Gear installation in Chicago area

[Fishman]

Has anyone had their 4:10s installed in Chicagoland by a vendor? Would you recommend the shop and was the pricing reasonable?

[SergntMac]

I had mine done by Napleton LM in Blue island, same day service with appt. Whether I paid too much or not, is a matter of opinion.

I bought my parts from Reinhart, got the FMC gear set, stat and plugs, and his Delta chip, all for under 600. Napleton installed all of these parts for under 1k., and that includes all the gaskets and fluids and so on. Napleton wants the car back in 1k miles for a check up on the install, and that's a nice touch too.

Was this reasonable? Probably not, I'm sure I could have paid less elsewhere. But I also considered down time, certified LM repair shop with top notch mechanics, and no thoughts about voiding my warranty. All things considered, I'm pleased with my MMs performance, and I'm not embarassed to tell what that performance cost me.

[tetsu]

Holy cats!! At that price you should have been able to get a driveshaft
with installation also. :(

Johnny

[Slowpoke]

I too would like to find some - reasonablly priced - in the Chicagoland area. My dealer, Perillo, is very uncomfortable with mods.

slowpoke

[Fishman]

Thanks.

I'll keep looking around for a place, whether it be a dealer or a shop, in the area that is willing to do the installation at a good price. I've seen $250-300 bounced around on this forum, but the few dealers that I talked to that would even consider this, had prices similar to Sergntmac's.

I'm really not in any hurry to do this mod until the spring, but am trying to get things lined up. The car handles so poorly in the snow as it is.

[SergntMac]

When you meet up with us Fishman (whenever we agree on when and where), I'll let you try out the mods I've made. As a package, it's really worth it.

[MarauderBoy]

Vefron Gears at 99th & Harlem (I believe it's Burbank) did mine for $400 w/tax. They do a quality job and pay attention to the details so that there is no possibility of whine.

[Slowpoke]

how long did the installation take (hours). Did you need an appointment?

[SergntMac]

My experience and rationale on this topic...are you listening?

Like I mentioned before, we all have "opinions" about what is proper, necessary and cost effective, and what is not. We all have buttholes too...Need I explain this more?

MarauderBoy...
Ronny's been pounding out custom gears for 40 years now, "top notch" pro he is, maybe Reinhart class. If what you ask him to fix what's between the flywheel and the pavement, Ronny is your gear guy.

Ronny has built two cars for me in those 40 years, a '69 BB Camaro with a 5:13 screw and 2:54 first gear Muncie 220 4 sp.

This was a kickass launch in that day, as well as the debut of a sub-frame connector with "over-under" ladders, as Roger Strasheim dreamed them. Ingenious thinking back then.

Ronny also built my '79 Camaro coupe, a SB 5 sp with a 4:56, another champion "stoplight" car.

But and sadly, Ronny, for all he knows and could do, never really moved up in his trade. Still sweating a small shop with major legal "oil dump/EPA concerns in a Chicago suburb that is, around here, known as "beerbank" for a reason...IMHO.

Ronny's rate was only 140. under my LM dealer on the gear change alone, and if Ronny isn't customizing anything, I thought that this extra 140. I came to pay a LM dealer, was worth more in underwriting my factory and extended warranties.

When LM does the work in one of their licensed shops with factory certified wrenches, LM stamps "approved" on the end result. To share my future powertrain worries with LM, is worth some extra dollars to me now, IMHO. This is base "dram shop/Belushi" law, I.E. when one delivers a poison, one is also responsible for that poison's affect.

So, If I let Ronny (or anyone else for that matter) install 4:10 gears in my MM, I'll be on own with LM, across the powertrain/warranty board.

Considering that a replacement motor for our MMs is about 6 large right now, I should try to spread my financial liability as far as I could swing it, and hope that if I ever get into a warranty squabble with LM over powertrain related issues and my 4:10 muddies that discussion, my 140. may buy me some warranty argument leverage. I hope you see my reasoning in spending the 140. at a certified and "compassionate" LM dealer.

