[Hombre0321]

Over the last couple of weeks I have had a couple of real "strange" things happen that I have noticed. Now I find these things strange only because it seems we hear everyday how bad the economy is, How many folks are out of work, etc.etc. Makes me wonder if this is really the truth or not....

The first thing just made me laugh really. I was in the process of building a really nice Small Block for my 55 Chevy. I had a set of Double Hump heads and really built the motor around those heads. They "WERE" 186 castings with 2.02/1.60 valves 64cc, and I had them ported fitted for screw in studs the works man I spent $900.00 just on the work plus what I had in the castings. I had the short block together Roller Cam, forged pistons, forged crank another words a nice little pretty well built SBC. I was installing the heads and they were so messed up rockers were at a really bad angle, so bad in fact the rockers Comp Rollers could not be installed and still get the socket off of the nut. The push rods hit the guide plates so I took them off and then the push rods hit the head, it was a mess. Get a hold of the Head Guy and comes and looks and agrees that he screwed up, also agrees to find another set of the same castings and redo the work. Says it will take him two weeks as he "HAS SO MUCH WORK" I could get into the whole thing about how I had already waited once to get the heads and that I had already waited in his line for work once, but it wasn't going to do any good so I say go ahead and get them back to me when you can. Still had to wonder about that "SO MUCH WORK" thing as in the first place he had come to me begging for work, and I mean begging!! But things are as they are, I'll wait and not give him to much grief.

In the mean time I decided I really wanted to get this car back on the road. So I decide to buy a crate motor from one of the vendors. Jegs and Summit had real good deals on complete motors even GM crate motors but none I could find were Roller Motors and I have been done with Flat Tappet cams for over a year. So I call a guy in Tennessee who is a big time E-Bay seller. Skip White performance, this is the guy who runs ads that are pages long for each of his auctions he sells a ton of ProComp stuff but I thought what the heck lets see what he has in a crate motor. I get the number and think it would be better to call. Well that was an effort in futility I called each and every day for seven or eight days, phone would ring and ring sometimes I would get a message machine sometimes not, never did get a call back though. Finally I sent an e-mail asking about a roller motor quote. Get a message back to call some cat named Charlie. Man this was funny- I call old Charlie's # and get a message machine and Old Charlies message says and I quote " Dont even bother to leave your number as there are not enough hours in the day for me to return calls" I still have to laugh about that-- Well Old Charlie why in the world then do you even bother with a Message?? I don't know how many cash customers old Skip White Performance has for a $4,000 or maybe $5,000 crate motors, but he must have enough and not need anymore. Economy in the Tank, folks out of work? Not in Kingsport, Tennessee I guess they have so much business they tell you right up front not to leave a message because theres just not enough hours in the day.....

Well then there was today. I found my new motor and instead of having it shipped from Michigan to my home here in Alabama I decided to go and get it. Nice little road trip and I will get to see this guys shop in person, he builds a lot of BBC drag race motors and was doing this small block as a favor as we have a mutual friend. So before I headed up there I wanted to get a set of tires for my 2008 Dodge Truck. Went down to the local tire shop and they guy tells me "Yea I can get them takes 10 days to two weeks" for a set of tires?? Doesn't really seem to care if I buy them or not. Go to the next place, I tell him what I need and he doesn't even bother to look just says no we dont have any. Next place --This is # three--. Dude says we dont carry that size, I can get them for you it will take two to three weeks and you will need to pay in advance.

Now maybe its just me, maybe I didn't put on deodorant this morning, I did shower, my hair was combed, and my pants were zipped up and nothing seemed to be hanging out or anything, no buggers nothing. If the Economy is SO bad why are all of this folks so eager to "NOT" take a mans money? I even got some of that money out and looked at it. Yep it was green and everything.

I think that maybe this whole economy thing is a figment, maybe these cats are just telling us its bad when its really good, and just trying to fool us poor pilgrims in to thinking things are not so good. Then maybe its just tires and crate motors yea that must be it........

Long Post but I really needed that!!!

Roland

 

[carls 56]

bet you feel better now roland and am glad you had no hangers this morning. :winking0070: ...............i do see alot of people still hurting, so i don't think its all made up. who knows. :stupido2:

 

[petes83usa]

Yes the economy is hurting but not in all industries..........every-time I drive up to Summit Racing here in Ohio the parking lot is full ! ! ! :confused0006:....going there for my "Big Muttha Thumpr" Comp cam , lifters and rockers today......:sign0020:

 

[Rick_L]

The fact that you can't buy a crate engine closer to home, or the tire shop doesn't have tires in your size IS an indication of the economy. Business is bad enough that these people think that if they put these items in inventory their money is going to be tied up too long waiting to sell them. So they sit on their cash or use the money to inventory something they are more likely to sell.

