Thread: To see or not!

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I ask the machinist that is building my engine if i could come in and see the assembly of some of the work he is doing. He nicely told me no. This is not sitting very well with me, because i feel the more i understand this time around. The more i would known the next time. What you guys think?
My engine is a 70-429 stroke to a 514 with blue thunder heads.

Well that might not be a reason to not have him build your motor Ted but if it were me i'd think twice about having him build it.

I like a shop that will work with me and anything i might want from them,when your droppin a ton of money into a motor then they should let you be "a part" of the build up. I'm not sayin that they should let you stand there and watch everthing they do but i know part of the reason i chose my motor shop was because the guy that runs it will take the time to talk to me any time i call to ask about how its going. Or he dosen't mind me just stopping in and seeing whats going on.

If i stop in he will not only show me my motor and what hes doin but he usally says "hey come here and look at this" and starts showin me other motors hes building.....its just a good way of keeping a relationship between the customer and the shop in my opinion.

BG

I hope to do the same thing and watch the buildup of my mild 350 SBC in a local shop. So far the machinist in my case seems friendly enough and in the past I have found a way of keeping respectful distance from these specialists while still keeping an eye on what is happening. In my former career I often had to farm out work to machinists from my sketches and they had a tendency to do things their way, but a gentle reminder that I was paying for the work seemed to help once in a while. Maybe there are some small trade secrets involved and/or maybe he is worried you will second guess the work later. Try to indicate in some subtle way that you are paying for the work, but also try not to ask silly questions. I guess it is a delicate balance, but if the reputation of the shop is on the line, the proprieter should help you understand what "wonderful work" he is doing. It remains to be seen if my shop guy continues to be friendly but I guess each case is different. Note there are cases of grouchy people who do excellent work and maybe he is one of those?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I agree, in all fairness the door has always been open. Maybe the question ask, he took it as if i wanted to hang around for the entire build up. I just wanted to see him install the rods and the pistons which isn't a big deal. But being new at Pro Stock Building and a little to honest when guys think you don;t known anything they tend to mistake you for a dummie. I been a gear head a long time and can remember when i was in the M. Corp twenty years ago and had my engine torn down in my wall locker on inspection day. Well that didn't go over to well. I will talk to him again because it is a lot of green!!

tedIII

I want to do most of the assembly myself because i like to be hands on. Both of the shops here locally are more than welcome to show you your engine and the progress that they are making. Of course I don't know anybody that is a pest to them either. I figure for the amount of money you are spending on thier labor, they should be proud to let you know how it's going. I suppose the big shops are more like assembly lines and can't let people in because of safety issues, I'll stick to the little mom & Pop shops where I feel good about what they do.

I would take it some where eales.The shop I used for my bore and balance work. let me come in and check the work as it was going on. That realy set me at easy about the money I was spending.That and Mike is a real nice guy that answered evey thing I asked him.

I hope that you marked your parts, that's a steel crank motor and they have been known to become a lot less real quite like, if you know what I mean. I would not trust a shop that would want to do the work in secret. If I wasn't welcome-than neither is my money.

What were the guys reasons for not letting you watch him build your motor? He would have to have a real good one for me not to watch, really I think I would go elsewhere. I agree with marking your parts, they can get swapped out with lower grade parts before you know it. The guy that built mine allowed me to check out the different phases of the assembly.

I agree, if they won't let you watch I'd take my business elsewhere. Lost a good set of heads that way long time ago.

I agree. Liability can be a big problem. I've yet to see a machine shop with a set of bleachers. Engine building is not a spectator event. Now, does that mean you can't call for an update. Nope. If you're worried about something coming up missing, you're at the wrong shop anyways.

Having had two race cars, I think your machinist/engine builder is very much like your doctor. You have to have absolute faith and trust of what's being done to your internals. The engines I had built on the first car were fine. Never had any problems. The second car's engines I build myself for no other reason than I wanted to take ownership of the process.

always mark your parts, even if you've known the shop for years.
it can save confussion later.
safety might be a factor, but that should be explained up front. I agree that building is not a spectator sport -- be it engine or body, but updates are important.
just my three cents worth.

I don't think your engine builder is unreasonable. As others said there are many reasons not to have customers in the shop, including liability, distraction to the workers, lost time to answer questions or even disagreement on how the work is being performed. If you do not trust the guy to do good work without you watching, then you need to look for someone else.

That being said I think it would be reasonable to ask to see progress at certain points in the build and set a specific time or have him call you when those points are complete. Questions about how things will be done are also reasonable. But be sure you are available so as not to delay him or waste his time waiting for you to show up.

A mechanic friend of mine had a Labor Rates sign in his shop

Labor $40 per hour
You watch $60 per hour
You help $80 per hour
You worked on it first $200 per hour

Pat

Even though I don't build engines for a living, I can understand the machine shop owners point.
I don't like when my customers watch me put lettering on their cars, because they always seem to want to have a conversation and chit-chat with you while you work...I can't concentrate when they do that, and sometimes I goof up.
Liability is a big concern when they're in the shop and want to see how our machines work...

Just my 2 cents...

Good news,

I talk to my machinist again and he said that doing some of the assembly I could come in and watch. I am a small business owner myself and the insurance in down right up setting. I think he sense that I was concern about our first conversation and I have a 400 block up next. And maybe he had second thoughts and reconsider. Any way I am glad because I like the guy and I haven't heard anything bad about his work. I have the serial numbers on everything but my crank. I hope and pray for the best.

I would like to thank you all for the good advice, and will keep you posted.

67 cougar