This build is amazing, I can't wait to see it put together. I admire your patience as I would not be able to wait that long!

 

What a damn fine build.

 

is this car ever gona be done? lol. came upon the thread again thinking it was new, and realized i read it 2 years ago when you started. haha. please post some video of this beast sooon!!!

 

is this the finished paint job? sorry got it off you body guys site. if so sweet looking!!!

 

Yep, that's my car. I sure hope my wheels don't have the blue look..

My car is actually being worked on now. I expect in the next week or two it will be done. Then back to Logan.

On a more immediately gratifying note, I bought a 2003 Audi RS6....upgrades on the way. These upgrades will take about a month I can assure you!! What a freakin sled!!

 

I'm too lazy to post the individual pictures..

Here is a link to current progress.

dougjenkinsgarage.com » Mazda RX-7

 

I keep getting these crappy camera phone pictures from my car's hostage taker. I already paid the ransom..... I am guessing in a couple of weeks the car will finally be at Logan's.

Was told four months......here we are 1.5 years later. F%$K that $h(t. This is completely unacceptable. This work better be PERFECT. I think it will be but no more hostage taking of my cars.

BIGGEST LESSON....DON'T PAY FOR ANYTHING...EXCEPT PARTS UNTIL THE WORK IS DONE. IF THEY CAN'T WORK WITH THAT THEN GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.



All that being said.....it does look pretty sick!!

 

Can I offer you a suggestion? Instead of being left holding the bag, go down to the shop and have a word with the owner about it, preferably with a witness present. You'll also the benefit of seeing the progress in person to make a proper assessment of their work ethic when it comes to getting your car done, rather than leaving everything up to speculation. My understanding of bodywork is pretty lacking aside from knowing that progress slows down considerably once the sheet metal work is done. This is based on seeing daily results last summer at Lynn Hanover's shop when he was rebuilding a rear-ended minivan. using a donor rear cut. It took 4 months total, despite being legally drivable within 6 weeks, because Lynn wanted it to look as if nothing EVER happened to it. In my opinion, the results were well worth the extra time.

It could very well be that the shop had taken on too many projects at once. Wouldn't be fair for me to guess since I don't know anything about the shop in question, but it does happen to even the best-managed shops from time to time. If it were me running the place under those circumstances, I'd pull in my focus to at most two projects at a time, one main project and a second one under my partner/second-in-command's leadership to avoid burnout from doing the same thing everyday.

REALLY looking forward to seeing this back at Defined Autoworks soon. Awesomeness shall happen there

 

The issues are all explainable.....that is not good enough. When every project has some reason, reasons get old.

Logan had plenty of good reasons. I am not going after specific situations.

The guy that has my car now is a part time profession logging guy....sort of his hobby. Well a tree fell on him and put him in a full body cast.....by the way Logan had my car and wrecked his car and broke his pelvis. Maybe my car is sort of Christine-ish. Then Doug's number one guy for 10 years up and quite all of the sudden. And he has moved his shop in this time as well. All very valid reasons.

Patience is a virtue but I am done with excuses. I say all of this with a smile on my face and appreciation for the work that has been done on this car.

Oh well, things are moving now!!

I can't wait for my car to be back with Logan as well..

 

update...

 

Update is a little disturbing but it is all moving in a very solid direction.

This is to officially warn anyone that might be thinking of having Doug Jenkins Garage of House Springs Missouri to do anything for you....don't do it.

It is sort of funny to read how much I was suckered in by this con man....talented people in his hire but he himself is a really sad character.

I took the car to him and was told it would take 2-3 months...it took two years.

Payments were not accounted for.....until I pointed out his mistake. He told me he would have his office woman look into it. There is no office woman. Then when he realized that I had his number he blamed it on one of his shop workers. I bet Jason of his shop doesn't know he was blamed for a two thousand dollar payment being misapplied.

The point where I started to see this turd for what he is is when he said this, "The guys in the shop do the work and I am the one that acts like I am interested in the customer..." The statement pretty much sums up this loser.

Then he finally shipped the car to Logan. I had moved to California and I couldn't see the car before he had it delivered. He knew this was going to be the case if he procrastinated a little longer.

So I get to Defined Autoworks and I see that the car has many issues. Let me point out that if the average person walked up to the car and looked they would of been drooling. I am way to picky for that.

I have to say that the guy has really talented people in his hire. The metal work on the fenders is awesome. It looks like Mazda did a wide body edition. The fenders have custom fender liners and looks really nice. The paint is the issue....$8K for a paint job.

It has to be repainted. There are 80 grit scratches, and numerous different blemishes in the paint. I told him where to get the new metal surround for the new windshield...MazMart. He said he had contacted them and it was handled. When I get to my car I see this f@&ker has sides and bottom of the metal surround done correctly but put a strip of universal windshield rubber across the top of the car. It looks like a freakin eye lash. He didn't paint the entire body side molding pieces. It is as if he set them down on cardboard and sprayed the front but not the back or edges. The edges are all very rough. The same thing is done to the doors and the front cap. Maybe that is why he didn't actually attach the side molding pieces securely. They would of fallen off if it had been driven down the road. The seal across the top of the front cap isn't even there.

