Chicago Trans Builder
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Brer Rabbit
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Thats it
Thanx
Thanx
Turbo-Archie
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I have been dealing with Jimmy for about 10 years now. He has the cleanest shop I have ever seen.
chrisgarrett
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Turbo-Archie said:
I agree. I have never seen a shop that clean. When he was swapping out converters on my car, he was turning a wrench with one hand and mopping up a spill with the other.
Jimmy
Getting the trans done by any reputable builder is ok but in most cases, once they collect your money as they should, you are pretty much on your own . If you have issues with your Trans down the line, you will be stuck trying to get the builder to back up his work. I also understand sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes it’s not. In either case Jimmy will stand behind it. He is as honest as they come. He will tell you exactly the way it is, you like it or not. One of the most important things that most people over look is that; what happens if and when something goes wrong especially if you deal with out of state builder. I just witnessed a good friend of mine goes through the same scenario, the shipping will be outrageous plus all the aggravation of pulling the tranny your self and packing and shipping it. After you go through all that, they will try to pin you with the blame. You will be paying way more that what you should in the first place.
In my opinion, if you are in the Midwest and you can get your car to Jimmy or at least the Trans to him, you will not be disappointed. I have been dealing with Jimmy since the early 90’s. He has been rebuilding transmissions for over 30 years. He used to supply all the major Buick performance shops in the Midwest for a long time, now most of the shops shut their doors or stop doing power train work. I remember in one case one of the known Buick shop in the Chicago area asked Jimmy to build the transmission as though it was like a stock rebuild then they wanted to sell them as a race trans to their customers. Jimmy could have made a lot of money doing that but he flat out told the shop NO as long as his name is involved in it, he will not supply them with his transmissions under false description.
I also know people that do extensive street racing, they make back to back to back passes with out giving the tranny a chance to cool down, I have done that too and burn out third gear clutches out. Jimmy knows this as well, yet he would still take care of them. Once he build your tranny initially if and when something goes wrong he will take care of it with a flat fee for R&R plus the price for what ever parts the trans needs. You will not get that any where else.
Just my $.02
Prasad
Getting the trans done by any reputable builder is ok but in most cases, once they collect your money as they should, you are pretty much on your own . If you have issues with your Trans down the line, you will be stuck trying to get the builder to back up his work. I also understand sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes it’s not. In either case Jimmy will stand behind it. He is as honest as they come. He will tell you exactly the way it is, you like it or not. One of the most important things that most people over look is that; what happens if and when something goes wrong especially if you deal with out of state builder. I just witnessed a good friend of mine goes through the same scenario, the shipping will be outrageous plus all the aggravation of pulling the tranny your self and packing and shipping it. After you go through all that, they will try to pin you with the blame. You will be paying way more that what you should in the first place.
In my opinion, if you are in the Midwest and you can get your car to Jimmy or at least the Trans to him, you will not be disappointed. I have been dealing with Jimmy since the early 90’s. He has been rebuilding transmissions for over 30 years. He used to supply all the major Buick performance shops in the Midwest for a long time, now most of the shops shut their doors or stop doing power train work. I remember in one case one of the known Buick shop in the Chicago area asked Jimmy to build the transmission as though it was like a stock rebuild then they wanted to sell them as a race trans to their customers. Jimmy could have made a lot of money doing that but he flat out told the shop NO as long as his name is involved in it, he will not supply them with his transmissions under false description.
I also know people that do extensive street racing, they make back to back to back passes with out giving the tranny a chance to cool down, I have done that too and burn out third gear clutches out. Jimmy knows this as well, yet he would still take care of them. Once he build your tranny initially if and when something goes wrong he will take care of it with a flat fee for R&R plus the price for what ever parts the trans needs. You will not get that any where else.
Just my $.02
Prasad
vacuum 6
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Jimmy is the man! http://www.yellowpages.com/sp/moreinfo/?id=30140966&q=Jimmy's
Turbo-Archie
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As a side note, he doesn't like to ship trans out right from what I remember. Every trans needs to be tested on the car. Alot of times he will have to make small adjustments after it's installed and this isn't poss when he shipps it.
Another great think about Jimmy is he works so fast you could make an appointment with him in the morning and drive then car home a few hours later. Even if you have to drive a distance it's worth it. I live 100 miles away from him now and he's the only person I'd consider to even touch my transmission. Just coordinate it with him. I have found he is one of the very few & rare auto repair companies that always keeps his word as to when the car will be ready. Paul
I've not needed to build a trans yet (knock on wood) but when I do I will be going to Jimmy's as well. I have heard NOTHING but good stuff about this guy from everyone he's worked with up here in Milwaukee, and I've been around turbo Buicks for 7+ years... never a complaint. If there was a problem, it was handled immediately. I'm sure there are a few really good trans guys out there that will do work for a great deal, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to something I dont know a ton about (like trannys) I'd rather just spend an extra few hundred bux for the peace of mind knowing that its going to be taken care of IF something isnt just right. It doesn't get much better than that!
just my two pennies...
just my two pennies...
