Who do you trust to work on your Vet?

[telly44444]

So I'm gonna get my heads and cam replaced on my Z06 for A) valve dropping issue B) more power C) a cam sounds fricken awesome!.. now my qusetion is that my local performace shop wants to charge me out the ass for labor ( 4000) for cam and head install. now I have found a normal mechanic shop with a J man mechanic who said he can do the job no problem for half the price. now my car is already supercharged and has header exaust blah blah... anyway do I let a normal mechanic take my engine apart or do I pay double the price and have the performance shop do it. both places warrenty the work. I mean at the end of the day you want it done right the first time of course. but to save 2 grand is alot considering its gonna be another 1000 for a proper tune. what do you guys think? it is a 2007 Z06 with the E-force charger . built and tuned by davenport in calgary. And taking it there is too crazy of a drive and hassle. I need it done locally. heads will be WCCH stage 2 with custom blower cam, lifters, double springs,rods,trunion upgrade, new timing chain, oil pump, gaskets and bolts. hoping for 650 to the wheels which I don't need, I'm mainly doing this so I can enjoy my car for years and years with no worries about "dropping a valve"

 

[xlr8r]

Are the guarantees the same? Davenport does good work, but there are other speed shops around. To be honest though, that's a lot of work, and 4,000 doesn't seem like that much for it.

I have a hard time seeing how anyone can do it much cheaper, let alone half as much.

My Dad always said that if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. My two cents, but good luck! If the mechanic is excellent, I would love a name and a number! Keep us posted, and good luck with the cam. I have been shopping them a little myself, but think suspension comes first.

 

[buckhorn76]

is the 4 grand including tax ? you can do a rough calculation of how many hours it takes by dividing by the shop hourly rate. try to find out what that job is rated at in terms of hours and compare to see if it's a good deal or not. there will always be additional charges for shop supplies etc so factor that in too.

 

[telly44444]

I found a good guy to do it. he's a mechanic and vette owner. has done a cam on a LS3 already and builds twin turbo cars all the time. hope it works out.

 

[Riley P]

You'll have to spill the beans to the local guys on this local mechanic as I've been searching for one for quite a while!....but I'll wait to see how he makes out on your car first.

A little less local but in the same neighbourhood is Russ Kemp in Regina. Very knowledgeable on our cars.

 

[xlr8r]

Any updates on this thread?

 

[Bvette2000]

If it was me I'd still make the trip out to Calgary and see Steve at Davenport. If something goes wrong in the future you might end up with a pissin-match between the two vendors.

 

[Dik]

Morreto Motorsportz - Edmonton

I too have talked to Davenport. I do not question their knowledge or quality but I couldn't get past the cost quotation. At the time I was in the market for an engine and transmission tune.

You may want to check out Morreto Motorsportz. My harmonic balancer required replacement and Westgate Chevrolet couldn't deliver the GM parts. They couldn't even tell which month I can expect the GM HB.

So I stopped in at Morreto and they quoted me the same hourly rate as Westgate and instantly sourced a stock-sized HB from one of their suppliers in Washington state I believe. Short story; I needed to replace the alternator as well, the job was completed in the eight hours as per estimate and the costs were about 50 bucks under budget. I had a tour of the facilities and I even went into the shop to meet the young mechanic while he was working on my car.

Nice shop and yeah, I'd say they know their stuff. Lots of impressive cars in various stages of repair/restoration/customization to look at. My C6 convertible looked pretty average compared to the other cars in the shop!

:coolgleam:

Dick

 

[Shayne]

if I recall correctly I thought it was about 20 hrs labour to do heads and a cam. feel free to correct me if someone has a better or more accurate idea. my sons have both done theirs in their own garages. then had them tuned.

 

[Phobia.street]

Well I didn't end up doing the work for Ryan he found a guy 300 cheaper then me. I will say though it is a gorgeous car!