Dan Short's Honest Owner Meeting: Prioritizing Safety Over Cosmetics | FantomWorks

What we're going to talk about today is the right thing, in my opinion, it's just an opinion, but the right order to build a car now. Doc, you brought me this mg, how long ago about 3 months? Three months ago and you asked I had a list of things I wanted to do right and what part of your list did I agree to do none of it you didn't agree to do any of that and and and and let me explain why we inspected this car together no We didn't see it and we drove it and we heard it and we look at things and let me tell you what we've done so far because I have good news for you, okay, but I have to go through this. so I'm just going to give you a brief one I'm just going to read the first page actually there are two pages of the same size a lot of things were wrong this just the parts this is not what's wrong this just the parts We've done it so far, like this we did the carburetor and fuel system, we did the complete wiring harness, everything on the car, we did a radiator, a head rebuild, we did a driveshaft, air filters, calipers, rebuild kits control arm, lower battery liner kits, rear. wheel cylinders shoes tires brake hoses front pads front rotor water pump master cylinder Outer tie rod inner tie rod intake and exhaust valves for his engine His were so bad we couldn't even and no one could find them so we had to go find him correct valves, a vacuum advance for your distribution panel, lights, plugs, cables, brake lines, valve seats, valve guides, oil radiator hoses, heater hoses, courtesy lamps, end links for your bar stabilizer, brake light switch, head gasket, cover, rotor, gas cap, rack boots, rear stabilizer bar end link front stabilizer bar end link kit shock link kit throttle cable throttle switch brake light headlight chrome ring Hazard that's the only cosmetic item on the list hazard warning switch antifreeze and an oil filter you realize that the whole list is mechanical stuff right, it's mechanical and electrical, so in this one period, we've gone over the steering, the suspension, the brakes, the engine, the fuel system, so we go over all that. uh your parts are okay at about 8 grand so far your labor is at around 19 grand so far Chris has spent 100 hours and we haven't really done any

cosmetics

except we ordered a headlight ring okay , so at this point the car is ready for a test drive with the exception of one problem and this is the one I'm going to relate to its brake. master cylinder we like the OEM stuff as a general rule it tends to work well it was designed for this car guess what it's not currently available for this car oh man oh an OEM brake master cylinder we had to go with an aftermarket doesn't work with a Damn, that's the only thing stopping me from saying here are the keys, let's go for a test drive.

Do you remember what the budget you gave me for this car was when we started? It could have been 35 to 40. 40 was actually the number you gave me, so we're at something like 29, which leaves us around 10 grand and I wanted to go over what we found in the car. Well now look at just cosmetic things,

cosmetics

are things, so your fuel gauge works, but at 3/4 of the tank it doesn't go all the way up the passenger headlight is on the stud is flashing uh both outside mirrors are gone there is no speakers in the doors you just have big holes you are missing the passenger side sun visor, we have no idea where it went, someone decided they wanted a passenger side visor, needs windshield wipers, the antenna is broken in half, the brake E , so it's a

safety

system that we haven't done yet, but basically important components are missing for your bra and your Speedo lens is yellow.

I don't know how one of your lenses turned yellow, but it did. Your glove box extraction system does not work. Your Window Felts, all these systems, you can see how dry, rotten and broken they are. Wait. We're not done yet. You don't have a lighter. The air only comes out of your defrost system, so all those controls that tell it to blow on your feet or in your face, that's all at work. The driver's door goes down, so I. I'm just going to show you something real quick. I just want you to hear this as I lift it up, okay, you hear that, yeah, so what it is is that the hinge is completely worn out and needs to be repaired.

Basically we have to restore the hinge and We do that with pins and bushings, pedals, basically, all the pads on them are basically falling apart, the passenger side of the hood is very high so the hinges are worn, both headrests are broken and actually I would just go on to say that the interior in general is in bad shape do you know what happens in that seat when you sit in it? the spring you can't fix that with covers that has to be new foam you redo the springs you do everything your shift boot is broken Your rearview mirror that you have is basically useless because it's worn out and doesn't hold steady.

