History The end of another auto parts store/machine shop, im jobless

Buy it and find at least one apprentice.
Heck, the local school might work with you on a work study / intern basis.
They get skills / training, you get a cheap labor source.
You would really be a part of the solution then.

 

Get a copy of the account list, or let the word out to your biggest customers that the machine shop services have moved to your address and mail out postcards to your customers letting them know how to get ahold of you fro the things that you can still do for them. Buy the equipment that will give you the highest rate of return and hit the ground running and make a quick transition. Leave a note hanging inside the door saying the service has moved to the house.

 

thats called co-op, and it works. Schools love it.

 

If you can do it Buy everything and like Tman said get the client list as part of the deal.You can build what you want to at home AND be able to supplament your prefered shop with machine work for outside people so you always have some income.You can take as much or as little machine work as you want or need to keep the rod shop going.Later you can sell off machines as you get better ones or as the rod shop gets more self supporting maybe get some young guy/girl to do some basic stuff while you do just the jobs you want/like

 

Good luck on the new venture. Sounds like there is some good advise being told here.

 

Best of luck to you, there is a lot of this type of thing going on.

 

thanks for the good words, im not too worried.

The phone number and the client list is now owned buy o'reilly's, but i have a pretty close relationship with most all of the costomers ive dealt with so it wouldnt be that hard, ill be moving the shop 15 miles from where it is so thats not to big of a deal also, also i use to work for another parts store machine shop that dealt with all the repair shop in the area i would be moving it all to and had in the past great relationships with them as i was the head counterman there and they loved me.

theres lots of reasons to weigh in this situation so i deffinately have not ruled it out buying the equipment, im just not the most excited about some of the prices of the stuff, some is good some is worn out, well just have to see what $$ will end up being.

the other thing is the room for the shop, i will be bringing it home, i have a 30/36 garage and a 30/45 pole shed, im not really exited about putting it in the pole shed, cause then i have to put electricity heat and an air compressor out there and frame up a shop inside of it. my main plan is to put a 10x36 lean to on the back of my garage and put the equipment there.

well see how it goes.

jeff

 

A valve machine, a seat guide machine and associated tools will make you a decent living for a long tme . A resurfacer even an old Van Norman will do a decent job and pay for itself. I agreee the Boring is boring . Was a job I never cared for but had to do. I had a machine shop here complete for about 10 years. Finaly sold it so i could get some peace and people would leave me alone. Stilll it paid for my house and vehicles and was a lot of fun. I still have a couple of valve machines. One antique (almost 100 years old) and a decent soiux albertson unit. It is not heavy work and will pay the bills. I worked for myself for 19 years total. Kept the sheriff from knocking on the door and had a lot of fun. go for it. An engine balancer would give one a good living too if you can buy one of them reasonable. Work is easy to pick up and never too complicated. You might be glad eventally for the oppourtunity. I didnt get rich but i did make a reasonable living for many years. Probably if my health was better i would have kept at it.
Don

 

Good luck in your new venture. Price and machine quality is obviously the most important things, but I suggest buying whatever is cheap and good. If you don't end up using it, you can always resell.

 

thats the truth there....when the shop my buddy worked at closed , the owner offered all the equipment to the employees at xxx amount...the guys couldn't come up with enough to get the stuff...so she sold it on a bid deal....ended up selling less than a third of her offer price....

 

TITUS

DITTO.

buy it all..

better deals come in large pyles..

 

Hey Jeff, a good machinist is gonna make a living. If you build hotrods also, you are set. I say buy all that you can afford.

Good luck in what you choose.

Jeff

 

sry to hear bout your luck m8, id try to get that equeptment for your new rod shop,

 

We started to turn away shop work today, alot of people are surprised that we are closing but thats the way it goes.

So i have 2 weeks to get all the last shop worked buttoned up.

then well see what happens

jeff

 

WTF.....little buddy!

On to bigger and better things!

You and Stitch can stop by for home pizza anytime!

Here's a pic that ya haven't seen!



........

 

Titus, I'm not familiar with your area but in mine, rebuilding has been a thing of the past for years. There is specialized work on irrigation engines and gas compressors but you would starve to death doing production engines. The guys that are successful have Rottler boring bars and Neway head machines. When you're making your decision, be honest about whether your employer was making enough money to make the investment worthwhile. If you've never been to a SBA seminar on what it takes to run a business, you might do so. It's easy to buy equipment but way more difficult to make a living and not just scrimp by. Bankers used to have a book full of formulas that could tell you how much business you would have to do to be successful. Ask someone who knows the area real well what they think. Just be careful with the money calculations and don't let your emotions make the decision. Best wishes.

 

Sorry to hear of another old shop closeing, but if your taking on the business...you will have fun being self employed......i do.

good luck, hope to see ya this summer

 

Best of luck! Small shops are getting fewer and fewer these days.

 

Tools make money . they don`t cost money , best of luck

 

I'll be Damned! We need your contact phone number if you decide to run your own machine shop!

 

Hey Jeff, sorry to hear about the job loss. I know what you're going through to say the least.

If everything comes together on my end, I may have some work for you within the next couple months or so. I'll keep you posted.

 

let me know.

jeff

 

jeff...fritz is movin to kc mo...maybe you need to contact him and move a shop down there? its a nice lil mecca these days for hot rod stuff..and its closer to warm weather...if you wanna move it to my house, i can be shop bitch!
best of luck, although you have mega talent, so i think you will be just fine!!!
best of luck bud!
todd

 

if you got talent and the equipment, you can do just about anything.
the bigger the risk, the bigger the payoff.
working out of your home cuts costs too.
scary, hell yeah. but looks and sounds like you are well known in your area.
good luck to you.

 

If that is your house setup do me a favor. Read this before you do it, Stand up, walk out the front door of your house stop at the side walk (if you have one) look LEFT and RIGHT take note of what you see. Turn around return to your computer, find my Avatar click on it then move your mouse down to the PM feature.

Here's the Important part,

Type the phone number from the house for sale down the street from you, I'll be in contact with the seller!!!!!!!!!!!

DUDE YOU HAVE THE AND I MEAN THE SETUP OF A LIFETIME.

hope everything works out for you man.

 

Sounds like a great opportunity. Take it and dont look back.
Good luck.

 

Sorry to hear about that! Pray for the best for you. There are some good points listed on here.

 

i dont have all of it but made an aggreement to buy most of it.

the pics are of the shop at work.

actually monday was the last day, tues and wedsnday were spent with the orielly acqasuitition team, inventorying and pulling and packing all the parts, and all the shelving and store stuff, basically the whole front of the store is empty, all the remains are the shop equipment wich will be going soon.

jeff

 

i don't know you jeff but if you got a good mind,a strong back and a positive outlook you can do anything.best of luck.

 

wow that really sucks. I (sorry to say) work for O'reillys. i hate working for a big company like that. the carquest in the town has since went out of buisness since we opened a couple years ago.

what really makes me sick is that oreillys puts out this "magazine" for all its employees. in the magazine they always have pictures of buinesses wheter it be a mom and pop parts store or an autozone or advanced that went out of buisness because oreillys came to town. the captions always brag about closing them down. makes me sick because i dont care it "oreillys wants to be the dominate supplier of auto parts in all of its markets" or not...real people work at those other stores.

sorry to say i work at the walmart of auto parts stores.