Ok retroboats, here it is: I believe at least $50 grand went directly into Ben's pocket. I paid him a total of $65 grand and what I got in return was the following -
- the 2006 Chrysler 300 (wrecked) chassis
- the 1969 Dodge Charger body
- set of used Baer front disc brakes
- 2006 5.7L Dodge motor (no documentation)
- Air Ride that was non-functional when rec'd and thrown out
- orange paint job (cheap) that was sanded over and repainted black
- body work (total bondo job), all redone
- wiring harness (incomplete), trashed not used
- supercharger (don't know yet if functional)
- welding of 300 chassis and Charger body (had to be completely redone)*
* the verdict on his work mating the two cars was that it was so poorly done it would most likely have come apart at speed resulting in death to any passengers (my children for example).
I never received any paperwork or documentation on anything beyond the title for the '69 Charger. I never received a receipt for anything from Ben Grasso. He claimed he was going to send Delaney Auto additional parts over the past year but then just stopped answering the phone.
Towards the end of the first year while his scam was still going he was asking me to pick out steering wheels and mp3 players & wheels/tires and such as though he was finalizing the car. Never saw any of that.
So, I think I'm being generous and giving him credit for $15 grand actually being spent toward the car, though much of that was unusable due to sloppy execution.
My knowledge of building resto-mods is limited to a '68 442 clone that I had built for $17 grand ten years ago, which was fairly nice and definitely complete.
I was trying to schedule work and dealing with vendors towards the end. He just wanted me and my project gone because after SEMA 2010 when I realized I was dealing with Gomer Pyle, I stopped sending him money. The last few things I paid for went directly to vendors, but it was a waste anyway.
Just to clarify, SlamCharger is a car, not a person in the forums. The car I could have had if I'd gotten some references on Ben. I have emails from Ben where he boldly takes credit for Steve's work. SlamCharger, Mutant Bee and Dark Runner (you can google all of them) are all built by Steve Enochs of Muscle Rod Shop. SlamCharger sold last year on eBay for $86,000. I have not been authorized to speak for Steve or anyone else, simply relaying my experience.
Also will note again that Delaney Auto has restored my faith in humanity. The guy calls every couple of weeks, I don't even say much, he details everything he's done explicitly and then follows up with pictures. When he bills me, it is to the penny and documented. He actually asked me what I wanted from this build and then started doing exactly that. You can tell he loves what he's doing and that's why he has built cars for Fast and Furious and many satisfied clients. Matt Delaney has put me back in a really good mood.
thanks for asking, retroboats, I remember you from when you did the install of the Air-Ride and you really tried to help me out beyond that. Your work was very good, unfortunately the Air-Ride was rendered non-functional due to negligence after Ben took the car from you, (right after he backed into it and then laughed about it).
I did not relish the idea of getting back into this negativity. But I see Ben still up to his old tricks. I don't believe one word of his response to Shappy120 either. That's what he's done to everyone who called him out for being a sociopath, tried to turn it around on them.
