BHR custom FJ40 w/ Hi-9's build-up...

More photos from yesterday!
 

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Here are the last of the photos from yesterday!!!
 

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Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
That thing is just gorgeous!!! But I gotta ask... How much? :D $40-50k?

Wayne, you're killin' me man. :eek:

You've been in the industry long enough to know how inacurate even your guess is... The parts/materials alone can easily reach that range with a vehicle like this.

Every part (minus some of the body) is brand new, nothing from the junkyard or rebuilt. Everything we've done is custom built with no predetermined specs/blueprints. Tubular frame buggies are easier to build than a rig like this.

Think about just these items:

very non-stock LS2
built TH400
Atlas
Spidertrax custom housings
Hi-9 3rds w/ Detroits
Longfield D60 birfs/shafts
Chromo rear shafts
Willwood brakes
Fox coilovers
Fox bumps
Howe steering
Walker Evans beadlocks
MasterCraft seats
Heat, A/C, and defrost unit

and those are just SOME of the parts... misc. wiring/harnesses, fasteners, rodends, fluids, hydraulic hoses, fittings, etc. add up to a alot themselves.
 

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
I didn't mean to offend! Because everyone involved has done a KILLER job on it!! I was just throwing some numbers out :D And just another reason I'd be afraid to get it scratched :D
 

Rusted

Let's Ride!
Supporting Member
Location
Sandy
Nothing you can scratch on that that Ben and Jack can't un-scratch and make even better next time! :greg: I look forward to seeing that on the rocks in Moab this EJS!
 

wizziecutter

Member
Location
Casper, WY
I probably shouldn't tell you this, $40-50k is what I thought it would be, but it was more like $80k. BHR does Nice Work, but it ain't cheap :eek:. I will have to tell all you pansies that wouldn't drive it offroad that I did not build this thing to sit in a show room and get oogled at :D. It was built to have fun in. I will say that I am not into trying to inflict as much body carnage as some with more beat up rigs allow. I don't want to destroy it, but it will get used for what it is built for. This has taken a very long time to finish and the paint is about 1 month late (stupid collision jobs) and they still need to finish a few items, but "soon" ;) it should all be together. The "shops" need to come up with a better way to give you a semi-accurate estimate on the time it will take to get things finished. To be honest they suck at that part. The work is wonderful, but it seems that they try to fit in too many other projects instead of sticking to a "promised" time line (perhaps it is just too hard to estimate????). I am glad it is about done, but it has taken close to a year between BHR and the Paint....... It was supposed to be done in OCT at BHR and then 2-3weeks at paint.. but oh well. It was too snowy then anyway. I am just excited to have it back to give it a try.... It looks very very nice. Jack did a great job with the paint... He has been very nice to deal with. I need to get some Toyota Emblems to put back on it. I think that the grill needs that Toyota sign and the back quarters need the one that says 4 wheel drive. The Glove box cover and the ash tray door will be black so it should tie it in well.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
I wouldn't get to worried when it comes to the time-line, obviously there is so much custom work going on here, there are going to be small issues arise that extend the original planned finish time. My TJ was the same way, it's just one of those things where it is done, when it's done. :)

BTW, the expense of the work is worth it. You will have a rig that nobody can duplicate, with nothing but the highest quality of work.
 

wizziecutter

Member
Location
Casper, WY
built TH400

It's actually an Art Carr 700R4....:D Just for accuracy....
Patience must not be my virtue, cuz i hate waiting past deadlines..... It takes as long as it takes???? I guess that is really true. I will get it when I get it.... Doesn't mean I have to like it....:cool: I am also 6 hours from it and it sucks when you can't drive down to go see it. Those last pics with all the black accents in the hood area look really cool. Good Work....
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
I probably shouldn't tell you this, $40-50k is what I thought it would be, but it was more like $80k. BHR does Nice Work, but it ain't cheap :eek:.

To tell you the truth I thought it would be well over the 80k mark, so kudos, seriously. As far as waiting, I've never known a 4x4 shop that doesn't operate like that and I've been personally involved with a few. I don't know if it's the nature of the beast, or what, but it is frustrating at times. Like has been said, you have a very unique, one-off rig that is absolutely gorgeous. Enjoy it, you've earned it. Can't wait to see it in Moab. :cool:
 

Vonski

nothing to see here...
Location
Payson, Utah
I didn't mean to offend! Because everyone involved has done a KILLER job on it!! I was just throwing some numbers out :D And just another reason I'd be afraid to get it scratched :D

No offense taken... I just figured you simply threw out a number without adding alot of this stuff up. Its common for people to under-estimate just how expensive these parts are and how much time it takes to build something like this.

