| rev:text
| - I am frustrated with this place. I brought my truck in to swap motors. I was told by the owner swapping a Chevy 350 for a newer model Chevy 350 would be a simple task. I also asked if he could install a transmission I had brought him in the truck while the engine was out. I was told this would only take 4 days to complete and that it would be a simple task. installing the new transmission was going to take some minor adjustments, i.e. the crossmember was going to need to be moved. That involves taking out some bolts and moving the crossmember and drilling holes to install new ones. I don't see this as really being "custom" work. I was quoted $400 for this. There were some minor parts that did need to be ordered and I DID authorize this to be done. It needed a new flywheel ($100) and it also needed a kickdown cable ($30). It did need to have some of the bolt holes chased because there was paint in them. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe that took 2 extra hours. So here's where the negative parts of my review start - The whole swap ended up taking 14 days to complete. I came to the shop on several occasions after the 4 days were up expecting to see my truck somewhere close to being completed. It was not even close. The old engine was removed, and the truck was sitting on a lift where it remained for the rest of the 10 days. I went back nearly every single day hoping to get in touch with the owner to find out why it was still not done. I saw him maybe 4 times in the 10 days. Every time I would talk to talk with him he gave me some excuse as to why it was not done. He had to chase the bolt holes (2 hour project), he had to order another flywheel (Maybe 1 extra day waiting for the part), he had to order a kickdown cable (once again 1 day waiting for the part). Autozone has all of the above mentioned parts readily available. No need to wait for parts when you can drive 2 miles down the road to get them, especially if it is past the date you promised the owner of the vehicle you'd have it done by. So aside from those days can you explain the remaining 8 days it sat in the shop without having anything done to it. Everything else needed for the swap was provided by me. The guy he has running his shop appeared to be overwhelmed with the amount of work he had on his plate. He seemed to be the only mechanic in the shop trying to fix 10+ cars. I'm sure he was doing his best to keep up with the workload. However, when i would ask him specific questions on my truck or about certain tasks waiting to be done he just said, "I don't know, you need to talk to Don" or "I have to wait for Don to get back, he needs to do that" I understand that maybe he wasn't allowed to comment on work needing to be done on vehicles, or maybe there were certain tasks above his skill level but I expected a little more from someone running the entire shop by himself. So I finally get my truck back, and here is what wasn't done on the truck. The crossmember wasn't relocated correctly, half way through moving the crossmember the mechanic called me and said he was just going to tack weld it in place because he couldn't drill through the frame to secure it correctly. (The owner did refund this portion of my bill). The hood had to be removed to install the new motor, it was not aligned correctly when it was reinstalled and would not shut properly, there were bolts missing from the power steering pump mount, the motor mounts were missing bolts, the thermostat housing was leaking coolant, the engine idle was set way too high, the kickdown cable wasn't adjusted correctly (which I hear from other mechanics can lead to rapid failure of a transmission), electrical problems that were not there before suddenly appeared (lights not working, headlights not coming on, etc.), and an oil fitting that I was told would not fit into the new block. I later attached the fitting myself by hand into the block that I was told would not take the fitting, the thermostat (old) and waterpump (brand new) were installed using large quantities of silicone sealant and were leaking coolant (not a professional way to install these items). I anticipated these items being installed correctly the first time, and if additional items were needed to install these correctly to be notified and have them done right the first time. I would have not minded paying any additional charges to have this stuff done right the first time. I am the customer, I do not know everything about engines, I would expect a mechanic to inform me of the correct way and tell me "hey, you can't use the old parts, you're going to need a new X,Y, and Z" Instead I think they were under pressure to get it done and threw it together as fast as they could.
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