I think by the time most of you are done reading this email, you will know who this is.
Here is the email chain between Jack and jesse, my foreman.
Jesse did quote jack about 9,000 for parts and labor. We simply assumed he wanted us to do the installation from start to finish.
here is his initial email to us:
Good morning Jesse,
My name is Jackson and I’m the proud owner of a ‘64 230SL that I intend to enter in this year’s Panamericana Rally. You all came with a glowing recommendation from a guy on the W113 forum. I’ve been doing numerous modifications ahead of that time. Notably, I am swapping my rear end to a 4.08 LSD that is discs instead of drums. I have it sitting at a crate at my home in Vero. Since you all have expertise in Mercedes swing axles, I was wondering if we might work together to refurbish this axle, as well as some other projects for my car. I tried calling to leave a VM but the box is full.
Here’s a short list of my mods I’m working on or have installed:
Mechatronik (KW) shocks and springs
123 Ignition
Zimber (300SL) wheel
15x7 Rudge-type alloy wheels (in production)
Getrag 265-5 (dogleg) swap kit is on the way
Poly bushings all around
27.5mm sway bar from Addco
Quicksilver exhaust (in production)
I’ve also got Renntech in mind for my custom header project but I’d be interested in alternatives. They expressed interest but told me right away it would be expensive.
Also, I am interested in a 250SE/SL cylinder head, if you have one anywhere for sale.
Jackson
Jesse read his email and told me he wanted to build a heavily modified car.
here was jesse's response:
jesse vongnaraj <jesse.vongnaraj@pierrehedaryandco.com>
Mar 7, 2023, 10:39 AM
to Jackson
Good morning Jackson
Unfortunately we will not be performing modification on 113 chassis cars, but we are willing to rebuild and install a swing axle for you.
We have sources for a cylinder head, are you looking for new or used, complete or bare casting
After this, jack says:
Fantastic — used is fine, and I’d love if you’d port/polish. How much?
How much to rebuild the axle?
And jesse responds:
We do not do modifications to the cylinder heads.
We need to ask our machinist for the cost of that, but we can get them. Do you want a refurbished head?
We need 40 hours at 180/hr to rebuild and reinstall axle, parts are going to be around 1800, thats all the axle mounts, trailing arm bushings, spring pads etc.
My personal commentary: jesse likely assumed jack only had some of the rubber parts. because this was a total rebuild, items such as pinion bearings, wheel bearing kits, brake parts and small additional items like parking brake cables may have been needed, since the axle condition was unknown.
Jesse was instructed by me to quote 40 hrs so we would be able to cover our selves in case something was wrong after installation. While i do not usually request so much up front, I know when i need to ask for additional labor hours in case something goes wrong.
Jack then responded:
It doesn’t need to be refurbished if the machinist isn’t doing a port and polish, I can do that.
I don’t need an installation, the axle is in a crate in my house. I can send it to you all ready to go. I can supply my own bushings for the trailing arms, as I am converting to polyurethane bushings as opposed to rubber. DB Depot charges like $500 for a complete axle rebuild kit. I want you all to make money but 1800 seems high for consumable parts on these. I also get that Pierre is talented — I saw his article in The Star — but 9000 for an axle rebuild seems very, very, very high, a bit too high even despite my willingness to patronize local talent.
Well, maybe it’s not meant to be! Thank you anyway.
My personal commentary:
I never spoke with jack, but it seems like he was offended by our unwillingness to perform repairs on a road racing car. I do find his description of me quite funny- I have not been called a buffoon before. I suppose being a buffoon is better than being a liar. Your statements about me do not upset me. I would not describe myself as difficult to work with. I know I can be hard to get a hold of sometimes, but I am here working, doing my best, trying my hardest and trying to improve my knowledge of these cars.
On a personal note, youtube has not gone to my head. Trust me when I say I get up early, stay at my shop most of the day and come home after 9 pm. All of us work very hard and all of us take a lot of pride in our work. I could care less about any sort of youtube presence. As far as my complaints about certain modifications go, I dislike these things because they are not reliable and they are not built to MB standards. Most of the w113s i service can be driven anywhere, anytime, because I respect and rely on the work of the engineers who built these cars. I believe no one can out-engineer the great minds who designed the pre-1990 Mercedes product.
There are a lot of people out there who don't like me, but that's ok. I am not afraid of being disliked. I am afraid of people perceiving me as dishonest or incompetent.
