I need someone to finish building my buggy, but who?

Jduck · Nov 8, 2013

fl-krawler said:
That is a pretty cheap labor rate. While I charge a flat fee for a lot of the things I do, custom work is $80/hr.. Reworks are $100/hr because you usually have to spend a considerable amount of time either removing old parts, or building something new that will work with the old, and still fix the problem.

While I agree it may be easier to start with a fresh, better thought out chassis, I'm not sure the OP wants to spend 5-6k on a chassis and not get much of his list addressed. Looking at his build, and looking at his list, I would say there was atleast 40hrs worth of work to be done, if not closer to 80 upon closer inspection to see what is salvageable, and what is not. A fresh chassis with everything remounted, fresh tins, and the OP's list satisfied would run about 15k at my shop. I would offer to take on the repair, but currently I have 4 turn key builds in front of any additional work I take on, unless of course the OP wants to wait till next summer.

So how much should someone charge to rework your work molaugh

Neal3000 · Nov 8, 2013

InDaShop said:
My car is just about done so everyone will see soon enough. Testing around Thanksgiving is the plan, been being built for over a year now.
As for Penhall quote, I have both a copy of Ben's invoice and a quote from Penhall. I shopped them when I was looking for a builder, Ben helped. That was their quoted shop rate. Now when it comes to full builds they don't quote them that way, its by slices/milestones of the job. Say $10k to build chassis, install all plumbing oil/trans/fuel/water/brake another $10k, etc...

iFS?

fl-krawler · Nov 8, 2013

Jduck said:
So how much should someone charge to rework your work

laughing1

Neal3000 · Nov 8, 2013

gubni said:
I have had a buggy project in the works for a few years. I have made huge mistakes letting people who were not experienced do work on it. It's 90% complete, but still several issues and I want someone with the right experience to get it done. Tell me who to take it to.

Po-Boy FabwerX.....them boyz will do you right, and they work cheap as dirt :****:

gubni · Nov 10, 2013

Jims said he was not interested. I'm not sure how to translate that but I still need someone to finish this.

I stated a more thorough thread on my local board with details. ---> http://www.4x4grace.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=17193

Draco · Nov 10, 2013

Damn...That sucks!

Seems to be going around....

uke:

patooyee · Nov 10, 2013

Man, I hate that you are in this predicament and I have declined to join in so far because I know you don't want to hear it. But I am of the opinion that you need to start over, strip everything off, and pay someone to build you a new chassis. The fact that Jim's wasn't interested should tell you something because they have a lot of experience and know the most probable outcome. Even if you do find someone who is willing to work on it, you're never going to be happy with it. Every time something breaks you're going to have to work around a bunch of crap to fix it that you wish wasn't there or was done differently, or you'll have to fix stuff in less than ideal ways to get around less than ideal designs. I read through some of your linked threads and saw that you want it to hold up well during multiple rolls, which I think is fair. But that says to me that you want it to be a long-term rig which means you'll want to be happy with the whole thing, not picking at imperfections forever. No offense, but that chassis appears to be a jumbled together mess. I think you probably agree though. And is that what you want to be stuck with? Multiple people here have said that it will probably cost more to fix it than to start over. So why would you want to pay more to get less?

I loved your old single seater. I want to see you end up with something that is worthy of that and is a step forward. IMHO, continuing with this one is a step back.

My brother's old Toyota buggy was built by someone who didn't know what they were doing. I spent a lot of time fixing and redoing stuff for him, suspension, ride height, etc, time he could have / should have been out riding. He was happy with the end results but we both knew what that rig could have been had I not had to work around the mistakes of my predecessor. He's sold the buggy and got out of wheeling now but to this day I keep hoping that he will surprise me by calling me up and saying, "Hey, I want to get back to riding. Let's do it right this time and have you just build it for me." I have all these ideas, plans, and designs for him that represent what could have been and never was. I would build that buggy for absolutely nothing just to show him what a real rig is capable of and that they aren't all like the last one.

gubni · Nov 10, 2013

If that's what happens then that's the route I will go. At this point I just want to have a professional shop look at it with open mind and tell me if they think it can be fixed or if I should start from scratch. Of course I would ask what are some of the details that require a new chassis so I could learn, but if that's how it must happen then so be it. I'm just tired of the games and want to get it done.

