Robbie in CA (1 Viewer)

[limerence]

Current list of people interested in having Robbie work on their rigs. Currently Norcal only but if theres SoCal peeps feel free to jump in.

limerence (John) - San Jose - HG, new radiator, phh, and misc (i'll try to think of more)
dmoz - San Francisco - new radiator, power steering pump
dtrain - Campbell - HG
aseif007 (Andrew) - Campbell - HG, radiator, water pump
cyclosteve (Steve) - Los Gatos - oil cooler, possibly HG
cme4lyt (Jonathan) - Walnut Creek - HG

Deposit is needed for Robbie to hold dates for us. I'm going to give him a call tomorrow to see how much this would be for each of us.

Andrew has graciously offered his place for Robbie to work on the rigs if needed and has a spare bedroom as well. Jonathan has offered his place as well for others that are not in the South Bay and closer to him. I'll try to find out the name of the machine shop that DMOZ mentioned that Robbie uses and maybe that might be closer to you guys.

Machine shops: So far, A & M seems like they've gotten the thumbs up from quite a few of you, and with them being in Campbell, pretty close to everyone on the list so far (not sure where you are located dmoz). Vicinity is important since I'm thinking Robbie's approach would be to yank out a head, have the shop work on it, and then go back to yanking out another head, and so forth to minimize down time. I forgot to call Wayne from A & M back today but will try to call him tomorrow to see what he can do for us.

Timing: Best case scenario for Robbie's time is starting May 4th, will try to finalize with Robbie once we start finalizing things. Let me know if there's any time period you're restricted to around then, or if you're flexible.

Meet up before hand? I'll be moving back up to San Jose this weekend. Just wanted to see if you guys wanted to meet up to discuss and meet one another. Some things I wanted to see if we could go through also is the list of items we want to do and have all parts purchased and shipped in time (if you're buying from CDan). Doesn't have to be people having work done, the more the merrier.

 

[redshiftquasars]

I'm in North Glendale and am right smack in the middle of doing my HG on my 96. I haven't come had problems yet but expect to have my head back from the shop sometime next week. I'm hoping all goes well but if i do run into issues it will more than likely be after its all buttoned up(next week). When is Robbie expected to be in CA?

 

[limerence]

No ETA as of yet. I wanted to check for interest and lock down a time for him to come.

 

[redshiftquasars]

I guess there are other factors that need to be known before I commit to anything. You may want to PM me cost/perHour and anything else I may need to know.

 

[limerence]

You can PM him directly (powderpig) and see what it might run you for the work that you are wanting to/might need to get done.

 

[limerence]

anyone anyone?

 

[DMOZ]

I need Robbie's help in northern california and have reached out to him as well. He's available in May right after Cruise Moab (which ends on May 2nd). We need to garner two more projects for this to make economic sense to Robbie. There are certainly other 80s in northern california that need a HG job, new radiator, etc right? Let us know if anybody's interested.

 

[limerence]

nice... another one to join in. mine may be going soon since I'm getting white smoke and losing coolant. going to do the blackstone test when i drive up from LA to San Jose this weekend. c-mon people, anyone else out there?

 

[dtrain]

I need Robbie's help in northern california and have reached out to him as well. He's available in May right after Cruise Moab (which ends on May 2nd). We need to garner two more projects for this to make economic sense to Robbie. There are certainly other 80s in northern california that need a HG job, new radiator, etc right? Let us know if anybody's interested.

Im trying to look at finances to see if I can get this PM done. Are we looking at roughly 2 - 2.5k? (headwork, parts, labor)

Im in Campbell.

 

[limerence]

Im trying to look at finances to see if I can get this PM done. Are we looking at roughly 2 - 2.5k? (headwork, parts, labor)

Im in Campbell.

Yeh I think your pricing is right. Mine might be the top end of that since I will probably swap in all new hoses, phh, radiator, etc.

One of my concerns though is where he can do the work. Unfortunately, I live in a townhouse community and they don't really allow cars being worked on outside and my garage is packed with stuff.

 

[Aseif007]

I am in Campbell as well and I have the seal and gasket kit, new water pump and radiator in my posession and I was planning on changing most seals/gaskets I could get to including the head gasket. I have already started to take things apart but life has got in the way. I can get the head off and have it rebuilt before he gets there. I would love for Robbie to do the work if possible. Also, I can offer my back yard (motor home pad) or garage as a work area. If he could come to my house and take care of (2~3) jobs maybe it would make it more feasable for him and possibly a better deal for us?

Edit: I also have an extra room in my house if that would help with his expenses.

