The owner of X Customs has abandoned the business, sold it to someone and left his wife and kids. Who knows where the hell he has disappeared to.
I arrived this morning to check on my car only to find the new owner trying to help people who have their vehicles on the property. I spoke to one owner whose custom engine and wheels have disappeared. He is left with the shell of his car. Other people were there and out of pocket by tens of thousands of Dollars. I went and checked and luckily all my parts, stereo equipment etc is there.
I will go down next weekend to discuss with the owner whether I get him and the team (who have stayed, only the owner has left) to continue with work or if I take it elsewhere. The price has now gone up because of the amount of work required for the body.
I have filed an investigation with my bank to try and salvage at least some of the money. It will take about 4 weeks. I am expecting not to get anything back so anything they can claim for me would be a bonus at this stage.
So I picked up my licence plates (to return to RTA as I have ordered replacements due to the change in paint colour, yeah let's see how long this will take now) and left. Update next week.
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
Unreal! Work has re-commenced. I went in and the body was raised up, it's got a job sheet and tools everywhere 🙂 Finally on the way. Rough welding/patching at the moment but I'll just let the pictures do the talking 😀
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
Yeah sorry there is a bit more to the story but I forgot to update this forum. This was as of 2 weeks ago (sorry, long)
Okay so I went down this morning with the possible new panel beater. He said it would be very hard for them to pick up the job seeing as they didn't take the job apart. Also for their electrician to come in and pick it up without seeing it originally. He is also down a few helpers at the moment at his shop.
So I was left with X Customs (or whatever they are changing the name to now). I met the other two investors who bought the company from Aymen (so the owners now are Chris, Shannon and Matt. Shannon owns a car audio store just down the road in Campbelltown). And I had it wrong, Aymen is Lebanese, not Armenian. India is where he has buggered off to (on his website he even said he was starting a franchise there). Shannon said last week two Lebanese guys had come looking for Aymen, apparently he owes them $3 million. I don't think even escaping to India will save him...
Anyway, I have decided to let Chris continue the work because:
- I sort of have nothing to lose now. I'll claim insurance if my car disappears
- What are they going to do with a shell of a Beetle that needs repairs anyway, it's not like they're going to run off with it and the chassis and all the panel parts in pieces
- They can do all the custom work I require and in one place, all of the workers are there and they know what I want done (one of them especially was very helpful in helping me look for my new gauges which I had given to Aymen to install, and seems genuine)
- They don't expect any payment until completion
- My word of mouth for their new business can be nothing but positive for them if they do a good job
- Chris is happy for me to come down each week and get progress updates
So in a fortnight they'll start work mainly on my car. I told Chris that sort of means nothing to me now until I actually see work done as Aymen used to say the same thing "your car will have priority". So we'll just wait and see. I came out feeling much more confident though.
I will contact the Department of Fair Trading on Monday about the whole thing. And I have filed insurance claim through my credit card provider for the gauges that have disappeared and another for the funds I transferred for the work on my car.
Since the above, everything has been going smoothly with the new owner, Chris, and other new investors. As you can see from the above pics, I'm back on track 😀
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
On a side note, one of the many people ripped off by Ayman has started to group together everyone who has been swindled by him. He's putting money into tracking him down (apparently he's in the US) and if we have enough people we can extradite back to Aus. We'll see.
Anyway, there is now weekly progress, hoping to keep this up! Rear beaver panel being fixed up as well as fitting, aligning and repairing rear guards and engine cover.
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
No it's not. That would have been nice now that you mention it but I've been buying so many parts and thinking of so many things that need doing, it didn't even cross my mind!
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
Over the past week:
- Rain gutter on the passenger side... gooooone!
- New channel on the passenger side to replace the horrendously rusted one
- Bonnet edging finished and antenna hole sealed (I want this thing smooth so will run the antenna inside the bonnet, I don't pretty much never use the radio anyway)
- When I have time lately my mind inevitably wanders towards the restoration and what else I can do in preparation for the process and the next steps. I then go to cip1.com and start spending money! This week it was rubber! Window, bonnet, engine cover, chassis > body and body panel rubber! All original German and brand new.
By next weekend the driver's side replacement channel should be in and the rain gutter removed. After that the body metal work should actually be done! Onto the chassis which shouldn't need too much done. Anyway, on with the latest pics and comparison shots!
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
BizarreModeratorThe artist formerly known as blue74l
*SIGH* So I figured it's time for an update. It's not a good one...
So 2 weeks ago on Friday I messaged Chris who owns what is now called Xtream Customs to check if it was okay that I go down to Campbelltown on Saturday to take update pics. He tells me that since Tuesday he had been in discussion with his lawyer because the owner of the property that he is leasing from, has hired security guards and changed the locks on the property. He had no access.
I spoke to him the next day and he was hoping to get access on Monday. I couldn't really deal with it at the time because my dad passed away on the Saturday morning. So Chris said he would take care of it all and we would be in touch the following weekend (last weekend). I didn't hear from Chris so I drove down to Campbelltown. I knew that one of the investors in Xtream Customs also owned a car audio store. I Googled and found... Xtream Car Audio! He filled me in on the details but there wasn't much of an update: they were still in talks with the lawyers. Chris arrived and said I needed to get my rego papers so that he could send everything to his lawyers.
But then earlier this week Chris said the property owner was going to be opening up on Saturday and car owners could come down and collect their gear.
I've just got back now. Spent the whole day collecting it and because Chris doesn't have a new location yet, I had to tow it back from Campbelltown to Sydney 🙁 So now it's all sitting in my carport. My 2 x Pioneer subs and 7" Pioneer DVD head unit are the only things missing. I say "only" because there are a lot of other car owners missing much more (even whole cars).
