Getting Frustrated!

[Old Skooler]

So my car has been in the shop since the beginning of December, I was promised the car would be done right after New Years and its still not done.. The cost of the car is $2500.00 over budget which given the things I've added isnt so bad, but the car still isnt together and Im hearing another 2 weeks. It didnt bother me until now, because the weather is breaking. The guy building my motor is one of the best around, he always takes a little longer than originally planned and when he delivers the car its always mind blowing. Thats why Im venting on here not to him, this is my 4th motor so I should be use to it by now.

 

[HuskerNation]

Would you like someone to give him a call, or drunk dial him? lol

 

[xracer22]

Yeah he may be the best, but thats not the point!!!! A mans word is a mans word and when you tell somebody something you should mean it!! I say it's B.S. and you need to grab ahold of your berries and tell him you need it done!! I mean come on
I was promised the car would be done right after New Years and its still not done.
Its now march!!

 

[xracer22]

I dont know where your from but its funny how no matter where you are in this country, there are always people like this that think they should get special treatment because they do good work!!!! I've had my run arounds with these people too.....

 

[Old Skooler]

I just spoke to him, he's trying to have the car done by this weekend. He's been blaming his machine shop, saying the guy was so behind from Sandy and the huge snow storm we had a few weeks back and he wont use anyone else. I told him the same way he would charge me storage if I didnt pick up the car I would take a few bucks off each day the car wasnt ready. The phone went silent. If I get the car back this weekend the weather is suppose to be high 50's.....sweet!!

 

[jrichker]

If I had both a time schedule and a budget in mind, I would have either chosen a crate motor or a shortblock and favorite heads and installed the heads myself. There are a lot of places that can supply both for a very reasonable prices. Once the engine is assembled and ready for installation , 4-6 hours for a first time removal gets the old engine out on the ground. Figure another 6-8 hours to get it installed and running. If you have good help or previous experience swapping engines, these time shorten up considerably. If you have no place to work on or store the car/parts, rent a storage unit that has electricity and keep it there until it is drivable.

If you lack the physical or mechanical ability or tools, to do the job, you should have bought a different car to play with. Otherwise you are at the mercy of those you contract to do the work .

 

[cenok is family]

sadly, just like richker said, this is just the way it is. reason why i do everything my self. kind of helps that i have a 40x90 shop with a lift, paint booth, and just about every tool you can think of...lol

keep pressing him though, 3 months over HIS stated deadline is a bit extreme. especially for building an engine, which i'm not sure what you're having done, but unless it's some crazy race engine, should not take longer than a week, MAYBE two if a machine shop is needed. the build itself once he has everything shouldn't take more than a couple hours and then 3-6 for install and getting it running.

 

[FoxMustangLvr]

He's busy working on other peoples engines that are SCREAMING LOUDER THAN YOU. The wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I just spoke to him, he's trying to have the car done by this weekend. He's been blaming his machine shop, saying the guy was so behind from Sandy and the huge snow storm we had a few weeks back and he wont use anyone else. I told him the same way he would charge me storage if I didnt pick up the car I would take a few bucks off each day the car wasnt ready. The phone went silent. If I get the car back this weekend the weather is suppose to be high 50's.....sweet!!

Nice....now you'll get him rushing to get it back together, instead of taking his time and doing it right.

 

[84Ttop]

I can't wait to see how this all works out.

 

[Toxic302]

Im sooo with you 84

 

[Illuminator]

Had a "highly" recommended racing machine shop work on my heads years back and experienced a similar situation to yours....they had specialist's/machinist's in either "Chevy" or "Ford/Dodge" at this place so I later learned. Guy that recommended the place had a 70 Mach 1 just as I did. Long story short, the "Chevy" guy worked on my heads, not the Ford guy that did his engine work, and in their lack of Ford wisdom cut the valve seats into the water jackets because they had the wrong valves for my setup, unknowing of Fords typically being thin walled everything regarding water. So I get a call telling me to pick up my "scrap" heads because according to them, I specified the valves I wanted.... Not true, I designated the diameter I wished for not the installed height & length with necessary springs, seats etc. Something a competent engine builder would know. Nowadays those heads are nothing special, but back then they were hard to come by 69' small cc pop up heads, which I fortunately knew a consignment race shop that stockpiled many rare parts and was able to replace.(Aftermarkets were outrageous back then) So do the diligence and ask to see your motor or make sure nothing "bad" has happened and they are just stalling.... Hope it's not the case in your's!!

 

[MikeH686]

This is how my experience was he told me the budget went over because the heads i gave him the valves were all bent but if that was the case i would have bought new heads he never communicated with me. Last time im using that a$$

 

[93project]

Only thing I had done to mine was the paint and bodywork... Its better to do the engine work yourself. That way you know what went into it. 302/351 based motors are really very basic.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

302/351 based motors are really very basic.

Yet as we read in these posts...people....so called "professional" still manage to find a way to screw them up.

 

[Old Skooler]

So I still haven't got the car back yet but the motor is in and dynod over the next few days he's finishing up the nitrous plumbing, final tuning, heater core, door hinges and a hand full of other things. Weather permitting Saturday I'm picking it up.

 

[Dan93fox]

So I still haven't got the car back yet but the motor is in and dynod over the next few days he's finishing up the nitrous plumbing, final tuning, heater core, door hinges and a hand full of other things. Weather permitting Saturday I'm picking it up.

Although on a much lesser scale I feel your pain. It seems car guys are always late. My motor set up is staying pretty much stock but the car still needed some work when I bought it. My mechanic always seemed to have it a day longer than he said it would take. One day he told me in the morning it would be ready to be picked up at the end of the day so I had a buddy drop me off there after work. It turned out it wouldn't be done and I was stuck there with no car. It actually didn't work out too bad. He gave me his daughter's 2012 Audi A5 which ran pretty nice. I took a bit of my frustration out on it. Now I'm in body and paint. Guy came recommended and told me 2-3 weeks. Tomorrow will be a month. I told him Monday that I had to have it back tomorrow (Thursday) knowing he would be late but I want it for this weekend (sunny and 50). Sure enough he told me today it would probably be Friday mid-day. My devious plan worked perfectly (assuming I get it Friday). I suppose I could have bigger problems.

 

[David Pepiton]

good luck