Recommendation Chi South Suburbs for failed Rebuild

[MichaelB]

Remember, I did state "user error" not just oils. If the initial break-in is not done correctly by the end user (or whomever) than all bets are off.

I do not know Bob, but I do know this. There are less & less craftsmen and shooting one will not help your cause.

Stay cool, you prob wont be driving it off-season anyhow. It could not be a better time to have a delay.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by 28tbsfan

I’ve done my part and you say non mechanical folks using oils are causing failures, except he was the one who filled the oil on the latest rebuild and it failed shortly after. How does that give me any confidence? Not too mention, he decides to tell me this has been an ongoing issue for 4 years, which was never mentioned to me when we discussed the rebuild.

You want to help….you seem to know him, give him a call and be a team player, since you are the only one on the thread who seems to understand these issues.

Mike must be friends with the guy. You’re not paying huge amounts of money to listen to his personal or professional problems or to be a team player, you’re paying him a lot of money to put together a simple motor. Love the part about packing heat too give me a freaking break.

[Matt Monson]

Interesting thread. I've been following along since the beginning. I agree with about 90% of what MichaelB has added, and will now add my own thoughts. I manufacture porsche transmission hardparts for a living. My gears or LSDs would be akin to a crankshaft or rods in your scenario. I have clients who have been waiting 18 months for a single part while we continue to try to return to some sort of normal following covid. I sell to many of the top engine builders in America, places like Dawes, Rothsport, Sharkwerks, etc. They are having the same waits and problems getting cranks and the like for their builds, and not just my gearbox parts. It's an industry wide problem. That's in addition to your specific unique problems you've been describing.

I feel bad seeing this happen, especially since I was one of the people in your original thread to find a builder who pointed you towards Farmers. I'm now going to tell you that I think it's time for you to gather up your project and find a different builder. You have lost trust here. I don't see it coming back, just based on how you replied to Michael. You're over it. Get your bill settled, pick up your parts, and find a new place as the title of this thread suggests.

Nobody ever diagnosed a failure like this on the internet. We don't have enough facts or detail, and you likely lack the technical knowledge to communicate it, even if you had all the facts yourself. It's mostly just an echo chamber where people rile you up and send you back into the shop looking for a fight. That never ends well.

In fact, as someone on the other side of this, if I were Bob and saw this thread I would fire you as a customer. The internet has become a weapon to go attack people's brands and reputation as a form of hostage taking to attempt to get what you want. But nobody ever removes a Yelp review or Pelican thread after the resolution, and rarely comes and 6 months from now with a running driving car to explain how it all got worked out. It's not a never thing, but it's exceptional.

I get wanting to understand the problem and learn to ascertain if what you've been told about the failure is real or BS. But airing your dirty laundry and naming names isn't that. Bob is getting old. He isn't going to be doing this much longer, but has 1000s upon 1000s of bulletproof 911 engine builds under his belt. Maybe he screwed this one up. Maybe it's an oil or a parts problem. It really doesn't matter. What matters is you keep your business your business and don't use the internet for reputational assassination.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by michaelb

remember, i did state "user error" not just oils. If the initial break-in is not done correctly by the end user (or whomever) than all bets are off.

I do not know bob, but i do know this. There are less & less craftsmen and shooting one will not help your cause.

Stay cool, you prob wont be driving it off-season anyhow. It could not be a better time to have a delay.

2 years

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Interesting thread. I've been following along since the beginning. I agree with about 90% of what MichaelB has added, and will now add my own thoughts. I manufacture porsche transmission hardparts for a living. My gears or LSDs would be akin to a crankshaft or rods in your scenario. I have clients who have been waiting 18 months for a single part while we continue to try to return to some sort of normal following covid. I sell to many of the top engine builders in America, places like Dawes, Rothsport, Sharkwerks, etc. They are having the same waits and problems getting cranks and the like for their builds, and not just my gearbox parts. It's an industry wide problem. That's in addition to your specific unique problems you've been describing.

