1of328
New Member
Wanted to share my lessons learned on my MM mods project. Hope that others will benefit from this.
1. Have a legal and binding contract. Make sure the contract specifies everything. Miles cap, movements of your vehicle, parts to be used, regular communication and contact, etc.
2. Have "walk away" rights in your contract.
3. Require regular contact from the builder. Require specific dates or days of the week when they must reach you.
4. Pay regular visits to the shop. Don't make appointments, just show up. You may find a third party has taken your car on a test drive without your knowledge or consent. Or worse yet, that the person is singing the praises of your car in the first person on the internet.
5. Require hard copy receipts for all toll booths passed through in your car. Otherwise you may receive written warnings or tickets from the highway patrol. In addition, put into the contract that the car will stop at all yellow lights. Red light violations are payed by the owner of the license plate, and the points go to you also.
6. Require full disclosures on everything, where your car is going, why it or a part of it is going there, etc. Otherwise someone in your family may see your car a show or cruise night several hundred miles away from the location of the shop and no trailer in sight. Or the big name parts/major components you think you are getting may be replaced by salvage yard or generic parts.
7. Make the builder account for all miles on your car. Demand to see a miles logbook, with explanations for the trip.
8. Require that the tune be verified. Otherwise the 14k put on your odometer when you receive your car after the year plus project might only be 11k miles. The program may be flashed for 3:55s rather than the 4:30s that have been installed. Or your timing, air/fuel, smog, cats, etc. may be heading for catastrophic failure.
9. Verify the condition of your catalytic convertors before accepting the car or making the final payments. Otherwise your car may fail smog.
10. When your car is being transported, require that it be in an enclosed trailer and with soft tie down straps. Otherwise there may be rock, stone, hail, insect, etc. damage to your vehicle.
11. Have a cap on the number of dragstrip passes your car should make, especially if you are not a drag racer yourself. Otherwise your car could be headed for catastrophic failure of motor, transmission, rear end, etc.
12. Let the buyer beware. Put everything into the contract. Don't expect that all will be done the way you want it to be done. Don't rely on the contractor to do the right thing, micromanage everything. Or you don't have any redress.
13. Avoid a durable or extensive power of attorney. It takes your rights away. Have a very narrow and specific power of attorney for the contractor.
14. When the contractor buys a part or a system, like a six speed transmission, verify that the contractor can actually complete the conversion. Don't pay for parts up front, you may never see the money back.
15. Require the contractor to do all the necessary dyno pulls and adjustments for your tune. Otherwise, you may have to pay for all of the additional pulls and tuning adjustments at high dollar expense. Make that be a part of the contract.
16. Put a cap on the amount of money the contractor can spend. Don't let a 10k project become a 25k project. Don't give the contractor a blank check, and do not allow the contractor to make charges to you credit card. Require explanations first.
17. Get an itemized bill. Otherwise, you have no clue what was spend on your car or why. This should go without saying, but put it into the contract.
There are likely more lessons learned that are not posted here. But after a very expensive project, there are a number of things that came out. Those things should be available to others. People have the right to know. Like the numbers of motors, transmissions, rear ends, etc. lost during a project. Like the items by cost and the individual hours of labor billed for each element or portion of the project.
I made a lot of mistakes on this project. Some were my own fault. Most of them were not. I would never build another car without much more control, much more information, and much more awareness over the process.
Let the buyer beware, and hold the builder accountable.
1. Have a legal and binding contract. Make sure the contract specifies everything. Miles cap, movements of your vehicle, parts to be used, regular communication and contact, etc.
2. Have "walk away" rights in your contract.
3. Require regular contact from the builder. Require specific dates or days of the week when they must reach you.
4. Pay regular visits to the shop. Don't make appointments, just show up. You may find a third party has taken your car on a test drive without your knowledge or consent. Or worse yet, that the person is singing the praises of your car in the first person on the internet.
5. Require hard copy receipts for all toll booths passed through in your car. Otherwise you may receive written warnings or tickets from the highway patrol. In addition, put into the contract that the car will stop at all yellow lights. Red light violations are payed by the owner of the license plate, and the points go to you also.
6. Require full disclosures on everything, where your car is going, why it or a part of it is going there, etc. Otherwise someone in your family may see your car a show or cruise night several hundred miles away from the location of the shop and no trailer in sight. Or the big name parts/major components you think you are getting may be replaced by salvage yard or generic parts.
7. Make the builder account for all miles on your car. Demand to see a miles logbook, with explanations for the trip.
8. Require that the tune be verified. Otherwise the 14k put on your odometer when you receive your car after the year plus project might only be 11k miles. The program may be flashed for 3:55s rather than the 4:30s that have been installed. Or your timing, air/fuel, smog, cats, etc. may be heading for catastrophic failure.
9. Verify the condition of your catalytic convertors before accepting the car or making the final payments. Otherwise your car may fail smog.
10. When your car is being transported, require that it be in an enclosed trailer and with soft tie down straps. Otherwise there may be rock, stone, hail, insect, etc. damage to your vehicle.
11. Have a cap on the number of dragstrip passes your car should make, especially if you are not a drag racer yourself. Otherwise your car could be headed for catastrophic failure of motor, transmission, rear end, etc.
12. Let the buyer beware. Put everything into the contract. Don't expect that all will be done the way you want it to be done. Don't rely on the contractor to do the right thing, micromanage everything. Or you don't have any redress.
13. Avoid a durable or extensive power of attorney. It takes your rights away. Have a very narrow and specific power of attorney for the contractor.
14. When the contractor buys a part or a system, like a six speed transmission, verify that the contractor can actually complete the conversion. Don't pay for parts up front, you may never see the money back.
15. Require the contractor to do all the necessary dyno pulls and adjustments for your tune. Otherwise, you may have to pay for all of the additional pulls and tuning adjustments at high dollar expense. Make that be a part of the contract.
16. Put a cap on the amount of money the contractor can spend. Don't let a 10k project become a 25k project. Don't give the contractor a blank check, and do not allow the contractor to make charges to you credit card. Require explanations first.
17. Get an itemized bill. Otherwise, you have no clue what was spend on your car or why. This should go without saying, but put it into the contract.
There are likely more lessons learned that are not posted here. But after a very expensive project, there are a number of things that came out. Those things should be available to others. People have the right to know. Like the numbers of motors, transmissions, rear ends, etc. lost during a project. Like the items by cost and the individual hours of labor billed for each element or portion of the project.
I made a lot of mistakes on this project. Some were my own fault. Most of them were not. I would never build another car without much more control, much more information, and much more awareness over the process.
Let the buyer beware, and hold the builder accountable.
