Advice on dropping car off at the interior guy

[fleiss75]

After some long searching I found an interior guy. His shop is about 22 miles away and I have to have the car towed over to him. I have checked out his shop and looked at his work, work that he is currently doing which is a 1963 Benz and a ton of photo's on his website and all over his shop. Do you have any recommendations of anything else you would check? Other than a invoice that spells out exactly what he is doing, is there anything else I should get?

[Paul F]

I've never had issues with delivery dates with upholsterers, but you might want to get a commitment in writing as to how long it will take. Double check that you sign off on the materials on the statement of work. Be sure EVERYTHING is spelled out in the statement of work/ contract. You don't want to go back and find out he used the wrong material or didn't pad it the way you wanted with him saying 'that's what you said you wanted'. Include a drawing that specifies how you want the stitching, pockets and other details.

[mdross1]

The big thing is communication,understanding each other.Picking the right materials,I always had pictures of what I wanted,never set deadlines.

[Blittleton]

I'm wondering if you all have trust issues, all the shops I deal with are straight up. Every shop I have taken a cobra treat it as if it is a piece of glass and are very gentle with it. If you think you need to remove the distributor cap and remove wires, you might not want to take it there in the first place. Do you do that with your our vehicles as well? WTF!!!

Bill

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Blittleton

I'm wondering if you all have trust issues, all the shops I deal with are straight up. Every shop I have taken a cobra treat it as if it is a piece of glass and are very gentle with it. If you think you need to remove the distributor cap and remove wires, you might not want to take it there in the first place. Do you do that with your our vehicles as well? WTF!!!

Bill

Bill, its not a trust issue, its just good business sense. I guess the concept of eyes wide open when dealing with suppliers and or service establishments is a novel approach for some people. Get stung once and you will change your tune. Just don't like to see people getting ripped off and fleiss75 came to this forum for advice. If you have never been ripped off then you are indeed a lucky guy. My two cent, tin-man

[*13*]

It's a cobra? Right? How much work are you having done? I went with my car when the top was installed. Sat & watched til they had completed it. They probably didn't like me hanging out all day but I did get to point them in the right direction a couple times. How many guys will they have working on your car? They may do it all in one day. Just a thought. Good luck!

[Jamo]

Everything he said, and drop in from time to time.

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by fleiss75

After some long searching I found an interior guy. His shop is about 22 miles away and I have to have the car towed over to him. I have checked out his shop and looked at his work, work that he is currently doing which is a 1963 Benz and a ton of photo's on his website and all over his shop. Do you have any recommendations of anything else you would check? Other than a invoice that spells out exactly what he is doing, is there anything else I should get?

fleiss 75, make sure he is covered by liability plus fire and theft and water damage insurance in case some dude decideds to ride your car and or the place gets flooded or torched. Read the fine print of the contract, take pictures of the exterior of your car indicating no dings, scapes or scratches. In othe words make sure it is as good as it was when you delivered it when you pick it up. Lousy syntax, but you get the point. One more, make sure the contract does not state "not responsible for any damage caused to the car while on my premises" its too late when you find out somebody scraped your car out of malice. Just my two cents.

tin-man

[PANAVIA]

Ask questions, check up, and don't be afraid to say stop,-- lets review.

[jhv48]

And don't leave the keys to the ignition!

[fleiss75]

Thank you for the info, I am nervous, this is the last piece of the puzzle and I don't want to mess it up.

[Rick Parker]

Assuming the enigine is installed and running, incapacitate the ignition system. Remove distributor cap & wires, wrap distributor body in plastic bag. Tape over the entire carb opening. Remove battery.

[mkassab]

Well, this is a lot of good advice… Why are you having the car towed over…. Does it not run, or no tag? In any case, you too need to be clear with your expectations…. i.e, what’s your requirements, specifications? State your dos and don’ts. This should be in writing also.

Lastly.... do you have insurance? Check the details on "what if" with your ins company as mentioned above.

Mark

[fleiss75]

In Florida, there are scams every where. I have been through 2 builders and it court once over it. I paid a painter for materials and he moved to Missouri the next day and the cops said I couldn't do anything because there wasn't a completion date on the receipt. So yes I have trust issues with everyone that works on my car. A handshake and your word don't mean anything here. If I thought had to remove the distributor believe me I wouldnt take it there, I was asking more on the paperwork side. I know completion dates are important, I know spelling out the work and material and cost...I didn't know if I should ask for his insurance info or if that would be taking it too far. The car runs and drives, but I have no seats, no belts etc so I am towing it. Also it needs a once over on the rack on everything before I drive it.

[tcrist]

Check them out with the "Better Business Bureau". Just use your search feature and type in BBB. There are different regions of the BBB in Florida.

I would start there.

JMO,

[fleiss75]

I checked, nothing on BBB, or any types of reviews.

[Blittleton]

I would definitely ask for references and ask how long he has been at this address, how long has he been in business. I would visit the shop several times to make sure if you want to leave your vehicle there. I think if you don't feel particular comfortable about taking your prized vehicle somewhere, don't take it and find someone whom you feel comfortable. If you are a car person, which you have built your cobra. Then you should know of someone whom knows of a Trim shop, and can give you a recommendation. I find it amusing that how people treat these cars as if they are the real things, and they are worth big $$. Now I also know people are type A personality and how they are with their cars. But I still find it funny.

Bill

[Don]

Other checks are the FL Attorney General , FL Consumer Protection, along with being registered to do business in FL. Also, if shop location is owned by the business, any liens on the property and taxes paid.

[Ant]

Advice I would give, is you and the Interior guy need to be on the same page, very few people I have dealt with know whats in your mind and unless you have a seat upholstered exactly for them to copy and a plan with illustrations etc.
With my first cobra after hours of misunderstanding with a good upholster we used our industrial sewing machine and made the leather patterns for the seat sides to illustrate how they should be upholstered, then after two years of use the sewing in the squab is visible between the pleats which indicates they know virtually zero on sewing basics and how to fold under the tails in the pleat and where to sew.
A friend of mine took his cobra seats in to a wellknown upholster and the squab pleats and back pleats never lined up and the front seat cnrs were square and baggy do I need to say anymore, but this work happens everyday.........!

[tcrist]

I'd say, ask for references, but he is not going to give you any that would not be favorable to him.

Go to some meets and ask the car guys in the area about him. Ask them who they would recommend.

Another thing:
First impressions mean a lot to me. Did you get a warm and fuzzy or a knot in your stomach when you visited his shop?

Did you walk in and say "not to bad" or "WTF"?

Note: most upholstery shops that I have gone to were dirty and disorganized. But they were fair priced.

The couple that I went to that were clean and perfect looking, were 3X the $, and the work looked the same.

Go figure.