The stupid thing is is that the car was taken all the way apart. He could of easily done these things correctly if he hadn't be such a *** hat clown.

I had Logan recommend a local shop to repaint the car. He is Steve Rieser from Rieser Auto Body. Steve said they obviously have talent but took every short cut in the book on the paint. Jenkins does use Spies Hecker paint....one of the best paints.

I currently have a BBB and Missouri Attorney General complaints filed. I did find someone else who had a big issue with him and he finally had to pay up after the Attorney General got on his ***.

I have emailed him twice with no response but i am done with this loser... As soon as Logan is done then it goes to Rieser's shop. Then the six year build will be over.

The funny thing is is that if the jerk hadn't taken two years to finish then the next evolution of this project would not be happening.....Yes that was suppose to be cryptic.

You can wait and see the final project or stop by Logan's and see for yourself.

So to sum all of this up......my car project has step up a notch and is moving forward.

We are hoping to have it running later this fall.

Sorry, I did a restore on my phone and lost the only pictures I had of the car in it's current state. It does look sweet!!!

 

Just read all pages. Nice build. Can't wait to see the finished result.

 

I wouldn't expect anyone else to pay for changes I made to a deal.. That's when **** goes sideways man.

I'm surprised the guy even touched an import car at all, it's a hot rod shop... Pictures of American muscle twice as old as your FC... And the dude on the front page has gray hair...



You can't buy Sushi at KFC!

 

nice

 

Interested to see where this goes, hate to see another 20B owner (well anyone really) ripped by a shop. It must be the 20B curse.

 

Doug Jenkins (aka The Hostage Taker) told BBB that he was so sorry and that he stands behind his work. What a freaking ***... He said for me to bring it back and he will be happy to make it right and have it finished in less than six weeks. He and I both know that he will never touch my car again. I will be glad to pay Reiser the 5k or so. BBB said the case is now closed. Thanks for nothing.

Oh Jenkins said that Reiser had misdiagnosed the paint issues....

When someone spits in your face, then tells you he is sorry and just bring it back and he will make it right.....not a chance.

But, I am totally fine with the progress of my car now. I can't let myself be a victim of *** Hat Boy (DJ) I am only looking forward. Still working a little on the anger but it is on
the way out.

Yeah, 20B or something like that....

 

So true

Total rip off when people expect you to pay for work you want done

What a curse

 

Something tells me someone found a 4 rotor.


I swore I was subscribed to this thread... Either way, now I am, after years of lurking it.




BTW, Christopher, Knowing you, you have everything covered and might already have a set waiting, but just want to let you know:
I bought the last GTUs sticker from Mazdatrix years ago, and I'm in the process of looking to get IDENTICAL replicas made. I currently have a thread floating around for people who want to sign up for once I find someone that can copy this thing exactly. (Dealing with issues... There are only so many people in America that can print clear vinyl, and no one seems to want to help hook me up with them because of "supposed" copyright on 25 year old stickers that you cant find anymore, for a car that Mazda officially says they never created. )

Just letting you know.. In-case you don't have any stickers... I'm sure you would like to keep it's heritage.

 

^ They said they never created the GTU?

 

...gtu"S"...

I've heard people with stronger rx7 knowledge than I mention that, because the "GTUs" was such a flop and did not follow Mazda's actual intent of the cars existence (a production NA 20b) That Mazda themselves deemed the car "Unofficially" created, and just stuffed them with NA 13b motors to move the already pre-built chassis along, forgetting as fast as possible about their mistake: Never count your chickens before they hatch.


I could very well just be adding to the "internet lore." This is what I've heard a few times... If you stop to think about it, it's a nice romanticized thought to the cars history.

(The main point of my previous post is it's a old ******* car, and I just cant see anyone at Mazda scouring the internet looking to start lawsuits on aficionados who are wanting to find a replacement to a part that is NLA...)

 

Hey Scrapp, I still have one set of GTUs stickers that I bought from Mazdatrix a few years back. I was going to look for someone to make copies but never got around to it. I will subscribe to your sticker thread.

My thread is officially in the wrong section.....and the title is now wrong as well....

 

Did you get a new paint job? I had a quick look the other day and I thought maybe it had.

 

No, I am waiting until Logan gets done with the pre Seven Stock work then I hope my car is finally getting some attention. Once he is done then it will go to paint.

I feel like the collapse of society is going to happen before I can enjoy any of my projects...

 

Tell me about it... Not sure if I should feel better Im not the only one with those thoughts... or feel worse because scary **** happens...

At least I live in a major metropolis marked for a dirty bomb... Lets just make this quick...

 

Ha, I think you might just make it. I'll still take those original seats if you ever want to sell them. Although mine look pretty good now. A forum member sent me the skin for what I needed and it looks good installed so...

By the way, my 2 rotor that Logan built is pretty sweet. I'm detailing this car to death and it is looking awesomely stock.
I can't imagine how yours will sound; but I will get to hear it so I'm excited about that.