..

I agree with everything you are saying..

joflaig -- You are right. I don't deny my ignorance in this situation. I bought this car with my blinders on and believed everything I was told.. I was the dream buyer. 

as for returning it -- It was a 12 hour one way trip. Even if it was 45 minutes away I probably wouldn't have returned it.. I'd rather just dig in and get to work.

[skip68]

That is a great point joflaig.    You would think that Brian would be doing everything he could to help Jeff so that Jeff doesn't come after him.     If it were me, I would be scared that Jeff is going to come after me.  

[General_01]

 

[68charger383]

JB -

I just found this thread... it was posted over on my site...

Chargers are such rust buckets......

Hey, I just caught that comment     

[472 R/T SE]

Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

I'm guessing you've restored a few Chargers to be able to make this statement? 

[WingCharger]

Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

I'm guessing you've restored a few Chargers to be able to make this statement? 

He's a Corvette dude. I can say that Corvette's are defiantly bad handling cars too.  

[skip68]

Welcome to the site bogus.    I'm thinking that you ment that Chargers rust easy when you called them rust buckets?    Chuck..............

[bogus]

JB -

I just found this thread... it was posted over on my site...

Wow is about all I can say. I am sorry to hear about this. I hope they fess up and do the right thing. Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

Infact, it seems pretty stupid, or, worse, criminally unethical.

I hope the resolution is fair. From what I have read, they owe you a chunk...

The comment that $20k was in body prep... that means, even at $25 an hour, that's 800 man-hours of labour... oh, yea, right... It wasn't even close. 800 man-hours should have made that uni-body PERFECT.

Either he is a crook, or all of his employees are crooks...

I will monitor this thread. I really hope it gets sorted to your benefit.

Andy!! I knew Jonny had posted the link over there, and I'm glad he did.. I wanted the word to be passed around as many place as possible..

I agree with everything you are saying..

joflaig -- You are right. I don't deny my ignorance in this situation. I bought this car with my blinders on and believed everything I was told.. I was the dream buyer. 

as for returning it -- It was a 12 hour one way trip. Even if it was 45 minutes away I probably wouldn't have returned it.. I'd rather just dig in and get to work.

Hey, Jeff...

Yea... Johnny ratted you out. The word of this needs to be spread. There is no question.

No matter what, you were sucked in by the red mist... it's when someone goes blind during a transaction of this kind.

But at the same time, he has no right to commit this level of fraud. And if his people did it, they deserve to be fired. No questions asked. If they are all in cohoots, it's even worse... that's conspiracy. If I was involved, I would consider filing criminal charges. If they get away with this on a civil level only, it won't scare them enough.

[bogus]

Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

I'm guessing you've restored a few Chargers to be able to make this statement? 

I am from the mid-atlantic... Mopars rusted on quiet days. I have seen enough of those late 60s, early 70s unibodies to establish a bit of a trend analysis.

Never said they handled badly. Like most late 60s muscle cars, they were better in a straight line. But put some sticky tires on them, the torsion bar front end actually worked very nicely. For a nearly 4000 lb car, with drum brakes and little real knowledge (or desire, I suppose), they were one of the best of their era.

For that matter, 60's Corvettes didn't handle either! Short of a Ferrari or Porsche, not much handled in those days... let's be honest...

My brother had a 68 Charger. 318, 4bbl, auto, A/C, It was yellow... black vinyl top and interior. That's why I chose the avatar I did. It was a good car until someone had a heart attack and plowed into him. Did I mention he bought this car new in 1968? The image of that shape will always be associated to him. It is much like the P-51 Mustang... my dad serviced them during WWII, it was his favourite plane. The P-51 is my favourite plane. The Charger is my favourite Mopar. I saw his when I was 3 YO! And I will never forget how perfect it looked. One day, I will get one... and deal with the rust correctly.

[jb666]

Chargers are such rust buckets, but for them to do all they did, but still ignore the needs seems very short sighted.

I'm guessing you've restored a few Chargers to be able to make this statement? 

I am from the mid-atlantic... Mopars rusted on quiet days. I have seen enough of those late 60s, early 70s unibodies to establish a bit of a trend analysis.

Never said they handled badly. Like most late 60s muscle cars, they were better in a straight line. But put some sticky tires on them, the torsion bar front end actually worked very nicely. For a nearly 4000 lb car, with drum brakes and little real knowledge (or desire, I suppose), they were one of the best of their era.

For that matter, 60's Corvettes didn't handle either! Short of a Ferrari or Porsche, not much handled in those days... let's be honest...

My brother had a 68 Charger. 318, 4bbl, auto, A/C, It was yellow... black vinyl top and interior. That's why I chose the avatar I did. It was a good car until someone had a heart attack and plowed into him. Did I mention he bought this car new in 1968? The image of that shape will always be associated to him. It is much like the P-51 Mustang... my dad serviced them during WWII, it was his favourite plane. The P-51 is my favourite plane. The Charger is my favourite Mopar. I saw his when I was 3 YO! And I will never forget how perfect it looked. One day, I will get one... and deal with the rust correctly.

Andy -- This entire situation just completely knocked me over.. You can imagine our surprise to watch the frame rails chip away when tapping them with a hammer.. All because they were smoothed out/painted to make them look good... 

It makes the days that I'd stop by to see my Z06 teardown progress look like child's play..That was NOTHING compared to this..

But, don't fear, this car will be just as nice by the time it's done.. You know that!!

[Brian Lohnes]

We're baaaaccccckkkk....

http://www.freiburgersjunkyard.com/blog/Update-1-The-Hack-Job-General-Lee.html


Brian

[jb666]

We're baaaaccccckkkk....

http://www.freiburgersjunkyard.com/blog/Update-1-The-Hack-Job-General-Lee.html


Brian

Oh man! GREAT job, Brian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This had me cracking up!!

Just about the only thing not FUBAR about this Mopar was the badge. We even double checked to make sure the spelling was correct.



The funny part is the hood has matching underhood rot holes that were painted over, so that's off to be turned into a Coke can, too.

I can honestly say that NOTHING will be overlooked this time around..

[General_01]

Good article. Nice pics of the butchery and the way it is being fixed. Nice work by the crew at Tube Chassis Designz.

[68coronetGLwannabe]

Wish I had one ounce of that welding talent!  Car is looking good. Hope it all works out well for you in the end! 

[teamroth]

You know what's funny? I swore I saw on BK's website, where they replaced the rear quarters. I'm sure they've used the same photos over and agian, many times!

[jb666]

You know what's funny? I swore I saw on BK's website, where they replaced the rear quarters. I'm sure they've used the same photos over and agian, many times!

Well, they referenced that in the email they originally sent Brian that it "looked like the rear quarters had to be changed", but later on they said they were fine and didn't need to be swapped.. 

[jb666]

Wish I had one ounce of that welding talent!  Car is looking good. Hope it all works out well for you in the end! 

Yeah, and I wish the guys that were working for BK had that amount of talent.. We might not be here.

If you could run your finger along this weld you'd see what I mean, but it's almost flush with the body, requiring VERY LITTLE body work.

[Ghoste]

Where did they find the original overpriced rolling shell, the bottom of a salt mine?