If you are wanting to look into MY competition-prepared engine not just any
old engine, and you lose the protest, you pay what it costs to reassemble MY
engine to its standard not the cost to reassemble any old motor to stock
factory specs. (My guy charges almost a grand just to disassemble the
thing!).
MY engine does not get built by Shadetree Joe, I don't expect to have to
endure his level of expertise (or lack of same) to un-build it just because
you want to look inside it.
Keep in mind, however, MY engine is in a Prepared context. It has a lot of
legal modifications in it that Joe the Repairman is not competent to deal
with. If you have more money in your motor than your car cost new (which I
do now!), you should expect that any work done on it including a protest
teardown is done by someone competent to work on a competition-prepared
motor. Flat rate does not apply. It is not reasonable to expect the owner
of a car to submit to a teardown -- or more the point, to have to endure
reassembly -- by someone whose competence to do so is in question. I have a
very good mechanic here in town that does work on my bone-stock street
Spitfire. He doesn't touch the race car. That expertise involves things such
as knowing my engine's head torque is 75# not the 55# listed in the -- wait
for it -- the SHOP MANUAL!! :-)
If you are talking stock engines, probably even ST engines, then it is more
reasonable to expect that the local dealer is competent to do that work --
if only because the work would fall within the parameters of a stock engine.
--Rocky
----- Original Message -----
From: <Smokerbros@aol.com>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 8:48 PM
Subject: Re: Subject: Re: shop manuals
> In a message dated 3/4/04 6:02:16 PM Pacific Standard Time, rocky@tri.net
> writes:
>
>
> > If you
> > want to tear down my engine this year it will cost you more than if you
> > wanted to tear down my old motor -- because the newer motor is the
product
> >
>
> How do you figure this? If the flat rate to r&r a Spitfire cylinder head
is
> 4 hours, and a fair shop rate is set at, let's say $75.00/hr, the labor
> portion of the teardown bond is $300.00. Why would it be different
because your
> engine builder charges more? Typical San Francisco hourly rate is
$125-150/hour,
> but I don't expect to get that to take my car apart in Topeka...
>
> Charlie
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