Groundhog Day at AGAR.....

[HP_Cuda]

Whoa really?

Is this standard Alan procedure?

[anlauto]

Whoa really?

Is this standard Alan procedure?

For sure, been doing it that way for years without incident. There's no latches of rubbers in the car so how else could I move it ?

[HP_Cuda]

No I was talking about the deposit part...

For sure, been doing it that way for years without incident. There's no latches of rubbers in the car so how else could I move it ?

[anlauto]

No I was talking about the deposit part...

Oh....sorry....

Here's my take on a "deposit" because this is something I just started in the last year or so....
Reason is, on average I get about 2-3 people inquiring about having their cars done every month.
I'm a "one-person" operation and I can only fit one car in my garage at a time. It's very important for me to be able to synchronize all these cars I'm doing (currently 5 E Bodies on the go)....and get them lined up accordingly for the metal shop and also the paint shop, etc...

I need to quickly weed-out the "dreamers" and only do work for people who have the funds and are just as ready as I am to get started. 

I ask for $5K down and when I get the car and start working, I work from that $5K until it's gone...usually the first two weeks ....If anything happens and the car doesn't show or for whatever reason the customer changes his mind before the car shows up...I give a 100% full refund....he doesn't lose anything.

In the order I receive deposits, that is the order the cars get metal work and paint work....as for the other work (components and such) I work on all of those at the same time.

Only way cars get out of order is if I'm waiting on parts, which is the case with a resto-mod I'm working on...I'm still waiting for a customer supplied engine to arrive before I can do the mock up stage. It should have technically been painted before the Sunroof cars...

[loco340cuda]

I need to quickly weed-out the "dreamers" and only do work for people who have the funds and are just as ready as I am to get started. 

I ask for $5K down and when I get the car and start working, I work from that $5K until it's gone...usually the first two weeks ....If anything happens and the car doesn't show or for whatever reason the customer changes his mind before the car shows up...I give a 100% full refund....he doesn't lose anything.

This is how the body shop that painted my car does it.  The guy told me when i came down for the estimate that they turn out the cars in about 6-8 weeks (body and paint only) and don't put them in the corner so whatever clients they take on has to be able to financially complete the project.  The guy told me that they needed 5k up front to get started and once they ran thru that they would give me an itemized recipt showing how that money was spent and then they would ask for another $5k deposit and continue until that was spent and then they would complete the car and them collect the balance of the money (I'm sure the deposit number goes up and down depending to the total amount of the estimate).  In my opinion this is a great way of doing things and I had a good experience with the body shop I used.

[anlauto]

  I find a lot of shops do that....My metal guy expects a large sum of money (usually $5K) the day you drop off the car....He keeps track of his daily hours on a chalk board for all to see. When that $5K is done he asks for more, if no more money comes, the car goes out....pretty simple. For a small business it's a lot safer then doing $5K worth of work and "hoping" you get paid at the end of it...

For me, that deposit just sits in a savings account until the car shows up, and when it does I try my hardest to get right on it and earn that $5K....Look at that convertible I just took in....the amount of things that happened in the first three weeks is incredible !

For me the deposit in advance is more about setting up a cue for the major steps of the restoration and proving to me that you are serious...In the past I've had guys calling me off and on for three months talking about having their car done, then like in the case of these sunroof Challengers...It took about a half dozens emails, a couple of phone calls and a week later I have two deposits in my bank account......then the guy calling me for months prior to that wonders why I now have a long line of cars to do before his....

Your deposit just shows me your commitment.
If you call tomorrow and want your car done...I would say as long as you're cool with it NOT going to the metal shop until September and NOT into the paint shop until early 2017.....if you were cool with that....then send your deposit.....send your car and I will get started on it when it arrives....
BUT...before that happens...I'm also very picky on the cars I choose to do.

[74 challenge]

BUT...before that happens...I'm also very picky on the cars I choose to do.

Can you give an example of what you wouldn't do? I understand if you turn down a Ford or Chevy for lack of knowledge or experience but if I had a mopar what would be a deal killer?

[anlauto]

Can you give an example of what you wouldn't do? I understand if you turn down a Ford or Chevy for lack of knowledge or experience but if I had a mopar what would be a deal killer?

Good question....any non-Mopar for sure....I think to do a good restoration you should stick to what you know and more importantly what you love.
So as far as Mopars go....ANY E Body is a safe bet....I like the 72-74's almost as much as the 70-71's.
ANY 1970-71 A Body or B Body is also enjoyable....probably going to leave the 4 doors to somebody else....

I think where you start to lose me is anything pre 1968.....just not really a fan.....66-67 B Bodies, early A Bodies...
Not that I wouldn't do one....it just wouldn't get top priority 

Great question, never really thought out loud about that before

[HP_Cuda]

This is all good to know.

Seems that a 1968 Charger R/T and a 1969 Roadrunner would still make it in the queue!!! 

[74 challenge]

Good question....any non-Mopar for sure....I think to do a good restoration you should stick to what you know and more importantly what you love.
So as far as Mopars go....ANY E Body is a safe bet....I like the 72-74's almost as much as the 70-71's.
ANY 1970-71 A Body or B Body is also enjoyable....probably going to leave the 4 doors to somebody else....

I think where you start to lose me is anything pre 1968.....just not really a fan.....66-67 B Bodies, early A Bodies...
Not that I wouldn't do one....it just wouldn't get top priority 

Great question, never really thought out loud about that before

So when I win the lottery I should not send you my A990 gotchya!

Interesting to know none the less. I actually thought you would do any mopar but you just most often did road runners, GTX's, Chargers, E bodies, A bodies etc... as that's what most people want restored these days! Keep us posted when you start the T/A - that's my dream car.

Flip it around now, what's the dream restoration? What have you not got your hands on but are dying to do?

[anlauto]

An A990... not really my bag baby....

[74 challenge]

we can have a drag race!

[anlauto]

oh

[YellowThumper]

Tie a chain to the back of both and see which one wins.

Yea I know, not relevant to above posts...

[cudamadd]

Wow .After body and paint ,you put the cars back together my your self . Fantastic work   Alan