About a year ago, I purchased a really nice set of Canadian aluminum heads for my 39 from a HAMBer. No corrosion, no gouges, excellent casting numbers, etc. I thought it would like nice to have them polished as an accent on my car, since the car is black, the block is black, manifold is black, just something as a shiny accent. I sent them off to a well recommended polisher, seen pictures of his work and was happy with what I saw. It took more than double the time that was quoted, which sucked, but I understand people get busy. BUT, I opened up the package today, and, while the heads look good, all the casting numbers and Made in Canada were sanded off the head, now they are just smooth aluminum heads. Now, I've polished some in the past and can't stand the time involved in it, so thus my sending it out. But I can't understand the sanding off the casting numbers. I never expected this, it was never mentioned, honestly, I thought I would get back heads just like I sent, just shiny. So, am I being too picky? What would you do? I'm at a loss if I'm being a crappy customer and expecting too much or if I'm legit in being upset. I'd appreciate some feedback from others. I've attached pictures of both heads, you can see the polishing is good, but they've lost their identity.
What did you tell them you wanted done? Did they do that? (it takes a heck of a lot more work to polish around a raised casting mark, than it does to polish a flat surface)
The conversation was polished heads. It never occured to me the need to tell a professional polisher that I wanted the casting numbers to be retained. I would have thought it would be obvious, especially when the polisher mostly does hot rod/vintage type items.
From his perspective, the opposite was true. It never occurred to him that you would want the numbers left intact. Simple mis-communication on both parts. The heads look spectacular, I wouldn't worry about it. -Abone.
I've been there before, where I just figured his understanding of what I wanted was the same as mine. Now I explain exactly what I want in short declarative sentences and write things down. They are pretty and shiny but I think they lost a little bit of their character when he took off the casting numbers and Made in Canada. Made them easier to polish. It also looks like he rounded over the head bolt bosses. I don't know if that is a problem.
They sure look nice. If it,s that important can you get your money back by re-selling them and start again with another set ?
They look great and the polisher did what he figured you wanted. I agree with the others that if it wasn’t covered in conversation then it’s a unplanned surprise.
Well lesson learned. Ty all for weighing in on it. They do look nice, just lost some of the detail for what they are. They will still look good on the car.
Well, I'd be pissed. Wouldn't a pro know that the numbers and MiC added value, character and style? Wouldn't you expect that,at the very least, the polisher would call and ask? I don't know what you can do, but I'd bring it up and I would be very wary of leaving favorable comments somewhere.
The job looks outstanding but I never assume ANYTHING,It always comes back to bite me,even if I think I've gone above and beyond I have to check and sometimes recheck my communication so as to understand what the customer expects.It has gone the other way for me as well as if I had done the heads and left the numbers on and the customer thought I would take the time to sand them off and polish the heads.Humans are complicated beings and therefore this stuff happens.
Just received this from the polisher "in order to polish those heads,i have to grind them down. you never said anything about saving the letters." I guess what bothers me most is that if you, as the professional polisher, received an item that was 70+ years old, you would assume that the customer would want the identification of the item left on it. I'm really struggling to accept this. But, it's on me, for as he said, I didn't say I wanted them saved. Again, lesson learned.
LOL he's a polisher and in his mind they are polished to perfection. I understand where you are coming from but if you did not specify you got what he thought you would have wanted. I got an idea that he is thinking that this is show quality and in certain circles he would have been entirely correct. If it makes you feel any better I once took a pair of Harley lower forks to a polisher not my bike and the guy wanted them to look chromish. The guy made them shine like a new dime. Problem was the polisher was thinking show bike and he shaved 'em. Which is the equivalent of what was done to your heads. I ended up owning a pair of show quality sliders. My customer had to wait a little longer for his parts. Sorry you didn't get what you wanted but they'll grow on ya in time.
Selling them and buying another set looks to be your only option. Even if he gave you some $$ back the heads wouldn't be what you expected.
They sure look purdy. If I was using them, I'd be inclined to retouch the tops of your head bolt bosses with a counterbore or endmill, so they're flat and parallel to the deck surface again. More consistant clamping force when you torque them down.
You assume the polisher would assume anything at all. You asked for polished, he gave you polished. Part of your job as the customer is to be specific as to what it is you want and don't "assume" that any one places the same value on the parts that you do.
In today's world, polished means super slick, no bumps or markings, just exactly what you got back. If he had of left the casting numbers, another customer would have bitched because they weren't polished smooth all over. He just did what you told him to do, polish them, and did a damn fine job looks like to me.
They wouldn't look as nice as they do had he left the markings. Numbers and such usually end up looking smeared and pitted where the letter and the surface of the part meet... you got a much better job this way.
If you didnt care enough to mention it up front then you dont get to complain on the back end is the rule. Always try and be as specific as possible in regards to the work you want done. I do think they look great as is. Sent from my SM-J727T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thank you all for your insight. It took me by surprise seeing them first out the package, but the more I read the comments, the more I realize, yes it was my fault for not stating up front exactly what I wanted/needed, that assumption has the word "ass" in it, and that they don't look half bad on the car. Thank you for everyone's thoughts, it helped put everything into perspective.
I don't know what he charged you but he does nice work. Years ago I used to do a lot of polishing on hard to polish parts like magnesium, etc. He did a nice job.
Personally if I was the polisher, I would of asked the questions about details before I did the work , or hope a light bulb would go off in my brain that I should call the customer to verify about wether he wanted the extra work to remove identification and polish. Everyone thinks differently but details should be one of the first things iron out for someone that line of work. You don't rub out markings, tags etcetera when restoring anything. The polisher has to assume some responsibility for not getting it clarified.
The point here is he wasn't 'restoring' it. He brought in sand-cast parts and asked for polish. Getting a sand-cast item ready for polishing is a time-consuming process and trying to leave any lettering or symbols would be difficult at least and would downgrade the final finish. I agree with Moriarity, you got a better job this way... the heads look good. With that said, I probably would have asked, but also would have pointed out that he probably wouldn't be happy with the finished product either which would cost more because of the hassle involved.
Since you polished them, you probably negated any value the casting numbers would have added. They look beautiful.
The Jalopy Journal
