I was a tad disappointed when I saw that commercial about the final episode. It wasn't my favorite show, but it wasn't the worst, either.

Anyone seen the new show aired on the weekends on Motor Trend channel, called Live, Love, Wrench? It's fairly bad, and the only reason why I watch it is because there's a very cute girl on the show. :sign0020:

 

They have a channel on YouTube called Flying Sparks Garage done out of their back yard shop. Its a little more interesting than Live Love Wrench in my opinion.

 

Anyone seen the new show aired on the weekends on Motor Trend channel, called Live, Love, Wrench? It's fairly bad, and the only reason why I watch it is because there's a very cute girl on the show.

I caught a few minutes of it by accident the other day. I wasn`t impressed enough to add it to my DVR schedule, if that says anything.
Terry

 

I caught a few minutes of it flipping channels a few days ago. Pretty weak. But the girl is hot.

 

Every customer gets a complimentary set of flat spot tires with each vehicle delivery:sign0020:

I also don't like how these guys complain half the time about work they have to do to the cars. They are in business to work on cars, don't complain about it.

"How are we ever going to put this 650HP engine in a Chevelle? It was never made to handle that much HP!" Gimme a break.

 

Anyone notice that Dan Short sweats........ A LOT!!! LOL

 

I won't miss it. I remember and episode that they were working on an early Camaro and made a huge deal about how someone had mounted the rear shocks with one lower mount in front of the rearend and one lower mount behind the rearend. I had a 75 Camaro and that's how they were done from the factory. If your going to berate other peoples work at least know what your talking about.

 

Check out this letter from Dan Short, he tells the story of why he quit the show. I never liked the show after the first couple of episodes. His brake test and insistence on making everything perfect before he would do what the customer came to him for. I won't lose sleep over that show, but Iron Resurrection I think is a great show with very talented people. Also Joe's wife is hot. :sign0020:

https://www.fantomworks.com/14385/why-drs-quit/

 

Link doesn't work anymore.

 

Thanks for posting Dan's letter, AWSUM55! I hadn't seen that..

While not perfect (nothing is!), I thought Dan's efforts were professional 99% of the time. Making sure a car is SAFE before making it pretty seems VERY professional to me! .. and Yes, that's UNUSUAL within the car repair/restoration community!

I will miss his program.

 

I will not miss that show. If back to back re-runs were showing I knew I would not be watching TV - maybe that's a good thing. The guy just rubs me the wrong way. He's the perfect example of a seagull manager.

Some of the bills he handed those people....WOW.

 

Some of the bills he handed those people....WOW.

I don't think you understand how expensive it is to have a car restored/built these days by a reputable shop. Go see Dave Kindig and your wallet will be $250K lighter.

 

Let's see, it started going bad in the first year of the show.

He's in debt $1 million because of the show.

Etc.

But he did it for 6.5 years.

He's one of 3 things.
1. Masochist
2. Stupid
3. Lying

 

I agree, if your loosing money why would you do it to start with.. Just not smart business practice. I work a day job and work on cars as a side business, If I can't turn a small profit at minimum I just don't take the job. I do a lot of jobs flat rate and some I make more $ on than others but always make $ profit. It would be stupid to work for free.

 

While not perfect (nothing is!), I thought Dan's efforts were professional 99% of the time. Making sure a car is SAFE before making it pretty seems VERY professional to me! .. and Yes, that's UNUSUAL within the car repair/restoration community!

I will miss his program.

I agree with you.
Terry

 

The first year I got hooked but didn't like all his temper tantrums but the second season he toned it down I am sure from viewers comments. I agree the brakes test is overblown, you don't need to show every car. My question was why was that done last instead of first. And then some of the overreaction to "something doesn't work?" all of a sudden. Thats old cars and shouldn't be a shock.

