Hey, at least he gives you a warning. Do you touch a growling dog? Like others have said, there is two sides to every story and a man does not throw you out of his business for no reason.

I think we all have been disappointed with service before and things can get out of hand if we don't keep our cool.

Dont have a dog int he fight but its easy to see frustration on BOTH sides. Anybody thats been in business long enough will buckle down and get paid what they are worth. I have had customers "want to buy their own stuff" and all I ever do is roll my eyes. You guys know that if the OP pieces together an engine and something breaks, you know who is going to look like an ass? The guy who built it! He will be liable.

On the other hand, if the builder agreed to this and is willing to work piece by piece thats fine as long as there are clear lines of communication.

Lets face it, every time the builder has to get on the phone the timer in his head goes off and justifies the $400. The more time, the more aggravation the more it is worth it to get $400 (or more). People are in business to make money. Every second he spends fooling with this its taking him away from another project.

Communication is key.

Man!!! we all have been there. Give him the 400 and get your stuff.Next shop won't have to charge you to tear down.But think about let it go to long and he can get a mechanic lean Then you lost 3,000 bucks worth of short blocks,the things are worth the 400.00 bucks.Just get them and argue later Just my 2 cents JOHN SR

This thread reminds me of a sign I saw once in a repair shop.

LABOR CHARGE $50.00 AN HOUR

IF YOU WATCH $75.00 AN HOUR

IF YOU HELP $100.00 AN HOUR

I would honestly pay the guy, get your engines back, and move on with life. I'm sure there are two sides to this story, but over a hundo or two, why create enemies. If this engine builder is local to you, especially in your small town, who knows, there may be a day you might need something from him. Maybe not service, but maybe you're at the lake and in desparate need of a tow, and stiffing him out of 100 bucks might make him look the other way. I am thinking I have a pretty good idea who the builder is, and while he doesn't tolerate any bs, I think he is a good honest man. He's probably not needing your money to keep his business afloat, my guess is he wants to get paid for the work he put in. As a business owner myself, I've never really liked when someone hired me for a job, then after the work was completed, told me what they "felt they should pay" afterwords. Without a detailed invoice shown here, with what exact work was performed, we cant judge.

There are a couple builders who regularly chime in here on oso, and participate. Eddie Young being one of them. I would take the drive down. Eddie is hands down a class act, honest as they come, builds one hell of an engine, and IMO, priced right. Talk to his customers, and you will find happy people.

I have heard statements from a couple local guys (who have never done business with Eddie), say ''Eddie is great, but kinda pricey''. Eddie isn't pricey. The parts he is putting on your engines are pricey. You cant compare a whippled 1000 full EFI to a engine with a used 10-71 and some carbs. Of course the price isn't gonna be the same. His labor rate is more than fair, and he wont bend you over. (business wise at least, but maybe after a few drinks who knows).

YOU, are definitely not my type to bend over!!!
That's why I quit drinking

Thanks for the kind words. I am certainly not the cheapest around. However, I don't and won't use cheap parts if I am going to stand behind it. I won't use them even if I didn't have to stand behind them. I have had customers in the past supply parts for their build. While it can be a pain, you have to do it sometime. One of them turned out to be one of my best customers, and he supplied about half the parts on a complete build of a 1200 hp Whipple supercharged 565 ci engine. Honestly, I didn't make that much. But, I gained a great customer that I have done more work for since then. It all worked out in the end.

I would be more than happy to help the OP with either assistance so that he can build it or by doing some or all of the work. We love new customers.
Eddie

I think I might have cracked this mystery!

Dude ^^^^^^ that is just plain fukin hilarious!


And... since its winter, I am sure this thread will continue on for 30 more pages just for the sheer fact that nobody can use their friggin boats.

I think this thread has run its course, but before its put to bed I wanted to comment on something. It seems to happen a lot on here, and it kind of bothers me. I quoted the OP's first comments, because I think a lot of responders either didn't read the thread from the beginning or did not READ the comments.

I know this is only one side of the story and I'm trying to be impartial but here is what I take from the posts above. First, I see no mention of him hiring the builder to build complete engines using his parts. He clearly states he took the short blocks there to asses what they may need as far as parts and machine work. That does not imply building engines in my opinion, I may be wrong but that is what the post says. This seems like a pretty straight forward request at any engine/machine shop. He then clearly states he stopped or called a couple times over several months, before the episode at hand. Like I said before, this is only his side but it is stated pretty clear. He then says that after waiting 3+ months he went to check on them again and when the work was still not complete and some negative comments traded he asked for his stuff back.

Now here is my OPINION, if I took some short blocks to my machine shop to have them assessed and after 3 months they were not done I would be angry.

It just amazes me how much conjecture is thrown around in this thread an others. Carry on.......

how do you figure im a pain in the azz? I stopped by his shop -ONE time in three months. no phone calls nothing.