So yesterday I posted about my hunt for a shifter.

I guess I got ahead of myself before I even posted the fact that I joined the club.
I bought a '53 F100 and I'll be picking it up on Tuesday.
Having a local guy do the work for me and the goal is to have it ready for spring.

https://i.imgur.com/fWle3LN.png

The dream will soon be realized!

 

That looks like a fiberglass tilt front end. Keep posting pictures and Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to the board!

Bobby

 

Looks like a good start. Welcome to FTE.

Dan

 

Welcome,to FTE. Looks like a nice project, keep us posted on your progress.

 

I can give you a word of advice. If you're paying someone to do work for you... Write down each thing that is to be done, and make a schedule. Don't pay in advance, but make progress payments for parts and for labor that has already been completed. Then... Visit the shop at least twice a week. If they're not working on it, pull the plug & take it elsewhere.

We've all seen too many bad stories from vendors who take the money then put the project in the back of the shop & let it sit for weeks or months.

Your guy could be great, but there are too many scammers out there.

Dan

 

Good advise. I let my '65 sit at a shop that was referred to me, it sat there for 5 years with a few things done, but nowhere near all done. I was so busy at work and the shop was 60 miles away, that I just hardly ever went out there. The guy started traveling around the country working on oil and gas fields and never answered his phone. It took me over a year just to get it back once I gave up on him. I finally got it back and now I have it sitting while I am doing my 52. When I got it back it had mud dauber nests in the "new" carb. I haven't even cleaned it up yet, just covered it up.

 

Hello guys and gals Iam new to the forum and not sure how to use it. I've owned a 51 ford f2 for the last 3 years. And it's been fun and also a pain lol but Iam glad to see there's a group of people out there who still enjoy these types of rigs

 

How do you post a question

 

Start at the home page for 48-56 trucks & click on the "new thread" button....then ask away. You can also introduce yourself that way.

Dan

 

Thank you for the warm welcome gents!

I agree 100% with the your suggestions regarding a payment schedule, as did my mechanic.

Knowing this project was going to be a major undertaking, I shopped around a bit and the best was an advertisement on Kijiji...
Some guy promoting his restoration business. I messaged him and asked if he had photo's of his work or anyone local driving his projects.
Response was something to the effect of "we'll be getting photo's once we get some projects under our belts blah blah blah".
Well please please let me be the guy to put 60k in your hand so you can build up your resume and business portfolio without showing me the quality of your work.

My Mrs. mentioned my plans to the guys at work who are all personal friend of ours outside of work and they were adamant that I should just meet and speak with him.

My fiancees boss is a mechanic by trade but rides a desk by choice now and they use Darryl for their entire fleet of trucks used in the mining field.

The big benefit is he's local and I don't have to worry about progress when the build could have been in southern Ontario which is 3.5 hours away.
These guys wouldn't steer me wrong and Darryl knows he has a lot riding on this too.

Coincidentally, The more people I speak with here in town regarding my truck, they all seem to say
"Hey he's my guy too" and "He's such a straight shooter isn't he?"

We met and sat and chatted about what I wanted exactly, my budget and a rough expectation for a delivery date. He got more and more excited as the discussion progressed.
He owns and operates a regular automotive shop but his passion lies in hot rods so this was right up his alley.

We shopped around online for the ideal project truck, agreed on the best option and I had it delivered to him.

Next day I dropped off a cheque for the start up funds and within 2 days I received an email while I was in Los Cabos Mexico and it was photo's of my new engine fresh out of the crate sitting on his shop floor.

The guy isn't wasting any time and I think he's just as excited about this build as I am.
He's been snapping photo's as they make progress which keeps me happy and will also go up on his website and serves as his calling card for future business.

D&R Hot Rod Shop - D&R Enterprises

Looking at the website, it appears that the Monday-Friday business has taken him away from the cool projects.

I'll post my progress pics shortly.

 

Just posted a build thread so you could all have a peek at where were up to at this point.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...0-build-d.html

 

Old Dan's advice is good. Keep the shop on a short leash. I know a guy who'd take his truck to the shop for a specific project as money allowed. He'd make an appointment, drop it off and have a specific task accomplished with a specific completion day. Pick the truck up on that day, pay for the job and take it home unitl he was ready for the next task. The truck never sat in the shop for any longer than it took to do a job. Everything he did was short term and he paid in full when it was completed. It was more work to transfer the truck back and forth to the shop but he kept tight control of his project and it never sat unattended. If the shop did some poor quality work, it was caught and corrected right then.

 

Hey McMatty, yes I know D&R too, small world........the project looks great