bogus wrote:

Don't get me wrong, Rick, you are kick'n ass here. It's just a few things that need to be tidied up to make it professional and polished.

I would format this in Word Pad or even Word and then cut/paste it into the blog editor. If the blog has issues with enters or what not, find a better editor for the blog. One long paragraph like that gets hard to follow.

Also, all the "So this" and "So that" becomes repetitive and will start to erode credibility.

Again, overall, I give your blog a B+ for content and overall style. That's really good considering you are not a professional writer!! This can help you if you decide to become published. The more polish, the less editing.

Also, let your wife read over it. A second set of eyes is really important. I could also help out as you ramp this up.

I think this could become very important. You have a lot of skill and knowledge. You are inherently a good communicator, it just takes practice to become GREAT.

I am really tempted to take the Dale Carnegie courses on public speaking. They are very good from what I hear. Good enough for Ned Jarrett to parlay his NASCAR career into being the best spokesman the sport has ever seen!

Excellent job, Rick!!! Keep it up, I will be looking forward to more of your war stories from the trenches!

BillH wrote:
Well, I don't blog, facebook, twitter,etc.
But, good luck Rick.
I did visit your blog, the site has a pro look to it.

Outside of a blown trans 6 hours from the house, I've never had a mechanic work on any of my vehicles BUT (after reading your Ford experience) you're right on about communication.
It's as much the customer's responsibility as it is the service writers.

Service writers: If you're lucky (and the dealership is lucky), you get one that's been around a long time and knows a good bit about cars. On the other end you get one that's the same guy at Autozone who asks you if your Corvette has a V-8.

Hiring service writers is a bitch, way harder than hiring a tech because you only have so much budget to work with and dealership owners don't seem to understand the need to pay these guys/gals good money.
And when you go to hire one, out of 20 applicants, you get 19 idiots.

Post repair inspections - tough at times in a dealership because you have 20 mechanics working and only the shop foreman (who's usually tied up helping a tech with a difficult repair) and the service mgr. to make sure everything's done right.
It's a freekin' rat race every day.

That's why a small ASE shop's much better (except warranty repairs where you have no choice).

BTW, I was the Service Director for a Ford dealership for 3 years. 3 years of my life thet I wish I had back.

TommyT-Bone wrote:
I read it. I have never really blogged so I can't tell you much. The Envoy story was entertaining. The blog about keeping up with the current technology is great for customers information. I am fortunate to have two great mechanics that walk me through what's wrong and what neeeds to be done. I trust them and they are open and honest. My wife has another mechanic she uses that's straight up. No smoke and mirrors, no stories, just the facts. Some repairs can be expensive but when a job needs to be done, it's done right, with quality parts at a fair price. Note, I did not say a cheap price, I said a fair price. The shop where my Corvette mechanic works charges $105 an hour. He probably makes around $30 an hour. My Porsche mechanic charges about $80 an hour. There are local hacks around here that $60 to $75 an hour and of course we have some shade tree, now mobile shade tree mechnaics that will go even lower. We had a heavy equiptment mechanic work on our diesel skid steer for 8 hours for about $300 and a $725 part (actual dealer part cost with no mark up) He was just determined to fix the damn thing. Turns out the part wasn't the cause but we replaced it anyway due to it's age. Geez. Did I get long winded or what? Good luck with your business and your blog.

Ultraman wrote:
Looks good Rick....nice suit! I like your C5...what you got under that swollen up hood.......? I like your story about the Envoy and all the junk under the console.....You probably have some other funny stories to tell about stuff you have seen and the folks you deal with. Telling some of those while being descrete would be interesting to me.....

mayoman wrote:
Thanks all for your input.....I will contact my local GM dealer for the service
Mayoman

BillH wrote:
Quote:

RickAnthony wrote:
What are the benifits pros/cons of each type of blasting media?

Removing carbon, paint, rust - sand, ground glass, alum oxide, black beauty slag.
Sand is cheap, I keep a 50 lb bag of Home D playsand in the shop, BUT I only use it outside, not in the cabinet.

Walnut shells & plastic media have their uses but what I think now:

Sand leaves a finish that's too rough unless you're doing a car frame (which you should pay someone to do cause it's a PIA).

Glass bead's are the only way to do in the cabinet, they remove rust almost as fast as ground glass and (big +) they clean aluminum and brass beautifully.
Heavy rust takes a bit longer (my compressor will run 105-110 psi with the pump running constantly).

