Nick's health and my view on machine shop assembly

[John Hofstetter <hofs@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 8/19/03 7:54 AM, Nick at scout@domain.elided wrote:

> Hi Dan
> Thanks for your concern.
> I recieved a transplant from a cadaver donor on July 5th.  From what I hear
> I was pretty lucky.  I was only on the transplant list for about 8 months.
> Its going pretty well.  I am still weak and tire easily but getting better
> fast.  I already feel about 200 percent better than I did on dialysis.  I
> will be 42 on thursday.
> 
> Both bolts holding the cap on are broken and the cap is in two pieces.  It
> looks like one bolt broke and the cap was ripped apart breaking the other
> bolt.  I will get some pictures up soon.
> 
> Nick

Nick, 

Having lost a couple of old (both meanings of the word apply here) friends
who couldn't get kidneys, I'm certainly pleased that your kidney showed up
in time. 

One of the things that I believe in strongly enough to repeat myself is that
the safest way to have an engine rebuild done is to have the machine shop do
the assembly. I suppose that I've maybe done more rebuilds than anyone on
the digest, and I suppose that I'm at least as good as most machinists when
it comes to assembly. BUT, the difference is that if the machine shop does
the assembly, they will guarantee the engine for some period of time.
(varies)  If you assemble the engine, most machine shops are responsible for
nothing that happens.

Good insurance, even though it takes away from the fun.

John Hofstetter