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Shop taking advantage? |
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RDM459 
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Joined: 24 June 2019 Location: St. Louis, MO Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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 Topic: Shop taking advantage?Posted: 24 June 2019 at 4:25pm |
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I recently brought in my CJ-3A to a local shop in STL that is a restoration shop. The owner is a older man and i spoke with him about the jeep and what i would like done. (Pull engine to send to a shop to rebuild, install engine, check brake lines/ rebuild rear drums/press out old studs). He assured me it would be an easy job and talked about how he had worked on these cars with buddies years ago by the river. nearly 4 months later, i get the jeep back, the engine looks great, but i'm told the Carb is bad so its coughing and spitting for power in high/2w. OK, fine. I have a reproduction W-O in the mail. He claimed 10 hours to pull it, 16 to put it back in, 10 hours "tuning".....seems steep, but the real issue i have it with the brakes. Still had a hard pedal and it takes everything i have to get it to stop. Doesnt look like the lines were checked beyond a visual inspection. Went into the drums in my garage, and i see the shoes were put on backwards, front wheel drive flange gaskets not replaced, and i can see the mechanic used a screw driver/chisel and hammer to get the spindle nuts off. For this, i was charged 16 hours of labor or $1200. To me, it seems like this mechanic had no idea what to make of the jeep, the hours seem and price seem insane. It took me maybe 2 hours without the luxury of power tools or a lift to break down the drums in may garage..... Am i crazy to think this?? Anyone else have similar work done?
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Rich Muckerman
1951 CJ-3A |
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Mark W.
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Sponsor Member Joined: 09 Nov. 2014 Location: Silverton, OR Status: Offline Points: 7986 |
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Posted: 24 June 2019 at 5:08pm |
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YOU WERE SCREWED
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Chug A Lug
1948 2A Body Customized 1949 3A W/S 1957 CJ5 Frame Modified Late 50's 134L 9.25"clutch T90A D18 (1.25") D44/30 flanged E-Locker D25 5.38 Since 1962 |
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RDM459
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Joined: 24 June 2019 Location: St. Louis, MO Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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Posted: 24 June 2019 at 5:23pm |
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@Mark W. Confirming my suspicions. Didnt want to buy the tools and spend the time for what i thought would be an easy job for a shop, but looking back i should have just bought an engine lift and done it myself. Working with the owner and building a case against them to get money back....live and learn i suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Rich Muckerman
1951 CJ-3A |
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Stev
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Sponsor Member Joined: 27 July 2016 Location: Cincinnati Status: Offline Points: 2391 |
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Posted: 24 June 2019 at 6:18pm |
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RDM459,
Welcome to the CJ2A Page! Post some pictures of your Jeep. Sounds like the big stuff is done. Many of us have found that shops are expensive and most of the guys who knew these old vehicles are retired or have pass-away. These old Jeeps are just a bunch of simple systems and can be repaired by the owner if desired. 9 inch drum brakes need to be set up correctly and adjusted over time. They are not power brakes so they require more force when stopping. I hope the engine work you paid for turns out to be a good investment. Welcome again! Stev
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Stev
1946 CJ2A Trail Jeep (The Saint), 1948 CJ2A Lefty Restored |
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RDM459
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Joined: 24 June 2019 Location: St. Louis, MO Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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Posted: 24 June 2019 at 7:29pm |
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Stev-
Thanks for the welcome! Seems like a great little community here. I picked up the jeep for next to nothing back in high school. Now that i'm back home from college and have the time and money, i'm getting back into working on it in my spare time. Very happy with the job the machine shop did on the engine, it looks brand new. I wish i could say the same for the auto shop i hired to put it in and out and check out the brakes. I had more money than time, so i figured i would get them to have it stop and go and i could take care of the rest. 4 months later and i wish i would have just bough an engine lift and taken care of it my self. oh well. Here is a pic of the engine, i will have to try and upload some more of the jeep later on.
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Rich Muckerman
1951 CJ-3A |
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1947-cj2a
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Sponsor Member Joined: 09 Sep. 2015 Location: MISSOURI Status: Offline Points: 670 |
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Posted: 24 June 2019 at 8:03pm |
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Hey Rich
Welcome to the site. There are a bunch of good guys here that are willing to help you. Believe me I know! I'm just a bit north of you. Hannibal. Richard
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RICH
1947 cj2a (Toy From Hell) |
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cpt logger
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Posted: 25 June 2019 at 2:02am |
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When you say that the brakes were on backwards, What exactly do you mean? As far as bringing a lawsuit against the shop, Good Luck! It is often hard to prove that you were overcharged. It often becomes a case of "he said, I said". Unless you have some paperwork lining out what the shop would do & how much they were going to charge for it, You are probably out of luck. IME, Suing the shop will end up being a waste of time, money & it will give you ulcers if you are not careful. As has been said by others, "The only folks who get rich through lawsuits are the lawyers." Of course, YMMV.
