grumpyvette Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 these questions come up frequently, how can they charge that much? , do I really need that done? how can it take so long? are those really the best parts? can I use these instead? why will that part that costs twice as much, be any better than this part i have now? well Im the first guy to tell you that some shops DO overcharge for the work, but at the same time ILL point out that they have ALOT of money tied up in equipment,time and SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE in the better shops and they are a business that needs to STAY in BUSINESS, shops that have been in business for many years are slightly more likely to be trustworthy it would be a fairly small shop that had less than a MILLION DOLLARS in equipment and less that three guys on the pay roll, so keep that in mind. most of the better shops have many times that amount in expences. sellecting a shop, is not all that hard, just buy a pit pass and talk EXTENSIVELY with at least several DOZEN hard core racers with cars that are running at least in the 11 second or faster range ask thier opinions, youll find out quickly whose a crook, whose honest and who gets thier work out quickly and done correctly.but don,t take any one or two guys advice as the truth, any shop has good and bad days and customers with good and bad results,(now Im not always refering to the work they put out, a guy can do excellent work and some idiot can assemble/abuse parts without checking clearances and blow up an engine and then blame the shop most shops are in business to sell you parts and services, they tend to get discounts on some parts and prefer to sell you those, in many cases thats a win/win deal, but in some its just cheap junk with a higher proffit margin, you need to research the differance, and learn HOW to tell the differance and learn how to check clearances, NEVER TAKE A MACHINESHOPS word that something been done untill you VERIFY it with an independent measurement or check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 I've put together a few motors to try to save money. Notice I said put together and not built and also said tried to save. It's less expensive for me anyway, to have a competent shop build the motor I hopefully I can get it back in the car without dropping it. I'm paying for knowledge and skill and have come to realize just how much those are worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rytherwr Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Dead center target, Grumpyvette (as usual).....there are a thousand other things that you couldn't mention of course. I have found a common thread with hotrodders and would-be hotrodders over the past 40 or so years...most folks want to go fast but don't want to invest the money or time to do it right. The analogy is this...you can't go to Heaven unless you die...in both cases, the two are diametrically opposed. I know you know this, but it is extremely difficult if not impossible to describe the painstaking thought processes and just plain old busted knuckles it takes to put together a viable go-fast system...nobody wants to hear it. Oh well, it's folks like you who give us the straight scoop from which we can make our decisions and for that, we thank you. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 Here's another example... I and at least 5 other racers I know have used one particular driveline shop for at least 10 years. The shop does great work and I and my racer friends have never had a problem with the 30 or so diffs we've had this shop build for us. They are more expensive then others and they sometimes take a little bit longer. Well, one of my customers asked me to recommend a driveline shop. I sent him to the only one I trust. My customer complained aobut the price and went to another shop. Guess what? The LSD was assembled with the wrong clutches and was basically locked solid (found this out when the diff was taken to the shop I recommended). Not only did my customer loose time and had to pay to rebuild the diff twice, he also trashed a set of 285/30-18 Kumho V710s at $1,200 when he flat spotted all 4 wheels at 100 mph after discovering a lot of understeer caused by the locked diff. Cheaper is rarely better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.