Things do not always go right

[@craigpennington1251]

No this stuff is a fight to the end. It has never been a wam bam deal and done for me. An old guy once told me, "If it goes smooth, it'll blow later." That guy was right on the money too. If you want perfection, it's not easy one bit. You guys do outstanding work and I haven't seen a (cut corner) on anything.

[@weighit]

This is so true, the magic of TV is never showing the actual honest time to do these repairs. Thanks for this video.

[@robinimpey101]

More learning and innovation happens when things go wrong than when they go right!

[@bobnokes9692]

I fully understand what you mean. Whether a technician or mechanic things rarely go right or easy. So it takes time and patience to get it right. Also I enjoy your humor thrown in from time to time!! The man bun does not sit well with me either!! I work for a college an see way to many of those daily! Take care!!

[@johnjones4825]

Man bun: Easy way to show the world you are a dick, without saying a word.

[@louisfaasen4511]

Hallelujah! At last a video clip with which I can relate! Easy to watch KZbin videos, but go and actually do it, complete different kettle of fish !

[@mikesonneson2824]

Enjoyed

[@terrybashamsr]

The flash photo was hilarious.

[@danpatterson6937]

Excellent points. What block was that?

[@stevejanka361]

The important thing here is that you do care. Your work quality speaks for itself. Do you know how many shops wold not have cared about the noise you found and would have continued the engine assembly. That's the difference in the hours that some customers do not appreciate. Thanks for a very informative video. Have a Happy New Year. Take care.

[@shotforshot5983]

Steve Janka I was a dealership master tech for years. My attention to detail made me highly prized, but didn't always translate to better earnings. Oft times I was under intense pressure from all directions. It became maddening!!!

[@TooManyHobbiesJeremy]

A good lesson for the end of the year.

[@myrryxmas]

As you might have guessed, I am a car-restoration show junkie, and the one thing that amuses me is the unrealistic expectation so many customers have. I know you don't have this luxury, Mr. Clayton, but I would love to tell them: "if your pockets are deep enough to buy one of these cars in the first place, why are you griping about a piddling few thousand dollars in unforeseen labor expenses here and there? GET REAL! if this project isn't a labor of love, don't even start it! if you're looking at it as a business investment and expecting a profit down the road, you're in it for the WRONG reason." I suppose having spent my life as a machinist has given me a greater insight into the reality of life than I might have acquired from sitting in an office pushing papers around.... if I ever hit the lottery, I will be your dream customer. "damn the torpedos, do it right, money is not an object!" will be my mantra.

[@herman452]

Almost every decades old car has been the victim sometime in its life of either lack of maintenance or improper maintenance and repair. Then there are the new parts that are poor quality or don't fit right. It's ALWAYS something unexpected, and many times something that you've never seen or encountered before. And you just go "Huh?"

[@blackbirdcycles]

Great vidio you can see were the money go's with the time it can take to do the job.

[@williamrobinsonZ3]

So true.....Murphy turns up...lol

[@frankparks4900]

It looks to me that at this point in your life's journey... That you have already earned enough of your customer's trust/loyalty that you can charge for these unexpected things? That is all good for you... What about the little guys like myself, that "EAT" labor on a daily basis because it "NEVER" works out to be "PERFECT" unless we stop the clock and make it so... What can we do??? Frank Parks @ Mopar Restos Summerville Ga.

[@claytoresto]

I have been restoring these cars for 42 years. I am fortunate that I am in the position to choose what projects I want to restore. As it turns out my customers get most of my time for free and I can only charge about 85-90% of what my employees do. Thats the way it works. I don't know anyone who can charge for all the time they work. I think you have to look at it as you have never worked a day in your life if you love what you do. My interest is now in producing great and real content for TV and internet. Please keep watching, there is no money in these productions. At least at this point. (-:

[@christopheraugustine5816]

Well, you can: Bid higher. This will chase off a lot of potential business but also weeds out the looky-loos. You do not want a customer that does not want to hire someone for a fair wage. Charge on the back end. This will make some of your customers upset, as you were unable to hit your quote. This is reality, and bids and quotes are largely based on how things should go, not how they will. The only way to make this right is to be good enough that the customer is happy to have paid the higher price. Eat it. This is obvious what the result will be. They got what they wanted, you missed out on your profit margin and they may or may not feel it was a good transaction. Telling them about what they did not pay for will endear some people to you and others will talk about you as a fool or someone who tried to weasel more money out of them (even if you do not). All three of the above tactics are necessary at certain times. Frankly, I think that the best thing that you can do is to continually stay in contact with the customer. Something not foreseen, like hidden rust? Contact them and talk with them about it before moving forward. Something that went wrong on your shop's error and now it will take more time or money? Let them know right away what happened and how you think it can be made right. A problem with your supplier meaning that their deadline will be missed? Better let them know immediately. A business is made or lost on its image. The sales and office people are the image the customer deals with once you have started actually working with them. The most important thing that these people can do is make sure that the customer feels that they are being kept apprised of the situation and getting to have some input into how things are working out. Talk WITH your customers, not TO them. Good luck to you.

[@claytoresto]

Well said and good advise. When I communicate, I never have any problems.

[@pappabob29]

"When I communicate, I never have any problems". Boy is that a "mouthful" !!! As a 40 Year Construction Tradesman, now retired for 15 years, I learned way back that "communication" is what makes the difference between a happy customer and a broken relationship between that customer and the "rotten, cheating, inept, Contractor/worker". Also, I worked for many bosses who practiced the logic that "there is never time/money enough to DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, but always enough time/money to FIX IT LATER. I spent two full weeks, one time while another guy was on vacation, fixing the screw-ups and oversights on one of his jobs. When it was time to "thin the crew" because work had slowed down, guess who they kept and who they let go?? When this guy "finished" a job, that "account" got closed so all the "cleanup" work that followed, got charged to different jobs. They felt like he was making them lots of money so he remained.

[@domenicomonteleone3055]

@@claytoresto I fully understand what you are talking about

[@sidluther5081]

Ain't that the truth

[@pappabob29]

Many people/customers who can well afford to pay you to do this work will feel that you having these "problems" means that you are not credible at your skill. Simply because they have never even tried doing anything mechanical so they have never had any personal experience with "Murphy's law" or any of the other circumstances, conditions, latent results of other people's lack of caring, that leads to these results. From your reply below that "you can only charge for 85-90% of what your employees do", you obviously have to "factor that in" to your hourly rate. If you can't pay the bills, pay your employees, and support yourself from your billing at the end of the month , you have become a "philanthropist" instead of a "business man".

[@CORVAIRWILD]

If you think of the expressions one uses in daily life... right off the bat? Did that only start when baseball became a national sport? Did Babe Ruth always get it right off the bat? I don't think you screwed up here, it's just making things work, I just had a 1978 Eldorado shipped from Washington, and it took hours on the phone to get the car here. Things just don't go according to plan because sometimes. People just don't want to make an extra effort, there's also the issue of trust, so I can understand that because I just caught a guy stealing from me that I trusted

[@brushbros]

By the time we learn ALL of the tricks of our trade, it's time to retire.

[@specialized29er86]

Who pays for those mistakes?

[@claytoresto]

we do