@Gordon Nichols posted:I did something similar when I was building my car - My work job was ramping up in hours again and I had gotten to (a.) the point where I didn’t have much time to work on it and (b) where I needed a body shop to do a few things I wasn’t good at, like a killer paint job. I dropped it off thinking it might take 3 - 4 months and kind-of forget about it. I would call once in a while to see how things were going (or not going, to be honest) and got some famous excuses (He's never done that yet - he is honest and open when we talk), but there it sat for a long year and a half til I finally called and said I would be by in two days to pick it up, as-is, to finish it elsewhere. I'm getting to that point and wanted some feedback before making that choice as it has ripple effects long term (both relatioship-wise and this forum. I was probably my usual gruff self on the phone because the guy calls back an hour later and says that if I could give him four or five more working days on it, he would get it done for me, and he did. Good thing, too, because I was unable to find any other place that would touch it, even a couple of local Hot Rod builders.
So my only advice is to have a heart-to-heart with Greg. I have tried and expressed empathy many times with everything he is going through and how busy he is. Tell him you would like to have him complete your coupe because you trust him to do a good job and that you’re cheap advertising for him. I wouldn't mind if he just gets the big items done and I finish the rest (headliner, glass, carpet). And he has told me he would do them knowing I would. probably break the glass... LOL! That you understand that it may take some custom work to do that, here and there, but that you’ll work with him to make it as un-intrusive to his shop flow as you both can so that he can treat it as just another build. Bear in mind that you’ll be starting at the front of the (long) queue line but at least you’ll be in the queue. My Coupe may not be at his shop, but I've been in the "queue" IMO for over a year. I've got text dating back pretty fa asking to drop it off, but get the "next month we are super busy". Granted, some folks have orders placed and $$ dropped and I feel their pain too.
And finally, just ask “What’ll it take to get in line for shop time to get this done?” And go from there. A lot of us would like to see this come out of Greg’s shop, too. Me too - but I am capable of getting most of what is left complete... just need help on a few things :-) Maybe that is the next "best step" - Just get a few things done, mainly at his carpet guy... and I'll finish the rest...Good luck!
Gorden, I always appreciate your replies :-) Some notes in bold above..
Edit: Just for reference, I started this build in July 2017... does that count as where my spot in the queue is? Probably not, but worth a note ;-)