[Arcuden]

Hey guys. I just found out today that the engine I was planning on (and banking several thousand dollars on) putting into my Nova has disappeared.

It was being stored at the machine shop who did the work on the block for us. What was being stored there only consisted of the block, crank, pistons, rods and cam, but we had about $2,000 invested in them and the related machine work. I'm pretty sure most of the parts were purchased through our machinist as well. We had a great relationship with the guy, giving him plenty of business, and he had no problem letting us store the engine there a couple years when we ran into money problems. We called every couple months or so to check up on it; everybody there fondly referred to it as the "project".

So it turns out that within the last couple months, this guy packed up his entire shop, including my engine, and moved the shop to Oklahoma (I'm in CA). And he not only took my stuff. He took the entire shop and everything in it, including the projects and belongings of every one of his customers. He made no attempt to contact his customers to inform them of his moving; he deliberately stole from them. In fact, I heard he broke a tractor-trailer (one of four he used to move it all) during the move because he put so much weight on it.

So anyway, I bought this '70 Nova, with an engine I knew needed a rebuild/replace, with plans to put my project engine in it for minimal money. Now the project engine is gone and I'm stuck with a car that needs a new engine. It's my daily driver, so I can't just park it when the motor blows up. I'm going to have to start over completely from scratch, project-wise and financially, because of this dishonest person. Needless to say, I don't have that kind of money. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Once again, humanity finds a way to disappoint me.

I'm considering legal recourse (as are the rest of the people who got ripped off), but I'm not sure I even have a receipt anywhere proving that the stuff is mine. I was relying on the trust my family and I had with our machinist. Does that not mean anything anymore?

I'm sorry for the rant and the whining, but I just had to get this off my chest, somewhere. And, I'd like to know what the machinists that frequent this board think about this kind of behavior.

And sir, if you happen to read this, I hope I messed up somewhere with the assembly, and it blows up on you.

[FrankR]

Post his name and address. There are people here that live in or near OK.

If nothing else, at least we'll know who not to do business with.

[1ownerT]

Grab a couple of friends. It's time for a Road Trip!

[ChevelleSS_LS6]

Originally Posted by 1ownerT

Grab a couple of friends. It's time for a Road Trip!

also grab a potato cannon, or, better yet, a downsized one just right for golfballs.

heck, a penny cannon will splinter fence planks.

on a more serious note, you should've chosen Tom. someday, when I get the body and stuff done and rebuilding the 360 in my Jav comes around I'll contact him about it.

[Arcuden]

I'm not going to post his name and/or address, yet. First I want to find out if he's going to cooperate in returning the items that he took with him. If he does, fully, I'll probably let him slide.

If he doesn't, I've already got a smear campaign lined up to ruin this guy's business wherever he goes.

Keep in mind also that I am a very small fish in this pond, so to speak. He had a lot of other, very high-dollar clients that he really pissed off. Those are the guys he should be worried about, I think.

[docvette]

Doc here,

Go through your papers, try and locate if you had it, your engine number..

If you find that, or even if you can't.. Call the local PD Auto theft division and make a full report. Be sure and tell them, He has moved that, and many other auto parts not owned by him (you could get the other's to join in, into reporting) To OK.

Everything with a serial number and/or desription, that is reported will go on a National crime computer..along with his Name (NCIC) (LOCS, Oklahoma) and (OKDMV)...AND because he crossed interstate lines to perpetrate a Crime (auto theft, Theft of auto parts) Makes it a FEDERAL CRIME...He's looking at 5 to 15 years if they catch up to him, and restitution to his Victims..

What he has done (legally) is no different than running a Chop Shop, and moving it across state lines to avoid prosecution..

I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't stiff a few of his jobbers..

If you have his name, you can do a skip trace on him , ask the DMV for a report on his activities as well as IRS, and Social Security..But the Police are better at it...and free..AND the more of his Victims you bring into it...the more action you will get!

Doc

[Weimer]

Unfortunately, I am going to say that you are screwed as far as any kind of prosecution or getting you motor/money returned. Mainly for one reason...NO RECEIPT. Without a receipt you have no valid proof that he did any work for you or had anything that belongs to you.
Let me let you in on a little something that I learned along the way...Trust NO one. Always look out for you best interest when it comes to your money and time....if not, you will get used,abused, and screwed in the process.
The only way that you are going to be able to get you motor back is to go get it yourself....And secondly, you were storing you motor at his shop while you saved money to have work done to it? If you owed him any money on any work that he had performed, technically you are not entitled to it until you pony up the cash to settle your bill...
It sucks dude...try to find another motor and chalk this one up to experience.
Later,
WEIMER

[machine shop tom]

Guys like that really grind my nards. While there have been times that I have sold or disposed of deadbeat customer's stuff, I have never stolen from or stiffed from any of my customers. He was well aware that you had an interest in your parts and he knew damn well ahead of time that he was going to rip you off.