I don't think his prices for labor is out of line at all but some of the parts price totals seemed high.:bowtier:

 

There is also a huge difference between the quality of cars that Kindig puts out compared to fantomworks. The show was watchable, but the constant "sky is falling " head shaking, and cussing about common problems during a build made them all look like idiots IMHO

 

I don't think you understand how expensive it is to have a car restored/built these days by a reputable shop. Go see Dave Kindig and your wallet will be $250K lighter.

I agree. People do not understand how much time adds up on all the small stuff. That is why hate working on the old cars now.
Terry

 

A 5 or 6 year contract? C'mon.

 

Neither you nor I know all of the details of what went on (aside from what Dan shared in his farewell letter), so we shouldn't be so quick to judge.

 

I recently started working at a hotrod shop. Yeah, I was retired a full 6 months..
Anyway, I have become acutely aware of how many man hours it takes to get things done. Those man hours explode when it comes to doing custom work.
project on my rack right now, owner wants the LS coils relocated from the top of the motor. That could take up to 8 hours depending on where they have to go and what kind of mount I have to make or buy. Labor rates at our shop are fairly cheap $65-85 an hour).
On really high end stuff, the body work can kill ya. Im no expert on body stuff, but on my personal car, I have probably 40 hours straightening, gapping, and blocking a deck lid.
I saw they quoted 5000 hours and 4 years on that little truck...Holy cow.

 

That 5000 hours at the $75 (middle) equates to $375K. I don’t know about others that read this site but that is way way out of my league.

 

As a shop owner, I never get paid for all the hours I put into a project. It is just impossible to do so. I figure on any major project 25% of my time is not recovered.

Lots of the work I do now, I don't even keep track of the hours, because no one would pay the total anyway. Just to hard to do that.

Lots of guys "want" stuff done but their ability to pay for that "want" just doesn't match up with their wallet.

In 39 years of doing full restorations I can count on one hand the number of clients that could match their "want list" with their "wallet"

All the stuff I have seen on Fantom Works, I have had to deal with as a shop owner.

Mikey

 

With having to juggle anywhere from 65 to 98 car builds, I can understand why Dan appeared so stressed out and sweaty almost all of the time. I wish Dan Short and his crew the best.

 

fyi......If any of you guys get the Fantom newsletter in your email every month, my 57 is in it this month.

 

Neither you nor I know all of the details of what went on (aside from what Dan shared in his farewell letter), so we shouldn't be so quick to judge.

I can judge that if it was like he said beginning from year one, he either made some really bad decisions, or he's not forthcoming on what was really happening. He also had the opportunity to walk away from the contract and pay the consequences. You don't just sign your life or your business away unless you're not too bright.

In other words I don't get it.

On a contrary note, I can see Mikey's points very clearly and understand that if you hand your car over to a reputable shop, the charges do pile up. I had no problems with the money he charged. It's just all the other stuff.

 

I can judge that if it was like he said beginning from year one, he either made some really bad decisions, or he's not forthcoming on what was really happening......

Dan doesn't owe anyone a detailed explanation of how everything went down behind the scenes, especially with regard to his personal finances. I really don't understand the piling on. If the guy did make some bad decisions, perhaps they were made in good faith, and things didn't go as well as he thought they would go, or situations changed that were beyond his control. Jeez, it's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, isn't it.

 

Mr Fantom works received quite large sums of money for the TV show, a benefit most shops and car builders don't receive. And he still had to file for bankruptcy. Tells me all I need to know.

 

It’s just like most things in life. Getting a TV show is an opportunity. It’s good for some and not for others. Some are able to capitalize on it and maybe even enjoy it. For others it may end up a burden and maybe they cannot take advantage of it. Sort of like many things in business. Sounds like a TV Show was not the right business decision for them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I DVR this show and I have enjoyed it... sometimes. as I generally find it very frustrating.

I laugh at how they overreact to the smallest issue and I always bring out the calculator at the end to total up the labor hours and parts..

My wife just shakes her head at me... " stop watching it if you're only going to complain about it.".