Engine Shop/Cobra Mechanic in the NJ Area

[Burnd]

I met with on Saturday for the second time, scheduled an appointment with his shop for some motor & dyno work the Monday after next. However, he's a challenging chap who marches to his own tune. His technical reputation is good but his attitude is "my way, or no way" and don't ask too many questions. To quote him: "If you want it set up "right"; drop it off and we'll take care of it". That doesn't bother me as long as he's competent and I'll give anybody one shot. I reluctantly agreed but I politely let him know, if he screws up I'll be all over him (not that I think he cares whether I am or not). What does bother me is he REFUSES to give ANY approximation of cost. I couldn't even get a high-and-low dollar number. His response is; "we have no idea", so just leave it and we'll let you know when we're done. I asked him twice before he got annoyed, which appears to be easy to do. Frankly, I'm fairly easy to get along with but it got a little under my skin. He's basically telling me that he wants an "open" checkbook, take it or leave it. The only thing I can figure is business must be REALLY good. That or having the only dyno in town makes him think he's the only game in town. I'm not talking just a dyno tune on my engine so I may back out of the original appointment, (have the major work done somewhere else with a ball-park price QUOTE) and then go back to him for some dyno tweeking. He may be good but I'm still the one paying the bill and I like some idea what my total nut is going to be. Mustang has diplomatically dropped enough hints about his temperament in previous posts that I wasn't caught off guard. He's kind of like those hot-shot doctors with no bed side manners. Either way, I'll let you know my results if it's of any interest to anyone.

Bern