Hell, we are often surprised at how much fabrication time goes into these rigs once we look back on the completed project.
 

waynehartwig

www.jeeperman.com
Location
Mead, WA
No offense taken... I just figured you simply threw out a number without adding alot of this stuff up. Its common for people to under-estimate just how expensive these parts are and how much time it takes to build something like this.

Hell, we are often surprised at how much fabrication time goes into these rigs once we look back on the completed project.

Yeah, I did, but it was just to get a dialogue going. I honestly didn't think anyone would even answer with anything other than 'enough' or 'too much' kind of thing. Hell, you can't even put axles under a rig for less than $10k anymore - new and built that is. And with Bobby Longs in it, that just doubled it right there - so now theres $20k at least in axles alone.

To Wizzie, it was a big project and I'd expect it to take time. Like you say, sucks when it's 5 months off, but I'm sure not many days have gone by where SOMEONE hasn't been working on it logging hours in one way or another. I know when I promisse a job done by a date and I fail to deliver, it bothers me at a personal level. I'm sure everyone involved probably had that same feeling and not just a 'eh get it done when we get it done' attitude.

I appreciate the fact you are going to wheel it. I bought my Rubicon to wheel and it's first trip out was on the Rubicon with ~1200 miles on it. But I still can't help to cringe at the thought. It's not that it's not built well, it's that it's so beautifully done. It's like taking out a high dollar one off collector car or something. It'd be really cool if it ended up in a magazine!!
 

CJ Matt

Registered User
It's actually an Art Carr 700R4....:D Just for accuracy....
Patience must not be my virtue, cuz i hate waiting past deadlines..... It takes as long as it takes???? I guess that is really true. I will get it when I get it.... Doesn't mean I have to like it....:cool: I am also 6 hours from it and it sucks when you can't drive down to go see it. Those last pics with all the black accents in the hood area look really cool. Good Work....

The waiting does suck. I am closer to BHR and was able to drive down and see the progress fairly often when my Jeep was being done. I would much rather wait for a vehicle then have a shop cut corners and rush it out. BHR does excellent work that you can rely on being the best highest quality everytime. You just have to be patient and be happy that you are getting the best.
 

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
Being in the industry, and a customer myself (not with jeeps, but with other things) I can see both sides. Just like our shop, I'm sure BHR wanted it out the door 5 months ago. That's 5 extra months they couldn't bring in the next rig to fill that bay. That stuff hurts. The real sad part is that a lot of the time you are at the mercy of the vendors. Take Stak for example. Everytime I talk to them they tell me 5-6 weeks. I don't know anyone that has gotten a Stak on time (yet everyone is always happy and say they are worth the wait). So without a t case, it's even harder to set everthing else in a rig. It stops the build, if all else is done. Yet as a customer, when a busness promises me a time, I expect it. I'm not happy when they can't deliver.
 

Bart

Registered User
Location
Arm Utah
There's also the factor that while in the process the fabber can see a different or better way to do or add something. That can extend the schedule but be a better solution down the road. Any custom fabrication project is dynamic and usually the end product justifies the wait, as it does so well in this case.
 

wizziecutter

Member
Location
Casper, WY
It is very interesting how there is so much support for time mismanagement on this forum. It is no wonder that it is so acceptable to take as much time as a shops wants to finish a project. :ugh: I did not take this to my buddys garage to have some work done in his spare time, I took it to a very good, professional shop that does outstanding work. There should be some accountability to time management for the kind of money spent. There certainly is in all other aspects of business.

How about the factor of letting a project sit for 2-4 weeks while doing nothing on it and then not answer e-mails or phone calls to let the customer know why or respond at all until after it has been worked on? Is this normal behavior and all part of "specialized fabrication skills"? Is that 2-4 weeks just time to get ideas together etc???? When they did put a guy on it, the progress was very noticeable and rapid. They are a professional shop and their guys have finely honed skills. They can do things quickly.

Don't give me this crap that the delay was waiting for parts to come in or it was a change in plans or whatever. That is a bogus defense and one that is easy to tell someone over the phone. Nothing that is done to that truck is different from what we talked about and planned 4/2008 when it was dropped off. I, as the customer did not make the deadline in the contract of 10/2008 to have the project finished and ready for paint. They received the engine, transmission, t-case, seats, body and all new parts for the body at the start of this. Everything else was fabbed by them. They only had to order axles, suspension and steering components. The receipt of these items was not the issue in why it took so long.

I was not going to respond to all the excuses thrown around, but it is pathetic to defend something that is a bad business practice. I run a business and this is not how you make a customer happy and/or keep them coming back/referring people :-\.........

They did great work, I will be happy to finally receive the vehicle back and I suppose that they will be equally happy to be rid of it.
 
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