I like to give recommendations when I receive great service. As most of you know, our transmission started to act up so Ken pulled it out and brought it to a marine transmission shop for them to take a look at. One of the owners of the shop showed us a new damper (for all of you non-gearheads out there, the damper goes between the transmission and the engine) and what to look for to make sure that the damper hadn't gone bad. Our damper was bad and most likely caused the transmission problems. Ken tried to get the damper out but broke two bolts because they had become rusted in place. He tried using an extractor but it broke out in the bolt! UGH! The next step was to lift the engine (yes, LIFT the engine) and try to remove the housing to get the whole flywheel with the broken bolts out. He managed to free up all but one stubborn bolt so we called a mechanic and it took the two of them about an hour to get it out today. What a relief to get that out and off to the machine shop to have those two broken bolts removed.

The shop that has been so responsive and helpful is called Pacwest Marine & Industrial. They are located at 2390 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego 92106. Their phone number is 619-222-0475. We found them by chance and couldn't be happier with their service so far.

It will be about a week before the transmission is rebuilt and ready for installation.