I really hate that your build turned out this way. I can corroborate the story of the guy messing things up. Labronn had to rework several things on White Trash before he could give it to me turn-key. Also the six-seater was just recently finished and he told me of the list of things that were assed up and had to be re-engineered. Once that guy was gone he spent months cleaning up the mess that was made. This was in the early stages of his first time running a company with employees and having to trust that they can do what they say. He'll tell you himself that he learned a lot about being a boss and quality control after that all happened. I would bet that yours slipped through the cracks and he didn't realize what all needed correcting. I know it wouldn't have met your race timeline but I guarantee he would have fixed everything and went above and beyond to keep his reputation clean. I know he has lost sleep over it all.
I can only share my experience. I've never been the guy to pay anyone to do anything for me, especially welding and fabrication. Anyone that knows me knows that's kind of my thing. I bought his old red buggy, his first tube chassis build, and was impressed at the quality. I called him to see about updating the style of the cage and doing some other improvements and decided I would be money ahead to start with a fresh chassis and swap my parts over. And White trash was born. I was happy enough with my white buggy that I went back to him to build Bombshell. Anyone who has climbed around that buggy or Twisted 40 can see what a piece of artwork and engineering they are.
I was happy enough with both builds that I brought White Trash back to him last year for a power train swap, rear steer install and re-powdercoat. All turned out great. If I was ever going to do another, there isn't another shop I'd hire to do it. Once he was doing all the building the quality came back.
