When it's time to say, enough is enough?

[CB]

I asked a buddy who is a young just-out-of-school mechanic, to help me out with the transmission of my 69 RR.
I offered him food and drinks and money for his labour. He came once to tear down the trans and then left me waiting.
He promised a half a dozen time to get her done but canceled it an hour before he suppose to show up.
When after a couple of months he finally shows up last Thursday with my valve body (which he took with him on the 6th of December 2014 to modify with the Trans-go kit @ his shop), he lays the 'naked' VB on my the dirty shop floor???  
And as suprise he said 'ow yeah, we still need to install all the valves and springs of the VB...

I feel like I need to buy some good books, some decent tools and do it myself. I think when someone doesn't keep his promise and handle your parts like sh#t he shouldn't touch it anymore.
Or should I give him some slack?

End rant. Thanks for letting me vent. CB

[Semaphore]

I purchased a dvd on Ebay that shows how to rebuild a 727 transmission.
Its great help and i use it to rebuild my trans and still operating good
Five years on.

[Cooter]

First mistake was allowing a newbie to learn on your car. second mistake was attempting to get by cheap on auto trans work with a buddy.

prescription? Take one completely f*ked trans(by the sounds of it it'll be a miracle if it even moves now) to well known old school trans guy and have done properly.

[twodko]

What Cooterman said.

[CB]

First mistake was allowing a newbie to learn on your car. second mistake was attempting to get by cheap on auto trans work with a buddy.

prescription? Take one completely f*ked trans(by the sounds of it it'll be a miracle if it even moves now) to well known old school trans guy and have done properly.

Maybe it sounded like it is f#cked up completely but the only 'bad' thing is the abused VB.
When searching on VB replacements/upgrading people say it isn't a biggie to swap them if you stick to the procedure. Maybe those people are well trained mechanics?
Problem is that we don't have any proper 'old skool' mechanics around here who know their stuff.
In the past I had mine totaly rebuild by a professional Mopar shop, got it back malfunctioning and leaking.
So no professional shop around, no knowledgeable mechanics I know. That's why I gave him a shot...

[Cooter]

They are out there, it isn't gonna be as simple as Googling one, but a few car cruises, you'll find a good one. He's usually the one with all the guys begging for him to work on their junk , then not paying for it....lol

[moparnation74]

They are out there, it isn't gonna be as simple as Googling one, but a few car cruises, you'll find a good one. He's usually the one with all the guys begging for him to work on their junk , then not paying for it....lol

In his profile he is located in Belgium.  If that is correct it may be a challenge for him.

[CB]

Correct 'moparnation74', I live in Belgium.

So if I don't trust shops and can't rely on friends maybe taking classes at an automotive school is the way to go.

[Cooter]

Or.........read transgo instructions 30 times, let one of us walk you through it, and everything is lovely....

[green69rt]

Having friends, relatives or neighbors do work for you for money can lead to all sorts of conflicts.  I gave that up years ago.  I lost too many friends and pissed off too many relatives.  If you want them to come over for a couple of hours to coach you on a job that's ok, but never bring money into it and don't put big expectations on it.  I either do a lot of home work ahead of time so I only need some specific details or I hire some work out.   I know you want to depend on friends, etc but be aware of the what will happen when things don't turn out well.

Also I try not to let my parts leave my immediate control.  I know you can't always do that but keep trying.

[Lennard]

Correct 'moparnation74', I live in Belgium.
So if I don't trust shops and can't rely on friends maybe taking classes at an automotive school is the way to go.

http://www.six-packspeedshop.nl/  for quality work. They have satisfied clients from all over Europe.

[myk]

No business with friends or family, ever...

[lukedukem]

I purchased a dvd on Ebay that shows how to rebuild a 727 transmission.
Its great help and i use it to rebuild my trans and still operating good
Five years on.

Do you still have the dvd. Or the product info

Luke

[Ponch ®]

Hate to be the "I told you so" guy, but "I told you"    to get it done here before the car was shipped...

[CB]

Hate to be the "I told you so" guy, but "I told you"    to get it done here before the car was shipped...

Word, esé     

[Semaphore]

Hi Luke

This is a ebay link to the 727 rebuild dvd.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/727-TRANSMISSION-REBUILDING-DVD-See-the-727-being-rebuilt-step-by-step-/371262366452?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5670f622f4&vxp=mtr

[6spd68]

They are out there, it isn't gonna be as simple as Googling one, but a few car cruises, you'll find a good one. He's usually the one with all the guys begging for him to work on their junk , then not paying for it....lol

The trick is, make THAT guy your friend; always pay on time, and always be straight up.  That's how you get quality work at good prices.   

[six-tee-nine]

Problem is that we don't have any proper 'old skool' mechanics around here who know their stuff.

There are plenty of them around.....


Maybe Cooter has a point. If you want to own and mess with these 40 year old things, unless you're rich, you need to learn to work on them also.
Newbie car mechanics know only one thing these days : OBD and laptops.

[John_Kunkel]

The Factory Service Manual for your exact year is still the best info for transmission reassembly...the DVD's are generic in nature and don't always cover the subtle nuances from year-to-year.

[Ponch ®]

Problem is that we don't have any proper 'old skool' mechanics around here who know their stuff.

Newbie car mechanics know only one thing these days : OBD and laptops.

seriously? Yeah, maybe the ODB and laptop helps them diagnose the problem, but they still have to know how to actually fix whatever is wrong w/ the car. So not only do they have to know how to work the laptops, but also how to take apart motors and transmissions that are far more complex than anything in our old cars and then put them back together.

Some of my "newbie car mechanic" friends could wipe the floor with most old school shadetree guys.

[Tilar]

Problem is that we don't have any proper 'old skool' mechanics around here who know their stuff.

Newbie car mechanics know only one thing these days : OBD and laptops.

seriously? Yeah, maybe the ODB and laptop helps them diagnose the problem, but they still have to know how to actually fix whatever is wrong w/ the car. So not only do they have to know how to work the laptops, but also how to take apart motors and transmissions that are far more complex than anything in our old cars and then put them back together.

Some of my "newbie car mechanic" friends could wipe the floor with most old school shadetree guys.

LOL I would almost pay money to see that one happen.    Put them on equal ground, say a late 70's to mid 80's car of any kind with any kind of consistent issue.

[Lord Warlock]

I can relate somewhat.  Hired a local mechanic that specializes in Miatas come over to do a water pump job on it...same as the timing belt job as you gotta take the whole front of the motor off and I didn't want to mess with timing.  I had just done the job on my 440 and didn't want to mess with the import.  He came over did a great job on the water pump, but I needed him to come over to deliver a fan and it took weeks for him to come over again...I ended up ordering a 200.00 aftermarket part and did it myself.  

Like yourself, I wouldn't do a transmission rebuild myself, that's one of the pieces I will farm out to let a pro do it.  At least there are shops around here that can do it, even if it costs an arm and a leg.  Ain't cheap to rebuild a tranny like it was in the 80s the last time I had it done.  I just hope the trans on my charger works after sitting still for 30 years.

I'm currently watching instructional videos on paintless dent repair...to teach myself how to do that.  I taught myself how to paint cars 10 years ago and now I'm pretty decent at it, and also taught myself how to weld sheet metal panels in when I restored the charger trunk floor.  Not afraid to learn something new, just have to figure out what works and what doesn't and keep trying.  Haven't found much that I can't do If I try hard enough.