Why would someone take the credit for building something they didn’t?

[GJunktionMike]

Why would someone take the credit for building something they didn’t?


I already know the answer and have seen it many times in the past. But it still baffles me every time I see it happen.

I don’t bad mouth checkbook builds, Bonehead said it best “sometime people want a bad ride, But they don’t have the skills”. I never looked down on a guy that piece milled out some of the work on his ride, because he didn’t know what he was doing or just didn’t want to screw it up. But when it comes to someone laying claim to the work on a car, or the car becomes an extension of an already small personality. That’s the point I walk away shaking my head because I know I’m dealing with an Idiot. What sense am I trying to make, well let me tell you.

My son went down and applied at one of the local body shops today. He worked in one before and wants to get back into it. During the interview my son got to talking about me, the guy asked my name and when my son told him he just said he had no clue who I was. The interview went on then the guy asked what kind of builds I have done, my son asked him if he has ever seen a 49 Ford roadster pickup on a Datsun frame running around town, the guy said yea I know the builder. My son asked is it the one with the diamond plate tool box and flat bed with beetle kill pine on the deck, the guy said yea that’s the one. My son told him if you don’t know my dad then you don’t know the builder of that truck. The guy said no, I know the guy that built that truck real well. My son told him no, my dad built that truck, has tons of pictures and all the paper work to get that truck titled and if you still don’t believe me look him up on youtube. My son said all the guy could say was isn’t interesting.

This isn’t the first time this has happened, I have had people look in my build book and ask what work I did on Joe Shomoes truck. People sure are surprised when I explain I built it.

 

[skull]

time

seems to happen all the time,

l do a lot on my stuff, but l have help and give credit to the ones who's helped me over the years.

don't mind the "check book" builds if the people who want a rod have no time or are not skilled enough, but give the props to the ones who actually do the work.

not everyone can weld, have the skills, physical capability's or even have a place to do what is required to put a good ride together.

l worked 3OO days or more a year on the road before my career ending injury's and l had a lot of work done l paid for, if l had the time l would have done it myself, but when your'e not at home it is hard to put a wrench on the rod in the garage.

Later

 

[Stroker McGurk]

Maybe the guy changed something....now he is the builder.....lol

Some people are scum

 

[Dirtyrat]

That would be frustrating, but I would take it as the build was so good they wanted to take credit for it, so in a way it should be flattering to the builder, which was you!

 

[21willys]

I know of a "vehicle" that has 3 supposible builders. The worst part is that I wouldn't claim it if it was my own. Lol

 

[billy]

I wish I was capable of being the building my rod.
While I have done some of it.
The cool parts are somebody else,s fault.

 

[Tripper]

Here's a questionable one. The 1st picture is of a Damaged Goods (Old Gold) build & the 2nd one's a picture I took at a rat rod show with someone else's name on it! Looks like the same truck to me!

BoB

 

[sgtpontiac]

Some people can.....

some can't and some like to think they can and will do everything possible to make it seem like they can....
Stealing credit for a build that you had nothing to do with other than buy.....takes a whole different breed of individual.....what is wrong with simply saying "I really liked this car and I bought it"....where is the harm in that....[S

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

 

[jmlcolorado]

I can relate.
I picked up a motorcycle for free from a friend of a friend.
I had no idea what to do with it, so it went through a few different stages.
The final 'gonna sell it' stage meant ripping it all apart, getting rid of the rattle can paint job and powder coating everything.
This bike, I cut the frame, welded the frame, rewired it all. Designed all new lighting and mounts, rebuilt the transmission, EVERYTHING! There is literally nothing on this bike I didn't do.

So I put the bike on craigslist, and ended up selling it to this young kid. Kid seemed nice enough. Worked at a local tattoo shop and just wanted something fun to sport around.

So a few years goes by And my buddy (who was my neighbor at the time of the build) is also an avid bar hopper. He shows up to this bar and sees my old bike sitting in the parking lot.
Naturally, he keeps his eye on it to see who's got it now days. He sees the guy walking by it and talking about it, so my buddy walked up and tells him he has a sweet bike. The guy says, thanks man, I've out a lot of time into it.
My buddy decides to go along with it and ask him what all he's done.
Guy spouts off a bunch of stuff and a few minutes into it, my buddy tells him that he knows the guy who REALLY built the bike.
Dude stops dead in his tracks. My friend explains to him that his neighbor built the bike a couple years back and that he would hang out in the garage while I worked on it.
The kid was dead silent.

Not really sure what happened after that, but I imagine it was rather awkward for the dude.

 

[UncleDonnie]

I bought mine

Because of my defibrillator/pace maker (a built in tazer) I can't weld or get to close to a running engine. When I decided I shouldn't do Harleys anymore a build was out of the question. I've personalized some stuff and fixed a bunch of safety issues. I tell people this up front and readily give my Chevy buddy credit for the new rear suspension.

I've seen A-holes use others pix in post on other boards.

