This is kinda long but maybe someone will know what to look out for or learn a thing or two for future experiences. As a quick thought I have been wanting to get a v-8 for oh close to 30 years now and well just when I thought my goal would come true it became very messy real quick. I purchased a worn out farm truck a couple of months ago and liked it because it was originally the ideal truck power everything, carbed 351, c 6, posi 355 rear doesn't get much better. I wanted a carb model for the ease of tuning etc. especially for someone who is getting started like myself. Well the motor was worn out but ran fine just low oil pressure so I checked my options engine rebuild or get my hands dirty and redo the crank etc. well I get a call from my brother and he says you won't believe this there is a new business out where we used to live and the sign says engine remanufacturing, so I get their number and sure enough they are new to the town (kinda odd being this is a fairly small town by todays standards) and ready for business.


Here is where it get's interesting. I talk to the fellow and he wants what advance wanted to do a rebuild and I thought that sounded great and it even came with a two year warranty. I think it over a day or so and then call him back and ask about options and he says well you let me know what you want and we can probably substitute parts and it won't cost much more if anything at all. So I ask what about installing 194/160 valves since you are gonna redo the heads anyway, no problem. What about cam options and he replied give me the specs and the company I work with can probably match it so I get some specs of a 4X4 torque cam and give them to him he says no problem, I mentioned that with that kinda lift it would need to be shimed or adjustable valvetrain would be needed, so I said could you replace the pedastal rockers with older studs and tap the holes and throw them in for me or at least shim it, no problem. So I call back the next day and he says it will cost the same, so I said do it sounds good. A week goes by and at that point I have pulled the motor cleaned everything that would be reused on the longblock and I am ready to do this. My brother came by and picked up the old motor and I finished cleaning a couple of things and 30 minutes later he pulls in I look at the heads and notice they are pedastal and it has not been shimed, first thought they know what they are doing and maybe they didn't get quite the lift I was looking for maybe they could only get an RV cam so it didn't require the adjustable valve train besides I want to install this thing and see what it does (mistake). My brother leaves and well after working on it for about a day by myself (had to take frequent breaks I was doing this outside and to be blunt it was hot as hell out there) I had it in and ready to fire. I fire it up and it is making a ticking sound which I knew was the lifters pumping up no problem I let it idle for about 20 minutes then drive it easily for about 5 and shut it off felt kinda weak but hey maybe I was expecting too much. The next day I am driving it very easily I might add around all of a sudden I hear a faint knocking and when I get home I notice oil dripping down between the engine and trans, here is the kicker there is about 10 psi of oil pressure I am pissed. I call them no problem bring it down and we will check it out they call me back and say that some silicone I had used on the oil pan had blocked the releif valve on the oil pump open and was causing the low psi he states he wants money for doing the work and it is all my fault so I replied how the hell did the silicone get past the pump screen and he states it was a small piece ( what puzzled me was say I did use too much silicone it was hot the day I used it and well it was hardening quickly and I didn't start the motor until the next day because the oil pump was the second thing I put on next to the timing cover and I worked half a day then finished it up the next day so I had a hard time swallowing that one but figured he only wanted $70 and I know it took some work to get up under it and take the pump out) but then I ask about the knocking and leak and he checks it out and calls me the next day and says don't worry about the $70 we are gonna rebuild the motor WHAT? I asked him why he sent me a two piece seal block and he stated that it was an 87 block and I said fellow they stopped making 2 piece in 83 and he didn't know what to say, it goes down hill from here. So he stated he would rebuild my original block with new parts and install it for me since it was their problem sounds good he also stated they changed the seal and it still leaked the reason for the rebuild? but it was a small leak I could drive it until they get the new motor done, no sooner than I had gotten it home everything under the truck was covered with oil and it was knocking like you wouldn't believe, so it is undrivable in my opinion but figure the new motor will be done and this will end. A week later I drop the truck off and the end of the following week they say come and get it. I get it and well it is still knocking but it does it at 2000 rpm consistantly so I figure timing so I mess with the timing and nothing works I do a vacuum test on everything to make sure there is no vacuum on the carb at idle and on the engine to see if it is causing an indirect problem nope everything is okay so I richen the carb and still nothing works I finally did a compression test and it was reasonable meaning the rings seemed okay. I am at a loss so finally I call summit and they said to take each spark plug loose one at a time and see if any thing happens well the knock went away on the #2 cylinder. Realizing it is definitely an internal problem I call the engine company and give them a piece of my mind without being too unreasonable and they say that cannot be right so they will look at it. I drop the truck off and a week goes by and no call (poor customer service) finally I call and they say it is a spun bearing but the reason it is taking so long is they are micing everything ( shouldn't that be standard procedure??) but the engine is done so I called the next day at the end of the day figureing they should be done and asked if they were done well we are puting the radiator in I say give me a call and I will come and get it, well they didn't call and this is friday and well I spent the weekend pissed because they had the nerve to just blow me off knowing I was under the impression they would be done who wouldn't. Then agian they didn't call monday either so finally I call and speak to the owner and well he actually got defensive when I asked if they acutually found the leak so I hung up. I went and picked the truck up and started it and low and behold the damn steering wheel wouldn't turn, they had let it run out which happened to me when I installed the engine but they didn't even tell me so I am still not satisfied I get home and double check the timing and idle speed they seem to thing 1000-1500 is the ideal idle speed so I set it down to 650 and happen to notice the hose to the a/c condensor is broke off from the condensor I was actually going to take the a/c off anyway but man these people are by far the worst I have come across, I was gonna complain but I have yet to hear an I am sorry or anything and constantly they give off the vibe I have done something wrong yet everything I have shown them they have fixed because it was a real problem because of their neglegence. Forgot to mention that there was a time before the last one when they fixed the bearing I had taken it to them for the leak once again and they had traced it to the back of the intake one of his employees had used silicone on the small gasket that goes in the valley/ center section of the intake yeah I laughed at his *** for that one becuase he made such a big deal about my use of the silicone on the oil pan gasket, needless to say it was leaking from there yet was still leaking from the rear main becuase of the spun bearing which at one point he tried to tell me the sound was from the transmission and I should check that out oh yeah he told me the first knocking sound on the first engine was something rattling on my truck. The engine finally stopped leaking and shows good oil pressure and makes no knocking sounds at this point. However, they ran the truck with no power steering fluid and broke the a/c condensor without telling me any different, not to mention all this consumed 2 months of my life what a waste. Just a thought when looking for an engine they may have 10 employees and all the right equipment and talk a good game but by all means go with someone you know, I went with them becuase they promised things that could not be given if I ordered from say advance auto or a similar place yet they did not deliver the final motor they builtwas all stock by their admission yet still ran better than the crap they give me the first time, I will be talking to the local BBB. Good luck with your projects and don't let anyone discourage you I am let down but will continue to fulfill my goal just with better qualified people. I write this so people who may not know can have an idea of worst case scenario to expect and this way there shouldn't be any surprises. Thank you for your time