I feel bad seeing this happen, especially since I was one of the people in your original thread to find a builder who pointed you towards Farmers. I'm now going to tell you that I think it's time for you to gather up your project and find a different builder. You have lost trust here. I don't see it coming back, just based on how you replied to Michael. You're over it. Get your bill settled, pick up your parts, and find a new place as the title of this thread suggests.

Nobody ever diagnosed a failure like this on the internet. We don't have enough facts or detail, and you likely lack the technical knowledge to communicate it, even if you had all the facts yourself. It's mostly just an echo chamber where people rile you up and send you back into the shop looking for a fight. That never ends well.

In fact, as someone on the other side of this, if I were Bob and saw this thread I would fire you as a customer. The internet has become a weapon to go attack people's brands and reputation as a form of hostage taking to attempt to get what you want. But nobody ever removes a Yelp review or Pelican thread after the resolution, and rarely comes and 6 months from now with a running driving car to explain how it all got worked out. It's not a never thing, but it's exceptional.

I get wanting to understand the problem and learn to ascertain if what you've been told about the failure is real or BS. But airing your dirty laundry and naming names isn't that. Bob is getting old. He isn't going to be doing this much longer, but has 1000s upon 1000s of bulletproof 911 engine builds under his belt. Maybe he screwed this one up. Maybe it's an oil or a parts problem. It really doesn't matter. What matters is you keep your business your business and don't use the internet for reputational assassination.

The guy has waited 2 years for a simple build with bogus excuses. He’s out $12000 and a motor And now you’re blaming him? Firing him as a customer what is wrong with you guys? Bunch of prima Donna’s.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

The guy has waited 2 years for a simple build with bogus excuses. He’s out $12000 and a motor And now you’re blaming him? Firing him as a customer what is wrong with you guys? Bunch of prima Donna’s.

You seem to have a reading comprehension problem. I'm not blaming him for anything except airing his dirty laundry. He's not some rape victim that I'm telling shouldn't have worn that sexy dress and got what he deserved.

Bob is NOT out to F this guy. Something has happened here. I won't even pretend to know what it is, and anyone who does is just fanning the flames here. I'm reading the tone and attitude and my assessment is the OP no longer trusts his builder. That's the point where you move on, and find a resolution that does NOT involve finishing the job. It really is that simple.

This is a tech forum. People seem to forget that sometimes. We lack requisite pictures and information to help with any technical advice. My relationship advice is this relationship no longer works for either of them and they need to break up.

[28tbsfan]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

You seem to have a reading comprehension problem. I'm not blaming him for anything except airing his dirty laundry. He's not some rape victim that I'm telling shouldn't have worn that sexy dress and got what he deserved.

Bob is NOT out to F this guy. Something has happened here. I won't even pretend to know what it is, and anyone who does is just fanning the flames here. I'm reading the tone and attitude and my assessment is the OP no longer trusts his builder. That's the point where you move on, and find a resolution that does NOT involve finishing the job. It really is that simple.

This is a tech forum. People seem to forget that sometimes. We lack requisite pictures and information to help with any technical advice. My relationship advice is this relationship no longer works for either of them and they need to break up.

I own a business myself, but do not understand what and why you’d consider this character assassination. This is legitimately what is going on with my situation for the past 19 months.I was asking simply for advice regarding oil and some of these far-fetched excuses that I’m hearing from the shop. This is a tech forum, so you should be able to get that advice here. Also, I know they’re taking additional vehicles in daily and I’m not the first person who’s been waiting for this long for their vehicle to come back. Yes, I do not want somebody to experience what I have, since apparently this has been going on in that shop for four years and it’s not being talked about. My original post was simply to better understand the situation which majority of folks are telling me is just not true. I run a business as does he, unfortunately, we have to manage through our customers and to date, I’ve been an exceptionally good one, giving a lot of money to a shop for nothing in return.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by 28tbsfan

