<<<Snip>>>I tell ya.. I have ALL the luck with slow,
unreliable and mostly inadequate service. But lets not get me started! In
the engine shops defense (sorta) they have a 70+ year old retired guy do the
babbit work since he is the only one who knows how. If it were me, I would
be learning that stuff so the art doesnt disappear with the older
generation!<<<Snip>>>
Hi all,
Deve,
You're not the only one with "all" the luck with terrible service, but if I
may, let me add some insight...
A lot of shops in business today are in it for the quick job, and the
quick buck. They live for the fast turn-around jobs where they can make a
profit. The employees are for the most part parts changers who, given a
specific task can do it fairly easily, and quickly. These shops are the
equivalent of taking your car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. That's what
they do, and they are fairly proficient at it. They have bills to pay, and
taking the time to learn how to do something like pour a babbit insert is
not cost effective by any stretch of the imagination.
As a mechanic, I have to say that I've lost money on every job I've ever
had that required "real" mechanic-ing. God forbid I charge for the actual
hours that I spend diagnosing, weighing options, considering the customers
habits and use patterns, and the actual painstaking efforts to achieve
perfection in doing whatever job I'm doing that does not involve changing
the brake pads, or replacing a leaky gasket. You must realize that
something as simple as how the air fuel mixture is set may vary depending on
the customers shoe size, and where he or she uses the vehicle most. A
mechanic is somewhat like a doctor, and should know you and your vehicle
well in order to keep everything rolling along smoothly. The newer vehicles
have computers that compensate for everything you can imagine, thus keeping
you relatively happy no matter where you drive, or how you drive, but the
older vehicles require middle of the road management by the mechanic, as in
most cases what works well at 8000 feet doesn't do worth a tinkers dam at
sea level. A recent thread on vacuum wipers expounded on that a little.
Those guys "know" what they are talking about, trust me.
Please be patient with that 70+ year old gentleman. He probably does what
he does because he loves it, not because it pays well. Allow him the time
to get his mind right to do a particularly delicate job, and give him credit
due for perfection in areas of your engine that you will never see. He
knows what happens in there, and he knows exactly what his efforts must be
to make it all right for the engine, and for you the customer. If he's like
me, he cares more about how the engine is feeling than he does about how you
are feeling. I think that just might be a good thing. After all, your
mechanic is your truck's doctor. You have your own. Find your own truck a
good doctor, and be faithful to him. The rewards far outweigh the deficits,
for both you and your truck.
Respectfully,
Kevin P.
'59 Apache 38/NAPCO
Courtland, VA
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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