Guys on the last days i promissed that i was shouting my mouth but today i heard something from JDM that impressed me more than anything that i could expect.


I talked to Jim Sr. last friday and he said that the truck was supposed to be done on monday, called him on monday and he said that he had a problem with the fuel system and he had to install 2 fuel pump drive modules but that was not a big deal and i could get my truck yesterday.
Called them 30 minutes ago and ask for Jim Sr. or Jim Jr. and guess what the answer was ???

"They are not here Rafael, they left to the Ford Fun Weekend in Florida, then knowing the answer i asked him if my truck was done and he said i don't know sir then i told him to call the shop foreman on the phone and the answer from the shop foreman was, your truck is not done and Jim Sr. will continue working on it on monday when he gets back from Florida."
Guys, Jim Sr. knew that the truck was not getting ready, he knew he was going to Florida, but what he did ?? He didn't say anything to me, nothing, zero. Just another lie for the 100 time.

Thanks God i came from a very poor family but my father always teached me that the only thing we leave on this world is our honesty as a man, does not matter if you died rich or poor.
I am sure if i die today my child, my family and my friends will remember me as a honesty man and a man of word, not a man that says something 8:00am and change his mind at 12:00pm.

Thanks for the support of all of you.

 

WOW!!!!
That sucks.

 

There were rumors that he went to jail for something similar over a Mustang not too very long ago. If that were true then I guess he never learned his lesson. When you take a mans money and promise him something in return for it, as a man you should step up and provide what you promised...
I would definately have my attorney waiting on him when he returns from the FFW event.....I believe you are being way to patient RAFA....I would own him if I were you....

Its the flat out lies that you have been getting that really make a statement here..And his telling you it would be done several times while knowing some parts were not available show his integrity...Now he runs off to Florida...what a pos.

 

Do a search through the Lightning forum and see what you find...

Bill (hdmlnium) had a Lightning that JDM was putting a 4V motor in...granted it hadn't been done before but they had Bill's truck for over a year. I don't know if Bill sold it to JDM as a shop truck or what happened but they finally ended up putting a 2V motor in it and Bill, in frustration I imagine, ended up without his 4V conversion or truck.

Vinnie has had his truck there for over a year waiting on a GT block/4V conversion...and it's still not done.

There are now several 4V Lightning conversions running around including a one-man shop that created his own, so it obviously can be done.

You've now got Rafa's experience...and, while I appreciate the explanation that a number of parts had to be outsourced, created from scratch, etc., the aluminum GT blocks have been available, with the necessary machine work done, from vendors (including JDM) for over a year now. Some of the brackets, etc. look like either Ford factory parts or cryptically have 'Rousch' stamped on them. Blowers for 3V applications have been out for a while now too...there's no magic in the conversion since the truck had 3V heads to begin with. You could've ordered a blower from KB or Whipple for a 3V truck a year ago. The 'black magic' being performed isn't 'magic' after all.

Sadly this is a pattern with JDM and in hindsight maybe Rafa should have had a contract drawn up with performance and delivery clauses that would have provided for monetary penalties for missing said numbers and/or dates.

Before you think I'm a JDM hater, I will give them credit for the work they've done on Lightnings and I'll still say their motor program is one of the best out there. Their parts, while commanding a premium over similar parts from other vendors, are also usually OEM-like in fit and finish and I even own a few JDM parts (except for the air temp sensor for a replacement filter that I was promised by Jim III and still don't have a year later).

What's that infamous saying...caveat emptor.

 

Ditto on everything Struck in AZ said.

 

Wow, I had a bad experience with JDM also. I will not get into that. I dont like to bash on vendors too much. Rafa26, I would be ripped if I were you bro. I would def take this to the next level man. After hearing all this I think I will stay far far away from them for my 04 build. Good luck Rafa, Hope every thing works out. I think alot more people are going to be heading over to JLP after this thread.

 

Yep, it was removed from that forum, but guess what? We have a good enough transcript of it right here posted three pages back, and if its removed from here, i would definantly give the adm. guys over here another thought over their integrity.


Rafa, you sir are a great man of integrity, although i dont uphold what im taught sometimes, the one thing a man has is his word, and his pride.
My father always told me that a man is remembered not by his fame, money or doings, but his HONESTY and his WORD

You sir have shown more than enough integrity by putting up with this nonesense.

The guys at JDM have very little to say, if nothing at all. I have been patiently watching this thread, and this is the first i will chime in.

JDM you are probably reviewing this, and probably dont care, but i garauntee that you have lost quite a bit of business due to this.

I do believe this is enough to get some sort of legal action drawn to them.
And im sorry but excuses and nonesense dont hold up in court.
Nor do they hold up when it comes to a mnas honesty and word.

I do move for a mass email, not one threating anything, but vowing that we and everyone we know will be made to have knowledge of not only this incident, but others described before, to the general public.

JDM has thier reasons to thier untimely-ness, and RAFA has every right to know their delays and thier backfalls on this project.


JDM CALL THIS MAN, GIVE HIM THE REASONS THIS TRUCK IS NOT DONE!
No one will give you crap about it not being done, but stand up and be a MAN.
Not only a man of integrity and honesty but a man that stands behind his company and customers.
Rafael as well as many prospective customers want to hear the means behind this delayed and late response.



