So much yes
Auto tech blue wall?
- Thread starter inreb
- Start date
So much yes
The other side of the desk which i remember from my brief foray into the trades.
Your rad core is rotten, it needs a recore or replacement rad. I'm not keeping this car in can you just solder it up? sure, get rid of this car, its a bandaid fix. 8 months later, guys back because the rad leaks.....
Over beers his buddy asked, didnt you just get that radiator redone? yeah the shop mickey moused it, bunch of hacks......
Your rad core is rotten, it needs a recore or replacement rad. I'm not keeping this car in can you just solder it up? sure, get rid of this car, its a bandaid fix. 8 months later, guys back because the rad leaks.....
Over beers his buddy asked, didnt you just get that radiator redone? yeah the shop mickey moused it, bunch of hacks......
Iceman
Well-known member
Thankfully, after many years, I've worked myself into a position where I can just say no to that sort; thanks, but don't need the headache, so fix it right or tow it away.
p.s. You're dating yourself by referencing the long gone soldering of rad cores
MY WINTER WHEELS ARE IN!!!!* Just got the call, will be heading over shortly. Is it ironic that deep discount Gilbert's Tire is my conduit to shake free nirvana after a month of struggling with the big boys? Fast, cheap and good it is. That reminds me, what's shaking at the bottom of the ocean? A nervous wreck. haha
*For those keeping score, I'm off work today severe gout left big toe. Had to take double dose pain killer just to ride the bike yesterday. I may be on drugs right now.
Doing crappy work is like planting land mines. You don't know who will be the new owner of that "Just fixed" vehicle. Maybe it's a rich dude needing a winter beater to save his Porsche but it could also be a person down on their luck spending their last dime on transportation to work. No transportation, no paycheck. You helped screw them.
Ay carumba! So I get to Gilberts, and as standard practice, they mount a bare steel winter wheel to the front hub to check clearances because the wheels have slightly different offsets (like 5mm). Spinning the rim reveals major run out. They suggest mounting the least wobbly wheels on the back. I decline. Gilberts agrees, no problem. Waiting for a new set. Apparently, this is not uncommon. Glad I checked. Just wow.
Relax caped cruisader , maybe I helped some girl get to work when she had $65. for a solder job and didnt have $249 for a recore. Maybe i bought her some time. A soldered rad and GAS TANK was a very common repair until the 80's when rads became aluminum with plastic ends.
And NielV , I am dating myself. We did rads and tanks, in the body shop we lead filled dents, bondo was for beginners and the only way you 'chipped' an automatic transmission was if you hit it too hard with a hammer putting it back in.
I owned one of the first 'plastic' welders in Ontario, you set a test piece on fire to see the color smoke to figure out what kind of plastic it was.
I have no problem when the owner understands the nature of a temporary repair. The land mine repair is when someone is doing a patch job to unload a lemon on an unsuspecting buyer.
But isn't that capitalism at it's finest?
That's on the vehicle owner.. and in truth, even more so on the buyer. Get a quality pre-purchase inspection (Note: not the same as minimum safety standards) and that land mine won't go off under your foot.
Referring back to this gem, it seems you got fast and cheap; we're now aiming for good and cheap I think
Ironically you'd think so, but I found traveling in places like Cuba which are Communist by popular acclaim , there is a lot of fixes being done and repairs to parts which just aren't possible to obtain new happen all the time. The Chevy dealership closed in the late 50's.
In Cuba they're doing for each other, not to each other. As I understand it.
Right. The "fast" part has come and gone. And maybe the "cheap" part as well because the new set of rims on order from a different supplier are, are you sitting down, $24 extra for the set! On the plus side they come in cardboard boxes ensuring quality on arrival.
Be that as it may, they would have mounted the wobbly ones if I hadn't been there to catch it. That's three shops, three strikes. I'm not enjoying any of this.
This is a perfect example where theory and reality diverge. Ya, this week it's all about the gout. Still on the fence which is my favourite; shingles, gout or kidney stones. I guess which ever one is du jour would be least.
Not a bent axle?
It's rear wheel drive. Anyway they put the wheel on the balancer sans tire to confirm. The crowd was three deep at that point. News of a bent wheel travels fast in a three bay shop where you're encouraged to ignore the "Nobody past this point, insurance rules" signage. One can't deny the enthusiasm in that place. Anybody who's ever been there would understand. I think HR is doing a great job.
Do they take side bets on the millimeters of run out on fresh from the box rims? May be the only entertainment they got, hey Fred, $5 says this LongDuckDong rim company special pulls the anchor bolts out of the floor when it hits 100rpm on the balancer......