Of course there may be other factors in play here too. Like the people you're talking to aren't smart enough to inventory what is selling.

Sounds like you aren't hurting if you are going to change your mind on the heads that easily.

 

[Hombre0321]

Guys that post was a little tongue in cheek and meant to poke a little fun. I do believe the economy is in a bad way--GEEEZe.

Rick, I agree with you only partly. I do believe the tire thing was somewhat based on the economy and folks having there money tied up in inventory, but if that is the case it is "NOT" sound business practice. If you don't have it to sell then your sure not going to sell it. If they are unwilling to carry enough inventory to meet the needs of there customers then they should at the very least have access to what ever product it is. Certainly even the most pessimistic among us would have to agree that taking two to three weeks to get a set of tires is not any kind of service. I can order right here from in front of my computer and get just about any product and from just about anywhere delivered to my door in less time than that, and usually within three to four days.

The crate motor thing Rick you missed the whole point. It wasn't that they did or did not have the motor. It was the "FACT" that I couldn't even get ahold of them to get a price, a price man. The point was: If it is that hard to even give them my money, what kind of service could there possible be after they have the money? That doesn't have one thing to do with the economy that has everything to do with the way they "Don't Do Business"

And Rick I just don't understand that last sentence. Did I say I was hurting? If I lead you to believe that then I mislead you. I'm not hurting, not one little bit. I'm old and married well after spending 30 years in the Marine Corps. Nope I'm not hurting.

Roland

 

[Ratpackin]

Well I can tell one certain thing from your post- and I've seen it everywhere. Economy aside. Many people do not take pride in their work. That's evident in how they treat thier customers. And that's sad.

 

[BobH]

I think your lucky that guy in TN didn't have a motor in stock. Anything with ProComp is a complete roll of the dice. I use a small tire guy in town here and get great service and i pay up front also because he can't carry inventory.
Way to vent,
later
bobh

 

[Rick_L]

I agree with you on the tires. If a guy is in the tire business, if it's not in stock, he ought to have a way to get tires in 1 or 2 days. Especially for a late model pickup.

I don't think I'd ever bother again with that guy unless I was in a pinch.

Don't know what to say about the crate engine, and I wasn't trying to ruffle your feathers. Just seems like you should be getting quotes on crate engines from a dealer though.

 

[737Pilot]

Personally I don't watch the news that much and for good reason. When ever I turn on the TV it's "The SKY IS FALLING!" mantra. But when I go to work to fly trips every week, the airports are PACKED, the planes are FULL, and it's like that to every city I go to. From Central America to Seattle to NY to Miami to LA and to Houston and everywhere in between. I don't doubt that some people are hit by the economy, but when airlines are making a profit, the economy isn't that bad!!

 

[Crafty]

Kind of interesting.

Although over here we are deep in the doo-doo and are looking at big cuts in public spending (our welfare state is much bigger) and raising of taxes we have interest rates of 0.5%..
This leads to brand new cars on the road (I'm seeing quite a few) and a strange time in the housing market. New mortgages are at an all time low we are told, but house prices are holding steady - well sort of.. they were making a big fuss in the media about small drops - 0.2 or 0.3 %, but it was revealed that prices are now 6.7% up on a year ago.
I'm seeing an increase in jobs in my sector (IT), especially in London and the pay is pretty good.

Its a fairly confusing time all round.

 

[Chevynut]

I have been saying for some time that I don't think the ecomony is as bad as they're making it out to be....at least not locally. Like mike says, the planes are packed, restaurants are full, Walmart's parking lot is always busy, and people are doing what they always do.

The company I work for keeps upping forward guidance every quarter, and other companies are reporting great earnings. So something is kinda weird in the economy.

What I have seen is some cuts in wages over the past couple of years, a pretty poor labor market, people out of work, and lower housing prices and savings rates. What I don't see is a comparable cut in wages and salaries for public workers, which is LONG overdue. Why do these people seem to think they can go on keeping their full salaries and benefits while others are losing jobs? I think it's coming home to roost...soon...at least locally. People are pretty fed up with it.

