My story.... finally

Alright, I have kept you guys waiting long enough. Here is my story that I have been hinting at for the past 3 weeks. Feel free to laugh at it since it

just gets so damn messed up at some points, that you just have to laugh.

Here we go:

Alright, about 4 weeks ago, I was heading out to go to a friends house when I try to start the car and nothing happens. No spark, no cranking, no power- nothing. After about 30 min of freaking out and checking all connections, I finally realize that the negative battery terminal connecter is so loose, I could just twist it right off. Thankfully, that was the problem.

Next, my group buy FMIC came in, about 2 days later. I went to the old speed shop I used to go to cause the owner came back(another long story lol) and said hed give me a good deal on fmic install because my dad found out that there was trimming involved, and he wanted a professional to do it haha. It took him a day and a half to put it in. Looked great and everything..... but he chopped the bumper to hell!. He cut so much out of the bottom part that was unnecessary. It looked as if he covered his eyes when he trimmed it. So, I get the car back from him, really pissed off. It keeps stalling out cause it isn't recirculated, and then I tried and gassed it in 2nd, and BOOM. Lower intercooler pipe blew off in the middle of a busy road. So, I coasted to the side and fixed it with the tool set I have in my trunk hehe.

Then, I finally get the rotors and pads I ordered like 6 weeks ago from turboimport.com. I go back to the good speed shop that is very reputable because there are 2 things I won't try myself on the car without an expert - electronics and brake system. Everything is done and mounted, and he was just bleeding the last caliper on the driver side rear and the fucking bleeder valve snapped inside of the caliper! That happened on a Thursday after the time where u can do overnight shipping. So, I call the following Monday to check up on the car cause the part was supposed to arrive and be installed today, but Mitsu never fucking ordered the caliper on Thursday, so it's being overnighted for Tuesday. We demanded over night for free and got it. This wouldn't be too bad, but now this messed up my appointment on Monday at the body shop for the brand new bumper I need.

I bring it to body Tuesday, and he said it would be done friday. I go that Thursday to check up on it, and he still hadn't even taken a look at it yet. So, he promised it would be worked on tommorow (Friday). I go to the body shop Friday morning because he never called like he said he would when he starts on it. Guess what, he still hadn't looked at it. So, I got my dad to have a talk with him, and he promised that the car would be on the lift and bumper off that day(Friday), he would work on it Saturday(trimming/paint/install) and I would "have it" Monday.

Monday rolls around and I call because he doesn't, AGAIN. He says that the bumper has been off since Saturday morning, and that he needed to order some kind of bracket. I dont know why, the current bumper was on fine. No cutting or painting of the new bumper has started yet. Called Tuesday and car was on the lift being worked on. New bumper would be trimmed, and painted that day, and i could pick up on Wednesday. So, I go over on Wednesday, because he doesn't call, as usual. This time, I'm with my dad cause he was my ride to the place. So when I get there, I see the car outside without the bumper on. The guy comes out with another customer and my dad asks what's going on. He tells him it's in painting right now. My dad made a comment that this is the 4th time it wasn't ready when he said it would be. So, when the guy was finished with the customer, the guy asks my dad to go to his office to talk with him. Naturally, I follow. We get to the office and the guy orders me out, and he just wants to talk to my dad lol. He gave my dad a speech saying that he didn't appreciate what my dad said infront of the other customer. So, my dad replies back that if the guy would have told us it wouldn't be ready, none of this shit would happen. So, "tommorow"(Thursday) is the big day haha ya right.

Thursday morning comes and I get a call telling me that it will be ready a little later - I was going to pick it up at 3, he said 5:30. He said he needed to trim a little more after he fitted it on after cutting and paint. He trimmed it, then touched it up with more paint. I couldn't make it over to pick it up cause I had work, so tommorow morning it is - I hope it's actually waiting for me when i get there. It is now friday morning, and I finally have the car back in my possession! Bumper and paint looks great, they actually did a great job. Took 10 days, but it came out good. Only thing left is a new badge cause the other one wouldn't come off without cracking, and 2 inserts on the air dams, which will all come in Monday. This story is finally done.... i hope lol.

I brought the bill over to the guy who butchered the bumper originally, and he is gonna cover half of it cause he "warned me alot of cutting was involved" even after I showed him pics of people on Tuners who had theirs installed. Pictures will follow when I have some time today.

I wonder what will be the next adventure lol. I'm done modding for a long time now. My parents are fairly mad at this whole ordeal, and I'm pretty

turned off right now. But don't worry, I will eventually pick up where I left off and keep modding :).

