Should we expose the cowboys?

Run_to_da_hills

Not mentioning names there are a lot of cowboys out there that call themselves "tradesmen" when in fact they are no more than rip off merchants that have jumped on the band wagon of restoring cars.

I was looking at a job over the weekend done by a guy from West Clare, not too far from Kilkee. It was appalling !!!

The job was handed to him needing welding and finishing. New chassis cross member beams, some pillar repair, and a replacement new floor. Several months later the guy was handed it back unassembled, ie doors etc in the back cargo area all painted up in high gloss agricultural paint.

Looking from a distance it did not look too bad but up close it was appalling, IE orange peal, snots, embedded dust and no rust treatment. The real horror of this job was that the doors would not align correctly when hung and you wouldn't want to put a straight edge up against the body :eek:

The guy paid over 5K for the work which is currently going to have to be totally ripped apart and reworked. I heard of this same guy several years ago and have also seen some of his previous work.

Max Headroom

On mans cowboy is another mans genius............;)

I've seen work done too and it was well below standard but the owner was singing the guy's praises, how do you tell this guy he was shafted..
Lets be careful out there...;)

Run_to_da_hills

Max Headroom wrote: »

On mans cowboy is another mans genius............;)...;)

I also know a customer of this guy that was quite content with his work and sang his praises, more so that his project did not require the same structural indebt other than gluing on new side skins, some prep work and a coat of paint. It was this guy that recommended the unfortunate chap

Max Headroom wrote: »

I've seen work done too and it was well below standard but the owner was singing the guy's praises, how do you tell this guy he was shafted..
Lets be careful out there...;)

.

The guy in question is gutted to put it to the least, He knew he was done as soon as he went to assemble the doors and fit the windscreens on his project. He probably would have lived with the paint work as he would have seen it on another example. The guy put all his cash into this project and was then told by an expert that it may have to be ripped all apart again with the possibility of having to replace the floor and other sections of which ware already new.

3.2 turbo capri

i have a friend who has a capri , done in cork , and it is the same , except the guy who had all the work done paid close too 10k and to honest i am a mechanic not body , but if i had off done the work i would be pissed , lots off panels welded in but none cut out or none sealed , now i am supposed to repair some off the jobs done , and this guy its all he does is , i am a engineer and car fan the rest , but cant understand how he is still in business , i would understand if it was been done by a friend but not a so called professional .................. and when i questioned him on a different job got threatened with being shot lol , online off course lol

Run_to_da_hills

3.2 turbo capri wrote: »

i have a friend who has a capri , done in cork , and it is the same , except the guy who had all the work done paid close too 10k and to honest i am a mechanic not body , but if i had off done the work i would be pissed , lots off panels welded in but none cut out or none sealed , now i am supposed to repair some off the jobs done , and this guy its all he does is , i am a engineer and car fan the rest , but cant understand how he is still in business , i would understand if it was been done by a friend but not a so called professional .................. and when i questioned him on a different job got threatened with being shot lol , online off course lol

This is why we should expose them. Anyone who takes on any job likethis should have a good eye and know what they are at. Welding will distort and pull sections out of allignment.

I have to mention some more thing about this job done by this guy in Kilkee, The project was a VW Type 2, for those that know them there are channels called top hats that run the width of the bus in the cargo area. There is holes bored in the center of them to take a pipe which runs up along the center of the chassis.

Rather than remove and feed the pipe through these holes he cut a away a section into the hole so that he could place this channel directly over the pipe. :eek:

The top hats have now got to be replaced as the strength is taken away from them. Any customer would be totally oblivious to this job because these are buried under the floor above the chassis members out of sight. It is a short cut that only a cowboy would follow.

VW welded cable feeder pipes to the chassis crossmembers, this guy did the same but burnt into them so that the cable wouldn't fit.

I would advise anyone who had work done by this guy to have it double checked by someone competent in the trade.

http://www.customandcommercial.com/details.asp?id=2003&searchprod=&Sub_Category=1294&page=2&group=60&category=324

bookerboy

I would not think there are to many people in Kilkee doing this kind of work.
You may have exposed him already.
Good luck with the law suit.

Run_to_da_hills

bookerboy wrote: »

I would not think there are to many people in Kilkee doing this kind of work.
You may have exposed him already.
Good luck with the law suit.

Not my project as I would be be very reluctant to hand anything out to anyone unless I was 100% confident in their work. Seeing the paint job on a previous project was enough to put me off. It is also a small world with the Irish type 2 scene and word would get around fast, the guy in question will no doubt be spreading this around.

Not sure how this person is going to tackle it but if it was me I would certainly go down the legal road and be contacting my solicitor. Knowing this case it was probably more than likely a farmers "cash in pocket" job with little or no come back.

napplechunks

I think it is a great idea to list low quality operators,

obviously not slandering anyone or anything, but if it could raise the standard in this country a little bit, that would be good indeed.

Run_to_da_hills

napplechunks wrote: »

I think it is a great idea to list low quality operators,

obviously not slandering anyone or anything, but if it could raise the standard in this country a little bit, that would be good indeed.

More so to expose the chancers, no names need be mentioned, just a few coordinates, just enough so that a few PM's can be exchanged to warn potential customers. I have already had someone contact me concerned over this guy.

If this was the motoring or motorcycle forum there would be no question about naming and shaming

Max Headroom

Would it not be better to be positive..i.e name the guys that DO good work and recommendations from owners etc...:o

Run_to_da_hills

Max Headroom wrote: »

Would it not be better to be positive..i.e name the guys that DO good work and recommendations from owners etc...:o

The problem with this is than many of the good guys are often booked out for several months or longer so enthusiasts will look elsewhere and fall into the trap.