Hats off

[Alan L]

To the professional engine builders that chip in on this and the Tech forum.
Nothing but respect for people who put these engines together for a living.
They are time consuming complex bits of machinery that do not tolerate mistakes or sloppy work. It is one thing to do this stuff in your own shed in your own time, where no one but yourself is going to know, or complain if it doesn't go well.
I don't know how you guys deal with the stresses of sorting these engines and customers breathing down your neck, and possibly moaning about the final costs etc.
And then you find time to provide invaluable advice to the rest of us.
Kudos to you guys, big time.
Alan

[Ovis]

I agree wholeheartedly! Thank you to all those that freely share knowledge and information.

[Matt at Pelican Parts]

We truly are lucky to have such an amazing and knowledgeable community! It's the support of our awesome members that has kept this place alive for over 20 years! Thank you for contributing and asking questions that others may find useful someday down the road.

[PeteKz]

Yes, 100% appreciation to Al, Henry, Neil, John, Tom, Matt, Brian, and the many other pros who contribute here.

[buster73]

Originally Posted by Alan L

To the professional engine builders that chip in on this and the Tech forum. Nothing but respect for people who put these engines together for a living.

Fully agree on this. Once you built an engine yourself you realize how tricky things can become. Customer expectations are high and everyone expects a perfect result.
But starting with a 30+ year old engine there is always some immanent risk something might go wrong. Have seen examples when a freshly rebuilt engine developed an oil leak and the owner showed little understanding that this can happen even to the best. Guess beside being a good engine builder you also have to be a good psychiatrist

[stownsen914]

Here, here! Deep appreciation for their contributions and expertise shared here and elsewhere. I'd be sunk trying to put together an engine without them ...

[Tippy]

Yes, appreciated. I can't imagine the amount of mistakes I would have done if it weren't from referencing this site.

On a side note, I watched some mechanics in San Antonio, TX, at a Porsche shop (Jones Autowerks) tear a 911 motor down in about 30 minutes in front of me. They were going to town!

I thought I was fast....

That is where experience shines...

[Alan L]

Originally Posted by Tippy

Yes, appreciated. I can't imagine the amount of mistakes I would have done if it weren't from referencing this site.

On a side note, I watched some mechanics in San Antonio, TX, at a Porsche shop (Jones Autowerks) tear a 911 motor down in about 30 minutes in front of me. They were going to town!

I thought I was fast....

That is where experience shines...

Bet they didn't put it back together in 30 min
" Customer expectations are high and everyone expects a perfect result.
But starting with a 30+ year old engine there is always some immanent risk something might go wrong. Have seen examples when a freshly rebuilt engine developed an oil leak and the owner showed little understanding that this can happen even to the best. Guess beside being a good engine builder you also have to be a good psychiatrist"

And then factor in faulty parts that lurk in the market. The only way to find those is the 'hard' way. All that experience is hard won, and shared here.
Alan

[Old H2S]

Amen..I got a trick engine from reading this forum, details, details, details.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Alan L

Bet they didn't put it back together in 30 min
" Customer expectations are high and everyone expects a perfect result.
But starting with a 30+ year old engine there is always some immanent risk something might go wrong. Have seen examples when a freshly rebuilt engine developed an oil leak and the owner showed little understanding that this can happen even to the best. Guess beside being a good engine builder you also have to be a good psychiatrist"

And then factor in faulty parts that lurk in the market. The only way to find those is the 'hard' way. All that experience is hard won, and shared here.
Alan

That is the EXACT reason I won’t build someone else’s. If you don’t wrench, then you won’t understand how things can go wrong no matter how much experience you have.

100%!

[Alan L]

And that is one of the reasons I take my hat off to those guys. There are so many challenges to get this right, and so many places you can go wrong. And they do it for a living.
Kudos to them.
I have done some engine work for a friend or two - with them alongside. So they can see what is involved and appreciate it when it all comes together right. And understand why it takes more time than they would have imagined.
Otherwise I am happy just to work on my own stuff. The number of times I have done 2 steps foward and one backwards, I could not count.
Alan

[gsxrken]

I said almost exact same thing after I finished my rebuild. How a professional can assemble these for an hourly rate, and then somehow “eat” a redo because there is a case leak and they have to tear the whole thing down just to reseal it. Crazy.
They should think about 2 prices… a base price, and then a price with insurance.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

I said almost exact same thing after I finished my rebuild. How a professional can assemble these for an hourly rate, and then somehow “eat” a redo because there is a case leak and they have to tear the whole thing down just to reseal it. Crazy.
They should think about 2 prices… a base price, and then a price with insurance.

I would literally quit if I had a customer bring back a case leak.........why I avoid all together and only do my own.

[john walker's workshop]

All part of doing business. You just deal with it and move on. Chit happens.

[zztot]

Amen!

[stownsen914]

I'd venture a guess that some shop owners would just tell you where to go if you brought back a leak expecting them to fix it gratis. I'd also guess that the ones who are regular contributors on this forum aren't in that group.

[Neil Harvey]

There is immense satisfaction, which keeps the drive and passion alive, when the customer gets their engine back and it surpasses their expectations. There is always some disappointment initially, when they get the quote telling how much it will be. This is always way more than they had thought.

We get told after, "I'm glad I did what you suggested". I have never been told, "I wish I had not done that". I tell customers to build the engine on paper first. Know the end result and costs before you start. This has worked for all of our customers but we do get some that have pre purchased a bucket load of parts that become redundant in the final build.

Truth be known, I live my fantasy of building one of these engines for myself through my customer projects. When one leaves us it like your kid going off to college. We do get attached to these things.

[doswald]

Wholeheartedly agree-thank you all for generously sharing your time and expertise. I am nearing the end of my ‘71T rebuild. With the knowledge available here, I have, hopefully, avoided the many traps for the unwary.

dho