Hiring a car builder (BK, Patrick, Smith brothers, HPLAG, Danny)

[chargerkid01]

hey trav why don't you sell another nice charger down in chargerland and quite hording them all 

[69charger2002]

im down to 8 how many more you want me to sell??? lol
trav

[TeeWJay426]

I must say that the common denominator with guys getting screwed by these shady builders is a long distance relationship and insufficient monitoring in person of the work in progress. How else could HLPAG or BK still be in business? Too many folks are willing to shell out too much money without really checking on what their getting for it. Hoe many cars would HLPAG actually sell if a potential buyer showed up to see what they were really getting BEFORE they wrote the check? Far less than what they have managed to dump so far, I guarantee that. I personally couldn't justify shelling out 40+K for anything without being 100% sure of what I was getting for it. Anybody that is willing to do otherwise is asking to be taken, IMO.

[chargerkid01]

Do you still have one of the white ones in your picture that are up front? I'll take one!! lol I don't know what it is about a white charger I love them though. Or maybe even the General. 

[69charger2002]

yep kept both the white ones, one of the white ones is now blue it is a 440 4 speed dana 60 car. the general is in england now.
thanks for the compliments. sorry for the hijacked thread!
trav

[chargerkid01]

yes I agree sorry for the hijack I'll have to start a thread now so I can knock trav out for painting that charger blue!! just a joke trav maybe!! As for car builders Frank Rogers of Richmond, Ohio treated me well and I will give his number to anyone who is interested!!

[451-74Charger]

I have a guy in England that worked on my last car with me.
He is Very old school and does everything by hand, including bending forming etc.
However he is slooooooow
Took 2 years just to refit 2 arch extensions and 2 fenders on a Chevette HSR
All work was done in a cow shed (Cows were in the field while we worked on the car), but I will say his skills are fantastic.
Pity i moved 3000 miles from him.

[d/ur/t]

Do you still have one of the white ones in your picture that are up front? I'll take one!! lol I don't know what it is about a white charger I love them though. Or maybe even the General. 

Got to love white chargers hey.

I have to say deep down most restorers know what they are doing.You don't accidently do a crap job either you run out of mo jo or you run out of back bone.Then for some reason once they decide they are running of either they seem to double dip buy adding hours not spent on the car.

At the end of the day you want what you paid for. 

cheers

[chargerkid01]

ok I'll restate my statement I like 2nd generation white chargers!! 68 69 70, although that is a sharp charger and I will admit I've never seen one like that give some info!!

[68charger383]

Here's one up for sale that looks pretty nice.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,55264.0.html

[chargerkid01]

yaeh I know it is a little out of my price range right now I'd love to have another charger!!

[paul jacobs]

If your considering hiring a car builder, for all or part of your build, the best line of defense is to research the shop.  Ask for references and inspect the shop if you can.   Inspect their work with a fine tooth comb! If the shop your considering isn't clean & organized then move on. Personally my shop is spotless-mopped floors and all.  Heated in winter, air conditioned in the summer.  Every bolt/nut and clip has it's place.  I have areas of work-rearend tables, frontend tables etc. with all rebuild parts right there-along with any specialized tools needed for that job.  A paint booth is here just for components.  Racks with customer parts labeled and boxed.  Everything has it's place.
Our body & paint shop, run by my business partner Troy Angelly, is the same way-it's totally seperate from the assembly & resto shop.  All metal work is done in one area, filler/primer work in another & paint all by itself.  There are nothing but classic mopars there-no collision work whatsoever!  This body shop gets cleaned up everyday before closing!
I don't agree that you shouldn't choose someone far away as long as their policy is to send lots of pictures and document everything to the ninth degree.  The best shops in the country probably are not going to be close. 
My customers have an open invitation to stop by my shop anytime they wish.  It is not too much to ask for 100% when someone is paying you hard-earned money to restore their car.  I had a customer with a driveline vibration that creeped up after about 100 miles.  I personally drove 1400 miles to pick it up and bring it back to my shop and find the problem, all on my coin.  That doesn't make me special-it should be everyones philosophy-go the extra mile to make the customer happy and do the right thing.  And remember-it's cheaper to do it right than to do it twice, just ask anyone who has had to do it.  Good luck to all.

[d/ur/t]

ok I'll restate my statement I like 2nd generation white chargers!! 68 69 70, although that is a sharp charger and I will admit I've never seen one like that give some info!!

After all we are worlds apart.This charger is an Australian White Knight special.Close to your A' bodies I believe.

They buy your terms are exceptionally rare only 200 {100 white ones 100 red ones }were ever made in 1975 and this is one of 100 and they do get rarer as they come in both 4 speed manual and automatic.

Though I have a dodge charger R/T I love these so much as my brotherinlaw had one new.There was bugger all done to them {4.3 LT or 265 cu 218 BHP} but were quick and had legs top speed 120 + MPH.

Have to say years ago we blew this holden {you say chev} off on this long straight out of town.He pulls up beside us at traffic lights and says man that thing has some legs {I say sure does} he says what is 4.3 LT 360 or something {referring to the badge on the front guard}  I say doubt it 265 mate and start with the big belly laugh telling my brotherinlaw what mister Holden/chev was asking.lol


OHH

They also look good in hemi orange.



cheers kyren

[Tilar]

Lets stop candy coating things. If your in the business and making a profit/living on doing this work, then your accountable for everything done up to a level of professionalism one would expect from a body shop let alone a mopar restoration shop.

Exactly. I used to do a little work on peoples cars or tractors from time to time, but the one thing I would not do is scrimp or hide something. The people that are doing these high dollar crap jobs care nothing about the quality of work they do, and a Sherwin Williams resoration can be done by anyone that can swing a paint gun.

I have no idea how many jobs I turned down over the years because someone wanted to cut a corner here or there, but to me, If my name was going to be associated with the job, It either got done right and at my price or it didn't get done. It's as simple as that.

[d/ur/t]

Do you still have one of the white ones in your picture that are up front? I'll take one!! lol I don't know what it is about a white charger I love them though. Or maybe even the General. 

Got to love white chargers hey.

I have to say deep down most restorers know what they are doing.You don't accidently do a crap job either you run out of mo jo or you run out of back bone.Then for some reason once they decide they are running of either they seem to double dip buy adding hours not spent on the car.

At the end of the day you want what you paid for. 

cheers

Suppose I should have said that this car had some serious American designer work from Bob Hubbach if I remember correctly.

There's a photo getting around of him out front of his house in michigan with an E49 R/T.

Rumour has it after design work he went back to the states returning some 18 months later to find the car he helped designed was now on the race track.

cheers