VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Wood kits from Autowood Restoration

Has anyone heard from Jim Rodman? It has been over two years and I have not been able to get in touch with him for over 6 months. I got half my wood kit a year ago.....Payed in full over two years ago....Is he alive? I am getting very unhappy. Any one out there heard from him? I want the rest of my wood kit.

Steven

Yes, I seen him about two months ago. I was in Ohio and needed some wood for a 1934 Master, so I drove out to his place. He is very hard to get hold of, but your best chance is to try first thing in the morning. You'll probably catch him befor he get started working. He seemed to be in good health and trying to get everybody's wood out. He manufactures each piece of wood in batches of 10 or more. So depending on what you need, he may have 10 of it, or you may be waiting until he runs the next batch

I have ordered a few Front & Rear header Bows from him just over a year ago, and he shipped them out to Ted for my rework within days since he had them in stock.

He is HARD to get a hold of, call him early and call every 15 minutes till he answers. DO NOT leave a message (even if you can) he does not check them same with email, per my conversations with him.

Busy is an understatement !!

Hi Steven, I ordered a wood kit for my 1931 Chevrolet 4 dr Special from Mr Rodman in Dec 2016, he told me he had a kit minus 1 siderail which he would be cutting after the Christmas Holidays, I sent him a check for the quoted price, it was cashed 5 Jan 2017, I have called twice since then and got the same story about the side rail. Now he does not answer my calls from either of my phone numbers, same with emails,the first part of April I used a friends cell phone and he did answer, I got the same story, I told him to cancel my order and refund my money which he said he would do, as of today I have not received no refund.. He seem to be a very nice guy,and does beautiful work, so I was surprised by his action.I have tried several time in the last week to contact him by phone, it rings forever, no answer.
I have since bought a wood kit from Classic Wood Products LLC.Greensboro NC The owner guy [Ricky ] was great, He had ready all but the bows,which he made and I had it all in about 2 weeks. I have all the wood installed in my 31 Chev and will put the top cover on tomorrow.

I sent my check two months ago. (he cashed it right away) He told me it would be about one month. Now I'm getting nervous.

This non sense with this guy has gone on and on and on , and still you guys do not learn.

This is like an episode of the GONG SHOW .

mike

Sorry to hear...
I have dealt with both and not an issue !!

Jim Rodman at Autowood Restoration
Box 86 - Wheeler Street
Hanna, IN 46340
219-797-3775

and

Bill Cartwright at KC Wood Manufacturing
470 Rock Church Rd. SW
Willis, VA 24380
540-789-8300

Ricky at Classic Wood products responded quickly, however, he does not have patterns for my 29 and would need to work from my old wood. The old wood is too far gone to use as an accurate pattern.

Hey there Bare feet what body 29 are you working on?

Standard AC international Coupe with trunk, (job number 8880). The sill plates are rotted and one end of the rear roof bow assembly is rotted off due to a leak.
If Autowood cannot help within a reasonable time then I will need to find another supplier or self fabricate.
Thanks

So you need sills and a new crossbow? It's not impossible for me to fabricate. I all be working on a 1929 Sedan and a 1929 Cabriolet this summer. The sill are not too dissimilar and with what remains of yours should be manageable. You can check out photos of my work on my Facebook page "automotive wood bodies". I have not set up a web site yet. Also I believe I am across the lake from you in Oshawa, Canada.

Thanks Cabboy. I will see how this all irons out. I may take you up on it. I have a local woodworker friend who has also offered to help.

Sounds good. I will be making floors for the two mentioned starting mid June. If you haven't resolved the situation you can let me know at "automotivewoodbodies@gmail.com.
Regards,
Robin

Hello mike lynch,
What specifically can we determine from your post about this person and his products? Should the VCCA make an effort to find out how he does business and relay it to the members? I think so. I think that this club does have an obligation to inform it's members as to what is good and what is not for it's members welfare. Then let the individual decide.

Plain and simple Jim Rodman is an excellent woodworker and a poor businessman. Some wood for my car came from him and it took over six months to get and then it arrived Fedx next day delivery. That was over seventeen years ago and nothing has changed. Once he has your order and money its impossible to determine when you will get your product and I can only imagine what it will be like if he becomes incapacitated.

The wood that I received from Jim Rodman when I did my 1930 Chevrolet Sport Coupe was absolutely outstanding and of very high quality. The wood was so nice that it was a shame to cover it with sheet metal!

HARRYS31coach..I have been around here since nov 2011 and this same type thread keeps starting up , over and over again , over time. Its always the same thing........."I sent my money and cannot get a reply or even somebody to pick up the phone and lie to me" .

Its been 3 months, its been 6 months, its been 9 months , its been one year and still no wood parts. He is hiding by not answering the phone or emails or faxes. Why because he has booked way more work than he can produce in a given time.

He is no worse than a doctors secretary who books the doctor solid with no hope of getting to see them without a 3/4--1 hour wait. Just went thru this again because wife doesn't listen and only get FIRST THING in morning appointments. Remember that the next time you walk in to an appointment and see 25 people in front of you.

You can vent at the booking secretary and them the doctor , but that might have you looking for new doctor.

Its your choice and the VCCA whether they want to act on the vendor and tell him that his actions and advertising is no longer welcome here and magazine. Drain the swamp.

hope your having a great day with the bozo's of this planet

mike lynch......