BTW, this 140. was later reduced by selling my 8.8"/3:55 ring and pinion for 100. to a Mustanger, so, I'm down to a 40. overbite now, yes?

Tetsu...
"Holy cats!! At that price you should have been able to get a driveshaft
with installation also."

You really think so Tetsu? Really?

I see that you are still "bone stock" and I think your opinion is a bit short sighted because of that. The Reinhart drive shaft kit is 400., the FMC parts may be half that. Either way, what you suggest isn't in the dollars here. You think I got hosed? If 40. is your line of discrimination here, maybe I did.

Pulleeze...Drop me a line here once you have (if you do) carried out equalivent upgrades on your MM, whever you live, I'd like to see your numbers.

Play fair now, Tetsu, remember that Chicago is a union town where "flat rate" shop schedules prevail, and a gear change on our MM calls for 6.0 hours, need them or not. To this point, I'm 40. in the hole over any "deal" that may be available to me. And, I have my factory and extended warranties intact. Post your numbers, Tetsu, I'm anxious to find out where I can address my drive shaft concerns for just 40 bucks?

Fishman, Slowpoke...

Call Napleton LM @ 708.385.4500, ask for Jim, the SM. He'll quote you 6.0 hours, flat rate, union shop, no warranty ills.

That number will be 540. in flat rate labor, 17.45 in gear oil, 9.69 in gaskets and "O" ring, and 25. in "customer order" charges for installing parts purchased outside this dealer. But, that will also include a check up inspection at 1k miles on the gear, just for gear oil and gasket costs.

And, your new gear will be covered by your factory warranty, if you avoid returning to "nervous" dealers whenever you have any powertrain issues to address down the road.

Is my 4:10 gear change worth 40.?

Don't take my word for it, ask Chapel1 at this site. Gary has driven my MM, ask him what a 4:10 feels like.

9 days to Xmas gentleman, Merry Christmas all...

Y'all be safe too.

[Slowpoke]

thanks Sarg -- now there's a guy who speaks his peace

[Slowpoke]

got my wheel locks from Summit Racing today (800-230-3030; part # MCG-24194).

How many hours of labor will they charge me to install them?

(just kidding)

Took delivery of my MM on Oct 30. Just got the postcard for the jacket today! Mailed it in - we'll see how long it takes to get the jacket.

slowpoke

[mtnh]

I'm having a hard time following this. You bought the parts for $600 or less. Then you had them installed for under $1K. So you paid somewhere under $1600. Could you please clarify the costs in under 50 words? Maybe I'll get it then Sarge.

Mike

[tetsu]

Originally posted by SergntMac
My experience and rationale on this topic...are you listening?

yes?

Tetsu...
"Holy cats!! At that price you should have been able to get a driveshaft
with installation also."

You really think so Tetsu? Really?

I see that you are still "bone stock" and I think your opinion is a bit short sighted because of that. The Reinhart drive shaft kit is 400., the FMC parts may be half that. Either way, what you suggest isn't in the dollars here. You think I got hosed? If 40. is your line of discrimination here, maybe I did.

Pulleeze...Drop me a line here once you have (if you do) carried out equalivent upgrades on your MM, whever you live, I'd like to see your numbers.




Dude, don't let a few little mods run to your head!

Lol. I had a quote from a local Mustang shop back in July.

FMS gears $400-$450 installed. (gears included)

Mensrea reports that the Ford MMC shaft fits (Kenny put one in his.)

Driveshaft $250 plus installation. (this is price with shipping from Fordparts.com)

I admit installing the shaft/tstat/chip/plugs probably would run more than $300...but not by that much. Personally I'd do the shaft/tstat/chip/plugs myself and pay for a driveshaft loop. I wouldnt try the gears myself.

I'm bone stock right now, because I'm daily driving this car. :) Up here in Wisconsin, we get some hellacious snow once in a while.

Johnny

[SergntMac]

Parts from Reinhart
Gear set 180.
Chip w/switch 320.
stat 13.
plugs 20.
shipping 30.
total parts 568.

