Projects Machine shop horror story !

Don. I dont know what the hell is wrong with people these days. STICK TO YOUR GUNS! If this idiot does this to other customers he hopefully wont have customers very long, or a shop. Why is it so hard to give good service and customer satisfaction! I have to and do in my job!!!!

 

I'm kinda with Benno on this. A machinist is a machinist. After I moved here I went to an automotive machine shop to have some work done on some yblock stuff. Guy I talked to was in his mid 30's wasnt real familiar with Yblocks but he does excellent work. I watch stuff go thru there from VW's, flatheads, antique engine stuff & big diesels. I guess it just depends on the persons commitment.

 

I'd have to think that a lot of these shops tend to put their "regular" customers work in front of the work of guys who they don't know and keep doing that leaving your engine sit. Especially if your engine is a bit different than the easy bread and butter stuff they do every day.

It isn't that they can't work on your stuff and won't admit it it is that the shop down the street that sends them three sets of heads and an engine to machine every week gets top priority over walk in work.

Around here during harvest time you can pretty well expect the work you take in to have done get set aside for work on parts or rigs that are needed for harvest or the crops don't get taken care of in time. That I can live with but I don't appreciate getting sluffed off for the shops "regular" customers when it comes to getting things done in a timely fashion.

 

I gotta blow the horn for my machinist here, Jerry is 83 years old and looks 65 and does it all,from Model A's to the new stuff,he's done big 6 cylinder Whites for me and I just had a 312 Bird and a Chevy 261 there at the same time,he had a Packard 8 sitting on the floor to get to next,he can't face the White blocks because they are harder than the hubs of hell so they go to another wizard up in the hills of Paso Robles to stone the decks and the cranks go to Pioneer machine in Paso also, he stays busy all the time usually with 2 or 3 ahead of him, and I don't see any come backs.

 

Ha, same here, local machine shop run by father and son, son Ken 65, dad Fred pushing 90 and still carries cylinder heads around. Whenever I think of the health risks of working around automotive all your life I think of Fred.

 

At least you got your parts back, my machine shop ruinned my crankshaft, it got loose while being ground, so they ground the snout down and didnt tell me got the engine together and the timing belt pully and dampner just flopped around on the snout, should be press fit, they would not go good on it cost me $500 to replace it, Pacific Machine in Tacoma AVOID

 

Keep all the paperwork from them and from whoever you got replacement crank from ,AND SUE THE SONSABITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

if you need the crank picked up down here in south fla and brought up to billetproof next week i can probably help you

 

Don
I know a good machinest in Mobile if that isnt to far from you. He can do old motors 409 Chevies, 406 Fords, nail heads etc. Freddy Pendarvis Auto Fleet marine I think on Halls Mill Road, Mobile, Al.

 

I hate to hear machine shop horror stories.

I've got a guy who will work anything he can get into the machines.

If you want to put a 60° V6 700R4 on the back of a 2-cylinder Volvo industrial engine, his only question will be: "How soon do you want it done?"

 

Lost my machine shop guy when the NAPA store he worked at was bought out. He went to work at the new owners store, but new owner won't let him do machine shop work anymore, instead owners son now does it. Needless to say, but the quality of work coming out of the shop now is awful and has cost them a lot of business. I could understand letting the owners son work in the shop with the veteran machinist, but not kicking the vet out of the shop altogether. But then again, I've never liked the new owner much, he's just an ass, so I'm not surprised.

 

I just don't understand why you don't name names and call him out properly so others will not take their business to him...THATS the way to handle it.

 

Sueing works like this you pay to go to court, the party being sued doesnt show, the court finds in your favor, the party being sued doesnt pay so you spend a lot more money, to attach there accounts, 1 year down the road you still see nothing but a waste of your time, a good ass kicking is what was in order, I have been able to hurt his bussiness and will continue to do so

 

All has to do with the all mighty $ anymore . Seems America , has slid into a screw the neighbor routine . At one time when I was young , dealers ground their own valves , repaired guides and all head work . I saw this starting to change 30 years ago when I was a line mechanic at 2 American car dealers . Service Manager scolded me and threatened me about rebuilding Starters and Alternators under warranty . "Just put a new one one we get paid more for that !" Now it wouldn't SUPRISE me if China owns the rights to all automotive machine shops . Sad , we are going down the big tube , faster than a good old American dollar can be spent . We have lost the edge of being self supportive in the world today . Sad stuff when you can not pay good money to get good work in return for it . We need more free trade acts ! LOL


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Thanks for all the suggestions, guys, really appreciated. What I have decided to do is to send the block to Ross Racing in Ohio and have them properly do it. I phoned them Friday and talked to Ross and he had Tony call me back today. These guys know the ins and outs of Olds motors so I have no doubt it will be right this time.

