NEXT
1/14/11
Joe cancelled our
visitation due to snow and bad roads. He said he had pretty much
completed the running boards, and was just getting to putting nuts and
bolts mountings to the system. He claims to have altered the height of
the running board where it meets the rear fender, to allow for a better
blend of depths. I had mocked up on my last visit a filler piece on the
fender. Joe claims to have accomplished the same thing.
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OK then.
The Grand National
Roadster Show is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I will be hungry to
see the new finishes and tech available.
3/9/11
A few weeks ago, I
got a tour of Leno’s garage. I reminded him I was still progressing on
the KK, and reiterated jokingly my error of prepaying a moron to do the
work.
I called Joe and
related my story of how Leno wants to see his work by the mid to end of
April, in order to qualify him to do some overflow work on two concept
cars.
We’ll see how Joe
performs……
I meanwhile have
ordered a new steering column, this time costing $700!!!!
Crap!
Remember, Joe was
supposed to have ordered this 8 months ago!
It will arrive in a
couple of weeks or so. Joe was supposed to have come this week to pick
up the column and brake master. No show, of course.
My hope springs
eternal, if not happily.
3/21/11
I left a message by
email for Joe on the end-of-April time constraint regarding Leno’s work,
and my hope that the steering column will show shortly.
Dan Feldstein
commented on Friday night he thought Joe was just dragging it so I would
eventually just get frustrated and pick it up. I had NEVER thought this.
I think Dan is right.
3/23/11
Got two pix by email
from Joe today on the power steering rack. I’ll attempt to get these
forwarded to Scott’s and see if anything in the pix tells them what
might need doing. The picture really just shows the mounting loops
needing to be rewelded. I still don’t quite know what Joe’s contention
of malfunction is here.
Nevertheless, once
the column arrives, I will demand we set it immediately, with the rack
corrected or not.
I have ZERO
confidence that Joe will hand me a primered and completed rough truck
within 4 weeks.
4/23/11
I got Joe to send
some pix, which were essentially just as the truck looked 5 months ago.
He has done some running board work, that’s pretty much it.
He will clearly not
make it to the Leno line in 7 more days.
Regardless, I am
going to have him paint the truck before giving it back, Yes, FINISH
paint. He will make all sorts of noise, but the bottom line is I will
get it painted, and NEVER speak with him again.
Wolfshadow’s Robert
Neumann is doing three colorings, and if one hits me, that will be it.
I am have hopes that
Larry Bryant, the newest fabrication the Tbird, will do some significant
work on the KK. If I can sell the impala, that money will go STRAIGHT
into the KK.
This is THE car I
want out there as an example of what Dick Wagner does with cars I think
it and the Tbird will bring me business as well.
I have contacted Ron
at Lambert Enterprises and Ron is quoting me custom tail lights and
running lights. Should be today for that. This is exciting.
4/23/11
Wolfshadow has done
some colorings, but the tints are not what I’m wanting. The silver looks
white, the blue is too pale, and the yellow is not orange enough. The
orange was interesting.
Overall, the red is
still my fav.
4/30/11
Every once in a
while a single phrase hits home with the blinding intensity of a nuclear
blast:
Possessions possess
you.
OMG.
The flip side of the
Zen coin if you will.
My holding on to the
people who make the car hobby happen (or in my case, NOT happen), is
what ruins this sport for me. I have lost 5 years with f---n Joe. I have
to get that vehicle outa there. I have thought my JayCon plan would work
(well, I HOPED it would). It clearly has not done the trick.
Joe has been
mandated to go Red on this, and I frankly have no other options in my
brain to prod him to action.
My only alternative
is to remove the car, get it into the hands of someone who WILL work on
it, and chase Joe for the dough. The chase is a daunting concept. I have
been chasing TOWARD completion having already paid. Chasing after
non-completion for money looks bad.
The overall best
thing is to compete the car. There is a HUGE amount of money on the line
here for this undone work.
I gotta work some
more ideas here.
I just did a Google
search again on Tammy Allen, called a phone #, and spoke to Preston, who
apparently fields her calls at her website. I told him my story, and
astoundingly he says this sounds familiar, that he suspects Montalto is
the same person with whom she is frustrated, waiting, and unhappy. He
said don’t be surprised if I get a call from her.
Wow!
5/2/11
I did get a call
from Tammy’s attorney. The short of it is she said Tammy has had
problems with Montalto. Not unlike mine. The attorney advised me to seek
legal help. I can’t afford it, whereas Allen can. It was all good,
sympathetic, believable, and supportive. But no action will be coming
from Allen to help my cause.
