I'm rebuilding an Olds 403 for installation in an oletruck, and something
happened yesterday that has me seeing RED!
I took the heads to Jim's Machine Shop in Greeley CO for reconditioning.
Since valve stem height is critical on Olds engines, and I paid $50 for a
Mondello guage to measure same, I took it along for Jimmy to use. He stated
that "when a customer buys a tool and brings it in, it means he's going to be
too nit-picky" and he flatly refused to do the job! Not wanting to burn any
bridges, I withheld my evaluation of his personality and left the shop. That
was extremely difficult for me to do, but somehow I managed, and telling my
wife about it helped me to control my anger.
If anybody knows of a good machine shop in my area, please forward their
telephone number to me. At present I am waiting for my community college to
return for the fall quarter, so I can rebuild the heads in class. I expect to
still need a machine shop to install hardened exhaust valve seats and at
least one valve guide. The good news is, I'll save one large amount of money
that would have gone to Jimmy. Not only did he miss out on an estimated $275
for the heads, but I was planning to have him bore a block for another
project. That would have been around $200.
Thanks for "listening".
Mike Jensen
Greeley CO
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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