Labor @ LM dealer, union shop rates of 90. per hour.
gear, 6.0 hr. 540.
stat, plugs & chip w/switch
3.20 hr. 288.
total labor 828.
misc fluids/gaskets/tax
62.
(includes free inspection of gears after 1k miles)
(got loaner for 1 day too, N/C)

sale of old gear -100.

Total mods 1358.

Down time In by 8, out at 4.

Could I have saved money here? You bet. But, I don't work on cars anymore, I just drive the s***t out of them. And, I earn more per hour than I would have saved in doing this work myself or shopping out the least expensive wrench. I'm also looking ahead, thinking about what we may have to deal with at 30K miles, and how well the MM holds up long term. Already, some here are reporting puffs of smoke in the exhaust, and one reply from an expert reminds us of a "known" valve stem problem with the Cobra motor. All I'm saying, is that having an edge with LM when my fuel injectors melt, is good insurance in my book.

No manfacturer warranties any product it didn't build, and LM built my MM.

8 days, Merry Christmas, be safe.

[tetsu]

Hehe. Sarge, I'm not up to making more than $90/hr just yet.

If your dealer will really stand behind you even with all your mods in
OASIS, then your added expense may end up being worthwhile. I still trust these dealers as far as I can toss them. I personally witnessed my dealers service screw over a man who had bought 6 cars from them over his lifetime while I was waiting on an oil change.

Don't forget just because your dealer put in mods, doesn't make it built by Ford. I'd personally prefer that they went unlogged in OASIS.

I don't trust Ford either, personally. Not after the crap that has come out about their warranty voiding policies on BON. :(

Johnny

[Wags]

Fishman,

What other dealers in our area will install the gears? I got mine at Rizza, and they are pretty much against doing mods. It's going in Wednesday for some stuff, and I'll try to get an answer from them again.

Wags

[Fishman]

Wags,

I called around to a handful of places. The closest one to me was Rod Baker Ford in Plainfield - (815) 436-5681, but the guy there quoted me $1K for the install not including a reprgrammed chip to adjust the speedo.

I haven't really pounded the phones yet because it's winter. So far, Sarge's LM dealer recommendation has the best price from a dealer.

[MarauderBoy]

Guys - we're talking a gear swap here not rocket science. I did this in high school for goodness sake. Jeez, find someone your comfortable with and do it!

[Wags]

MarauderBoy,

It's not the work involved, I've been building cars for years. A gear swap is pretty simple to do. It's the fact that I don't want my warranty voided if I do the work, or it is not done by a certified dealer. My dealer has said that they can't void out the warranty, BUT, there is a very good chance that if ANYTHING goes south on the drivetrain, they would most likely NOT cover the repair because of the modification. It can be very time consuming and expensive to fight rejected claims (I have been there before).

[Tim R.]

Anyone on the list know of a Mercury dealershiop that is 'Mod' friendly in the Los Angeles, Glendale, area?

[smith5365]

Check with JameHecker. He's got a dealer near you that seems on top of our kind of thinking. Believe the dealer is Magic L/M in Valencia just up the freeway from you.

Bill Smith

[MarauderBoy]

I understand all of the concern over warranty. Let's face it, the car is not a frivolous purchase for most of us. The point is that ForD can "claim" that anything voids the warranty (how many of you are using Motorcraft oil filters?) if it's not their recommended part. With that in mind, your probably better off waitting for the warranty to run out before attempting mods(IMO).

On the other hand, it seems odd that there are some Dealers out there that will either perform the requested mods or honor a warranty should a part fail (in this case a rear end). I also find it contradictory that Mercury's own product literature shows a Marauder smoking the tires. To me, all of this inconsistency means that it will be very difficult for a Dealer, Mercury or Ford to win any kind of dispute regarding failure based on how a car is driven or mods made (regardless on where the work was actually performed).

I believe that in Ford's current state they will look for any reason to "void" a warranty but given the above observations, the Magnuson-Moss law and other consumer rights, they will lose.

I guess it all depends on a persons desire to make the change and their tolerance level when dealing with the consequences.

Sorry for the long post.