I too have been away from the automotive machining scene for too many years to count, but I do remember the great jobs that came out of the shop I used all the time. Every part they ever did for me was picture perfect and the old guy they had working in the shop was an old world master. A few years after the machine shop closed I found him down in an older section of town with all of the machinery that the parts house had, still turning out some seriously beautiful work. He never retired, he had a massive MI and died one day at work while turning a crankshaft, but had the presence of mind to turn off the machine before he slipped away. In the few years I spent getting to know him he taught me so many things that it was simply amazing. He had such a vast and deep knowledge of automotive machine work that he was sought out to solve every one else's "unsolvable" problems. He is sorely missed even today some 30 years later, because he was a one in a billion kind of fellow who would bend over backwards to help anybody he could. Unfortunately the machine tools went at auction for next to nothing and his estate spent the next ten years in probate, but he did leave a legacy behind in his youngest son who I hear is becoming quite the aerospace caliber machinist on his own. Time will tell if he remains in the field or moves into something more lucrative since he did get a degree in engineering from the University of Fla in the mid 80's, and he is getting on up in years. Auto machining is hard physical labor even with all the lifting and materials handling equipment available and it isn't really an old mans sport anymore... One thing the old man did teach me was, You will never get rich doing this, but you will feed and raise a family nicely and have a comfortable place to lay your head at night. Truer words where never spoken.
Bob