This brings back great memories.... I'll never forget the looks on the faces of small engine repair shops "you think you are going to do what?" , "you can't do that, it won't work"....and so on. I found one shop here in Iowa City, the guy would talk to me all day about it if I had the time. He literally had shelves and stacks and piles of engines, whole and parted out all over his shop. He'd walk me by the shelves and point out what he could do without, then point at entire piles of engines, usually waist high from the floor, and say 'take all you want of those'...and so on. He never wants a dime. I swear he's been ready to pay me to fill the 8' box of my truck with his 'junk' and take it away.

Most of my experience with these shops are like you've all explained above, but keep stopping in when you run across a different one and strike up some conversation. Some really good shops are out there, with some great people willing to sit and swap stories, tips and tricks.