Turbo-Archie
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Turbo-Archie said:
I take that back, I think he said he bought A T-Type just for that reason. He would put it in his car before he ships it out.
Now think about that for a sec. All that R&R just to ship a trans.
Shane said:
I don't know Brian either but one of his Transmissions was in my buddy’s car that lasted 200 miles. I guess the transmission was shifting so hard that it broke the drum. I am not here to bash Brian, but this was suppose to be a 10 sec transmission but the parts inside sure didn't look like it was for a 10 sec application.
To most people that would just be a transmission failure and it will happen now and then but in my buddies case he lost the sale of his car. He had just sold his car to another friend of mine, the same night the trans broke just making a full throttle pass. I was there to witness it. The combo in his car was just a 12 sec recipe. When this happened my buddy who is a stand up guy, gave the other guy his money back and took his car back.
When my buddy contacted Brian, he was willing to work with him and fix the trans but the problem was to ship the tranny back and forth. Brian wanted the tranny shipped back through a certain carrier only due to his own convenience.
I am sure that Brian would have fixed the tranny but when you are done shipping stuff back and forth plus the parts, my buddy would have well over 2K in his tranny plus there is no price for aggravation. I like to see every single vender that supports Turbo Buick community succeed at the same time I don’t want us paying more that what we should be when it all done and over with.
I know Jimmy very well and his quality of his work. I am very satisfied with it, on the other hand the only experience I had with Brian’s product through a second party wasn’t satisfactory. Maybe it was just an unfortunate situation but now that’s done and over with. My buddy got his tranny redone and we will be installing the tranny back this weekend.
This is just a curious question, not to put down Brian in any way. I was just wondering how many true 10 sec cars out there with Brians trans. I would like get a feed back from them.
Prasad
Good points Prasad. My buddy did something similar to your friend. But this trans guy was a local Buick tech who specialized in trannies with a good rep. It was a major PITA to get the car or trans to the guy. The guy would stand behind his work, but he did not have a shop and wanted to work on the trans on his back. 
After seeing what my friend went through, I am a believer in letting the trans shop do everything in case there are any problems.
After seeing what my friend went through, I am a believer in letting the trans shop do everything in case there are any problems.
Since my name has come up more than twice now, I thought I would chime in.
Shane,
Thank you for your kind words. They are greatly appreciated.
>>>>This is just a curious question, not to put down Brian in any way. I was just wondering how many true 10 sec cars out there with Brians trans. I would like get a feed back from them.
>>>this was suppose to be a 10 sec transmission but the parts inside sure didn't look like it was for a 10 sec application.
Prasad,
You guys are lucky to have a builder with the quality reputation Jimmy`s has. It sounds as if he builds a fantastic piece. And his prices are very good as well.
I think I have a great product as well. If I didn`t, I would not try to sell them.
Did I offend YOU in some way?
Why are you feeling the need to degrade my work? You said you do not wish to, but you are.
Nick and I, through numerous communications came to a resolution. For some reason you are feeling the need to add your .02 to this.
Unfortunatly, you are not as well informed as you think you are.
I do not want to have a trash talk session with you, I just do not like or
understand when second hand info gets spewed without having ALL the facts first.
No one feels worse about the drum failure than I do. Except maybe Nick himself.
I apologize to Nick for the grief he has endured.
He and I have had a dealing in the past, and he is truly a good guy.
Thank you, Brian Hofer
Shane,
Thank you for your kind words. They are greatly appreciated.
>>>>This is just a curious question, not to put down Brian in any way. I was just wondering how many true 10 sec cars out there with Brians trans. I would like get a feed back from them.
>>>this was suppose to be a 10 sec transmission but the parts inside sure didn't look like it was for a 10 sec application.
Prasad,
You guys are lucky to have a builder with the quality reputation Jimmy`s has. It sounds as if he builds a fantastic piece. And his prices are very good as well.
I think I have a great product as well. If I didn`t, I would not try to sell them.
Did I offend YOU in some way?
Why are you feeling the need to degrade my work? You said you do not wish to, but you are.
Nick and I, through numerous communications came to a resolution. For some reason you are feeling the need to add your .02 to this.
Unfortunatly, you are not as well informed as you think you are.
I do not want to have a trash talk session with you, I just do not like or
understand when second hand info gets spewed without having ALL the facts first.
No one feels worse about the drum failure than I do. Except maybe Nick himself.
I apologize to Nick for the grief he has endured.
He and I have had a dealing in the past, and he is truly a good guy.