Don

 

[Willowbilly3]

"build" is a term that gets misused a lot, even here. One that amuses me are the magazines. They start the story about some guy and his wife "built" the car and then as you read on, apparently "built" means they took it to all the right people for all the work. Even cars guys use the term build when really project is more accurate because a Detroit automaker actually built the car, all the owner did was modify some things.

 

[mikec4193]

Hi everyone

I am just about done with my first ground up rebuild that I can actually drive on the road....not yet but darn close...it is a 1947 Willys Jeep...and I come right out and tell the folks on the CJ2A website that I am dumb as dirt so I had to rebuild it with a $3,000.00 bill for the stock engine...and then I had to cough up another $900.00 bill to get the tranny done....I am not proud that I cant do these things but I will readily admit that I dont understand rotating assemblies...I can weld...I can cut...I can "lefty loosey" and "righty tighty" but that is it....some folks I am sure look at me as wierd but I enjoy working with rusty metal...IF you tell me what needs to get swapped out I can turn the wrenches but as far as troubleshooting anything....I am dumb as dirt for sure....

I dont claim to anything but I am what I am...

pretty sad some folks gotta lie about this stuff....

Thanks for bringing this up on here...

MikeC

 

[donsrods]

I'll come right out and tell people I do not do my own welding.......my welds hold but are not pretty, so I let my Son Dan do them for me. No shame in knowing your own limitations.

I told this story before. When I was 18 I swapped a 289 Ford into an Austin Healy Sprite. A while later I got drafted and sold it to a buddy of mine who was a school teacher. He couldn't turn a wrench to save his life. Fast forward maybe 5 years and I walk into a body shop to buy some parts and here is my old Sprite sitting there. I told the guy "I built that car !" and he says, "No, you couldn't have, I bought it from the guy who built it.......he told me how he fabricated all the little pieces and all and did all the work himself !"

I told him that my buddy lied to him that he couldn't change a spark plug on a good day ! I guess he felt better lying about it though.

Don

 

[Neverdone]

I know I am not much of a builder, but I try pretty hard..... If I ever came across a situation where some one else took credit for work I did I am not sure how I would handle it. I grow pretty attached to my junk though and am not sure I could ever really sell something I built.....

My buddy I bought my Dodge from argues with me all the time on who has done more with the work on it..... What do you guys think? He tells me that he built 75% of the truck. I ask him how he comes up with that since I cut 80% of what he did back off and rebuilt it?? Not only that he originally put about 4 months of effort in to the truck off and on then left it sit for 3 years and didn't touch it. I have owned it for 3 years and work on it almost every week. So how do you handle a situation like that??

 

[HOT40ROD]

It happen to me I found one of my old builds at a car show and went up to look at it with a friend that knew I built it. the first thing out of the guys mouth was I have a lot of time and money is this ride. Man Did I have fun with that. I started asking all kind of question just to see the answers. Some of the answer were so funny I could hardly keep from laughing.

finally I said I build one that could be it twin.. As I was walking away they friend said to the guy." He built that car". then my friend told me that you should have seen the look on his face when I said that. The look of a liar. lol

So if you know who really built the ride just have fun with it and walk away laughing.

 

[GJunktionMike]

since I cut 80% of what he did back off and rebuilt it?? So how do you handle a situation like that??

Give him back the parts


On another note.
I spent most of the day talking with a lot of other builders today at the car show. Like most of them said, who really cares if you did the work or if some one else did, just be honest and give credit where credit is due.

 

[Willowbilly3]

My older brother does it all the time, in a different way.He steals other peoples grandiose storys and puts himself in them. Most people outside our family don't know it and tend to believe him. A couple weeks ago we were setting around the table at my sister's and he stole a story from me, retold it like it happened to him. I guess he must have forgot where he heard it.

 

[Neverdone]

at my sister's and he stole a story from me, retold it like it happened to him. I guess he must have forgot where he heard it.

liked the story so much thought he would claim it for his own. Or believed it enough thought that it had happen to himself.

 

[moonshiner]

I've owned a lot of rods in my life. I've done frame off's trying to do most of the work myself, but I'll be the first to admit that I can't do it all! I bought plenty of half completed (more or less) rods and did a lot "more" work to them.
So my question is: When should a person claim to be "the builder". Like Neverdone says, he had to cut away 80% and start over. Maybe the term should be "engineer" or "designer", because most all rodder's have something done by others.
Do you have to be able to do it all before you're considered "the builder". If so, then there aren't as many builders out there as you think. Watch all of the rod shows on TV. They all farm out part of the build to some other shop (i.e. interior, paint, ect....)
I think some builders take their "credit" claim to seriously. I'd say if you honestly built the whole rod (from bottom to top), you can claim to be the builder. If not, than don't!
What I say to people that ask if I built my rods, it's just easier to say "some of it", "part of it" or "most of it", depending on how much I've done to it.
Just my 2 cents