(the child comes out in me)
How bout we all call JDM in any spare time we have, and ask why this truck isnt done.
JDM
Phone is 732-780-0770
emails are
sales@teamjdm.com and
tech@teamjdm.com

mailing is
JDM Engineering
60 Jerseyville Ave
Freehold, New Jersey 07728


No threats, no childish behavior.
If your gonna call simply call and ask to speak to Jim Sr.
then simply say that you are eager to know the status of this truck and what has been the holdup. Also mention why they havent let the owner know of any situation as he and everyone else is eager to know of this.

If you dont get Jim Sr. ask to leave a number for a prospective project that you want to discuss with them. Im sure they will get back to you. when they do, see aformentioned info.

lets flood them till they get enough and respond.
ALSO NOTE, RAFA in no way called upon this, we are doing this as a community of truck enthusiasts. LET THIS MAN KNOW WHATS GOING ON!

[/ childish behavior]

I will also spread this thread to the various foums i am a memeber of to let the public know of JDM's doings.

 

I guarantee I know a good portion of why JDM hasn't finished Rafa's truck. If any of you go to the magazine stands and pick up the latest Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords or Modified Mustangs you will find at least 1 article in each for each of the last couple of months showing projects they have been doing for magazines. They don't care about doing work for the people that pay them to do work, as long as good things are being put in national magazines showing off their work. They believe they will get more business from these magazine articles than they will lose by not finishing jobs in a timely manner and keeping their customers informed, especially if the work was paid in full up front.

What needs to be done is everyone needs to start a letter campaign to all these magazines telling them they should research how crappy JDM's customer service is. Maybe if they receive enough reports of how bad JDM is they will post some of them in the mags or research it for themselves and stop promoting JDM's business. This kind of thing needs to be made public.

Also, I've learned in the past from the experiences of friends and family. Never pay 100% up front for custom work on a vehicle if it can't be done same day. It takes away most of the incentive for some of these shady companies to finish the work since they already have the cash in hand.

Rafa, you're like myself and many others on here, an honest and trusting guy. You just happened to get sucked in by a dishonest company. For most things I am trusting, but when it comes to this kind of thing I don't trust anyone anymore. I used to, but I've seen this kind of thing happen to too many people I know.

Good luck with your truck Rafa. Hopefully you get your truck back sometime this decade.

 

Another good move.

 

Your wasting your time sending anything to Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords.
Ask them who built thier last Ford powered vehicle.....You build something for me and I will broadcast your business all over the pages of my magazine..
Don't you see whats happening here. JDM built the owners vehicle for practically nothing and now they are singing his praises throughout thier magazine...Its the old you scratch my back and I will scratch yours...

I used JDM once upon a time until they burned me for a lousy $250 bucks over a chip or thiers that went bad while in my truck at a FFW event. They invited me over to thier pit area to repair my truck and then wanted to charge me $250 to replace a chip of thiers that had gone bad....I handed it back to them and drove home on my stock tune......great customer service continues to this day, and that was 5 years ago.......

 

JDM's been all over MM&FF lately.. even recorded a "Free DVD w/ magazine purchase" of "How to modify you Mustang".

He'll get more than enough business from the magizine to cover his loss with RAFA.

Good Luck!

 

This is Julie posting on behalf of Jim Sr. He is out of town right now for the FFW event.

About Rafael's truck.........

As for the money, JDM has about $30,000.00 of their own money into Rafael's project truck and Rafael has only given JDM $5,000.00.
Jim Sr. has spoken to Rafael about his truck on numerous occasions...
We don't know Rafael, he is just a customer that dropped off his truck for a custom project.

There are a lot of custom parts that had to be developed for his truck, like the supercharger inlet tube that took 6 weeks to get from the manufacture. The custom fuel rails that had to be made along with the the custom fuel system. The aluminum GT40 block needed machining. We keep the GT40 blocks in stock but this block required extra machining so it had to go back into C&C milling.

Another big change was the air intake that goes from the T/B to the air filter, because the way its routed makes it difficult, so hand made pieces had to be made. There was also the V10 T/B custom inlet from Whipple that took about two months to get. Many of times he has changed his mind on things. This is just some of the things...........

We have not been billing Rafael for everything, if we did his bill would be DOUBLE.

If you total up all the parts that JDM has put into his truck already it is over $25,000.00 and that leaves $5,000.00 labor when there is really $18,000.00 of labor into it.

Like I said Jim Sr. only spoke to Rafael on the phone, never in person. Jim Sr. didn't come up here to tarnish Rafael's rep. Rafael is not telling everyone the truth about his truck, but he will tell everyone how long JDM is taking on his truck.

When Jim Sr. gets back on Tuesday he will make another post and tell you evey part and the manufacture of the part that has gone into Rafael's truck.

Rafael is welcome to take his truck when ever he likes. The truck was running once already but Rafael changed his mind........

 

woo Finnaly, a parts list!

 

Julie, wow you sure know alot about this truck..I hope your not the person that Rafa spoke to when he called last to see if his truck was ready,and got a reply of "I don't know"......

 

I don't know how much i would appreciate it if you posted how much money my project is running and how much i have gave you already. And i am sure raphael wouldn't either. I suggest you edit your post!!

Another thing NO company and i mean NO company in the world would do 18000.00 dollars worth of work for 5000.00. I think someone else isn't telling the truth either. Tisk Tisk