Without any kind of paperwork identifying the parts as yours, you are up that creek without a paddle. The best you can do is find the other disgruntled customers and hope they have some paperwork to back their claims. If that happens and the police can raid his place and find any of the stolen stuff, you may be able to identify the stuff that is yours. My guess, though, is that he is selling the stuff right now.

Sorry that happened to you.

tom

P.S. I'll be ready when you are, Chevelle!!

[BarryK]

Well, I want to be odd man out and defend the machinist!

Something sounds real funny here as you state he Had the engine for a couple of years as you ran into money problems.

So in other words if you had settled up you would have had the engine?

Two years is a long time to hold something for non payment.

By the way he broke no laws moving the stuff to new location out of state but how he handle things at this point could be difference between legal and illegal.

[machine shop tom]

Originally Posted by BarryK

Well, I want to be odd man out and defend the machinist!

Something sounds real funny here as you state he Had the engine for a couple of years as you ran into money problems.

So in other words if you had settled up you would have had the engine?

Two years is a long time to hold something for non payment.

By the way he broke no laws moving the stuff to new location out of state but how he handle things at this point could be difference between legal and illegal.

I will disagree just a little. I have stored engines for guys with money problems. As long as they pay something occasionally and show an interest in eventually picking it up, Î will tolerate it. There also have been times when I had enough waiting and I called the customer and told them they had X amount of days to pay up and pick up the stuff. THAT's what the machinist in question should have done in this case. He knew ahead of time that he was leaving and he knew who had what in his shop. While it may have not been a real smart thing to leave an engine there for so long, the machinist should not have taken it without some kind of warning. (Unless he did and we haven't been told about it)

tom

[BarryK]

Tom,
Point well taken but as you kinda pointed out

There is always two sides to every story.

Why was he not real big on putting the so called thief's name on the board?

Can be big problems doing that if were only getting one side of story.

I don't mean to be cynical here but in last 30+ years have seen many of businesses go out of business and once they can't pay their bill, everyone is at fault except them.
Over the years I have learned this applies to individuals also that run into problems paying their bills.

[machine shop tom]

Originally Posted by BarryK

Tom,
Point well taken but as you kinda pointed out

There is always two sides to every story.

Why was he not real big on putting the so called thief's name on the board?

Can be big problems doing that if were only getting one side of story.

I don't mean to be cynical here but in last 30+ years have seen many of businesses go out of business and once they can't pay their bill, everyone is at fault except them.
Over the years I have learned this applies to individuals also that run into problems paying their bills.

Well said. Also, a lot of shops will try to compete by setting their prices according to what other shops charge. That is the wrong way to set prices. You first must find your cost of doing business and then set your prices accordingly. Those that try to compete by price cutting eventually fail and then blame everybody else.

tom

[Arcuden]

BarryK, I understand your cynicism. But I think you misunderstood what I said. I did/do not owe the person any money. For all of the services he rendered me, he was paid in full. It was after getting the crank/rods/pistons installed and balanced, when it came time to choose a cam and matching heads, that we ran into a problem - heads are expensive (relatively). It's not that we couldn't pay for his services, we just couldn't buy the parts to continue with the project at the time. He didn't take my parts out of restitution, since there was no debt to take the restitution for.

The only reason it was at the shop during that time is because there was no real need to move it anywhere else. We needed time to get parts, he had no problem storing it. So it stayed there. He could have called at any time and asked us to pick it up, and we would have. Or he could have asked us to pick it up when we called him.

The storage, I agree, was a long time. But like I said, we made sure to call him every couple of months to make sure that we still intended to finish it.

I don't want to post his name because, as BarryK mentioned, there is a fine line here between legal and illegal. If it turns out he has every intention of returning the items (though why he would take them to Oklahoma first is beyond me in that case, which is why I'm leaning away from it) then no problem, no harm done, except for some inconvenience, which I can live with. If this is the case, and I spam his name all over the internet bashing his business and his person, only to find out later he broke no laws and returned the items, I would really feel like crap.

My father is fairly certain he has receipts for the services and proof of our belongings. I'm not so sure of that, but it's a start. Regardless, as of right now I'm writing this incident off as a complete loss and a learning experience.

[BarryK]

I misunderstood that, I guess the guy is a crook.

Barry

[poncho62]

He is a crook........He should have called you to pick it up when he was moving......

Personally, I would never leave anything at a shop...................