 

[limerence]

I am in Campbell as well and I have the seal and gasket kit, new water pump and radiator in my posession and I was planning on changing most seals/gaskets I could get to including the head gasket. I have already started to take things apart but life has got in the way. I can get the head off and have it rebuilt before he gets there. I would love for Robbie to do the work if possible. Also, I can offer my back yard (motor home pad) or garage as a work area. If he could come to my house and take care of (2~3) jobs maybe it would make it more feasable for him and possibly a better deal for us?

Edit: I also have an extra room in my house if that would help with his expenses.

Sweet Andrew, thanks for the offer. Your costs would prolly be lower since it sounds like you're doing most of the tear down. I'd do it myself except I'm an idiot. I know Robbie mentioned he has a source that has done previous machine work in San Jose for him so you might want to hold off on having it done since maybe if we call the machine shop and say we have x number of heads done, they might give us a lower price. Not sure if they will, but just a thought.

 

[Shipwreck]

If Robbie needs to contact local machine shops before giving you a quote, I had my head work done last year at A & M Motor Supply in Los Gatos. The machinist there has been around a long time and is quite knowledgeable. The price breakdown for the work is listed in my headgasket thread.

 

[evanz80]

I'm following along the thread and just wanted to post a comment. We had Robbie out to work on several Cruisers in New Mexico in early 2009 and it worked out great. Of course, we also have Cruiser Dan at American Toyota to supply the parts, so between the two of them, we couldn't go wrong.

I just wanted to give a strong recommendation for Robbie's work. He is a true professional and he knows his Cruisers inside and out.

 

[limerence]

If Robbie needs to contact local machine shops before giving you a quote, I had my head work done last year at A & M Motor Supply in Los Gatos. The machinist there has been around a long time and is quite knowledgeable. The price breakdown for the work is listed in my headgasket thread.

Hi Craig,

Did you call around and they seemed the most trustworthy and knowledgeable? I dont mind calling around to places and getting quotes to get the best price for everyone (I just need to know exactly what to ask for). Problem though is knowing whether or not they do a solid job.

If anyone else has experience with Bay Area machine shops, your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Edit: Just talked to Wayne at A & M. His machinist will be back at 12 but he said he can discount on parts but prolly not on labor. Going to call him later cause he wanted to check with the machinist on what they can do for us and what we'd be generally be looking at since each head might have different needs.

 

[DMOZ]

Hi Craig,

Did you call around and they seemed the most trustworthy and knowledgeable? I dont mind calling around to places and getting quotes to get the best price for everyone (I just need to know exactly what to ask for). Problem though is knowing whether or not they do a solid job.

If anyone else has experience with Bay Area machine shops, your input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Edit: Just talked to Wayne at A & M. His machinist will be back at 12 but he said he can discount on parts but prolly not on labor. Going to call him later cause he wanted to check with the machinist on what they can do for us and what we'd be generally be looking at since each head might have different needs.

Last time Robbie was in the Bay Area doing head gaskets, he used a machine shop in Marin. I'm sure he can point you in the right direction.

 

[DMOZ]

I am in Campbell as well and I have the seal and gasket kit, new water pump and radiator in my posession and I was planning on changing most seals/gaskets I could get to including the head gasket. I have already started to take things apart but life has got in the way. I can get the head off and have it rebuilt before he gets there. I would love for Robbie to do the work if possible. Also, I can offer my back yard (motor home pad) or garage as a work area. If he could come to my house and take care of (2~3) jobs maybe it would make it more feasable for him and possibly a better deal for us?

Edit: I also have an extra room in my house if that would help with his expenses.

Andrew, thank you for this. I also live in an apartment building and don't have garage space so this is would work out very well.

 

[Aseif007]

Red is the machinist at A&M. I have dealt with him many times before, he's a nice guy. I had my 3FE and other machine work done at Clark's, they did good work and have a good rep. They may be a little pricey though. I had another buddy take his 3FE to them and he had no problems with the work, I also had a fellow mudder's 3FE head rebuilt through them with good results. Steven's Creek Toyota is who I get all my parts from, and they accept the TLCA and MTA discount. My only question about parts for the head rebuild it the shims for the cam. These have to be measured to see what you need before we get them right?

 

[sjcruiser]

I'm subscribing to this thread - Would definitely want to meet Robbie and other cruiser heads in the area.

Cheers,
Frank.

 

[CycloSteve]

I'm in Los Gatos and need at a minimum my oil cooler gone through (and perhaps replaced), and also might need the HG done. I have all of the HG kit from CDan. My HG was done at 97k miles, but now at 157k miles the truck is consuming small amounts of coolant (confirmed by Blackstone it is getting into the oil). Definitely interested in sharing the costs of having Robbie come out here.



Steve

P.S. A&M is just about a mile from my office, and do have a good rep...did my brothers '69 Mach I heads back in the 1980's, and did an incredible job.