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duffer
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Joined: 02 Feb. 2012 Location: Bozeman, MT Status: Offline Points: 1087 |
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Posted: 25 June 2019 at 3:05am |
Yep!!!! Carb removal? Maybe 15-20 minutes. Replacement? Probably a couple of hours if you want to make sure you have no fuel/vacuum leaks and have it set to specs. And why I do almost all my own work on my old Jeeps. I would say all my own work, but I recently did have a professional engine builder put together the long block for my bucket list engine going in my 3B, an engine with NO stock parts.
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1955 3B: 441sbc,AGE 4 speed transmission, Teralow D18w/Warn OD, 4.11:1 D44's/ARB's, glass tub & fenders, aluminum hood/grill, 8274, York OBA, Premier Power Welder; 67 CJ5: 225,T86AA, D18, 4.88's, OD
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Rus Curtis
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Posted: 25 June 2019 at 2:15pm |
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This thread gave me a couple of flashbacks where shops didn't do me well either.
The Honda valve adjustment didn't follow factory directive to adjust cold (I didn't know that until shop owner showed me) and eventually got my money back. My jeep got painted (too much filler) with nothing mechanically repaired. They replaced a few electrical items without troubleshooting (at a premium). I eventually had to do it myself - learning as I went. |
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Rus Curtis
Alabama 1954 CJ3B Bantam T3-C |
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JohnB
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Posted: 25 June 2019 at 2:54pm |
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Rich, sorry to hear about your shop difficulties. These Jeeps are expensive enough to restore without that kind of BS going on. As others have said, sometimes doing as much of the work yourself that you can is best and then you know exactly what was done. Good luck. John in Kirkwood, MO
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67charger
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 12:02am |
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Dont feel bad, these places have gotten all of us. I took my 67 charger to a dealership to have it aligned (stupid idea and i should have known better) and when they were done, they said "well our books go back to the 80s so we aligned it to minivan specs."?????? I was in such shock i just left with a crappy steering car.
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SE Kansas 46 CJ-2A
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 1:30am |
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46 CJ-2A #64462 "Ol' Red" (bought April 1969)(second owner)(12 V, 11" brakes, M-38 frame, MD Juan tub)
U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer(ret.) U.S. Army Vietnam veteran and damned proud of it. |
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Mark W.
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 1:43am |
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The first thing I think a person should ask a shop about to work on something like our Willys is: Can I see your Willys Service manual? Cause without one I can't imagine how they could rebuild an engine or do a lot of the other things correctly. If they don't have a manual I would think that means they have no experience with our stuff or they don't give a damn about doing it correctly. I hope you can get your Willys straightened out and I know those of us that are active here will be glad to help any way we can.
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Chug A Lug
1948 2A Body Customized 1949 3A W/S 1957 CJ5 Frame Modified Late 50's 134L 9.25"clutch T90A D18 (1.25") D44/30 flanged E-Locker D25 5.38 Since 1962 |
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Ol' Unreliable
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 2:42am |
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Welcome to the page, RDM459!
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There's a reason it's called Ol' Unreliable
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SE Kansas 46 CJ-2A
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 12:58pm |
X2 Damned good advice, Mark. |
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46 CJ-2A #64462 "Ol' Red" (bought April 1969)(second owner)(12 V, 11" brakes, M-38 frame, MD Juan tub)
U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer(ret.) U.S. Army Vietnam veteran and damned proud of it. |
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RDM459
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Joined: 24 June 2019 Location: St. Louis, MO Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 5:57pm |
I shouldnt say the brakes, the put the shoes on backwards....which isnt too surprising since they are the opposite of the bendix style. I was more frustrated with the amount of time they claimed it took and they used a screwdriver and hammer to get the spindle nuts off which dinged up my brand new ones.
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Rich Muckerman
1951 CJ-3A |
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Bob3b
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 5:58pm |
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Ten hours to pull an engine and 16 to re-install? I've done this in three with help.
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1946 CJ2A #23881
1953 CJ3b, nice! 1949 Jeepster 1947 Empire Model 90 1985 CJ10A Spen "S" Utility trailer Kubota l3400 |
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RDM459
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Posted: 26 June 2019 at 6:07pm |
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Thanks for the info/support all. I just wanted to reaffirm my suspicions. I hoped it would be an easy enough job for them and would save me time that i dont currently have but here i am 4 months later working on the same issues i brought it in for, which is more frustrating than the money for me! Live and learn. I'll be working on it my self from here on out.
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Rich Muckerman
1951 CJ-3A |
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Mark W. wrote: