I wanted to post my experiences with Richard Casto / Blue Sky Motorsports.

I shipped my transmission down to Richard to get rebuilt after experiencing grinding in first and binding in second, plus some other trans weirdness. Richard sent me detailed instructions on how to remove the trans while leaving the engine in the car (don't believe Haynes when they say you can't do that!). He was also available for telephone support when I had a question during the removal process. For anyone interested, the bottom 2 fasteners holding the trans to the engine are STUDS and the top 2 are BOLTS.

After the tear-down, Richard took very detailed pictures of my internals and described the condition of every part to me. He then presented me with a variety of options for replacing parts ranging from shoestring budget to "won the lottery." After I chose what to replace, he provided some excellent used parts at very reasonable prices to save me some money.

I got the transmission back and installed and was so pumped to drive the car. Well, after my frist drive, I was experiencing some problems with binding in first gear and leaks around the output flanges. With Richard's help over email and phone, I went through the car meticulously and checked torque on all the fasteners to ensure I hadn't done something incorrectly. At a certain point, he decided he needed to get a look for himself.

So, he drove from Durham NC to Boston MA to help me work on my car!! (For all you left-coasters, that's a 13 hour ride.)

We took the trans out, replaced the output flange seals, replace the clutch fork ball bushing and added a few washers under the ball. It turns out the PO had the flywheel resurfaced and never put the spacer washers in, and thus, my clutch was never fully disengaging. This explains why all my synchro rings were so worn!

Anyway, we got the car all sorted and back together and we went for a test drive, and all was well. To celebrate, we drank some beers in downtown Boston with some of my work buddies. I also drove the car into work and am so pleased with how well the car was shifting this morning. It felt good to give the car some love and drive the crap out of it.

Richard is a class act and stands behind his work. I certainly wouldn't expect house calls like this as a routine thing, but I would not hesitate to have him work on my car. In fact, Richard is the only person to have turned a wrench or driven my car besides me since I've owned it!

(Well, Ray did help me with my first valve adjust.)

Just wanted to share my experiences for anyone contemplating a trans rebuild. I feel I got my money's worth and more, and made a good friend in the process.

Attached is a pic of the pumpkin after a bath and wax yesterday. Ready for driving season!

Thanks Richard!!

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1 more picture. Felt good to get the grease off of her after doing all the winter work.

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Nice to read this type of report instead of the negative threads that have plagued the site over the last several months. Hats off to Richard. This is above and beyond customer serve. BTW: The car looks outstanding!

There are some good people left in this world !!!

Jack / Jaxdream

Rich,
Great story! Great looking car! Hope to see it up close sometime.
There's something about signal orange........
Don

A'll 2nd that remark!

Please add MATTMAN in Vermont - He's been a god-send and sounds like he and BlueSky should be networking their dark arts...

Don
The pictures make it look cleaner than it is -- up close her "character" comes out

Rich,

Thanks for the Kudos! Your car is beautiful and a joy to drive. I think the best thing about me driving up to help out was that it ended a long dry spell for me with respect to driving a 914. Mine has been torn apart for a number of years now and I realized I had a huge grin on my face while driving. It was fun enough that I quickly forgot about the pain from stuffing myself (my hips are too wide) into your non-stock seat!! That quick successful 20 minute drive made the entire trip worth it. I think anyone who is stuck in a funk with their own car (on jackstands) just needs to take a quick ride in a friends 914 to bring back the passion. I know you also had a laugh of watching do my dance to position all 6’5” of myself into the car.

I took two days off from work to make it happen and I am still a bit wiped out this morning. It was a long drive both ways and I can’t promise I will do this on a regular basis for other people, but I do try to do my best to make sure everyone is happy. You have had the most difficult post rebuild install by far of all my customers. So after the back and forth emails and phone calls, I finally realized there was only one way to resolve this was to drive up and see it in person. It was also a great excuse for a road trip. It was a real tour of the northeast. I hit Richmond, DC, Baltimore, NYC and Boston. My wife is an IKEA fan and I think I passed three stores on the trip. I was also impressed at the beauty of Connecticut and Massachusetts as it reminded me a bit of where I grew up. The traffic and quantity of toll roads however reminds me why I like the southeast! I also had a great time Saturday night in downtown Boston. I got a kick out of there being four “Richards” in a single group. It made it really easy to remember everyone’s names.

