So i recently acquired a 392 hemi and the seller said since it has been sittin for about 20 years that he would buy the motor back in i got the block and crank checked by a machine shop and they found them not usable. So i talked to a guy at a local machine shop he has a bunch of nice early fords a lot of it is original but a few are hopped up. he said he would hot tank and magnaflux the block and mic the crank for 100. sounded like a good deal so i take it over to him and hes like oh yeah i remember you so we load the block on the dolly and he pushes it inside and then he asked me what i had in the box i told him it was the crank. he said oh ok so he continued inside with the block and comes back and said what do you want to do with the crank. I said well it has been sittin for about 20 years and i dont know if its in usable condition it could have been dropped it could have been stored on its side. and he walked off and starts bringing my block back out and says take you stuff and go and i was like what i dont understand he said just take you stuff and go. I said all i wanted was the crank and he cut me off and i dont want your business just take you shit and get the hell out of here. so i loaded the block and i said alright see you later. he said we build race motors and go through less trouble. and i laughed and i said oh really? and left. So i guess my question is does any one know of a good machine shop in the Atlanta area they would trust taking my block and crank too? I'm not getting any work done other than magnafluxing the block and making sure the crank is usable.
Someone needs a lesson in diplomacy. It's nice that his business is so good that he can tell new customers those things.
Hmmmm the part about him remembering you makes me wonder, why does he remember you? been their in the past for some work or what? from the way you explain it looks like you were their in the past and were a pain in his ass. maybe that is why.
I think he might have you mistaken for someone else. Machine shops are like wives, find one you can live with!
Not sure either of these is possible So,did you guys have a previous history? Something just doesn't add up straight.
And I'm sure the Atlanta area HAMBers would like to know the name of this particular machine shop. They might be able to confirm or deny that this shop is inhabited by an asshole.
I worked a little in a shop whos owner would not take in blocks and what not for cleaning and mag unless he believed you were going to have machine work done there. The EPA makes dipping blocks really a hassel and his money is in rebuilding engines and selling parts. I know it sucks, but that was his shop and his way of doing things.
Nope i never had any work done there before. I stopped in earlier that same week and talked to him. He was ok with it i told him i didnt have the money to build the motor right away but i wanted to get it checked out so i could get back to the seller whether or not the block and crank were usable. He is just a angry old man. the only think i can think of is that when he said 100 for the block to be magnafluxed and to mic the crank when i talked to him early in the week and then i wanted him to check out the crank really good he might have thought i was thinkin i wanted the extra stuff for free which wasnt the case. my other hypothesis is that he just didnt want to take the time to check the crank out. he does alot of work in there and i must say it was a gold mind of parts and just cool old stuff inside and that was just the stuff inside he had a whole fenced in back area behind the shop. either way I wont be doing business with that A-hole
Does he know your HAMB name? I'd say be glad he showed his colors right up front. Too many stories about how they are nice to get you in, then turn into A-holes when you are in too deep...
give the shop a call after hours and leave a message on his machine, not a nasty message but one that tells him just what you want and just say maybe you were not clear the last time you talked, say you want your block and crank checked and how much would that be, use your name, he may have not understood, was busy, he could feel silly enough to give you a deal.
nah he doesnt know my hamb name plus i dont think he even uses hamb he looked like he was in his 70's not saying old folks dont use the hamb im just making a guess. you do have a point though I am kinda glad he was like that up front instead of after the fact. I dont care if it was a misunderstanding I think I would rather find someone else after all this.
If the guy was a dick for no reason, I see no reason not to tell everyone who he is exactly. If the guy was nice about it would be one thing, but maybe he needs to learn that word-of-mouth advertising works two ways -
I have a local engine shop that loves to clean and magnaflux parts for me fast and cheap. It keeps his unskilled helper guy busy. He also does some cabinet blasting for me sometimes. Now, if I need some machine work done on an engine I go to a guy I trust on the Hamb (in Kansas).......EnginePro5X who is the best. Hopefully you can find someone else to do your work. Your money should be as good as a racer's money.
Yeah, guess I've seen a few people like that. Imbittered nobodys who think they have a specialty of some kind and the world owes them some kinda respect. Well, in the end, its like the song said....."take this job and shove it!"
