"It was hard to get going because we reopened a business that did not have a good reputation," he said. "Basically, we did a lot of advertising in the local paper, letting people know that we were here to serve and earn people's trust."

Although the first six months of business were a challenge, Randolph said that because he takes pride in his work and spends the extra time to make sure things are clean and the job is done right, he has made a good name for himself, and the word has spread.

That news spread quickly and to areas beyond general automotive, Randolph said. His location in a rural community close to Truman Lake and Lake of the Ozarks brings in both agricultural and marine engines, he said.

"We don't try to specialize in any one given field of engines," he said. "We try to keep it very broad. We do marine, agricultural engines, and race engines."

Randolph said his wife takes care of office managerial duties and that he and his son-in-law, Robert Hayes, perform all the machine work. During busy times, he said he also brings in two part-time machinists.

Randolph said doing a broad range of work keeps the job interesting, and it also acts as a safety net. For example, marine and agricultural work was down significantly from the previous year, he said, and not solely due to economic reasons.

"The weather this year played a big role in several ways," he said. "For one, the high-end marinas that we do a lot of business with were slow because it rained every weekend for about three months straight. I thought originally that it was the fuel prices, but the marinas were telling me that it was more the weather than anything else."

Continual rain also played a role in the early decline of agricultural business, Randolph said.

"Farmers couldn't get their crops and therefore were not breaking things," he said. "So farmers not being able to get into their fields kind of hurt us for awhile. Finally, once the fields started to dry out, we saw an increase in the agricultural business, but the marine business was definitely down this year."

Although that work was down, Randolph said business from independent customers on "fence-row cars" was steady due to rising gas prices.

Fence-row cars, he said, are those that broke down and were parked, but, as the economy slowed, owners decided to fix them rather than buy a new car.

"People can't afford to go buy vehicles, so they are pulling cars out that have been abandoned because a head gasket blew or something went wrong, and they discovered that it is cheaper to get that car fixed than buy a new car," he said.

That has led to a lot of cylinder-head work including valve jobs, resurfacing, and checking for cracks, Randolph said.

Cylinder-head work is ideal, he said, because he can complete eight to 10 each day, which is good volume and good money.

Complete engine rebuilds on the other hand represent a small portion of business at K&C and is predominantly done on race and agricultural engines, Randolph said. 

"We don't do too many complete, assembled engines anymore," he said. "I can almost buy engines cheaper from Jasper than I can build one for, and I have no liability."

Randolph said he sells about one Jasper engine every month and said Jasper is a company that stands behind its product.
"Jasper's service after the sale is unbelievable, and that means a lot to me because we have had a lot of problems with other engine companies not standing behind their warranty," he said. "I had a problem with a Jasper engine once, and they had a new engine sitting on my doorstep the next day." 

Parts sales also make up a portion of the business pie, Randolph said, adding that he uses Sterling Bearing and Agricultural & Industrial Supply as suppliers.

"We don't try to get rich off our parts sales," he said. "We would like to compete more in the parts market, but the competition is tough, and the Internet really hurts the small parts shop business."

Another struggle Randolph said he and other small machine shops face is OE manufacturers developing parts at minimum specifications.

"The manufacturers are making things at minimum spec, so heads cannot be resurfaced because they are already at minimum, so a customer has to buy new."

Parts are also being made that lack quality, which means the machinist has to focus more time on thorough inspection of products to make sure sizes are consistent, Randolph said.

"Even companies like Sealed Power--all the pistons are made in Mexico or India," he said. "We never had a single problem with pistons from Sealed Power until they started coming in with India stamps on them. These companies are sacrificing quality for profits."

The companies are not completely to blame, he said, but because of Americans' desire for inexpensive products.

"We have complained for years--cheaper, cheaper, cheaper--but how much cheaper can you get before you start to sacrifice quality, and we see that now," he said.

At K&C, quality control cannot be stressed enough, he said, adding that he thoroughly looks over his work, because it is imperative to get his customers the product right to ensure that there are no problems on his end.