I am not going to send it for a while, I am knee deep in the altered project and it doesn't make sense to have the Olds motor all machined and sitting around for a long time, so it will go to them in maybe 6 months or so.

Ross Racing, both Ross and Tony, have always treated me very fair, even when I was just calling to pick their brains, and they knew they were not going to make any money off of that call. Always patient and very helpful. I did have them machine the front pulley for me and I bought a starter from them, so I felt good being able to give them some business to make up for all the free advice.

As for the crank I am still owed by my local guy, I am optimistic I will get it back.

Don

 

good decision Don.

 

Don,You're talking about Joe "Moosh" Walthier,right? Moosh is a stand-up guy. We've been friends since he was Northeast Competition in NJ. Is Moosh aware of your situation? It sounds like the new owners are playing off of Moosh's reputation and if that's the case,he's NOT happy about it. He will make sure you get your crank back.

 

I understand your dilemma and you guys are absolutely correct....good machine shops are harder and harder to find. Here in El Paso we have 1 that I have been recommended to go to Car Parts Machine. At the local cruise ins I have asked around and it always comes back to there. A few of the guys that got their engines machined and built there have returned with a great product. This is not just on the machine side though either. A good paint shop is pretty hard to find as well. We have a very few here but you gotta have really deep pockets or be related to get in there. Seems like quality work and dedication to the craft are going away. I tried to get a "do it for free to learn" and nobody wants to teach you. They would prefer the craft die along with them. If you have the skills pass them on. What is really bad is I can cross the border to Juarez and get a much better product at a much better price.....just have to dodge the bullets and hope my car doesn't get "lost".

 

My life long friend did all my engine machine work for years. Trouble was as a close friend I kept getting put to the end of the line for all the "rush" jobs. "Bob won't mind waiting". He felt so bad about my long wait on one project he refused to charge me. Now, the illness that often comes with old age has claimed his skills. Luckily, I found a young guy operating a one man shop about 50 miles from me. He's busy but does the jobs in the order they arrive. I couldn't be happier.

 

start calling:
http://www.crankshaftco.com/engine-repair-directory/florida.html

 

Another reason to buy crate motors.

 

There good for guys like you...

 

I see what you did there

 

This is why I'm a crate engine guy... I got tired of "call tomorrow for a fresh excuse"

 

Last olds I had done was at a local shop not familiar with them, I copied and took spec pages from a shop manual, specified that I wanted to do the assembly and checked everything as it went back together. Went very well but its too bad the old shops you could trust are disappearing

 

The machinist I used forever passed away a couple of years ago at 50 years of age, from diabetes related complications. He ran a one man shop, and his only advertising was word of mouth. There was a sign on the building that said "Machine Shop", that's it. He did top notch work, was meticulous, worked on most anything, and was slower than molasses in the arctic. But you could count on a job well done, at a competitive price. I haven't had any machine work done since he passed, but will have to soon go on the hunt for another shop.

 

My local guy is pretty good at knocking quickies out & He's only 10 mins away. He's got 4 speeds he gets work out the door.

1 "Not in a hurry, when ever you get to it"

2. Waiting your turn.

3. The guy is Walking while waiting on this, or my shop is blocked up waiting on this.

4. Racing this weekend when you show up on Thursday.

If you choose #1 he considers your item in storage at no charge.

If you choose #2 you actually get put on a list.

If you choose #3 your stuff gets worked on in a very timely manor. Usually in a progressive order but subject to parts availability.

If you choose #4, everyone else waits.

 

Glad to see this Don,
Hope you get your crank back without issue.

 

Yep, that is the Joe I am speaking of, and yes, he is about as good of a guy as you can find. I consider him a friend, and he always did my stuff quick and top notch. But Joe is stuck between a rock and a hard place in this situation. I don't know what his agreement is with the new people, but Joe has such bad health issues that I am not going to put this on him. I hadn't seen Joe in months, and I was really relieved when I walked into his office and saw he was still alive. He actually looks much better and has lost weight. It was nice to see him actually smiling and evidently feeling much better.

I'm pretty confident I will get the last piece back from this guy, he has nothing to gain by not giving it to me. If it is machined already he will want paid for that, and I will gladly do that. If it isn't machined, then he is entitled to the shipping cost from here to Ft Lauderdale and back, and I will pay that too. I don't want to be difficult with him, I just want to end this transaction and move on.

Don

 

This is why I do my own work.
The money I would have paid to someone to do the work paid for my equipment.
When I start making excuses to myself I know that I am screwed...........

As My buddy just texted, 143 days left.