Should I be unhappy with this mechanics work?

[mike16]

were you going to pay them to do it right or were you gonna coplain about the bill whem ot came due. you will note tha many here do thier own work

[jdw]

Alright, I'll chime in again. Mechanics get paid to do a job. You brought them a job. They did worse than not doing it, they did it in a way that was to the detriment of your vehicle. It doesn't matter if it's a classic and people think you should work on it yourself, or if today's vehicles are different than yesterday's. Inferring that you are somehow at fault because the vehicle was perhaps already broken when you brought it in or that some people think you should do every last bit of work yourself is ludicrous at best. Who cares why or how you came to paying a mechanic to do the job mechanics get paid to do. That's why they are there. And under no circumstances should apprehension over this be cause to cave and pay for that. These trucks have been serviced by mechanics for 40+ years. Figure it out or pass on the job.
Also, get a crimper. It's pretty easy and cheaper.
My 10 cents.
J.

[special-K]

I say this job is par for the course these days. The only thing that is negligent is the wire left to burn on the manifold. It is our responsibility to be specific when we don't want a generic universal one size fits all repair. The job was replace plug wires, the parts got ordered, delivered, and installed. A mechanic's job is to fix it and get it back ASAP, which in most people's mind is the same day. A mechanic who will only use the best possible part for the job will find themselves waiting for parts not in stock and often a customer who feels let down in another way. This mechanic didn't know about the plug wires in advance, so no way to have them secured for the job. I'm not putting any fault on the OP here, I am saying when you go to a mechanic with a vehicle, especially one that is special, you have to be clear exactly what you want. The mechanic's attitude is fix it and get it back to you in the shortest length of time because people don't like to wait and they put a huge emphasis on that these days

[67swb72klb]

If the wires would have been run underneath the rams horn exhaust manifolds you would not have problems...looks like there is plenty of length to do it that way

[jdw]

You're right special k. Unfortunately, that job is par for the course. 2 hours of labor at $100/hr is a bit on the high side, though. If everything else were to remain the same OP, I'd probably look at getting that burnt plug replaced for free and run it like that until the time comes to change it. Language is available hete for the next time you take it to a mechanic. If I were to do it myself, I'd probably run them correctly under the ram horns then cut the ends at the distributor and recrimp the boots. That'll save the $35 cut to fit spark plug wires cost. I'd be willing to bet your mechanic didn't do that job, but left it up to his oil change guy.
Besides ram horns look too cool to have all that laying around in there.

[mike16]

Originally Posted by jdw

You're right special k. Unfortunately, that job is par for the course. 2 hours of labor at $100/hr is a bit on the high side, though. If everything else were to remain the same OP, I'd probably look at getting that burnt plug replaced for free and run it like that until the time comes to change it. Language is available hete for the next time you take it to a mechanic. If I were to do it myself, I'd probably run them correctly under the ram horns then cut the ends at the distributor and recrimp the boots. That'll save the $35 cut to fit spark plug wires cost. I'd be willing to bet your mechanic didn't do that job, but left it up to his oil change guy.
Besides ram horns look too cool to have all that laying around in there.

too many contradictions here.

100/hr is too much? when? when you brought it in or when it comes time to pay? If you can replace one plug.... now,,,, after paying 100. why not all of them befor and for free.? I'll bet those wire are long enough to make you think you can run them under the manifolds, who continues to pay once you realise they dont fit tidily up under the manifolds?

Paying for to get the job done or for the learning curve?

You talkin a savings o 35 bucks but you was willing to pay 100 up front then again out the door, but now in retrospect tryin to save another 35 bucks. and finally; the reason you ought to do it your self and save all of that 100 bills......"The rams look to0 kool to have all that wire hanging off of them."

Of course your right and that my point.... in stead of paying someone to do it for you.

Why not spend the money , screw it up not once but twice or three times, . Finally get it right, be happy, have some change left over,Your manifolds look cool, and on top of all that,,, you have experience

and all of the above is measurably better than getting doped up on OCD meds.

There's always a cure in nature, count yourself lucky it only cost you 100 bills and an ignition set to find that out.

sissy boys.....payin someone else for the high

and finally... look at the title, you are empowering us , buntch of strangers to control and dictate your happyness?

sometimes its not OCD, sometimes its something else.

[jdw]

OK Mike16. Slow your roll. My original thought would get this thread closed, but another member is looking for help. This forum has helped me out before and I try to offer the same. I apologize if if I kicked yer dog. My bad. And dude. Seriously. Relax. My apologies.
At least use the "quote" you're referring to when you quote it. Chebus.
J.

[kingstrider]

Looks like a sloppy job to me. FWIW wire looms don't cost much and are easy to install.

[mike16]

Originally Posted by jdw

OK Mike16. Slow your roll. My original thought would get this thread closed, but another member is looking for help. This forum has helped me out before and I try to offer the same. I apologize if if I kicked yer dog. My bad. And dude. Seriously. Relax. My apologies.
At least use the "quote" you're referring to when you quote it. Chebus.
J.

Sorry JDW. your right.I did not mean to attack you for your response. Its just that you wrapped it up perfectly from that perspective. and for my response it was easier still to "quote" your response. Well done and I'll bet, spoken from the perspective of someone who has mechanic'ed for a living.



clearly.....clearly..... some of the negative resposes regarding the work are those of us who have rearly if ever turned wrenches for a living. The quality of any mechanics work is limited by the quality of the parts you give him to work with.

and did you,the OP, tell him you wanted the wire run under the manifolds, and what reference material/images did you give him to assist him in sharing your vision of the 998 point restoration you have in your head?