"Several analyses of average wages and benefits in the public and private sectors reveal that state and local government workers earn more than private sector workers. According to the most recent Employer Costs for Employee Compensation survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of December 2009, state and local government employees earned total compensation of $39.60 an hour, compared to $27.42 an hour for private industry workers-a difference of over 44 percent. This includes 35 percent higher wages and nearly 69 percent greater benefits.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau similarly show that in 2007 the average annual salary of a California state government employee was $53,958, nearly 32 percent greater than the average private sector worker ($40,991). In addition, as noted by reporter and Calpensions.com blogger Ed Mendel, in 2006 the state conducted a comparison of state and private sector compensation for the first time in two decades. While the Department of Personnel Administration survey did not include all job classifications, the analysis determined a number of benchmark job classifications and found that state compensation was greater than private sector compensation for clerical jobs, accountants, custodians, electricians, stationary engineers, and analysts, but lagged in medical occupations.

Moreover, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis illustrate that average state and local government compensation has been increasing at a faster rate than average private sector compensation over the past 30 years (see the graph on page 89 of this Cato Journal article)."

http://reason.org/news/show/public-sector-private-sector-salary

The quoted info isn't intended to be political.

 

[jimbo]

Who in Michigan is doing your engine?

 

[Hombre0321]

Jimbo, The guy is Pat McCarthy he owns a shop in Kawkawlin, Michigan name of the shop is McCarthy Performance. He is a poster sometimes on the ClubHotRod forum and we have talked for a couple of years. As I stated he is a BBC chevy guy and builds mostly race engines, he is doing this one as a favor but I am sure the money helps as well.

Roland

 

[jwmbishop]

Not sure what is up - in buying cash streams five years ago was going for 1.08 to 1.20 on the gross dollar and just yesterday I closed a deal at .90 so the eco is weak - but I don't think it's as weak as they make it out to be - rather the economy is being blamed for our own shortcomings and mistakes. Comes down to personal responsibilty I think.

And funny thing on tires (may be related to supply issues) I tried to buy some super swampers for the rock rig - was told none avail until jan due to re-compounding the rubber to meet gov emmision requirements in manufacturing process. okay whatever.

 

[tjsdelivery]

The economy is better from my perspective. For the past year and a half I had flirted with 4 day work weeks and also more recently work every other week until April of this year. Since that time I have been back to full time status. We are in the machine tool business making machines, etc. There's been quite a bit activity in the sales market. Finally!

 

[jwmbishop]

The economy is better from my perspective. For the past year and a half I had flirted with 4 day work weeks and also more recently work every other week until April of this year. Since that time I have been back to full time status. We are in the machine tool business making machines, etc. There's been quite a bit activity in the sales market. Finally!

And see thats what I woulda thought - the economy tanks more people rebuild instead of replace and tooling should be a fixed cost in the rebuild process. Strange indeed.

 

[Chevynut]

Just read that building permits for new single family homes here are up 50% year-to-date this year compared to 2009. So things seem to be improving.

 

[jasonspd]

All the economy issues have already been covered here. So, I'll comment on something I feel has been missed up to this point...

Your 186 Casting heads. Since I have a pair of them, I know how difficult they are getting to be found. And how expensive they are. I doubt that your head guy can replace them. He may be able to open up another set of heads to 2.02's, but good luck finding actual 186 castings. It probably isn't going to happen. And if he is lucky enough to find a pair, he isn't going to want to pay the asking price for them. :confused0006:

So what do you do then? You better start thinking of an attorney and a small claims lawsuit. If he messed up your old heads, I doubt he makes it right. I'm guessing you are gonna be out a very desirable set of heads.

I hope I am wrong here. Jason

:anim_25:

 

[Rick_L]

"And see thats what I woulda thought - the economy tanks more people rebuild instead of replace and tooling should be a fixed cost in the rebuild process. Strange indeed."

Maybe for automotive machining, but that's a very tiny part of the machine tool world.

By far the vast majority of machine tools are used to make new products. Machine tool sales are a fairly good indicator of overall manufacturing activity and trends. And there are business and trade publications that track and post machine tool orders. New machine tools = more new product being built and sold = economic upswing.

 

[tjsdelivery]

The machines we build are mainly industrial type grinders used in the manufacturing business as well as the auto business. Such as a flywheel ginder and punch and die grinder (our low end machines).