More interior work done

[chevynut]

Sounds like this guy is going to take you for a ride.

So far I'd say yes, but I do think he INTENDS to come through on his half of the deal. The problem is how many more years will it take?

It's obvious that he was in a hurry to pump something out to get you off his back and that's exactly what you got.

That's not obvious to me. He told me he's done Nomads before but I have no idea why he would have put the cardboard on TOP of the headliner. He did a nice job of doing it wrong.

I would say if he doesn't show up in Oct. with a very nice headliner to install you should have his bill ready and call another shop to get you in in the spring.

Yes, I need to keep him moving. I just got back home and I'm going to call him to let him know he can come over and install it next week. Last time I talked to him over a week ago he still wasn't sure if he needed to start over with new material....I'm not paying for it.

Lazlo time to take the gloves off with this guy.

I completely agree. If he falls through on more promises the sheet is going to hit the fan. I need consistent progress to be finished by summer.

[chevynut]

Well the saga continues. I contacted Larry when I got back from the mountains on September 16 and told him I was home. He replied and said he decided to re-sew a new headliner and that he got the material on the 9/15. I told him (again) on September 17th that I was leaving for Montana again on about September 30 and asked if he could get it done and install it before I left. He called me Wednesday 9/20 and we discussed his shop status and delays and he told me he would try to get to his old shop to get the cardboard for the new headliner by the end of the week. He knew he would need new cardboard when the headliner didn't work on 9/5 and his shop is only 30-40 minutes from his house so I don't understand why it's so hard to do. His sewing machine is set up in his basement. So over two weeks later he still didn't go get it. He told me that he should be able to go get the cardboard by Friday 9/22 and sew it on. He asked me (again) when I was leaving for Montana and I told him (again). I asked if he had anything going on Sunday September 24 and he said he didn't, so I asked if he could come over then and install the headliner. He said he should be able to do that if he got the cardboard Friday.

So, you can guess how this went. Sunday came and went and I heard nothing from him until late Sunday night. He told me he had to take his wife to the hospital on Monday, 9/25 and that he "might" get to the shop by Friday 9/29. Really? Another f'ing week gone? I stewed about this all night and I was getting more and more pissed so I called him Monday and left a message to call back. He called me but was still at the hospital so I asked him to call me when he got home.

I didn't hear from him til late morning on Tuesday 9/26. I told him I was expecting him to come over on Sunday and had not heard otherwise. He got mad and said he didn't make it to the shop to get the cardboard and was planning on getting there by Friday (9/29) and I reminded him I was leaving for Montana and it would be delayed yet another two weeks. He got mad and said screw it and he said he was wanting to settle with me. I said fine, and that I would send him a settlement proposal (already written up) and he said all he would pay for was the work on the two frames. I told him that wasn't the deal, and he owed me a finished interior, which was the agreement that he even put in writing. I told him that at a minimum he owed me interest for the past 9 years since I finished his first frame. He said he was frustrated with me because he told me he couldn't work a lot on my interior, and that it wasn't his fault that my project took so long to build. I told him I had been trying to get him to do something on it for over two years.

We talked some more and I reminded him that he said he could finish my car "by next summer" which is a deadline I gave him last time we discussed it. He asked me what that meant and I said the end of May.....he said June 1? I said that's fine, but no later. He said he still didn't see a problem with that. So we agreed to continue working on it together again.

The problem as I see it is that Larry can't seem to handle working on two things at once. I have dozens of projects that I work on and try to make progress on all of them. I just don't see how he spends 24/7 on his new shop but he claims he does. I decided to see how things go the next couple of months. He told me he could spend more time on my interior after his shop is closed up, which he previously said would be October/November, but he won't even estimate a date now.

Bottom line is I'm in Montana now til around 10/14 and he said he will install it when I get back. I heard the same thing in April.

[chevynut]

Another thing that I've been working on.... Larry told me he wanted a decision on whether I wanted contrasting thread or not before I left for Montana, so he could sew up the dash leather. I told him previously that I was leaning toward the contrasting thread because my interior is more modern. He doesn't like it and thinks it's a "fad" and it will go away in 15-20 years. By that time I won't care.

After looking at the two stitching samples Larry gave me for some reason that I didn't understand the tan thread sample just didn't wow me. I started discussing it with some guys on FB and asked some interior guys to give me some advice on thread size. After having it out with a couple of old-school assholes who didn't like contrasting thread I finally found a couple of guys who do this stuff.

As far as I can tell Larry used .009-.010" thread (#46 or $69) which is really small. The thread in my GMC truck is much larger than that. A few guys told me I should be using larger #138 thread for decorative, contrasting stitching and said some cars even use #207. Also, Larry used 5.5 to 6 threads per inch and they told me the stitches need to be longer to look good. The ones in my Sierra are around 4.5-5 stitches per inch. Also to me the thread color doesn't match the tan leather, it's just brown.

So I sent Larry an e-mail telling him I wanted #138 thread that matched the tan leather, and 4.5-5 stitches per inch. I also told him that I realized it would delay the dash, but I wanted him to sew me a sample with tan #138 thread and the longer stitches so I can be sure that's what I want.

He'll probably get pissed about this too, but he said he would do "anything you want" on my interior after doing his second frame. I haven't heard anything in response yet, but that's typical.

Here's the difference in thread sizes...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/359936195194530352/

Here's the stitching on my GMC Sierra Denali seat....

IMG_6218.jpeg

Here's a thread size chart if anyone is interested.

https://www.sailrite.com/Selecting-t...ht-Thread-Size