As you mentioned it was clear once we looked at it that you were not getting enough travel of the arm when pushing in your clutch (that arm would hit the edge of the opening in the bell-housing). So shimming the pivot ball out a bit, plus a brand new plastic socket for the ball solved that problem. The leak on both flanges is still a bit of a mystery to me, but we pulled out the brand new seals and put in a new set of brand new seals and the leak seems to be gone. Lastly as we have talked a bit about, with you having three brand new synchro rings (1st, 2nd and 3rd), those rings are very tight and require more effort to compress during the final stage of the process of shifting into gear. The very last thing that happens after the speed difference has been resolved and the dog teeth have meshed is that the ring must be compressed so that it can pop into the grove machined in the inner circumference of the slider. That is why you feel so much more effort in those gears (particularly 1st from a standstill) vs. 4th and 5th (which have older rings). When I drove it, it felt as I expected it should be.

Continue to drive and enjoy and let me know how it goes. Over time those new rings should relax a bit and it will require less effort to get it to pop into that grove on each shift.

Richard

Richard
My car is beautiful as long as you are standing in the "beautiful zone," which is about a 5' radius around its perimeter...or, of course, from the driver's seat

The car is a joy to drive because of your help.

You also turned me on to the magic of ratcheting wrenches -- how the *&?! did I live without them??

Glad you made it home safe and you are welcome to take my car out anytime.
Rich

I agree, great story and kudos to Richard for making it right!!
Way to go Richard. By the way, hope the rough weather isn't affecting you. News says it can be bad back that way
I am from back that way ( South Boston,VA.) and have a brother that lives in Roxboro, N.C., rest of family in VA.
Tom

Awesome post! Its always great when you solve a mystery from a PO, like your clutch not fully engaging. I am guilty of causing havok for subsequent owners, too. I installed Hydraulic lifters on my 914 since it was a daily driver getting lots of miles.

Didn't tell the buyer when I sold it, whcih frustrated the heck out of the next two owners.

As for ratcheting wrenches, I thought they were a gimmick until I tried one. So last fathers day I got the Craftsman metric and standard sets. Love them!! and I will never loan them out!

Because Richard is such a good guy is why I dont consider him competition. Rather, he is a worthy resource.

He was a product of the EvilWerks dojo

For the future - dragging gears = flywheel dimension differences. This will be evidenced with 1, 2, 3 rings being bad

Richard, congrats....great looking car, now drive it.

Castro...great and outstanding customer support.
Why did you not tell me you were up here..you could have left with a trunk full of gears....

Rich

Awesome

Hey Rich,

I know about that 5' look. I think the same things, having a car that is virtually a match to yours!

They just aren't 6 months old any more.

And NICE that Richard could do so much for you. Sometimes I miss the East Coast, especially when it comes to 914's and treeshaded roads that are dry and clean.

What are the last 5 vin numbers? Mine are 01102. Made in August 72 but an early 73 Model year.

I have the Fuch's off the car and put these EMPI's on after refinishing. The Fuch's are next.

And yes, I have not removed the dealer dent strips yet.

Congrats on all gears working!

John

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nice looker....get rid of the strips...

Someday I will. The strips cannot be seen from the driver's seat!

For now, I don't want to strip it and repaint it. Don't believe anyone can remove them and truly get the filling and paint right.

I will pull it all apart at once and redo the engine, tranny and paint.

2014?

Right now, I just drive it. Did 80 miles yesterday!



John

that is the spirit.

I wanted to keep this thread up top to allow others to think about using Rick for any work needed...
Customer service at that level deserves a boost in ratings...

Rich

Oh, well, next time I will put the word out regarding travel plans. I brought a spare transmission with me up/back "just in case", but still had plenty of room in the trunk to bring stuff back home with me.

And thanks for the bump!

Richard

NP, more than you deserved for coming up and servicing a client.

.....nice ride!....glad you had a good repair experience!!
(drive on!!)