Thank you, Brian Hofer
Brian, my intensions were not to degrade your work. If that was the case, I would have posted every single thing that I was told, NOT through a second party but the other builder him self. According to him he will never build his trans your way. Those weren’t exactly his words, it was more in detail. I will never post all those information here. I understand that people have different ways of building a transmission and as long as they hold up, what difference does it make.
After numerous conversations via email/phone, Nick felt that he was not getting any where with you with his tight schedule for the month and your specific shipping requirements you had due to your busy schedule therefore, he came to me. He towed his car to my house, Nick and I pulled the tranny out together along with our other buddies.
I was the one made all the arrangements to have the tranny fixed for Nick, I was very curious to know about what was your internal build up for a 10 sec combo. I was the one that informed Nick about exactly what went wrong with his trans. My information is not second hand.
I am sorry Brian but I am way more informed about this particular situation than you initially thought. Nick is good guy, I would always be there to help him out. As a matter of fact, his car is still at my place and we will be installing the trans this weekend.
I am still interested in your trans build up and longevity. As you know you can never have too may good venders. I know it was the hard part that failed in Nick’s car. I don’t know if you remember, about 3-4 month ago I pm’ed you for your phone number so that I can talk to you about your 10 sec build up.
I wish you well Brian. My main point in all this was; for all of us in the Chicago area when there is someone in our own back yard that is very reputable, why should we go anywhere else. Also, if and when something goes wrong, it will be very difficult to ship and work out the schedule with the out of state vender as I witnessed in Nicks case.
I apologize if I offended you in any way Brian, If you look at it what Nick went through, behind the seen it became my problem as well. I spend plenty of time and effort trying to get Nick back on the road.
Prasad
After numerous conversations via email/phone, Nick felt that he was not getting any where with you with his tight schedule for the month and your specific shipping requirements you had due to your busy schedule therefore, he came to me. He towed his car to my house, Nick and I pulled the tranny out together along with our other buddies.
I was the one made all the arrangements to have the tranny fixed for Nick, I was very curious to know about what was your internal build up for a 10 sec combo. I was the one that informed Nick about exactly what went wrong with his trans. My information is not second hand.
I am sorry Brian but I am way more informed about this particular situation than you initially thought. Nick is good guy, I would always be there to help him out. As a matter of fact, his car is still at my place and we will be installing the trans this weekend.
I am still interested in your trans build up and longevity. As you know you can never have too may good venders. I know it was the hard part that failed in Nick’s car. I don’t know if you remember, about 3-4 month ago I pm’ed you for your phone number so that I can talk to you about your 10 sec build up.
I wish you well Brian. My main point in all this was; for all of us in the Chicago area when there is someone in our own back yard that is very reputable, why should we go anywhere else. Also, if and when something goes wrong, it will be very difficult to ship and work out the schedule with the out of state vender as I witnessed in Nicks case.
I apologize if I offended you in any way Brian, If you look at it what Nick went through, behind the seen it became my problem as well. I spend plenty of time and effort trying to get Nick back on the road.
Prasad
fast eddie
Senior Member
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If you live in Michigan Brian is the man no questions asked
In Michigan we have two of the best Trans builders Brian & Blackplague bar none!!!!
The point people are Missing here is some running 12's and higher have broken forward drums and some running 9's have not , If you read Bruce's Info on strengthening the 200r4 at the top of the trans section you would all know this
Ed
In Michigan we have two of the best Trans builders Brian & Blackplague bar none!!!!
The point people are Missing here is some running 12's and higher have broken forward drums and some running 9's have not , If you read Bruce's Info on strengthening the 200r4 at the top of the trans section you would all know this
Ed
We Dont Build Any 2004rs Without A Billet Drum .period.ive Seen Them Break In Stock Olds Station Wagons With The 2004r.our Cheaper Stage 1 2004(1699) Comes Standard With The Billet Drum .all Builders Should Offer That As Well.its Cheap Insurance Against Being Stuck On The Side Of The Road With No Movement In Drive Or Reverse.i Laugh When I See A 2000 Trans Without A Billet Drum.ive Seen Them Even Higher Priced Than That As Well.im Not Picking On Anyone Here Either But If You Want To Sell Units Around Here Youd Better Put In The Drums Or This Is The Kind Of Crap That Happens :d
fast eddie
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Brian
Both offer a Billet drums,but most won't pay the extra money for it. also when trans builders advise you to put a trans cooler or use a certain converter and you don't listen to them and you have trans failures,your the only one to blame!
( If I made Billet part I would put them In all of my transmissions too)
Ed
Both offer a Billet drums,but most won't pay the extra money for it. also when trans builders advise you to put a trans cooler or use a certain converter and you don't listen to them and you have trans failures,your the only one to blame!
( If I made Billet part I would put them In all of my transmissions too) Ed
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