nicely written up Nick. very professional.
Oh the joys of the forum life.
When you post up a detailed thread of a build then you are opening yourself up to all kinds of opinion.
I do have strong opinions. I do give advice and words of caution. When I see a bondo bucket being passed off as a “frame off restoration” or even “restoration”, I call it. When I see a company bringing in rust buckets and selling them to the uninformed (ignorant) public, I call them out.
It endears some to you and some people take offense. Such is life on the forum. I won't be losing any sleep over it.
The HZJ40 was one of those builds. If you take a look at the build thread you would see all the thought that went into that vehicle. There were some minor issues in the end. Sadly the owner chose to be devious as there was a substantial amount owing at the end of the build. The owner decided he wanted me to deliver the truck. Road trip, i love a road trip. I arrived and immediately he wanted to register the vehicle. In hindsight I should have demanded payment before unloading but I trusted him.
After it was registered in his name he proceeded to shaft the final payment of $13,800 USD. The agreement, if i wanted any money, was there would be no warranty and he accepted the truck as it was.
As you can see on the thread, he decided shafting me of money wasn't enough. He posted up his findings without the caveat about the agreement. It made me look like I walk on my builds, which is far from the case.
Now, on to Nick Graingers build.
When you run a small shop, or even a large shop, you sub out work to other companies.
You get references, you visit the shop, you talk to the owner and inspect the workmanship. Then you make an informed decision.
I had used KMS machine many times over the years and although pricey, their workmanship was always acceptable. They did all the SS work on Nicks truck. The water tank, the 2 fuel tanks. They also did the water jetting of the aluminum panels and bent the consoles up. I trusted they had flushed the fuel and water tanks as agreed and I had no indication that they had not.
I had used a couple different body shops over the years. one old guy retired and the other wasn't worth reusing. I had recommendations for 2 body shops in the area that were supposed to be top notch. I inspected their work on other vehicles and even with the interior panels off the worked look exceptional. On this basis I recommended Nick use Paul at Penninsula Ford. Nick dealt with Paul directly. Other than dropping off the body and picking it up for reinstall I had no dealings with that portion of the work.
When you use a Powder Coating place for a few years and numerous projects you develop a trust in their workmanship. Problem with paint or powder coating, the issues don't show up right away.
When you hire someone to work for you, you interview them. You give them tests to see if their work is acceptable. After 2 years you trust their work. Yes, the stud was improperly welded into place on the rear tire carrier. You can not spot a deficient weld with the naked eye.
When you have an employee that has rebuilt front and rear diffs, transfer cases and helped with rebuilding engines you develop a trust in his workmanship. Seals can get damaged during install. Retaining rings can get missed. Mistakes happen.
The bolts were all torqued to factory settings. ALL of them. The fuel system had issues.
After shipping the truck to Calgary and after months of assuming all was well I finally asked for a report of Nick's feeling of the build.
When i received back the emails I was floored at what he had experienced. I had no idea of the issues that had occurred.
Nick's opening post was the feeling I had when I had shipped it. I couldn't take it for the proper test runs that I wanted to since it was a rush to ship as soon as there was a break in the nasty winter. In hind sight I should have kept it, waited for the snow and salt to be gone and tested it and taken the wrath for that then ship something that was lacking.
sadly, Nick and I disagree on repair procedure. I would have paid to have the truck shipped back, repairs done here on my dime but he decided to proceed, without authorization, to get the repairs done in Calgary. That was and is his choice. IF he would have contacted me up front and told me of the issues then we could have worked out an arrangement. Once again, since there is still a substantial amount owing that I have been informed I will not be receiving, I do not have any obligation to take care of the issues.
Some will understand my position. Some will blast me. This will be my only post in this thread.
