As to door panels…
In the 1980’s when I did two K’s we cut the mylar and embossing out from under the stainless trim. I rebuilt the panels with material from Restoration Supply and Specialties. We then upholstered the panels
then placed the old section in place and the seam was covered by the stainless trim.
My embossed mylar are not bad, not perfect, but not torn up. I think I will do the same again on these.
James
From: pffkllc@xxxxxxx <pffkllc@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2024 04:51
To: John Grady <jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; Ray Jones <1970hurst@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Nick Taylor <nicksgaragesd@xxxxxxxxx>; Michael Corrigan <mcorrigan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; James Douglas <jdd@xxxxxxxxxx>; Chrysler 300 List Server (chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} Some people think I am being too harsh...but..
I contacted SMS awhile ago about getting new door panels for my K. They are the only game in town for those, since they own the mylar material that goes on the panels. They gave me a quote,
which was NOT cheap, but said I could hold the actual panels until they were ready to maount them, at which point I would get them back, done, within two weeks of sending them out. I got the impression that the delay would be several months, but the arrangement
seemed to be reasonable, since I could use the ones I have until they were to be replaced. I didn't order them, but am still considering it. Meanwhile, I may sell the car, as is, and let the buyer worry about it.
Is there some way the club or reproduction folks could help?
Maybe small bulk buying for them items SMS needs and is buying on a needs basis.
Maybe some of our nearby talented members helping with logistics on occasions.
Maybe ... anything to take some of the load of the Owner, before he decides "It's all too much"
Someone has the owners direct phone #, maybe a call to personally show we care and want to help, if possible.
——this all comes down to “ Beggars can’t be choosers” —- well they can , but they will starve .
Choice of nothing at all , or wait . That is reality . —unfortunately ,even the latter choice will go away if not careful here.
Owner will say, if it becomes a PIA,——- fine get your own waffle imprinted leather , cut it and sew seats in your own basement . Then if pattern is off 5%
in depth , yell at yourself . New press tool for waffle is 40 k $ to make 3 sets a year? hope someone buys a few.
And need a leather press.
If no orders my cash is tied up in rolls of leather and mothballed machines .
Oh — you wanted cloth with silver threads woven into 1957 cloth . Sure no problem , I have Merlin in a closet , next week ok?
Industrial sewing machine, correct size patterns, stuff to 3 D cut foam ?
skill to run it , find correct stitch threads, delays from suppliers, —today all in China , finding this person to sew it who I would guess makes 80 an hour
. Go for it . And daily piles of whining calls too ,” is it soup yet ?” “ why don’t you call me back” # 8 today.
That is a disheartening situation for the most optimistic well meaning guy . Leads to “ who needs this?” . And soon “ don’t make 300 stuff anymore , just 55
chev floor mats
i am sure they want it to be soup 100x more then you do
We are truly noise in car hobby, we forget that . We can’t even get good 14” tires.
I saw Mac’s model A parts book , you can buy the whole car in pieces , 1/2” thick . That is not us ..
on the other hand, if SMS does as is alluded to , that is just dishonest . = Heads up SMS , just tell people it will be a while . No whack a mole . customers
will vote with feet .
I don’t get it .. if I am SMS I am way more stressed playing WAM daily than just being up front . On other hand ,??? can be Ponzi attribute to that , need
cash to pay for stuff now being delivered to fill old orders?
All while retaining employees? waiting?
Not advocating anything here,— just saying we are no longer all in first grade , where you learn that stamping feet , um, causes a time out , and not much
more . You make choices, but you also have to have some empathy … for the other guy. Then that becomes mutual, he helps you …
There is a vast difference between Gary Goers and the type of vendors who are being discussed here. Gary had his quirks about ordering but if you ordered something,
you got it and if he didn't have it or there was a delay, he would contact you. I got my 300F in 2016 and the first thing I did was order everything for it from wherever I could. This was toward the end of Gary doing business, but he called me right after
he got my order to go through it and to let me know about his challenges. He tried to get my seat covers done but ultimately, he couldn't so he refunded me the money that I had put toward them. No questions asked. He also went out of his way to source things
I needed.
SMS is totally different, they lie and they lie and they lie. They take your money as quickly as they can and don't deliver. There is no excusing their behavior.
But like others have said, they are a necessary evil. Also, make sure you get swatches from them. Not all their reproduction material is correct or will match what you have. And once they cut it, you own it. They won't take it back, even if it's totally not
right.
As others in our group have reminded us, no one is getting rich, taking care of parts for our old cars. Any of us who had to figure out how to deal with Gary
Goers eventually realized that you either accepted the reality of who he was or gave up and accepted some lower quality or not existent alternative.
My advice for all of us is to imagine we are at a very busy airport at the end of a day full of traffic delays. We may be frustrated, but is it ever affective
to be rude to the gate agent? I suspect we all know the answer to that, even if at times, it feels quite unsatisfactory!
Sometimes the best answer is just to complain to one another!
This coming from one who has struggled with a twelve year long restoration…
The only thing SMS is fast at is charging your credit card. They will send you a bit of your order so you get stuck with a partial order that is harder to cancel.
They obviously can produce things when threatened and there is no need for them to lie to customers. I got various answers that my embossed material was either
already done, being done, or will be done in two weeks.
And it doesn't seem to matter if you're a small customer or someone who orders a lot. A friend buys a lot of materials from them and he gets treated the same
way.
When I inquired about 2/14/2024 of why my headliner order of about December the 18th, and promised as a three-week after the 1st of the year not arrived
nor had anyone called me to tell me it will be delayed, I got an email on February the 16th that stated,
“ My sewer say’s the headliner will be done today.”
So, an hour or so ago I get a voicemail asking me if my headliner has the external bows or the internal bows are they are different headliners. Today is the 23rd.
Therefore, nobody was working on this headliner on the 16th. Smoke.
Apologists keep suggesting that we should kiss the ring of the suppliers. Horse Dung.
Suppliers need to stop lying about deliver times. Then a potential customer can choose to do business with them or not based on facts and not fiction.
I would like our club to stand for full disclosure by suppliers. It is not a bad thing to tell people that it is going to take 3 months, 6 months or a year for a part to show
up. It is a horrible thing to miss represent the timelines, however.
James.
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