ZR8ED Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Sound to good? Damn straight its too good, but that is what this one particular Z owner is expecting and he is complaining that he's being ripped off!!! :malebitchslap: This is what my mechanic is dealing with right now. (same mechanic who built most of my car, engine, rollcage etc..) A guy out on the web found me and my car. He came to several Z websites looking for info, and I directed him to my mechanic because he was a local as well. Nice guy mind you, I'm not bashing him. But man is he niave. This guy bought a used l28 turbo engine/harness/ecu/afm etc.. fairly complete. except the oil feed line was disonected and the turbo was bad (broken shaft) it did have decent compression... prime candidate for a rebuild.. this guy wants to stuff it in as is... he also had a GNZ i/c that he wanted installed, and a SS muffler that had a big hole in it. (he wanted it patched up and installed) He also had a bad tranny and needed a new one. (72 240 with auto tranny) He got a quote for 700.00 to install the engine and get it to fire. (no i/c) My mechanic is tooo nice, and now it starts. The guy comes back a week later expecting to have a running car! he didn't have a fuel pump or proper gas tank, the ign coil for the turbo, and he actually thought that 1 week was too long. even the turbo was broken and had to be replaced! To make a huge dumb story short, its been almost 2 months (waiting for the guy to buy parts, bring money etc etc), the engine starts and runs has a new (used) turbo, a new (used tranny) a fuel pump, and my mechanic modified the fuel tank to work with FI (guy had no money for a new tank) His bill is at 700.00 and the guy is crying (literally once) that he's being ripped off. and thought that he was going to end up with a 300hp l28 turbo with intercooler, and detailed motor and engine bay like mine!!!!... LIKE MINE???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This guy knows my car, and I told him long before he even found a turbo engine what a swap would cost..(2-3K to start if someone else installs it) even told him what MINE cost Anyways.. he paid his bill minus some of the parts, and has refused to call the shop to inquire further even after repeated phone calls. He is going to get 1 months notice from this week (i/c install work is halted untill the bill is paid up to current status) after which it will be put into an impound yard and be billed what the yard is owed as well. Still no word from the guy. What do you think? My mechanic feels terrible about the situation, but what do you do with a guy like this? We found out after from his many other connections with speed shops in the Toronto area that this guy has been kicked out of all of them for being so stupid. most said to get that piece of shit out of there unless you got $5K up front to get started. (the rest of the car is in reasonable shape, but you all know, that highperformance motors require highperformance suspension/brakes, chassis, etc...) Heck he even went to another Z speed shop and was told $10k min to do it right. (they do high end stuff ie twin supercharged viper, but the guy has a passion for modding Z's) I'm not really looking for answers, i'm just ranting a bit. I just can't believe some people... and I sent him to my mechanic... My mechanis is a stand up guy, honest, will go out of his way to help you. We are friends as well, but I can call him anytime, and he will try and fit me in when I really need something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 I say just lien sale the car and be done with it!!! Saving that Z from an idiot owner! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 I say just lien sale the car and be done with it!!! Saving that Z from an idiot owner! Tim I agree. You could be saving that Z from an untimely demise by keeping from someone who may just be an idiot and wreck it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poundz9oh9 Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Hey, Let me know when the Lien sale is!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudge Posted April 11, 2003 Share Posted April 11, 2003 Some people are stupid, once the deal was done I dont think I'd accept business from this person again. Rippedoffmyass, ripped off is $900 to replace a distributor, thats what dealers are charging Camaro people often. I dont want to hear whining about how hard it is, yes your right, it takes about an hour if your working slowly, it does suck. $183 distributor, some RTV or $2 gaskets and your in business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewire23 Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 seems like a common ordeal for mechanics nowadays. I hang around a honda shop, and they deal with morons like that all the time. Its hard to be an upstanding mechanic in this day and age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 for 700 dollars- i would farm off motor swaps to your man and add something on top for me, if he prices like that often that is, i could understand if it was a oneshot deal. My man Robbie, a manager at a very busy shop (smogem) once told me that to do a clutch on a 300zxtt he charged 1399.81(customer brought in his own clutch, flywheel, and t/0 bearing),actually just got off the phone with my man and i always bug out about how much gets charged at "legit" shops, he once told me he replaced a tensioner and belt for a guy and charged the guy 331.00!!! I also see it this way, getting your car worked on for you is a luxury, not a neccesity, and shops have expenses, some shops are crooked, but a lot of shops have to charge what they do sometimes, they have overhead, have to pay people, i mean shoot, the rent on his shop is 7500 a month! You really do have to watch out and that is for certain though. Zr8ed. shoot, i would have that guy do mine for me at that price, for real though, ive heard of clutch jobs from a shop costing nearly 1k and one time 2500. I like being the wrench guy, but sometimes deals come at you so nice you have to bite. Case in point, my good buddy at the shop, my man FRANK (yeahhhhBOYEEE) will do my clutch for me for 200 bucks, whatever yeah i know i can do a clutch, been there and done that, i know that my time under the sucker is worth more than 200 to me real easy( real easy), plus when he does that work, he guarantees his work if the flywheel gets resurfaced-THATS MY MAN...and the price is right, what can i say? That guy sounds like a real sucker, sounds like he is really messing up a good thing he has going right there with the cheap motor swap and what not, i would have charged a lot more than that, thats for certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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