I posted up current pics and specs

http://www.4x4grace.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?p=218107664#post218107664

crawlin85cj · Nov 10, 2013

If you want a simple, well built, great working and safe buggy then strip all the parts out and take them to Jim's Garage. You will not be disappointed and he should be able to whip out a turnkey buggy reasonably quick. I think you will be surprised at the cost, it's not as much as you would think and you will have a top notch buggy. I've now owned 3 buggies he built and I can't complain an ounce about them.

gubni · Nov 10, 2013

crawlin85cj said:
If you want a simple, well built, great working and safe buggy then strip all the parts out and take them to Jim's Garage. You will not be disappointed and he should be able to whip out a turnkey buggy reasonably quick. I think you will be surprised at the cost, it's not as much as you would think and you will have a top notch buggy. I've now owned 3 buggies he built and I can't complain an ounce about them.

I tried to talk to him and below is his reply.

"I saw that on HL. Sorry you've had those problems. It's not something I would be interested in working on."

crawlin85cj · Nov 10, 2013

I don't doubt he wouldn't want to take that buggy in and attempt to iron out all the problems. However, talking a pile of parts and building a buggy out of them is that he does for a living. It's an entirely different scenario.

74_Chevota · Nov 10, 2013

Take it apart and have someone build you a new chassis. Only option that makes any sense. Sorry man, because that is a shitty situation, but your flushing money down the drain with that thing.

gubni · Nov 10, 2013

74_Chevota said:
Take it apart and have someone build you a new chassis. Only option that makes any sense. Sorry man, because that is a shitty situation, but your flushing money down the drain with that thing.

Educate me on what so bad that it needs a new chassis?

93puggy · Nov 10, 2013

You would definitely be better off tearing down that buggy, using the parts that are useable, having a quality chassis built, and haul the old one to the scrap yard.

74_Chevota · Nov 10, 2013

gubni said:
Educate me on what so bad that it needs a new chassis?

Man I started to make a list and decided against it. Just look at the entire chassis. The fit and finish is poor and the entire buggy is not laid out very well. The issues with the suspension aren't as simple as moving a few tabs.

I don't doubt you can make that buggy able to go riding, but it will never be what you really want.

Again, it sucks man and I feel for you, but that's honest advice.

Elliott · Nov 10, 2013

It's not that it's a terrible chassis, they are saying this because just by looking at your pictures you can tell things were done with no fore thought.Just like the shocks hitting the tires, that's not an easy fix. You've already had some one try to patch it and you see how that turned out. A full tube buggy that will be dependable and work right is a lot of engineering and planning three steps ahead, I'm betting it would be in your best interest to start from scratch with a good builder. I hate you've been on a roller coaster with this buggy and it would be hard to just walk away when it looks like your this close but realistically it needs a lot of fixing to be ready to beat on.

B Gillespie · Nov 10, 2013

Take your parts to Jim or Woodlee, or build a Goatbuilt Ibex. Sell that chassis in the classifieds for cheap. Get on with your life.

crawlin85cj · Nov 10, 2013

B Gillespie said:
Take your parts to Jim or Woodlee, or build a Goatbuilt Ibex. Sell that chassis in the classifieds for cheap. Get on with your life.

Sums it all up. Can't go wrong with any of these and they are 3 totally different options for great end results.

TBItoy · Nov 10, 2013

Looks to me like one of the main problems is the narrow axles.

It looks like the chassis would work OK with normal width axles, but building a 2 seater chassis with narrowed one tons takes some thought and planning in the suspension department.

I couldn't imagine paying anyone to work on that buggy though. Only way I'd be paying anyone to work on it would be to build a chassis/roller with the parts.