So now I either wait for Chris to find a new location or I find someone else who can do the work. I live near the Artarmon auto district so I'm going to ask around. There is maybe only 2-3 weeks of metal work left then it can be prepped for paint. In the meantime though I will be treating the surface rust with deoxidine and then coating everything with a wax for protection (or something else, any recommendations to spray/coat on to protect for the next month or 2?).
The epic restoration saga continues. More news in January I suppose...
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
OMG I was blown away by the quality of the work. We're talking expert stuff here. The father and son owners are coming to my place tomorrow to have a look at my car.
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
So the O&S Sportscar guys are amazing. It's now settled. The father and son owners of O&S Sportscar Restoration came by to look at my car and I'm going with them. It will be towed to their workshop on Saturday. I will get some photos of their place and current projects to show you guys.
On a worse note... Seriously Australian Customs. WTF?
My transmission arrived in Sydney last week via air. I have already paid for the shipping. This is just to get it through customs:
Duties $58
GST $145
Customs electronic entry $55
International terminal fee $65
Terminal fee $42
Airline documentation fee $46
Cargo automation $20
Border security $25
Customs agency fee $125
Postage and petties $12
Verification $12
Cartage $44
Local fuel surchage $6 TOTAL $698.29!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
- Chassis, body, fender, doors and a few other parts were all taken to O & S Sportscar Restoration today for them to commence work straight away in January!!!!
- My transmission and IRS axles arrived
- I finally picked up 5 boxes with something very shiny in each (Dub Drone 16x7, 4x100 wheels)
On Monday Fedex will be delivery some MASSIVE presents too 😀 Expect an update then!
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
There won't be updates for a couple of weeks due to the Christmas holiday period but I received some nice presents today! Some of the larger/more interesting items highlighted 🙂
O&S said that it would be cheaper for me to get them to replace the floorplan than repair. Same with the front apron which was already repaired but with shoddy welding.
GERMAN RUNNING BOARD W/10MM WIDE CHROME STRIP LEFT
GERMAN RUNNING BOARD W/10MM WIDE CHROME STRIP RIGHT
CHROME FRONT HOOD HINGES PR
FRONT HOOD STRUTS PR
VINTAGE STYLE 3 POINT SEAT BELT- BLACK
COMPLETE WIRING HARNESS
OE GENUINE VW - EMERGENCY BRAKE HAND - INCLUDES HANDLE - ROD - SPRING - BUTTON
COMPLETE FRONT TURN SIGNAL ASSEMBLY W/AMBER LENS - LEFT - SEAL INCLUDED
COMPLETE FRONT TURN SIGNAL ASSEMBLY W/AMBER LENS - RIGHT - SEAL INCLUDED
CHROME HEADLIGHT RIM - HIGHEST QUALITY
OE GENUINE VW HELLA (MADE IN GERMANY - SEE SPECIAL NOTE) - 12 VOLT HELLA HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY WITH HALOGEN BULB
BEETLE SEDAN REAR KICK PANELS
TAIL LIGHT SCREW - 4mm x 80mm
4 PIECE BUMPER BRACKET GROMMET SET
SET OF 8 - DOOR HINGE HOLE COVERS - BLACK HARD PLASTIC
DOOR WINDOW REGULATOR LEFT
DOOR WINDOW REGULATOR RIGHT
OE GENUINE VW - LIFT CHANNEL RUBBER INSERT
LIFT CHANNEL FOR DOOR WINDOW
FUSE BOX - 12 FUSE TO CHASSIS
GENUINE HELLA - HORN 12V VOLT
TAIL LIGHT HOUSING TO FENDER SEALS PR
DOOR LOCK MECHANISM LEFT
DOOR LOCK MECHANISM RIGHT
DOOR JAM STRIKER PLATE LEFT
DOOR JAM STRIKER PLATE RIGHT
HOOD HANDLE SEALS BLACK FRONT APRON W/O LOUVERS
FRONT HOOD LATCH BRACKET W/ PIN & BUTTON
FLOOR PAN BOLT KIT - BOLTS & WASHERS FOR 1 PAN HALF FLOOR PAN HALF HEAVY DUTY - LEFT
FLOOR PAN HALF HEAVY DUTY - RIGHT
BUMPER BOLT KIT
SHOW QUALITY CHROME BUMPER BOLT - 8MM X 15MM
BUMPER BRACKET LEFT REAR
BUMPER BRACKET RIGHT REAR
BUMPER BRACKET LEFT FRONT
BUMPER BRACKET RIGHT FRONT
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
Craig Torrens6 times Australian, 7 times State Hillclimb Class Champion
I have just read over all of the last threads since August, I am very sorry to have read about the loss of your father. That makes the car troubles seem small in the big scheme of things.
And shit you have had some bad luck. As you pointed out, you were lucky in the little amount you lost compared to others and then lucky with what the new owner did until he was closed down.
Sounds like you have had your fare share of a bad run and things are looking up. It great when getting boxes of parts, although the import mob didn't miss you at all.
As stated by others, good on you for not giving up and working around all the difficulties and seeing your plan all the way through (when finished) 👍
Hopefully one day we can all get together with our finished beetles and have a beer (or coke for me😂)
Merry Christmas and may the new year bring you much happiness and a completed car, Kev
I thought rebuilding a VW would be cheap - Shit I was wrong, just don't let the wife know !!!!
Thanks Kev, I appreciate it. No matter what, this will be completed in 2013. I have a vision in my head of what I want it to look like when complete and I'm going to follow it through!
1971 VW Beetle
Currently being restored - click here