Hello mike lynch,
I understand what you're saying about this business of delayed wood body parts. The same thing over and over again. It is not that the same customer is affected over and over and doesn't learn the lesson and makes a complaint. These are unrelated customers that are unaware of delay issues when placing their individual orders. They all may realize and accept the over booked doctors office or airline seat cause that's just the way it is, but I think that these wood customers are unsuspecting of the issue. I think that 'Steves 30 Chevy' and others weren't aware of this business practice when contracting for products in a timely manner. How are they to know? The lack of customer service after accepting the order and money should be made known someway somehow to all with a need of product but wish to avoid being caught in this situation. My opinion.

Well he does check e-mails but I guess only responds to ones wanting to purchase. I asked about Cabriolet wood by e-mail and he answered within a day. At least in my case he said he wasn't providing wood for this model. Same for KC, no go on cabriolet wood. I had asked them as a quick fix only as I am capable of making myself and since I have the bodies I can ensure they fit correct and not pieces copied from other peoples cars. So I deduce that Autowood seems fine with emails when money is coming but shy when they have to deliver or explain delays.

I always called Jim first thing in the morning, his time, and most times he answered. I received the wood in a reasonable time and two missing pieces quickly after I let him know. Maybe it was a slow time.

Wood as mentioned above was excellent.

Dave

Looks like we are moving toward a lawsuit. Still won't answer the phone. If I would have known about this I would not have bought wood from Autowood Restoration. Even if the wood is the best. The difference with a doctor is that I can die before I get my wood.

Is the better business bureau in operation in the USA. ????

At least contacting them would warn you that the business is not performing at AAA status level. Allowing you to step back and dig the information out. If its available.

Its too bad that Clown School is out and all bad business people are wandering around without crutches

mike lynch

I got involved with a similar nightmare involving running board restorations about 10 years ago. Some guy with a website was accepting shipments of rare running boards from all over the world, taking a $1000USD deposit and then stored the boards with no intention of restoring them.

A 1936 Caddilac owner found me through a forum and determined I was a couple hours away, emailed/called me and asked if I could go pay him a visit. I drove out and the "business" address was a slummy trailer park. I contacted some local car guys through a club and one guy knew the local Sheriff (the type that evicts bad tenants). The sheriff opened the garage and nearly 30 sets of boards were shipped back.

Moral of the story: Can you find someone local to this guy to show up at his door with your bill of sale, emails, etc to ask ever-so-nicely if he could help straighten out this customer's wood order? I paid someone to Serve tenants once and it was cheap like $40 but maybe try a local car club.

Autowood Restoration just sounds overwhelmed with work and handles customers poorly rather than being an all out scam artist. Especially in the OP case it sounds like with it being 2 years ago, the guy has forgotten his commitments so I hate lumping him with the running board scam but it starts to look pretty ugly from a customer's perspective after waiting 2 years...

I was avoiding commenting as this was what was told me by someone at Hershey last year and I do not know if it is true but this gentleman told me he went and saw Jim about his wood. When he arrived Jim was not working but was on the property and was quite a few "sheets to the wind". The gentleman continued by saying that is the way Jim spends his time now. I do not know this is true but could be the very reason he's not getting out much work these days. I don't see many here saying they're getting their wood, only people saying they're not. If he has something on hand, he'll ship it pretty quick, but if he doesn't have it, you'll be lucky to see it in a couple years.

While I know his quality is very good, his knowledge is far beyond any of the three I've dealt with. When I have a technical question, Jim is the guy I'll call and he's almost always answered (I admit I haven't called him in over a year though). I can tell you by experience, Bill Cartwright of KC wood, actually puts out even higher quality pieces if you can believe it. His wood is nothing short of fantastic. I've been to his shop and seen many pieces for many different cars, every single piece was basically perfect, and even sanded smooth. Both Jim and Bill have excellent patterns to work from. Bill does not have as much car or body assembly knowledge as Jim. Jim is a car guy who makes wood. Bill is a finish carpenter that makes car wood. Bill works alone and is no hurry to get work out. He is super organized and he KNOWS what he has and doesn't have as every single piece is in a labeled box, with many boxes having multiples of each piece. He has very little 31 and 32 wood as he sells out of it as fast as he can make it and like I said, he's in no hurry to get it out.
Classic Wood are a few guys who originally made Ford wood and have an excellent reputation in that brand. They purchased an old GM line but their patterns don't seem to be the best as I have found their wood hit or miss. The paper parts sheet they supplied by fax had David Entler's name and address on it and I'm not sure if their patterns are from him. I was under the belief that Entler produced very nice wood so I don't understand why Classic would not be if they indeed, bought out Entler's business. They are fast, and will make a piece for me immediately and I have it in four days. It's a shame that they don't have better patterns or better knowledge of GM as they want to please and like I said, quick to get the wood out. Their quality is very good and it's things like holes in the wrong places that knock that quality down. I order everything with NO holes, and I drill my own. If a piece is not right, they will take it back and refund your money minus the shipping. The wood quality itself is excellent also. I have dealt with all three and that is my take on them. I now first try Classic when I need 31' wood. If it's a 29 or 30 I will try Bill first then Jim.

Hi Gang, I would like to add, being I was one of the first on this forum topic to let you all know that I did finally get a refund check from Jim Rodman letting you all know Jim is not a crook, just a little too laid back business man. Being 84 I could not wait the wait time for my wood. Hope this give some peace of mind for some of you who had doubts. And on a happy note I did finish my 31 restoration and showed it last month, Happy motoring you guys.