(My Best Effort at) Friendly Advice

Here is some friendly advice :

If you are going to buy a car, check the VIN on the car against the title. Titles commonly have errors on them. And we mean commonly. And when we say check the VIN on the car, we mean the official VIN. If you don’t know where that is, you need to take someone professional with you. If you don’t, don’t be surprised later when you find a mistake that could cost you thousands of dollars. We have seen it happen hundreds of times.

This is the 21st Century. These cars were made in the 20th Century. Don’t place 21st Century expectations on 20ths Century cars. These cars did not have mirror finishes, they did not have laser-aligned body panels, decals were not placed in their locations with loving care. Items that were stamped did not have perfectly centered markings. And even though Ford kept electronic data unlike anyone else, they didn’t record everything. Have an appropriate expectation level about what is the truth.

Learn what provenance means. Know that just because a story that you are told sounds good, it doesn’t make it true. I have heard dozens of stories about someone who had an uncle who worked on the assembly line and he came in on the weekend and personally installed these special parts on this (so called) valuable car. Tain’t so. Workers weren’t allowed to do that. There are scores of variations of stories like that. If they don’t have real documentation (and know that that there has been a whole industry of fake documentation – go to ebay and search Corvette Window Sticker), don’t pay extra for an easily fabricated story.

If we gave you statistical information and that information is different from what you’ve seen from another source, contact them and ask them how they obtained it. Just because you saw it in print doesn’t make it correct. I could cite many examples in well-known books that are wrong. As far as we know, we’re the only source that has all the Ford database information. We could have made a mistake, but generally, your other “source” doesn’t have any way of authenticating their number.

If you asked us to make an item and you didn’t supply all the information you could have, don’t come back later and tell us we made it wrong. We made it according to what we had. Let me provide an example: You order a buck tag for a 67 Mustang. You only supply us a VIN and tell us to recreate it. We produce the tag. One year later you find your original. You call us up and tell us the rotation number is different on the tag or your tag has a different inspector punch. You expect us to make another tag for free. We won’t do that and here is why – at the time we produced the tag, no one on the planet had any idea what the original rotation number for your vehicle was or which inspector looked at your vehicle. Ford did not keep track of this information. But, in order for the tag to look authentic, we have to put some number and/or punch there. Which means we have to guess . We are unlikely to guess right 100% of the time. If we could , I’d play the lottery.

Another example, you have the original build sheet and ask us to make a tag. You don’t offer us a copy of the build sheet. We make the tag and you notice one of the line codes is different than the build sheet. We won’t remake the tag at no charge and here is why – there are at times production changes on the assembly line where a code is superceded. Ford did not record those production changeover dates. If your vehicles was built right around the time of the changeover, there is no way of telling which of the two possibilities is “correct.” The only evidence that exists in the world now would be what came with the vehicle.

You want to have us make a tag. You have the original engine/carburetor/axle/transmission and there is a date code stamped into it. You don’t supply that to us. We make the tag and you notice it is dated a week before your engine/carburetor/axle/transmission was made. We won’t remake the tag for free and here is why – subassemblies were built weeks before the vehicle was produced. They were then shipped to the final assembly plants for installation. Because they were built in batches, the date code range could start getting spread out over several weeks. No record was kept of the date of manufacture of these subassemblies. We take the best educated guess for when a subassembly would have been produced, but have no way of actually knowing the date. If you have that information, please supply it and we can produce a more accurate tag.

Finally, a fourth example. You want a reproduction window sticker. We produce it and you compare it to your original invoice that you happen to have but did not volunteer to us. You are upset because the order of items listed or the pricing is off slightly. You want the sticker replaced. We will not do that for free and here is why – window stickers, like many other items on these vehicles, were part of a very dynamic process. Running changes were constantly being made. As an illustration, consider that the dealer that ordered your car just moved to a new location. Now, at some point, the window stickers that are printed for that dealership have the old address on them. One day, a Ford employee enters the new address into the computer system and all window stickers printed after that point reflect the new address. There is no way to determine the point that happened.

We don’t match the daisy-wheel print pattern on window stickers, we don’t match the strike depth of tags, we don’t make sure the ink wear level matches on your door sticker, we don’t double-check you to see if you picked a build date that fell on a Sunday. You get the idea – I hope.

You could pull into the drive-through of a Burger King restaurant and tell them you want a Big Mac and that you are willing to pay $100 for it. I have a feeling they will still tell you they can’t help you. Its actually not that they can’t, its just not practical. Consider that our position.

Help us help you. If you have something that might be relevant to making your item, supply it to us. On our order pages, we provide an opportunity for you to attach files. We will do what we can practically.

Do you ever find yourself torn between two options -and worse yet – whichever you pick will have undesireable consequences? Well, read up!

I run a business, but it also happens to be my hobby. This can be a tricky proposition. I have known many hobbyists who found their hobby turning into a business (I’m one of them). And many of them became cynical and even started hating their hobby/business (I’m not one of them – but I can understand the feeling).

Every day we get calls, emails, letters, and faxes from people. Some of those people know their “stuff” well. Others are new. I address this to those of you that are new.

I am an expert in my field. Please note what I just wrote. What I did not write is that, “I am God.” If you knew me, you would know I would find such an attitude both offensive and arrogant. I did not write, “I am perfect.” If you knew me, you would know I pretty much have to tell someone I’m sorry for doing something wrong every day. But I am an expert. This expertise is the result of over a third of a century of acquired knowledge. And that knowledge has come at a great price to me in both time and money invested.

What I desire to do is give to my customers, “Concourse Quality at Hobbyist Prices.” In order to achieve that, there are procedures I have my employees follow. There are policies in place that help to achieve this aim. In order for me to continue this business, I must make a profit. I am not independently wealthy. My wife and I have several children to take care of, both here in the United States and elsewhere in the world. I have a finite amount of time and try to balance it between work, play, family, God, my hobby, friends, and those in need.

If you make a mistake, do not ask me to “eat it” because you figure I can afford it. When you write down or type something into an order page, make sure you are accurate. Supply all that you can. If you don’t know exactly what to supply, it is a good indication you need to become part of a bigger group to draw on and learn from others. Because what we produce are custom items, you own it if you order it. These items are not returnable. If you are not sure and you want us to “check something out” for you, expect to pay extra for our time. My employees don’t work for free, either.

 I could tell you many stories of customers who have placed an order with us and received exactly what they ordered, only to be embarassed when they get to a car show and found something wrong. Calling us up and being mad at us is not appropriate. I understand you being mad, but don’t take it out on us. We don’t deserve it.

If someone from my company or I make a mistake, I will be glad to have it fixed for you. You will have my apology. But please think how you like to be treated if you make a mistake. You and I both make them.

Thank you for ordering with us. We hope we can supply you the best reproductions possible.

Kevin Marti