 

Judging from the attitude of the shop you used, sounds like they won't be in business long.

I know how you feel. I has a 1969 Mustang with a 302 and a C4 transmission. When the engine finally had 300,000 miles on it and the oil pressure was too low I decide to rebuild it. Some things you just can't do in your garage, you have to send them out. I did my research and found the best machine shops in town to recondition the major parts. Head went to a head shop that did an excellent job. Had hardened valves and valve seat put in for unleaded gas, the whole nine yards. Block and crank went to a machine shop that I've used in the past that has always done top notch work. Cam, connecting rods, pistons and rings were on order. When the pistons, pins and connecting rod arrived, I took them to a local machine shop that I had never used before. They were just down the street, new business, clean shop area. I figured how hard could it be to press a pin into a piston? So I dropped off the parts and went on my merry way. A buddy and I spent several weekends working putting the engine back toghter. Blueprinted the whole lower end to get everything as close as possible. Reinstalled the engine and started the breaking in process. Well the engine didn't run very well, the new cam was a lot hotter then the stock cam so vacuum leaks were far more apparent. The throttle plate bores were worn out and leaking badly. Never noticed it before the rebuild, but the new engine was much tighter now so leaks were very noticeable. I got tired of messing with it so I finally took it to an auto shop that specializes in Mustangs. The mechanic went through 4 carb bodies before he finally found one that didn't leak. Finally, the car was ready to be picked up. I was really looking forward to driving this car to see how it preformed with the new engine and carb setup. At this point I had less then 2,000 miles on it. While I was at the front desk paying the bill, the mechanic was in back doing some last minute adjustments. I could hear him revving the engine, then I heard a loud knocking, then silence. The mechanic showed up in the front desk and said you better come look at this. My heart sank, I knew something was very wrong. The engine just stopped, it would not crank at all. At first we thought it was water locked, but after pulling all the spark plugs, the engine was still seized. Number 3 spark plug has some specks of aluminum on it when we pulled it, not a good sign. After pulling the head the truth was reviled. The piston in the number 3 cylinder totally destroyed. All that left was some chunk of metal and a rod with a piston pin on it. The block was trashed, the piston pin had destroyed the cylinder wall beyond any hope of repair. The valves and valve seats were damaged but repairable. I had spent over $2,500 and several weeks pouring my heart and soul into this engine rebuild. The shop owner felt for me and cut me a deal on fixing the motor, he only charged me for parts. I had my suspicions and told him I wanted to inspect all the pistons before reinstalling them. Sure enough, 4 of the remains 7 pistons had cracks around where the piston pin were press into the piston. One had a crack that was almost an inch long going across the piston skirt. The new machine shop down the street were I had the piston done screwed up and pressed the pin in wrong. The attitude of the owner of the machine shop was, "you can't prove it". When I left the shop after talking with the worthless owner, I noticed that the machinists were around back smoking a joint and getting high. Oh great, a couple of f**king potheads f**ked up my engine. A few months later they had a major drug bust at that shop. Apparently one of the machines was selling dope to some of the local high school kids. A year or so later the whole shop went out of business. Moral of the story, stick with a shop that is established and has an excellent reputation. I figured pressing piston pins in was an easy job that any one could do. So instead of taking the job to the shop that did my block, I took it to the new guy down the street because it was convenient. I eventually got the Mustang back toghter, it drove great and then I sold it and got a truck. Can’t haul lumber and yards of dirt very well in the trunk of a Mustang.

Dan

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune as well. My brother had his motor done by a fellow an hour or so away and he said he would do it for 500 more than these guys another reason why I went with these morons, closer and cheaper. The shop I passed up does mainly race motors and they sell a bunch of motors a day these guys are booming with business so they must be doing something right, my brother had a BB chevy built by them and he has had zero problems for over two years and I would say that paid for itself right there. Trust me I have regret that choice from the first day I drove the first motor and it knocked like crazy. My main problem is the owners were gone the entire time the motor was rebuilt the last time (I know because one of the employees told me) and when I state things are wrong the owners try and tell me all they have done for me. Good for the employee bad for the customers is an owner who will back his employee not knowing what kinda half *** work they are doing. Appreciate the reply good luck in the future