Machine shop woes.....

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mbaird

mbaird

mbaird
Joined
Dec 10, 2005
Messages
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Location
Boise, Id
I have had one machine shop ruin a set of heads.... one machine and assemble a short block and return it to me FULL of dirt (REALLY !) even my girlfriend was amazed.... now I have one that is telling me that EVERY stroker kit he has gotten was out of balance , rods out of round and needed deburred ( unless of course I bought it through him at a premium ) all at a shop rates higher than IMM , Shady Dell and most other big city top notch shops....

And all of this is conveyed in a snarky , belligerent and rude manor .

I don't mind spending the money , I just want to think I am dealing with an honest business that has my best interest in mind.

I used to sell BMW's and I would have my BMW serviced at a local independant because I trusted them more than my own shop ...both technically and ethically. I never really looked at a bill from them because they were always honest and accurate in their work . They (Hurless Brothers) are always booked out 3 weeks and they have around 6 techs ! I have never met anyone that had anything but good stuff to say about them ! That's a great business model !

My rant is over....lol
 
Anytime I get anything done the machine shop has to cover their *** to make sure everything is as advertised. Say they never nagged a rod and if ended up breaking, then where would the blame lie. Kim
 
I cant imagine a shop would warranty any engine that was raced unless they did the whole process from start to finish including dyno.....and even then Im not sure they would .
Thats not what Im looking for or expecting.
The shop that did the bad valve job wouldnt stand behind their work.... I had 3 seperate unsoliceted comments on them including a few from FABO member viewing pics in an unrelated post and 2 from other machine shops ... 1 of which just happened to see the head laying there...
Maybe its just the way they communicate things to you....but I often feel as though Im getting scammed.
 
I hear ya. I have a truck at work with a brand new Merlin 540 in it. Guy got pissed at the place that built it. It was supposedly run in and dynoed. Had a pretty good oil leak at the rear. Thought the rear seal for sure. Pulled the tranny and there was no rear. Am plug. The place that built it just laughed it off. Kim
 
Don't feel bad. There's lots of garbage shops out there. Even guys like Dulcich get screwed. And he's been doing this how long? Check out this video:



He took it to a shop and had nothing but problems. Not zero decked (like he wanted). Crooked decks. Not balanced/blueprinted. Etc etc etc.

Finding a good shop is difficult but once you do, stick with them.
 
I had the same problem here. Pitiful work done locally and when you took it away it was very expensive and who knew when you would get it back. I ended up going across the border and got what I think was very good work, done quickly,(3 weeks), and it was cheaper than anywhere else. Plus they specialized in Mopar engines. They were members here a few years back. Rinaldi's in Skowhegan, Maine. They made a believer out of me. I like to assemble my own engines, but they did awesome machine work.

Jack
 
I always like to check places out on yelp before I go to them. It's a useful tool to guide you in a safe(r) direction, but you still have to pays your money and takes your chances. It's pretty annoying when someone isn't man enough to admit a mistake and take responsibility for a mistake to make it right.

For the shops which stand behind their work or make right mistakes in an ethical manner, they get my respect and repeat business.
 
When they dont have a set pricing structure and seem to set them on the fly then proceed to spew doom and gloom is makes me worry. This guy is telling me that all the balanced scat kits he has ever gotten needed rebalancing 250.00 ... and the rods need resizing
 
And he would have to check the journals ....
Then he tells me that the already high prices he gave me were only good if I bought the kit from him and he would hsve to readjust them since I got it elsewhere!
I felt like I was dealing on an old used car on a pot lot !
 
I'm real curious who is telling you this, and who screwed up your other parts. I've had good work done in this town by small shops, and been fed a line of BS by some of the bigger ones. if you don't want to name names on the forum, PM me and we can compare notes.
 
I just changed machine shops...nothing wrong with the old one..they were just across town and had to fight traffic there and back...New shop is only few miles away near LVMS. I dropped off a crank to be turned...then couple days later called and asked for a price to bore and hone block...He gave me price with and without honing plate...other shop did not have plate....dropped block off...week later calls and says everything is done...

While he was printing out bill he told me that one side of the block, 6 head bolts would not hold torque so he put in heli coils....said he usually get 25 dollars a hole but to be fair..He would only charge me one hour of labor which was 50 dollars cheaper....
Then his credit card reader would not work....tried and tried...told me he would call me next day and he would run the card....loaded up the parts and headed home...
Late in the afternoon I noticed he had not called so i called him...could not get reader to work...no dial tone...So I will call him on monday...See if I can pay my bill...LOL

Talked him about price to balance engine...externally and internally...I like his price....and has brand new crank balancer...
 
Machinist and Machine shops are all good as long as the money is going from your hand to their pocket. A true test of what this machinist is made of is when something goes wrong. And sooner or later they will go wrong, the guy is only human. It is how he handles the situation and how or if he makes it right. It took me many years and more than a few shops to settle on the good one I use and have used for over 32 years. But as it goes, he is getting old as well as I. But as long as he is willing, we will work together until one of us quits!
 
I think the biggest problem is the inability to communicate with the customer.
I don't know as much as they do about engine building....so they need to be able to
across to me in a manor that makes me trust them. Not in a manor that is condescending and makes me feel ( or know) that they taking advantage of me. And when a guy tells me that every Scat kit he sees need "remanufacturing" ... Not " sometimes I have an issue wi these kits" I tend to think I am being set up !
I am a car salesman and I can sense a lie a long way off... I tell people that buying a car is not like baseball...you don't get 3 strikes !
If a salesman lies to you one time MOVE ON !
 
So being a car salesman you should know all about lying to your customers! Just kidding, I couldn't resist it.
 
Unfortunately there is some if not a lot of truth in that.... Not with me but I am not a really good salesman nor do I ever want to be considered one. I really do think there is Karma !

The one time I went to a dealer where I didn't know someone to buy a truck ....I walked out thinking "No wonder people hate us "
 
Same here, I'm a retired fireman with 33 years, but I use to work part time as a used car salesman. Of course being part time my lively hood didn't have to make a living selling cars. But it was nice making 10% of the down payment we would get when we sold a car. I can see how it would make some lie to close the deal.
 
The cars I sell take a little different approach...
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I couldn't wrap my head around trying to sell that level of auto because my heart wouldn't be in it. Though considered "cool" by some, they don't do a thing for me. Maybe it's because I'm 6' 4" 300 lbs and I don't fit in them!
 
The green one was 1,004,000.00 918 Porsche.... The NSX's I ve driven on the track....
I've been in Farraris , Lamborghinis , Buggati Veyrons ( They would NOT let me drive those )
Hellcats , Camaro Ls1/Z06 or whatever they call the 580 Hp one...

But I am way more jacked about my 69 340 4speed Swinger I'm about to redo... Or my 68 Fastback. Or the 60k miles 70 Hemi Cuda a friend used to have ! That was a cool car to drive !
Mostly because it was so docile until you put your foot into it !
 
I guess I'm mostly opposed to the type of person that would buy those cars. I've dealt with the rich and snooty in my life as a fireman for 33 years.
 
Actually the really rich are generally pretty cool and laid back. It's the up and comers that can have the attitudes
 
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