I am so frustrated!!!

[Panelfantastic]

I tried three different vendors who promised me some narrowed IRS arms. It was always "wait a few weeks and we will have them"... weeks turned into months and nobody ever got them. I was finally able to track down an actual fabricator (thanks to a tip on here) and he took an order (and my MONEY) and estimated a month or so. That was two months ago. Now I can't even get a response to my emails ( I haven't been badgering the guy, I've sent four emails in two months and he responded to the first two quickly).
Now I'm forced to look at making my own which I think I have the skill to do but will have to farm out the finish welding 'cause my pocket mig ain't gonna cut it for something as serious as this. This blows, why can't people just do what they say they will...

...and I FINALLY found a bus door last week (on e-rape) and this guy is trying to stiff me too!
Sorry everybody, my GL project is dead in the water and I had to vent

[zen]

Originally posted by Panelfantastic
It was always "wait a few weeks and we will have them"... weeks turned into months and nobody ever got them.

i feel your pain. i am finally moving past some of that. i had a cup brace on order (but at least knew it was going to be a back order and they had no control over it), found an alternate source, got it on order and was told 2 to 3 weeks. over 2 months later i can't get returned calls, emails or anything. the first source is supposed to have some any day and i replaced my order with him. fingers crossed. that is just one of many, many stories. don't get me started on body/paint.

on the reverse side, my engine was done 2 months ahead of plan, windshield was cut (choptop) in a day when they told me a week, headliner and ragtop was only 2 days (even though i have an extra day in removing glue, but it was worth the super cheap deal i got on the work).

hang in there!!!!

[Panelfantastic]

Thanks Zen.
I've got other stuff to get done so I'm not completely stuck, but you know how there is an order to how you want a project to go so stuff doesn't overlap...anyway, how does it feel to be as CLOSE as you are !!!

[vujade]

I feel your pain too man.....
You will get thru this and before you know it you will be back on the road again.

At least you have a VW support group that you can always vent to until it gets done

[Panelfantastic]

Thanks guys!
It really struck home yesterday. We had a small local show here and I was at least able to take our oval out there and enjoy the day. There was zero German look anything there! Even the two Jettas at the show were all "blinged" out. My bus would have blown them away.

[Wally]

Hi Panel,
On the subject of narrowing IRS beams:
Do you need to shorten the axle (between the CV joints) as well?
or is there anything else that needs to be sortened?
The tech article doesn't mention anything like this, so maybe I 'am not getting it...

Thanks,
Walter

[zen]

so let me add to my pain (selfish need), i am working on my doors which i had to leave both extra time at the paint shop to fix a bad spot on each. i then take my first once over and notice that the bad area was fixed...well kind of. seems like he may have forgotten to put clear coat back over it.

gotta keep rolling though. i will deal with it after bug jam. i guess it isn't too much trouble to tear back off.

so i go to install my lexan rear window. start pealing the film off and notice a tear in it. peel it back over the tear and what do i see? i drill tip penetrated the window (not all of the way through, but who cares).

then i go to mount my c/f spoiler which doesn't quit conform to my roof line (either/or/both between the spoiler and the fact that i have a choptop) and it is pretty inflexible. i think it will work though. well, it might have worked. the adhesive worked fine in seuring it to the body, but then it let go of the spoiler. so now i have a half on/half off spoiler with adhesive holding fastly to some of the places enough that i can not get it cleanly off.

the gods are against me.

[Panelfantastic]

Wally,
Yes on the shorter axles. Depending on how much you narrow the arms, you can use a stock axle from an auto trans bug (one side is shorter than the other and the short side is perfect for 1.5" narrowed arms) If these don't work out, you can always order new sway-a-way axles in most any length. In my case, I've converted to type 181 output flanges (on the tranny end) and early 944 stub axles (on the wheel end) and am going to TRY to use the 944 auto axles (same principal as the bug auto) so I can get the benefit of the larger CV's (plus I needed new CV's anyway so I just buy fresh rebuilt whole assemblies).

Zen. I know it doesn't help but, we are all right there with you. I tried to finish installing the headliner in the oval yesterday while it was nice and warm... if you've ever tried this, you know it didn't end well .

Just to let everybody know.
I'm not trying to bash anyone in particular, I was only commenting on how it seems stuff always takes longer, has problems, doesn't get done exactly, etc. When it comes to my hobby, I never look for the cheapest deal. I always try to find someone that does really good quality at a fair price. This still doesn't seem to guarantee anything. I know stuff happens on their end too to keep work from getting done but sheesh.... out of all the work I've had done in the past couple years, probably less than 25% was on time and correct. I've gotten some really high quality work done, but I had to be willing to pay a premium and wait indefinately.

[zen]

Originally posted by Panelfantastic
I'm not trying to bash anyone in particular, I was only commenting on how it seems stuff always takes longer, has problems, doesn't get done exactly, etc.

same here. just venting. it is just frustrating when i know i would lose my job if i did business that way. but things happen and every business has different priorities. live and...take your business elsewhere. darwinian rules apply.