Frustrated while waiting on parts

[wmhjr]

I think you're missing Jims point. Ultimately - if I'm reading Jim right - he's saying that sometimes with excellent planning, and with some luck, you CAN make a schedule work. However most of the time we need to understand that crap happens, and roll with the punches. I don't think Jim is saying we are all able to meet the 48hr Camaro planning -

My build took 2 yrs, and my planning was EXTENSIVE. I had a 1500+ line Microsoft Project plan. Dependencies and lead times were factored in. Some items I ordered MONTHS in advance. Many months. But you know what? Crap still happened (and still does)

[Flash68]

No, I actually don't think I missed his point. I got it quite well and even said I agreed with him -- all except for the 48 hr Camaro point. I think that part did a disservice to his overall well-written post because it isn't a good supporting example .... IMO.

Planning + luck + patience is a formula I absolutely agree with. It just usually takes going thru a painful build oneself to understand. I've been there. Many of us have.

[twosaturns]

I think it really depends on what kind of products you are looking for or need. the higher the leverl or more exotic the build, the harder it is to get. personally, I don't understand the need for 'deadlines' on something that essentially is an expensive toy.
I think a lot of issues could be solved if people set resonable expectations and plan accordingly. I can understand needing an alternator or set of pads for my daily driver RIGHT NOW, because I need to drive it to work the next day, but IDK if we could expect our custom wheels/trim piece/carbon fiber header panel RIGHT NOW just because we WANT it right now.

[novaderrik]

I think it really depends on what kind of products you are looking for or need. the higher the leverl or more exotic the build, the harder it is to get. personally, I don't understand the need for 'deadlines' on something that essentially is an expensive toy.
I think a lot of issues could be solved if people set resonable expectations and plan accordingly. I can understand needing an alternator or set of pads for my daily driver RIGHT NOW, because I need to drive it to work the next day, but IDK if we could expect our custom wheels/trim piece/carbon fiber header panel RIGHT NOW just because we WANT it right now.

throw some blame at Chip Foose, Boyd Coddington, Jesse James, Paul Sr and Paul Jr, and anyone else that has had a tv show in the last decade where they build stuff that should take months or years to build in a few weeks- which is then edited down to 40 minutes to fit into an hour long cable tv time slot.

[twosaturns]

throw some blame at Chip Foose, Boyd Coddington, Jesse James, Paul Sr and Paul Jr, and anyone else that has had a tv show in the last decade where they build stuff that should take months or years to build in a few weeks- which is then edited down to 40 minutes to fit into an hour long cable tv time slot.

I was actually thinking of our 'gotta have it now' thinking from these 'reality' shows; they are ALWAYS on a deadline, if we don't get it done now we're sunk, but after the commercial break it all works out.
I always liked seeing how Chip got a car done, but they never showed them actually driving it, and there was always a guy fiddling w/ the carb when they went to start it. I bet lots of those cars still needed some serious garage time before they were actually 'done'.

[Jim Nilsen]

Jim I agree with most of what you said in your post, but using the 48 Hr Camaro as an example of proper planning and parts procurement is not a fair example. Bret and the ridetech people will always get a part faster and at a higher priority status than Joe Blow down the street. That's just the way it is.

Having met Bett and his people along with , DSE,Twist Machine, Baer, and many other sponsors I would have to say that we are all equal as the shipping or other transportation to get a part. Most all of the vendors will treat you as good and get it to you as quick as anyone else. Going out of their way to serve you is their business and most do it well.

The big thing about the 48 hour Camaro getting done so efficiently is that the people building it new the parts well and all the problems ahead of time, you will never know how much that saves time till you have to modify to fit for some parts. You also have to realize that the planning was done by people who knew what worked well and had all of those parts before they started, how far ahead they ordered some of those parts is something that needs to be tlaked about so there are not the misconceptions as to how long it really took to do a car in 47 hours.

Waiting for parts was far less a problem than the ones that didn't work. I went thru fuel pump problems in my original plans and had to rethink and redo the system because of no fault of mine but I was still to blame for trying something different than the main stream. I found I wasn't the only one after researching more. This delay took more money and time but came out good and maybe even better but the disappointment was as deep as yours about your parts.

I stopped making deadlines when I realized that it was more about money controlling the timeline than anything else. There are always more expensive and AVAILABLE parts if you can afford them and used ones can always pull you thru if you choose to, but those are choices we try to avoid on a budget build or something that has a theme or look you WANT.


I feel the pain of waiting and most here have learned to realize how hard it really is no matter who you are. In the end it we all do the best we can and it usually falls short somewhere and if time is the only place to fall short it is better than the other problems that can happen. If you got your wheels in 2 days but they were damaged in shipping,or were the wrong offset because you made a mistake in measuring , or some other problem other than waiting would you feel differently? Would the time frame be acceptable when the fate falls on you or someone else other than the vendor? These are just questions to ponder when the world is not giving you what you want and you have to justify what is not going your way.

Goodluck with your order and may you be happy when you get it.