I own a business myself, but do not understand what and why you’d consider this character assassination. This is legitimately what is going on with my situation for the past 19 months.I was asking simply for advice regarding oil and some of these far-fetched excuses that I’m hearing from the shop. This is a tech forum, so you should be able to get that advice here. Also, I know they’re taking additional vehicles in daily and I’m not the first person who’s been waiting for this long for their vehicle to come back. Yes, I do not want somebody to experience what I have, since apparently this has been going on in that shop for four years and it’s not being talked about. My original post was simply to better understand the situation which majority of folks are telling me is just not true. I run a business as does he, unfortunately, we have to manage through our customers and to date, I’ve been an exceptionally good one, giving a lot of money to a shop for nothing in return.

You were fine until you named names. As a reader, your thread took a hard turn for me when you did that. You seem like a nice guy and you are in a complete crap situation. I hope you work it out with Bob.

[28tbsfan]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

You were fine until you named names. As a reader, your thread took a hard turn for me when you did that. You seem like a nice guy and you are in a complete crap situation. I hope you work it out with Bob.

I appreciate that….as a business owner, unfortunately, you have to accept the fact folks will be critical of your work right or wrong.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by 28tbsfan

I appreciate that….as a business owner, unfortunately, you have to accept the fact folks will be critical of your work right or wrong.

So I re-read the thread, and my first reply, and I was too subtle with a big point I was trying to make. At one point you ask is 18 months unreasonable? Yes and no.

Do you know who Armando is? He's the air cooled crankshaft guy. I have no idea if he's even still in business, but prior to covid there were times where he had a 2 year waiting list. There used to Rick Jacksic on the east coast. Many people used him for their machine work, but the wait was often 6 months or more. He died during covid. No idea where NE guys now go. Ask people how long they waited for their cases from Walt at CE. Is several months reasonable to try to find someone who can properly repair a crankshaft and do it? Absolutely.

His dyno. Do you know what has failed on it? He's blaming the power company. Maybe it's a power unit. Maybe the ECU is fried. That stuff is proprietary. He doesn't just order dynapack or mustang parts on Amazon. He's stuck waiting on their supply chain. Might be half a year. So again, this kind of wait is totally reasonable in our post covid world.

I don't know a single good air cooled engine builder without a 1 year waiting list right now. And I know dozens of them. There are parts shortages. There are labor shortages. There are subcontractor shortages as people find new people do do things for them now that the guy they used for 20 years doesn't exist anymore. The grocery stores are full. Target, Walmart and Amazon have everything. What do you mean I can't get glyco rod bearings for 8 months? Porsche parts is a different world. And the vendors and the mechanics are all getting older. Maybe your mechanic now works 35 hour weeks versus 50 hours weeks, because that's what an 80 year old body can do.

18 months is not an unreasonable amount of time today, right now, at the end of 2024. I wouldn't have answered the question the same way end of 2019.

I have no answer to your oil questions. My first post peripherally attempted to point out what I have just added. In your attempts to reach some sort of detente in your situation, pick your battles. How long the crank took or the dyno repair took are things beyond his control. Leave it off your list of grievances with him, and focus on the action items. You cannot change the past and there's no upside to hitting your mechanic upside the head with them. That's if you want him to finish the job.

[PeteKz]

MichaelB, you might be one of the good ones, but several people here can assure you that there a large number of shops and vendors who are not straight up. That's not "talking smack." Whatever his problems are, it certainly appears he has not been forthright. I would not be Mr. Nice either.

As for oil problems, I have been running cheap-ass Quaker State full synthetic 5W-30 in my car for the past year and almost 5000 miles. No adverse effects so far, very little change in valve clearances. I'm about to pull an oil sample and have it analyzed. Yes, this is an experiment of mine. But if any old oil you can buy at Walmart on sale works in my engine, I seriously doubt these reports of oil failure as the primary cause. The failures may be lubrication related (loss of pressure?), but I think the oil is very unlikely the culprit.

So, yeah, this sounds like bullcrap to me too.