This whole deal is the reason that folks send stuff across the country to Buick specialty guys.. It's not that other shops can't do the work, it's that they are not as familiar with the specific Buick issues and fixes.. and they don't have as much "skin in the game"... Speaking only for myself, I can guarantee you that I would go the extra mile to please the customer. I have to. Buicks are all I do, so to me, this is a big deal, and while it's unlikely that this particular thing would happen here, stuff has happened.. you do enough motors, you see stuff happen.. ...case in point.. the first incarnation of Larry's 600 HP motor had a block that he sent me.. it had a weak #4 main web, that was not up to the task for that much power... so it hurt the number 4 bearing, and the only fix was replacing the block.. re-machine a new one, and rebuild the whole deal from scratch. Now, a lot of shops would have said "too bad, that your block was not up to the task... but it's not our problem. I took a different view of it.. was the issue my fault?... no, not really, but I am an expert on Buick 455's, and that comes with the implicit guarantee to my customer's that I will tell them if the parts they provide are suitable for the build. I knew it was iffy, but chose to use it.. my mistake, and I fixed it.. didn't cost him a dime extra.. just a longer wait. Considering sublet machine work, parts and dyno time, it cost me almost 3K... which is a lot for a small business in a weak economy. But it got done right, no excuses. AT the shop Bruce is at now...well, this is just one Buick guy in a Sea of Chevy, Ford, and Mopar customers... and while they might be nice guys and competent machinists, at some level they said " tough hop pal, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out"... JW
I have a 73 std block if you want it I would be very upset if this were my engine. You seem to at least kept you sense of humor
Hey...another shop cracked my crank when they drove the slugs in to internal balance. They said the crank "should" be OK. They ground a V into the crack and welded it. Still in the car like 8 yrs and 600 plus passes. No discount for that either....they had to do extra work.ou: It's not like I can run off to another shop at this point. Not many can be trusted to do a Buick motor.....as we all know