Allen could just
POUND Montalto into the ground if she so chose. I think she chooses to
remain lower profile, and will probably take her licks and just get away
from him. I’ll be VERY interested in how it all plays out, of course.
Meanwhile, B/E are
coming with me Saturday morning to Joe’s shop, as my “mechanical” men,
to see the car. Our meeting at their shop went well, with JJ present. We
all seem to be on the same page on the project.
5/3/11
The steering column
arrived yesterday, and no call from Joe or a time for him to pick up the
column and brake master/pedal assembly. I’ll just take the out there on
Saturday.
Ron from Lambert
called me today, claiming he lost my phone #, and that my phone message
was garbled.
He was to have
emailed me a spec sheet, invoice, and time estimate.
No show so far.
5/7/11
Went out to Joe’s
with Cliff, Eugene, and Bob. All agree Joe is WAY over his head here.
They all feel he will never finish, and is just TRYING to get me to take
the car away.
While I hate hearing
this, they are right.
So done is done.
I have no
foreseeable way to recoup my $50K loss and almost 5 years, but certainly
progress is NOT being made with the truck there.
Oh, I might get a
few more little welds here and there and some sort of fabrication, but
there is so much wrong, so much to correct, that I have to move on.
B/E has no room in
their shop for three months. I have no cash until the Impala sells. I
will leave the truck at Joe’s for a little while longer while I gear up
here to receive it, and start the mechanicals.
What an INCREDIBLE
screwing and waste of life’s precious time and energy.
5/8/11
I spoke briefly with
Nick last night, who volunteered he might talk to me about the truck in
a few weeks when he get Al’s 10-year Chevy project out the door.
I might try to work,
with Nick’s approval, a straight time deal with Mazzo or Carlos or
perhaps Neil.
Bob and Eugene have
been wonderful, but they are three or more months away from even
touching the car. I might need to go interimly with Nick’s boys here.
I have been
pondering what I can do, and there is a LOT. I can do much of the
mechanicals, all the wiring, setting the cooling components, mounting
the column and brake assembly, and at least mocking up the dash. There
are a host of little fabrications and mountings to be done, and while I
am not to slick fabricator some others may be, my them of rounded
mounting plates seems to be pleasing, and I can certainly keep on with
that theme. If I could get the TIG working, I might even get some
practice in with that.
Cliff from B/E says
he has some 19” seats to recommend.
The headers will
have to be done by a GOOD welder. Sadly, Gary is out of the picture, or
he could have had fun with this as he had mentioned back when. He could
have had fun with a lot of this.
So I get to have the
fun. I am at a similar junction as when I built Woodland Hills: I didn’t
realize I could do this, and whatever I design seems to be pleasing to
nearly everyone. Bob was particularly sharp about his opinion that I got
just about everything right on the truck, and that it would have been
real easy to screw it up. So I get to dig deep into my creative dark
area and just do this, like a hobby, like a sport. Just like the garage
project it started out being.
This is all Joe has
accomplished since last October!!! Utterly and mind-stompingly pathetic.
5/9/11
Spoke at length with
Tony Long today, a veteran of dealing with Montalto. The short version:
he BS’s customers with high-dollar stuff in the shop (a Ferrari, etc.)
claiming he did all the work (NOT true), then stalls them once he has
the job, then hits them for about 25% more money in the time squeeze.
Tony has seen this MANY times, and considers it Joe’s solid M-O.
Had an interesting
conversation with Kelly. Kel related how he ran some construction jobs
years back, and had a carpenter/cabinet guy doing this same M-O:
stalling, demanding more money. Kel went out to his shop unannounced,
screamed at this guy for about ten minutes, and the job was done THAT
night.
I will be going with
some HUGE muscle and confronting Joe soon. I will demand the car be
returned, and that he get me $30K shortly.
5/27/11
THE CAR IS BACK! A
tow truck pulled up yesterday and unloaded the KK. It is up on the rear
rack, and we will start work on it shortly. Nick and Carlos are supposed
to come here tomorrow to take a look.
Mark Anderson will
also be seeing it soon. Joe’s check for $30K is inexplicably not with
the car.
7/9/11
Despite a few emails
to Joe, no money, and no window parts have arrived, nor have I gotten
ANYTHING response from him.
Randy and I put the
other two motors in, I took the transfer case and had it colored, and
shipped the case to Rob Moore yesterday. Hopefully I will have enough
money to pay him for putting the guts in it. |