[WIDESIDE72]

Here's my two cents worth....if you can't do at least some of the work on old vehicles yourself, you better have extremely deep pockets. It's not a poor mans hobby. I learned to work on vehicles by necessity. My dad was/ is an all around handy guy. He was trained as a pipe fitter and welder (high pressure pipe line 100% X-ray stuff) and learned carpentry from his father in law, my grand dad. He picked up auto mechanics by necessity as well. Im a master electrician, one of my brothers is a refrigeratoon hvac mechanic and the other is an airframe powerplant (AP) crew chief for American Airlines so between the four of is we have a few tools. LOL Luckily now it is more of a hobby. We have done two complete frame off builds and countless "driver" quality builds. We're more of parts swappers than fabricators, though with the exception of pipe bumpers, roll bars/ headache racks, hitches and such.

[WIDESIDE72]

By the way, from experience I have learned that there is relly no way to run plug wires on engines with ram horn manifolds and not have them burn up unless you route them underneath like stock. I bought a set of $50 wires for a 75 better for my 72 stepside since it is the only original application for hei and ram horns.

[mike16]

once again I would like to appologise to JDW for using his response as an example, Sorry there. no reflection on you bro. i just clicked on that "quote" key

I'd like to bow out of this but before I do I'd like to hand off a piece of advice my boss gave me by way of demonstration 30 years ago.

bobbloom,I dont know you personaly, socially emotionaly or psychologicaly. we have never talked and or communicated in any way other than through this thread.

I believe you suffer from a form of buyers remorse based on the fact that you have limied mechanical skill and may resent a little, the fact that others do.you pay them 100 dollars to do a job but knowing little your self you diminish thier work at 100 dollars an hour by simply criticing it.

Before spending 100 dollars did you shop around, or at least go on you tube to see what and how its done.

Now for the sage piece of advice that has done me good these last 30 plus years.

my 2nd week on the job asa mechanic Somebody walks through the door and wants an oil change and tune up on a 4 year old 78 pinto. His daughters car, her second year at the university and other than a few boyfriends under the hood, nothing has ever been don to the car. We do a tune up and an oil change. he comes back on monday and says the car runs badly and wants it to run as good as it did when he brough it in. We pop the hood and notice right away somebody's been foolin around under the hood. the owner demands we correct our mistakes and he aint payin a penny more.

the tune up and oil change cost about 80 bucks and the mechanics wages came out of that, we spent in labor and additional parts , another 40 plus dollars.we showed him what we did,we pointed out that it was not any part of the tune up or oil chnge and we showed him labor and new parts. we allowd him the option of paying for the parts and we eat the labor. He refused

two months later he comes by and wants more work done on the car. My boss declines and sends him to one of our competators.I told the boss I thouht he was crazy.

My boss called it buyers remorse back then and said these types of customers will drive you crazy.If there is any way you can determine who they are before you begine to work on thier car, then send them, instead to your compitition. and not the competion that is established and been around for a long tine. send them to the newbies who are undercutting everyone else trying to make a living.

never send a customer like the one in my story to an other established shop. The other shop owner will almost emediatly recognise what you are doing and pay it back, In fact my boss would send them to another shop and call ahead to warn that shops owner, an old friend, and they would have a good laugh on the phone untill they customer showed up.that owner would play with the customer and send them on to a third and occasionally a forth shop befor unleashing the customer on some newbie upstart trying to hack in and undercut every one else trying to make a living,

I dont agree or disagree with you bobbloom. I'm sharing my experience from the perspective of the mechanic.

and the advice I learned from this experience has stood me well for over 30 years.

take a gooooood look how GM routed those wires on mid fifty's chevy cars, corvettes and then take a look at the assembly manual for your truck and see how the wires are routed, not so much how they are routed but what is involved in routing them " under the manifolds" like you so casually say. Not so easy to do correctly according to the factory at 100 bucks. and that presumming you do have the right wires.

I truly hope you find contentment in this hobby. Chevy trucks are the easiest most forgiving things to work on.

Stay away from Jaguars, british motorcycles (anything british!!!), BMW motorcycles,Corvettes (ncrs resto standards) and anything to do with the peace process in the middle east.

[sleepertruck72]

Was the timing issue resolved ? Was the only issue the burned spark plug wire ? I would have them replace the burned wire. It looks like it was "Flat rated" all the way. Afterwards, I would suggest finding a shop or mechanic experienced with these trucks.

[Greasey Harley]

Those look EXACTLY like the wires on my truck. ...I should really fix my wires.
BTW
It took [literally] 5 minutes to install the wires on my truck like that. I installed them in the NAPA parking lot. 2 hours seems excessive.

[jeffahart]

Oh brother! Pay the man and move on!

[old Chevy guy]

the 75 vette has the ram horns like our trucks and HEI, they will be the right length to route under the manifolds and up the back. That's what special K told me when I asked and that's what I did but it is a pain to route them that way 1,3,2,4 have to run between the motor mounts and the block. You know ...its the rare corvette option.

[sduckworth13]

Originally Posted by Greasey Harley

Those look EXACTLY like the wires on my truck. ...I should really fix my wires.
BTW
It took [literally] 5 minutes to install the wires on my truck like that. I installed them in the NAPA parking lot. 2 hours seems excessive.

Looks like mine too, except those look better since the installer used wire separators. I lack attention to detail, but their new lol. Glad nobody asked me to put plug wires on their vehicle yet.

[special-K]

Anyone worth $100 an hour could do that job for fifty bucks

[66pnl]

Proper routing.