Glass does break down (so does sand) and you have to add some at times, I've done a lot of C2 parts so far and only bought 50 lbs, figure 50 will last a year to a year and a half.
50 lb at HF - $42.00

The other thing I've come to really like is soda blasting.
Soda blasting leaves a finish that's even smoother than glass (way smoother) but will only will remove very,very light surface rust. It will remove light paint.
The big thing is you can use it on plastic/fiberglass.
I'm using a cheapo HF handheld blaster that has a little hopper - $14. 50 lb of soda - $34.
BUT soda can only be used once, not recyclable like glass, so I do it outside.

And, do you have a vacuum system on your cabinet?

BillH wrote:
Quote:

RickAnthony wrote:
Wow works nice! Matthew, if you do need something blasted I do have the cabinet now... it works pretty well..

Don't know what you're runnin' Rick but glass bead at Harbor F is about 30% less expensive than the places I've been getting it (Summit).

BillH wrote:
Unfortunately, you need a TIG to do those right.

And the cuts on the tubing can't be made with a tubing jigger (using a hole saw). So, there a bunch of fitting/grinding to do. The welding's fairly easy.

I can easily see an hour's labor there, maybe more. Just my Opin.

pianoguy wrote:
Quote:

TommyT-Bone wrote:
That's why my driving skills are so far behind. All I had to play with when I was a kid was a stick a rock and a pile of dirt.

Yeah, I only had rocks and dirt. Sticks were still in beta testing.

BillH wrote:
Quote:

RickAnthony wrote:

Find a 20% off coupon it's on sale $159.99. It was $173 with tax.

Now I need to figure out where to put it, I was thinking of putting some casters on the bottom of it so I can move it easily. I wish the blasting cabinet had casters maybe one day I will do that too, if I can get some time to work on my own stuff. Not complaining though it's good to be busy making money...

-=Rick

Yea, well, of course, I saw them all summer on Craigs for $50-$100 but that was when I was lookin' for the drill press.

My chinese (Summit) blast cabinet slides around fairly easy.

BillH wrote:
Quote:

RickAnthony wrote:



I bought one of these today at HF... It was on my list, It was on sale, and used one of the 20% off coupons, I also bought a couple bearing separators, the wife said, buy the press seperately as sometimes the 20% off is only on the least expensive item, so I did. Then the guy used the coupon again which took 20% off on the bearing separator kit too.. so all in all a good deal...

-=Rick

Damin it Rick

I need one.....NOW!

There's 2 on Craigs, one 20 T with no pic and one that looks new A-frame, 20 T. Both HF, for $160.

I have a waterpump rebuild kit laying here just waiting on a press.

BillH wrote:
I'm in a sleeping bag, camped out in the Best Buy parkinglot.

Been here since yesterday morning.

But I'm not the first in line.

Hoping to get a nice new digital camera for fiddy cent.

Matatk wrote:
Good Morning CGs!

Not a fan of going to work today. I think I'll just go on welfare instead. Can anyone lend me a dollar?

Hope everyone has a great day!

Matthew

bogus wrote:
Who cares? If the monocoque is ok, then rebuild and enjoy. You won't get an LT4 for that kind of cash... the engine/trans/rear is worth more than the damned asking price. As long as it IS an LT4...

Matatk wrote:
Good Morning CGs!

Well, good news for me. Last night I installed the new modem/router for my new DSl service. No more internet connection problems (hopefully!). So I can try to catch up on what I've missed the past few days.

Weather here has taken a turn for the worse (ie, cold!). Yesterday was nasty rain and wind and the temperature dropped significantly. It's about time to let the vette sleep for the winter. I should try to wash it first...lol.

Going to dinner tonight with Rick, a few friends from work, and few other corvette guys. Should be fun.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Matthew

flyboy wrote:
Bad timing. Going to see my former grade school band fellow members turned rockers. Remember "Vehicle", "Eye of the Tiger"?
http://ccaccides.eventbrite.com/

BillH wrote:
Quote:

Matatk wrote:
Welcome to the site.

If it were my car I'd change the fluid based on age.

As far as the dealer flush, they probably use a fluid flush machine that replaces the fluid as it's running with the thermostat open so pulling the knock sensors isn't necessary.

Matthew

That won't get the crap out of the block.