I'm not gonna make excuses for anyone, but, from my experience , if I were you I wouldn't take it persoally. I have been a body/paint guy for many years, most as a working manager. My take of the situation is He was having a bad day bad week , whateverm maybe he had just buried his wife or his dog. No matter, you were treated poorly. If he was in his 70's , no doubt he 's got 50 years ofstanding on a concrete floor with one RUSH job after another, only to find , when done the money is slow to come, hence the inventory. Maybe you have a mannerism of his least favorite BIL. Any way , if it still bothers you on monday get a box of donuts on monday and leave them with a note explaining exactly what you wanted and leave a number . He may call and make peace, and you could make a friend and get your work done. Over the years I have had several elderly customers gnaw on me for no good reason, that I could see, only to find later they had cancer and soon passed away. You just never know what some other people are going thru. Again, it's not an excuse to abuse customers, it is just sometimes human nature. Good Luck, Gary
We have a machine shop like that here in Huntsville.I took a 283 block over to him to have cleaned and checked out.He told me come back in a couple of days.I went back in a week and he hadn't done anything to it.He kept putting me off for nearly 3 weeks so I went in to get my block back and he gets all pissy and says he deals with 18 thousand dollar race engines there and don't have time to fool with my cheap crap.So,thanks to "John"(people here know about him) he will no longer get my business.Thing is,he had done stuff for me before,back when he was just starting out.Too big for his britches as my mom would say..
Well I have to say it doesn't sound like your are a total A-hole so I would go back and ask him nicely what did I do for you to act like that to me ? If he still give you grief then tell him you will make sure everyone on the entire Internet and everyone in your town knows what kind of asshole he really is and the way he treated you ! I have worked for many real assholes in my years but I can't think of one that would have done that to a customer and didn't want the job and the money ! I don't think anyone can't use the money busy or not ! A business in his field is all started by word of mouth on how well they do the quality of work and the way they are treated as a customer ! There is no reason for a business man to act like that ! Put up a post for the HAMBers in your area and you will get a good machinist to do your work . I wouldn't tell him I have no money to do the work BUT tell him to have everything checked out and an estimate on the work to be done . No more and no less ! After the testing is done with an estimate just tell him I will have to save some money so I can have the work done . Then pay the man for his work and time and say thank you , I will be back when I get the money to get the work done ! You will find a good one to go to but NEVER RUSH A MACHINIST !
I didnt take it personally but I was kinda shocked i didnt think I asked for much and he acted like i wanted him to cast me another block or something but i know two other machine shops in the area that my friends go to with their late model stuff so they should be able to look everything over. when I'm ready to do the real machining theres a shop in alabama that does early hemi work
I know exactly the shop you're talking about. The same thing happened to me there. I won't name names but if you are ever in HUNTSVILLE, there are some places you don't want to take your ENGINE.
Well there are always two sides to every story. I ran a auto machine shop for way too many years... lets just say you have to use your intuition when taking in work. The profit on cleaning and checking parts is minimal and if you add in the time to work up a estimate on whats needed to be done you really dont make anything.. unless you get the job. Guys that walked into my shop and knew everything, well lets say I didnt do any work for them.... you learn from your past mistakes and find out you have to trust your judgment of a potential customer.. if you have a bad feeling about a job its best to turn it down. I guess you said some thing that reminded him of a past job or customer that was a bad experience for him. Or he could just be a dick... lol
it happened to me again to a 60 buick to a shop i know desmoines ia, the car went there in one piece, 18 months later coming back in pieces, still not done.
I can remember telling a customer that I would rather he bitch because I wouldn't do his work, than have him bitch because I did.
the guy has a lot of work or so he thinks, he has a overload more than likley from bad mangement. poor inventory storage, places that have stuff laying around in no order just a mess is going to be a problem in opinion. we hear this on the hamb alot how somebody may do good work but customer service is lousy and delivery is worse post his name and address so we all know
wow yeah i mean its not a big deal to me. I know theres a place in alabama that works with early hemis but i figure something as simple as cleaning the block and checking the crank i would take it to a local guy. I know a few places that did good work for my friends but it was on late model stuff so im not sure if they would take the job but we'll see.
I dont really want to name names but the shop is in Austell, GA if anyone is familiar with the area then you might know the place but I dont know I just thought it was a crazy experience.
first he should be named cause places that are that bad need to be known about, and maybe it will get back to them and maybe????
this whole things reminds when before working for ems i was looking for a job in the mid 80's and answered a ad, got a interview but the engineerign mgr treated me like shit and put me down for being umemployed, not msart enough and then offered me a job just over min wage. well i turned him down. well a few years later i had a job with another company and was in charge of specilized machine parts. well guess who came buy and tried to sell me stuff??? yup the company that treated me like shit. i reminded them of the past situation and told them no sale> remember in the tiolet bowl it goes around and around, throw out some shit and shit will come back.
Lots of so called Race Engine Shops get into a rut just wanting to build cookie cutter race format engines !! They look at you like your from MARS when you bring in a Hemi Or God Forbid a FLAT-HEAD !! Sure hope they have something to do when the racers dry up as todays economy says you need to be flexible and touch all bases on the client list !! JMO >>>>.
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