Virgils interior panels

bluefury361

Old Man with a Hat
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I just got an e-mail from Kim at SMS. Virgil's interior panels are finished and ready to ship! It only took just under 3 years. Once I get them in my hands I'll post pictures.
 
I know you’re excited Will.. 3 years, Holy Cow!. And I thought 4 months for my Seats was a rough wait.

What is the term of your wait expected?
 
Ha! I'm currently in SMS door panel hell with my 64 Dodge 330 State Patrol car. They have had them for over a year.
 
I know they produce a good product. No question, but if it takes them that long to handle a set of door panels then they are severely understaffed and need to hire more help or not accept the orders. I will make my own before waiting 3 years....2 yrs...1yr...
6 months maybe.
 
I was aware of SMS's poor performance reputation before ordering. (only game in town). I allowed for it but was hoping for a bit faster service.
Lucky thing I planned well in advance. Funny thing, the restoration has been dragging and the car, even now, is not ready for the panels. Just one more thing to add to the stock pile of finished and NOS parts.
 
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Congrats, Will. That’s a long wait, and I could never figure out the (I think it was 14 months) wait for my exact same door panels. However, as has been stated here, they do provide a good product. You’ve had the right attitude...acknowledge their very slow service, bite your tongue and just wait. Looking forward to seeing them when they arrive.
 
View attachment 318195 View attachment 318196 Congrats, Will. That’s a long wait, and I could never figure out the (I think it was 14 months) wait for my exact same door panels. However, as has been stated here, they do provide a good product. You’ve had the right attitude...acknowledge their very slow service, bite your tongue and just wait. Looking forward to seeing them when they arrive.






I,m looking forward to receiving them Glen. My set is four pieces and includes the convertible rear panels. The top mech panel/covers
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and arm rests are finished.
 
Very different rear panels and arm rests than mine obviously due to it being la convertible. Can’t wait to see it completed.
 
So I should just send in my panels now, that way I'll have them ready just in time to install in the car. Who am I kidding, the car won't be done for a while, but if I get the slowest part out of the way....
 
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Judging by Will’s experience, and mine, the wait time for SMS door panels can range from 14 months to just under 3 years. Others may have had better, or worse, wait times. Order accordingly :)
 
There is a mob called in NY state AutoMat Company who seem to be like SMS. AutoMat Customizing & Restoration - Home Page

They may do things quicker than SMS






Interesting. I've not heard of them. I would like to see some of their finished product installed. (Not the site file pictures). Lead time?
Someone needs to send them a simple door/interior panel job and see what they get back.
 
Due to the rarety and obscurity of my 61 Fury I started collecting parts and materials years before starting the restoration on Virgil. Once his body and mechanical is completed I have just about everything needed to assemble.

Had I waited until the body/mech was completed and then started the parts collection the car would likely never have been completed. I still see 1 to 2 years before he sees his first show.
 
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Virgil's panels arrived today, but not without one final hitch. I informed Kim at SMS of my address change last March. That info was included with every email since then, (a lot!)
What does she do....? Sends them to my old address! I discovered that on a UPS shipping notice. They were able to redirect them and they arrived, safe and sound, today.
You can imagine the mixed emotions while unpackaging. Are they correct? Are they damaged?
Well, they did good. They are spot on and beautiful. Not sure about the three year wait but that's behind me now and all's well.


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Great news, Will! That’s how I felt too, a little frustrated during the wait but the moment you open the package and see they got it right, all the frustration melts away. Other than the wait, my biggest complaint was Kim....she seems to have zero interest in her job, your feelings, your frustrations, the work being done for you. As she’s usually the one and only personal contact the customer has with SMS, I think she’s a huge liability to the company. I’ve seen many reviews of SMS and she leads the way getting negative reviews. She must be related to the owner, otherwise I’m not sure why she’s kept on. Your panels look great. Onward and upward!
 
I waited over 3 years for the door panels for my 1971 Chrysler 300 and they too were virtually perfect. A lot of the frustration was gone after seeing mine too.
Congratulations Will!

As for Kim, if I were in her shoes, I would either be very frustrated myself or I would just adopt a heartless attitude to survive in my job assuming finding another one might not be that easy these days. She is a war veteran and I give her credit for surviving all the nasty/frustrated calls she must get 10 times an hour for over a decade at least. Think about it.

At least she still answers the phone regularly. And she does try to give you some idea of where your job is in the queue. She was for a time sharing calls with Lesli but I noticed Lesli didn't last long in that position and all the calls reverted to Kim again.

Obviously they stress quality and correctness over timeliness, so knowing that, get your orders in years in advance. There is no other game in town and Kim told me that most of the reason is that it is difficult to find people that can do that level of quality of work and last very long either. I am sure there are other reasons, but that is the reality we need to accept and adjust to as much as we don't like it.

As long as the number of folks in the U.S. continue to decline in terms of doing top restorations any more and the middle class continues to give ground in terms of earnings to the more wealthy, such as in the last "great tax cut" provided, then there will likely be some improvement in the wait time.
 
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