Your front and rear bumpers. The rubber is in very bad condition. That was your 5 mph early impact absorbing rubber and yours probably just crushes or shatters your ashtray and your convertible top frame in a very rough state your battery retention system is missing and your windshield wiper system doesn't work okay, Have I ever shown you this list? I've never seen this, it's new, it's probably a little strange Accept it and then I'll tell you what I'll give you a copy of the list. Okay, you can take it with you, but how much of that do you think you want done?

I just want a new knob on my shifter. I have a new knob. I can put a new knob on the shifter. So you don't want any other. I want everything to be done. You want everything to be done. I want everything to be done. Okay, this is my retreat right here, so everything I put in. this car, since I want it to be as close to the picture, I think I've shown you a picture that I looked at before when I was in dental school, this would be my exit strategy to make it look as close to that as possible.

You know, I expect certain things, but it's the only car I've ever owned. All cars exist, but this is the only car I have a heart for. It's okay, and I've hidden it from you at all. No, if you put this. Put money in the car and you're going to try to sell it. You're not going to get your money back. You told me the first thing you did was take me and put it on the shelf and you tried to talk me out of putting it on. anything on the car, you said you're this car, you could probably get it for $7 $8,000 somewhere, you said and you're going to put so much into it to get it so it has to be personal and that's what it is and Doc, like dentist, yes, you probably understand, because let me tell you a really horrible story.

When my mother was 25 she had a cavity and this would have been in the 50's. Dentures were the new thing and they said we had to remove them. each of your teeth and getting you this new set of dentures, so can we agree that putting dentures on your entire mouth was probably cheaper than fixing all your teeth for life exactly cheaper, much cheaper , but was it better than not? So I would say here's a similar story that we could have gotten you a different car cheaper than fixing it, this wouldn't have been your car, although true, it wouldn't have been my car, so I wouldn't have had the heart, so I'd like to spend the money so you're going to put a lot more into this car than it's worth yes and and that doesn't bother you right, it doesn't bother you and and I've never tried to hide it from you no, I've never had anyone so direct try to tell me here your trash and take it home you put it on the shelf you let me see how bad it was aesthetically when I looked at it I didn't see all the things It's wrong, you let me see that first you shredded the cables, after this, show me that they are 45 year old cables , so you can't expect them to be a certain way, so I've seen it and you basically told me how to do it. call it, okay   I'm happy we predicted that everything we had done so far would come close to your budget, right, we've come to a little over 10 less than your budget, okay, I don't know.

I'm going to make this whole new list by 10, okay, so you want me to do the most important things and stop at 10? No, you want to make the list. I want to make the list and I want to make my Shi stick. and well, you also added wheels, you also added the RS wheel. I want the chrome wheels. I showed you a picture and I want some kind of radical stick, Shi. I don't want you to know something that's out of your head. Okay, then you want to. something radical, a little crazy, crazy, so you know, I actually have something here that you might like.

I mean, I'll tell you it's crazy, that, that's that, that sets it all up, so, doctor, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. to give you that list, that's it, I just checked to see if there's anything on that list that you then decide, go, you know, I don't really care about this, do me a favor, take a day with that list, go through it and if I have I haven't heard from you by the end of this week. I'm going to assume you want to do everything and we're just going to start ordering parts and the only other thing is something for the inside of the trunk to make it look more organized than oh you want something done on the inside of the trunk that they can do. , even if it's just an insert or something, okay, I'll tell you what, let me find out what's available, okay, it's always cheaper to buy something than someone else.

You've already designed that to design something on your own, okay, so let's add a gear shift, wheels and a trunk line, plus everything on the list that sounds like a winner, okay, so I'd like take dinner. you and your staff are out for dinner and to show my appreciation, well I want you to drive the car first and make sure you love it, it sounds great, okay, any questions, then doctor, I love you and your staff brother, I love you and your staff, okay. Well, we will continue to do everything we can for you. Let me know if there is anything on the list and apart from that document.

I won't stop you because I know you have a lot of things to do to make money and pay. This is going well, thank you very much. If you need help from Phantom Works with your classic project, go to projects.

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