Posted by Mark in Flagstaff [172.68.133.237] on Saturday, April 01, 2017 at 17:32:22 :
So about 10 months ago I brought my '94 Chevy 3500 HD 4x4 truck - a very rare and desirable vehicle - to a major diesel shop in our town, and asked them to do a Cummins 12-valve transplant.
A low-mileage Cummins was acquired, along with the various kits and bits required to make the transplant work. As time went along, the shop owner requested, and was paid, about $6500, mostly for the parts (FASS, etc) that he had to purchase.
After about four months, I began to ask him, in a good-natured way, "Well, is it done yet?"
His response was consistent: "We're getting real close. I'm thinking the end of this month."
And here we are, 10 months in, and when I last went to see my truck, I discovered that it was nowhere near being done. The engine was installed (and allegedly running), but everything else was still lying on the flatbed - driveshafts, new aluminum radiator, electric connections, etc.
And so I'd reached the point of no return. I REALLY needed this truck, for a lot of reasons. And I know I'm not going to live forever, which it appeared was going to be when completion would be in sight.
Now, the shop owner is not a bad guy; that's the main reason I didn't simply murder him and his entire family and dump their bodies in a mineshaft somewhere in the desert. His main business is working on big Class 8 rigs, and I guess my project was shoved to the side whenever somebody's semi came in. Which was like, everyday.
I contacted my attorney, who sent the owner a certified letter stating that, if the truck was not completed in acceptable (to me) running condition in 14 days, a lawsuit would be brought.
A week later, my attorney called the guy, at my request, and was told that the truck was "just about finished." Almost the exact same phrase I'd been hearing for six months, each time I talked to him.
Anyway. There's a week left, so we'll see what happens. This is really a no-win situation for me, in that, if the guy doesn't get it finished and we sue, it would take maybe six months to get things legally settled, and for what? I don't want his money - I want my truck.
Stay tuned for further developments...
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