FWD Performance - Long Wait on Head

[RIMoparGuy]

I'm just starting this now because I'm reaching my limit of patience.

Basic Facts:

Ordered and PAID IN FULL for a Stage 1 Swirl Head for my '90 VNT Shadow, placed order on March 26th I believe, payment processed on 3/29. For safety's sake, we'll base everything off of the payment date, since that is irrefutable.

I was told when ordering that it would take 1-2 weeks to get the machine work done, 2-3 weeks to expect delivery, since they didn't have a Stage 1 in stock.

I've called many times, and spoken with Cindy almost every time. My issue certainly isn't getting a hold of her. It's the fact that It's now more than twice the length of time I was quoted for my part. I was told a few weeks ago that it was delayed because the guy that ran the machine shop retired and some young kid was running it now. So I gave it more time. Then last week I started politely asking for a date I could look forward to because it was starting to get long in the tooth. The car is in another member's driveway right now and has been since February now. This member has been EXTREMELY patient with the whole process thankfully, but I, nonetheless don't want to impose upon him any longer.

There hasn't been any swearing or arguing, and I have no intention of posting anything malicious here. I just want my part. FWD came highly regarded and referred and so far isn't really living up to that. I will post updates as they happen.

[DevoBuzz]

It is a tough situation when work is farmed out to another source. The vendor you are dealing with has no control on how long it takes since they have no say in the matter. Not making an excuse but that is the way it works.

As a comparison, I paid for a new stroker short block for my Pontiac back in the beginning of December to a shop out in Florida. They told me 6 weeks. It is now 6 months later and I still have not received it. This was from a vendor that was also recommended.

Another thing to remember is that these cars are 25 years old and no one longer keeps parts on a shelf - they must be custom ordered. The price you pay for driving an older car.

[glhs727]

Talked to Derek today, gave him some options so we should have it resolved shortly!

[RIMoparGuy]

It is a tough situation when work is farmed out to another source. The vendor you are dealing with has no control on how long it takes since they have no say in the matter. Not making an excuse but that is the way it works.

As a comparison, I paid for a new stroker short block for my Pontiac back in the beginning of December to a shop out in Florida. They told me 6 weeks. It is now 6 months later and I still have not received it. This was from a vendor that was also recommended.

Another thing to remember is that these cars are 25 years old and no one longer keeps parts on a shelf - they must be custom ordered. The price you pay for driving an older car.

Generally speaking and not just specific to my case, if a business gives a timeline, it then becomes reasonable to expect some results in/around that time period, does it not? I get that these cars are 25 years old. In my case all that needed to be done was machine work and testing. Age is irrelevant, the part itself was on the shelf, it just needed work done.

Cindy did indeed call me shortly after I posted this. I'm hoping that her machine shop pulls through because if they don't this will be the second time someone has been unable to deliver, Steve Menegon being the first who couldn't.

[zin]

Stuff like this is essentially custom. No one in their right mind would attempt to actually stock these in the various configurations that a customer might want. Kind of like cams, if you tried to keep "one of each" in stock, you'd go broke with all your cash tied up in product that you might sell in the next 30yrs...

There are only a few people who are "in the know" with regards to these heads, Steve being one of the best known, and none of them do it full time so, even if the head is basically "squared away", the modifications will take as long as it takes, and isn't something you want to rush/push or the quality of the work will suffer.

Bottom line is these things take time, sometimes a lot more than we'd like them to, but it's worth waiting for good work. It sucks that you've had to wait longer than anticipated, and I'm sure Cindy would have liked nothing more than to ship it out the next day, but they are at the mercy of the head porter, and those guys can be pretty anal about their work, which means time.

Best of luck, sounds like it should be a nice piece when it's done!

Mike

PS No, I'm not a paid spokesman! Just someone "in the business" that has been held hostage by vendors more than I'd care to think about, and sympathize with FWD when it comes to stuff like this, I hate it! But all I/we can do is deal with it as best we can.

[Ondonti]

If machine shops have changed workers I would not really want to press the work to get done no matter how annoying it is. That is what sucks about machine shops. They have all the power and if they hurry or put the shop bum on your parts you get bad results. I pushed for my stuff to get done one time (after a much much much much much longer wait with a local machine shop) and then what I got was rushed and indicated later on as another machinist noted chatter makes on the valve seats from someone going too fast.

[glhs727]

Talked to Derek today, gave him some options so we should have it resolved shortly!

OK, issue resolved. Derek has opted to take a refund and try his luck with another vendor. I wish him the best of luck and hope everything works out great for him!

[RIMoparGuy]

While I appreciate the quick refund, I would have much rather had a part and not have $830 earning interest for 7 weeks on my credit card. Overall, very disappointed. Lesson learned.

Edit - When the money shows back up on my card, I will update so this thread can be locked.

[Badger]

"some young kid was running it now" at that point I'd say thanks but no thanks!

[glhs727]

Let me dispel some misinformation. There is no young kid running the machine shop. The old guy with 40+ years retired, the #2 with 25 years was so supposed to take it over, but I guess he liked being an employee more than being a boss, and left suddenly leaving the #3 guy who has 16 years at the same machine shop and is the guy who has done our heads for the last decade running the shop. He is trying to get everything caught up, and back to normal. This is a small shop with less than 10 employees, so losing 30% of your work force in the last couple of months coinciding with the typical tax return/spring time/summer racing BUSY season, things get backed up in a hurry. I'm not worried about the quality of work. Just that it will take some time for everything to run smoothly again.

[zin]

Sucks when you don't have control... it's too bad the customer wasn't prepared to wait, by the time he gets the work done/parts in hand, he'll probably have waited longer overall than if he had just "stuck it out", assuming that he's not just going to take whatever is on the shelf at some other place, not that it couldn't fit the bill...

Oh well, some days you're the hero, some days your the zero...

Mike

[RIMoparGuy]

Refund received last week. Mods can close.