my Cobra got hurt tonight...... So yesterday I called up *********** in Santee and talked to ****. I said to him that I had an 01 Cobra with IRS and could he install my 3.73's for me. He said "sure yea we do gears all the time". I said perfect, I'll drop the car off tomorrow morning at 9 am. So I did, I dropped the car off, talked to Mike, and went to work courtesy of my brother and his little blue BMW. All day goes by, and I hear nothing from ****. Keep in mind I left my cell phone number with him and was assured that I'd be updated throughout the day. Anyways, 7pm rolls around, and I'm done with work. My brother picks me up, and we drive out to Santee to get my car. Both of us are wondering why I never got a call. Part II: We get to ************ and see my car isn't in it's original position, so I know it's at least been moved. I look in the front seat and see a note from ****: "Hi Beau, I didn't know your Cobra had IRS and I don't have the tools for the gear swap here. Call me tomorrow if you have any questions, the gears are in the trunk." WOW I am annoyed! I SPECIFICALLY asked if he could do an IRS gear swap and he said yes. Either he cannot hear or totally forgot that I told him I have IRS on my car. Anyways my brother is running late for a date he is going on so he and I agree to just go. By the way, the shop closes at 5pm. Anyways I get out onto Mission Gorge Road and start driving. About a mile up, coming to the intersection fo Mission Gorge and Cuyamaca, BANG! the rear of the car suddenly drops and the car stops moving. I was going about 20-25 mph, getting ready to stop because the light was read. OH ****!!!! I wondered what the hell happened. My first thought was that the half shalfts had come out of the gear case. That would explain why the car wouldn't move. Part III: I throw the flashers on, and get out of the car, walk to the sidewalk and call my brother to come back. He does, we call a tow truck, (I am SO glad I have AAA), and go back to look at the car. I'm looking at the passenger side rear tire when he goes "BEAU LOOK AT THIS!!" so I walk over, and I find, NO LUGS HOLDING THE WHEEL ON. They are gone!! Those idiots forgot to tighten the bolts back to spec. I look around, and sure enough, I see one..then two, and finally a third lug sitting there in the street. Now my brother is pissed too. So, we wait for the tow truck, pop some flares, and make some phone calls. We called up our friend J Bittle, owner of JBA Racing, and left a message saying we'd be having my Cobra towed there. I got the sheriff's deputy and tow truck driver to sign statements explaining what they saw when they were on the scene, so now the task at hand is to get an idea of the damage and get *********** to pay for it ASAP. Thats all. Beau
Beau! That is so ****** up! Get your parts back from that moron, get him to pay for any damage and never let them touch your car again. There is NO excuse for such a lame mistake! It is such a good thing that you were going slow! other wise it could have been your loved ones collecting money from them! Good luck dealing with them. So, this means that some idiot got as far as removing at least one of your wheels before realizing that the car was equiped with IRS! Did the wheel actually come off? What dammage could you see? Keep us posted.
Bill, Yea even after I specifically asked him if he could do IRS cars, and he saw that I had a Cobra this morning, he still didn't realize that it had an IRS. I am really glad I was going only 25 or so mph too. So far the rim is pretty much destroyed, the lugs are too, the studs are stripped, the rotor is completely messed up and I don't know if any other stuff is messed up. The A Arm could be bent, the brake lines kinked, etc etc etc. I'll have a better idea tomorrow after we see it in daylight and on a lift. Now after meeting the guy, he's totally a nice guy and I'm sure he'll do everything he can to take care of me and this whole situation, but I'll keep everyone posted on whats going on.
Let's hope so, Now you'll see just how nice of a guy he really is. Yeah, I read your asessment of the damage (in the dark) that totally sucks. I had the same thing happen to me with a BMW I used to drive (caused by the dealer). And granted this guy may not of touched your car but he better supervise his guy's more closely. All I can say is "DAMN"!
Very true, but I have faith he'll want to make it right. Reputation counts for a lot in the automotive world, especially for small shops. And I think it was he who was working on my car, because he was the one I talked to, but like I said, I'll find out more tomorrow.
ouch, that's messed up!! good thing you are ok and it was just damage to the car, could have been worse. hopefully the guy is a good business man and fixes it all for ya. i'm interested in what he has to say.
Beauuuuu WTF man? That is absolute crap man. Next time you talk to the guy tell him to lay off the bathtub crank!!!!! I am kinda shocked over here, that was the last thing i expected to read when i got home. So what i guess..i didnt read your and bills last couple of post, i just read your original post and had to write something. What a F-NUT that dude must be
Okay, after re-reading the last few posts. i still stick by my original assessment. Damn tweakers Hopefully the dude will be bending over backwards to pay for the damages and restore you car to original specs...
i'm willing to forgive him if he made an honest mistake. things happen and no one was hurt. if he pays the bill, that should make things square. however if there is any hesitation or if he tries to jerk me around, i'm sorry to say things may get ugly. i'll keep you all informed.
Holy chit man, that blows. Glad you're ok. Well, I know where I'm not taking my car for gears now. I will drink a Rusty Nail in your honor tonight.
Well here's an update for all: I went over to JBA this morning and talked to Bruce and we decided to have them do an estimate on the damages while I called up *********** and talked to ****. I did so, and he was very apologetic and surprised that something like that happened. He admitted he wouldn't be able to pay it out of pocket, and that he'd have to call his insurance company and tell them what happened. He also gave me their number and I called and it ended up being an insurance agent, not a company. Anyways after explaining to the nice lady what happened, she explained she'd have to call his insurance company and get a claim started. She did this while I went back to talk more to Bruce. He told me that as the one suffering the damages, I get to choose where I want my car fixed, so I told him I wanted JBA to do it. He said that was no problem and depending on the speed of the insurance company, he'd get started on it as soon as he got their ok. So now I'm at work, waiting for the insurance company to call me so I can have JBA fax them the estimate and hopefully get the car back on the road ASAP.
Yay new update!!!! Talked to Bruce again, and to **** and Bruce said that the wheel was trashed and the lugs were too, BUT everything else looked in great shape after it was cleaned up. So, **** is buying me a new wheel, new lugs, new locking lugs, and paying for half the gear install at JBA. All in all I'd say he has done right by me and satisfied me.
Thats good news . Hopefully it wont take too long to get all that done, and have you back out on the road spanking ricers in no time
i am hoping to have my car back tonight or tomorrow morning but we'll see as of now i am pretty sure i'll be participating in the dyno day.
its such a relief that things didn't get messy. all i want is my car back and ready to drive once again.
Update: Picked up the car from JBA today, had them do the gears and burn a chip for me, and now I'm breaking the gears in with some heat cycles. I'll be on the dyno tomorrow testing the new CAI I got so hopefully will make some good numbers. The new wheel that **** from *********** is getting for me should be in next week and then I'll have it mounted and balanced.
well at least the situation turned out well for you and the guy helped out on the gear install, unfortunate situation. one question though, why did they take your wheel off in the first place? I understood that when you do a gear install it's just the rear gearbox you mess with?
apparently it's standard operating procedure for them to take off the wheels. i thought like you did, that the gearbox was all that was taken apart.
