The SN65 project car

bigcat said:

Bob, are you still planning on the open house in 2 weeks? I am definatley coming as long as it is still planned. I had to buy a 1GB memory card for my camera!! Do you have any idea of how many people are coming to the open house? You can write me in for 2!

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Hi BC,

Yes we are still planning an open house. Follow the link below for details

http://www.chicagosvt.com/forums/showthread.php3?t=9261

Hope to see you there.

Hi All,

This weekend we had the SN65's suspension dialed in. The car has been set up with 1.75 negative camber up front and .5 negative in the rear. Caster has been set to 7.5 positive front. The toe has been set to .125 out at the front and 1.25 in at the rear. Front to rear weight distribution is 55.5% front to 44.5% rear. Weight distribution from front left to rear right and from front right to rear left is exactly 50%. Total weight of the car is currently 3,552 lbs.

The tech that set up the car said that it should perform very well on any road course. He also said that he was very impressed with the accuracy of the front clip fabrication. When he was finished with the front end adjustments, the caster camber plates were, for all intents and purposes, mirror images of each other. He also said that it is very impressive that the car ended up with a 50/50 weight distribution from corner to corner.

We also kept plugging away at the final details. We mounted the mirrors, back up lights, front turn signals, the SS channels for retaining the drivers and passenger side window weather strips. Wayne did a bit more buffing and also fine tuned the trunk alignment.

Things are looking good. We should have the bumpers, seats and wheels this week. If we have any luck at all, we should be able to take the car for a spin next week.

Catch ya'll l8r

FearTheTube said:

hey sn65,
what color is your daily driver? i've been trying to figure out what that color blue is so i can possibly get my 66 coupe painted like that.

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Hi FTT,

Interesting...

My wife Teri picked out that color and she also picked out the current yellow we are using. I think she has a good eye for color.

Anyway...

The color is 2001 dodge dakota briliant blue. It is a saphire blue pearl clearcoat.

Hi All,

This post really has nothing to do with the SN65 project, but…..

My brother just got word that State Farm is revising their authorized shop programs. They are consolidating all their programs into one and eliminating all shops that do not complete a specific number of repairs per month.

According to them, we are under the number required. From what I understand, the only shops that can qualify are those with multiple facilities.

Their decision has nothing to do with the quality of the work performed. Their decision has nothing to do with customer satisfaction. And while they will not come out and say it, their decision is based on cost and cost alone.

Also, they are “steering” business to the shops that will perform the repairs in the fastest, least expensive manner possible.

For those who don’t know “steering” is when you (as the customer) tell them that you want your car repaired by a specific shop but they tell you that your repair will not be covered unless you take it to an “authorized” facility. This of course is a load of crap.

I am sorry, but this is really pissing me off. We have worked long and hard to provide our customers with timely, quality repairs. And just because we don’t meet a specific quota, we are kicked out of the program.

So, how is the little guy supposed to get any collision work when the insurance companies are steering business away from small local shops? It is really hard enough to keep a business running without large insurance companies controlling what shop gets the work.

So…. Next time you need your car repaired, think long and hard about the shop you take it to. DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY TAKE IT TO ONE ON THEIR LIST. While I am sure some of the shops do a quality job, you have to remember why they are on the list in the first place. Also, do not be scared off if they tell you that your repair will not be covered. If there is something wrong with your repair all the insurance company does is direct you back to the shop that did the repair.

Bob

PS: So come, one and all, to Julian’s Collision Center. If you live in the Chicagoland area, and are covered by a major carrier, and have your car towed to Julian’s Collision Center for repair, we will cover all charges. We will also offer one and all easy payment terms on your deductible. I am sorry of this post violates any forum bylaws, but I am sick and tired of big business constantly crushing the little guy.

bigcat said:

bob, good work goes a long way. i worked at a shop that had ZERO DRPs. they were the busiest shop in town. now i am at a shop that is on several DRP lists, but we are starving. a good reputation is the best way to get work. your shop obviously has that, so i dont think that your business should slow down much. i was told by state farm that it is not the # of repairs, but the # of errors when doing business thier way. they want less than 3% error. this means supplements, parts price changes, proper photos taken, etc. hopefully things will work out for you with state farm. good luck.

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Hi BC,

We are in an area that is dominated by collision consolidation companies. There are about 10 big companies in the area that have shops all over Chicago and the burbs. State farm had two programs. One for the consolidators (thier prefered list) and one for small mom and pop operations. They have eliminated the mom and pop listing and now only refer the larger companies.

We have repeated tried to get on their prefered list, but are told that we do not do enought business to justify it. All of the companies in our area are doing the same thing.

Farmers wants us to average 8 to 10 cars per month from their customers. On our own we do about 6. We have tried to get the local agents to refer our shop, but they are told by corp headquarters that they can only refer companies on the list.

So... from what I see. It is a catch 22. You need to be on the list to get the agents referals, but you need the agents referals to get on the list.

Go figure.

OBTW, new update and photos at the site