Comments? lol

Too much like work. That's why you do everything yourself. Crazyness

First off the I wouldn't ever use either one of those shops again, no matter how good the work was. Secondly the guy running that paint shop is a jackass, and I don't see him running a paint shop much longer if he treats all of his customers the way he treated you and your dad. Finally this whole story is why no one touches my car but me and a select few friends.;) I dont trust anybody with my car and its not even in that great of shape. But thats just me. Sucks you had to deal with so much BS to get your FMIC installed. Live and learn.;)

Here are pics:

http://www.clipsekid99.com/other/damage.jpg that is the only pic I have before the new bumper. It was from my camera phone, so it's crap quality.

Good pics:

http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/bay10.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/fmic1.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/fmic2.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/fmic3.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/piping1.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/piping2.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/enper/piping3.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/exterior/hoodopen1.jpg
http://www.clipsekid99.com/exterior/hoodopen2.jpg

Trust me, I really wanted to do the FMIC install. A friend of mine and I were gonna do it until my dad stepped in. I guess he had to bite his tounge on this one lol.

Wow... I hate hearing storys like that one. It is for that same reason that I do everything myself now. Shops suck hardcore.

Dude holy shit, your car looks extremely good. I'm glad to see that you are doing everything right on your car. It's comming out really nicely. Keep up the good work bro.

P.S. Those speed shops usually suck and don't honor their words. My local one is extremely pissed at me because I left some bad reviews about them online and losing them some good business, but hey it's their own fault for not doing business like they should!

Looks good!

Oh wow, it looks a lot better than the job the first shop did. I guess you posted the pictures as I was reading it all. I can't wait to get my FMIC on my car...

congrats on Your FMIC... i just got my car back from a bunch of FUcking (dont excue me, they deserve it) retards because this guy in a '03 Z-06 Vette smashed the shit out of it on my way to school.(i dont mean to steal your thread but...) my car was estimated to be done about... oh, not kidding at all! 4 weeks before it was, and they kept on telling me they where working on it... THEN!!! I Sent them a Link via E-mail (after asking the guys at the shop in person if that was a good idea) for my muffler, and they orded the wrong one... then telling them to order exactly what i sent them... what happens? OH! its the WRONG one again... ok, so i go there, and they try to convince me the exhaust they bought will be Fine... NO!!! i dotn think your going to tell me whats fine on my car... then i also had to get my dad in on the ordeal... after that, my dad came with my... lol and they pretty much did whatever i said from then on out... I love my dad... BUT!!! GUESS WHAT!!!! My car is on its way BACK to the shop, for the shit they Fucked up... how do you get scratches in a BRAND NEW back bumper... yeah, washed it yesterday... The "Brand new" bumper, looks TRASHED...Windsheild washer fluid leaks, and my fucking trunk pannels are missing SO many screws... more then half... ok, well... Congrats on your car clipsekid! sorry for the hijacking...

^^LOL That was awesome, I could feel your rage coming through my computer screen. :wink: :p

Exactly why I will be the only one to turn a wrench on something even mildly important on my car. That first shop that fucked up your bumper should be put out of business along with that jackass that took a week longer than he said to paint a fuckin bumper. My DSM is going to be worked very carefully, anyone that I know that works on cars does a decent job, but they lose shit all the time and as far as I'm concerned, no shop has half a clue whats going on. Glad to see its looking good now though!

congrats? Shitty deal... Thor you should wash those cars in your sig =P

Sorry about your ordeal Clipsekidd. How thick is that fmic btw?

Your story reminds me of a new idea I had. Everyone has cell phones right? So why not start a thing where you can press the business rating button and type in the name of the business and write a review. Or when cells get really advanced with gps systems built in, you can just look up the business by standing in or our right outside the store and pressing the lookup closest business button. Then anytime you are going into a store you just press the business rating button and it will automatically select the closest business to you and give you everyone's rating. Since everyone has a cell and everyone wants to know that their going to a good business, the ratings should be huge.

Sorry it was such a crappy experience. It does look good, though :). I agree that those places don't deserve your future business.

All these stories about girls and young guys getting the run-around from shops has convinced me of something-- take your car in with your grease monkey rags on, five days of facial hair, a crazy look in your eyes, and a law degree.

lol. yeah this is why I try to do everything my self too. Just the other day I was getting a new muffler put on and I told the guy to mount it a certain way to make sure it clears the swaybar. Of course when I walk out to look at it, its the wrong way. :uhoh:

Thanks guys. I totally agree on doing everything myself, just try to convice my father that. He's the one that told me to take it to a "pro" for the cutting and look what happened lol.

I came to a realization tonight... I can do anything I want just as good as anybody else. I just have to put my mind to it... Tell him that and I'm sure he'll let ya play with the sawzall on your car then. (I just do it when my dads at work. lol) :wink:

Well, you got a freshly painted, new bumper out of it all right? So one plus...

Cool beans and it looks good.

Why won't you do brake work yourself? That is not a very hard thing at all.

That sucks. That first pic looked pretty shitty. My brother and me are going to do my FMIC install ourselves. So far we've done everything ourselves.
Your car looks good, BTW.