scrappy76

Was watching an episode of Fantomwork's last night and they were working on an old Opel. Anyways, they ordered a carb rebuild kit and when it got to them, they opened the box of gaskets and the gaskets literally fell apart they were so brittle. So even though they were new, they have been sitting on the shelf so long, they became dried out and brittle.
It was just interesting, that's all.

I like fantomworks. The guy is a little dramatic, but they have a really good show. Lots of corvettes on the show. I met him at a corvettes at Carlisle once.

Joe C

ya think so? not to go OT, but most of these car show are full of drama. sometimes it's hard to get past the BS. the worst one is/was Classic Car Rescue with Bernie and Mario. seems every other episode, they painted the car the wrong color, Bernie would go nutso, F-in this and F-in that, throwing things, and storming off set. Bernie is supposed to be some world class mechanic, but from what I've seen, i'm not sure i'd let the guy fix my lawn mower -

the worst of the worst - - go to the 13 minute mark - unbelievable BS, but funny - - I refer to them as Jack and Jerk - the Off brothers -

one of the better programs is "Car SOS" - not seen too much in the states, but most episodes are on youtube.

DGXR

Yes it's funny what time/age does to various materials. It's also funny that some materials will last longer if they are being used -- it's actually bad for some new parts to sit on a shelf for too many years. It helps if they are wrapped or sealed, but time still affects them.

Fantomworks... mixed feelings for sure. They are creative and they rightfully take pride in doing high-quality work for their customers. The one thing that bugs me is at the end of every job, he glosses over the cost and quickly asks the owner if they want to see/drive the car. Of course the owner wants to see & drive the car after a bunch of work is done. By the way, that will be $125,000 thank you very much. Maybe this is because it's a car show and they don't want to get bogged down by dollars. Plus, drama sells TV shows so the drama is no surprise at all. Also just about any customer who takes their car to Fantomworks should be expecting to pay high prices for such good work. I'm just sayin, I would like to know how much they are charging for the work.

belairbrian

There was an episode where they gave the numbers. he mentioned the total cost for labor and the hours. can't remember the exact numbers but I did the math to figure out the hourly rate and was surprised it was around $85 an hour. Not bad for the level of skill your hiring.

MyOtherCar

The orange Shelby that was just finished out for $196,250 broke down to $50,000 in NOS parts and the rest labor, which for the 2250 hours comes out to $65/hour. That is approximate as taxes weren't identified/included and I understand he has one rate for mechanical labor and another for body work.

ls777z

I had purchased a bunch of new decals for a car I had from the dealer when they were still available. When I let the car go 25+ years later I let the decals go with it. I wasn't sure how good they still were and most were now available aftermarket. But I did keep all the hard parts I had purchased for my 2nd toy....
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Klondike

I bought a NOS trunk mat, still in the original box, for my 66 Mustang at a swap meet. Stuck it up in my attic for a couple of years till I was ready for it. Probably wasn't the best storage space for it, cause when I took it out to put it in, it crumbled like an old corn tortilla!

Mr. Peabody

One of the very few good deals I've gotten over the years was a full J55 4 wheel brake disc set $80.00 shipped ... in the original boxes. Can't find that any more.

Fortunately time hadn't impacted the cast iron

I have to say that I like Phantom Works also as they are one of the only car shows that gives any indication as to what it costs to do what they do.

maddogwyatt

[QUOTE=Joe C;1595330586]the worst one is/was Classic Car Rescue with Bernie and Mario.
I can't watch it - such a pair of unpleasant morons.....