My Build: The Good, The Bad & The Progress
I agree...time to drop some names 
or a partial refund.
11-26-2008, 05:29 AM
#23
The Teardown
The sellers forum ID is Concept350Z if you want to have some fun, search his threads started and see what happened when he tried to stiff Kevin (specialized5223) on his oil cooler, check his i-trader feedback as well 
. When I delt with the seller, he has a positive i-trader rating (I had none) and 185 posts. The number of sale threads started made everything look like a legit part out.
So after a few days Frank calls me and says he has some bad news, the motor looked like it was assembled in a body shop and there were signs of a sloppy build everywhere. The bolt holding the bent pulley was so over-torqued Frank had to heat it with a torch to remove it. The main issue was with the bearings, it appeared as though they were not clean when installed and showed significant signs of grooving, uneven wear and overheating. Frank was a champ and documented everything for me and kept me up to speed via e-mail pic and pics to my phone. This is what I got
:
. When I delt with the seller, he has a positive i-trader rating (I had none) and 185 posts. The number of sale threads started made everything look like a legit part out.So after a few days Frank calls me and says he has some bad news, the motor looked like it was assembled in a body shop and there were signs of a sloppy build everywhere. The bolt holding the bent pulley was so over-torqued Frank had to heat it with a torch to remove it. The main issue was with the bearings, it appeared as though they were not clean when installed and showed significant signs of grooving, uneven wear and overheating. Frank was a champ and documented everything for me and kept me up to speed via e-mail pic and pics to my phone. This is what I got
:
11-26-2008, 05:40 AM
#24
Registered User
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Location: Texas, Arizona,Cayman Island
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I will get the gang together and go hunting 
You are doing a good thing....Others will learn from this and only buy big ticket items from someone that is really known on here or the build was done by a well known shop. I hate to see threads turn out this way.
You are doing a good thing....Others will learn from this and only buy big ticket items from someone that is really known on here or the build was done by a well known shop. I hate to see threads turn out this way.
11-26-2008, 05:45 AM
#25
A few more:
So basically the motor turned out to be a complete diaster. Frank continued to tear down to a bare block and came to find out that the cylinders were slightly out of round (luckily tight, not loose) and that the block had been scuffed along the crank most likely from a careless clamp down during the machining process. The oil sqirters were intact, but the locator pins were broken off during disassembly because they were over torqued during install. Frank recommended sending that motor to a shop to have the cylinders fully spec'd top to bottom to see if there was enough material for a clean up bore or if the block needed to be scrapped completely. The block would also need to be line honed as well to remove the clamp marks.
So basically the motor turned out to be a complete diaster. Frank continued to tear down to a bare block and came to find out that the cylinders were slightly out of round (luckily tight, not loose) and that the block had been scuffed along the crank most likely from a careless clamp down during the machining process. The oil sqirters were intact, but the locator pins were broken off during disassembly because they were over torqued during install. Frank recommended sending that motor to a shop to have the cylinders fully spec'd top to bottom to see if there was enough material for a clean up bore or if the block needed to be scrapped completely. The block would also need to be line honed as well to remove the clamp marks.
11-26-2008, 06:03 AM
#27
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wow, rarely do i join on these threads...but I have to keep up on this one.
Sorry about your luck so far man...i'm hoping you at least got SOME of your money back from that scumbag...
Sorry about your luck so far man...i'm hoping you at least got SOME of your money back from that scumbag...
11-26-2008, 07:29 AM
#30
Registered User
I tried your same route years back on my Z31 turbo with the same outcome. Learned my lesson........3 years, and a battle in court and the builder had to buy my car (which they had parted out already anyway).
Good luck with the build. And remember Patience and research pay off in the end.
Tom
Good luck with the build. And remember Patience and research pay off in the end.
Tom
11-26-2008, 08:16 AM
#31
I tried your same route years back on my Z31 turbo with the same outcome. Learned my lesson........3 years, and a battle in court and the builder had to buy my car (which they had parted out already anyway).
You are doing a good thing....Others will learn from this and only buy big ticket items from someone that is really known on here or the build was done by a well known shop. I hate to see threads turn out this way.
11-26-2008, 09:35 AM
#33
well you still have over 2000$ to play with as thats what a new motor woulda cost extra. even with the set backs you'll still be way ahead of the game, plus you have your stock motor you can sell for even more money.
and its winter, so no rush for a few months anyhow.
and its winter, so no rush for a few months anyhow.
11-26-2008, 12:04 PM
#35
The Re-Build
At Frank's suggestion we had the heads sent out to a specialty shop. They are currently in the care of Dave at Head Games Motorworks in Trenton, NJ. I spoke with Dave briefly and he said that there has been head work done, but not by anyone with any talent. I opted for a complete teardown of the heads as well and went with a 5-angle valve job and a radius on the exhaust something (too technical). Dave also said he found the valves were not seated correctly, but all will be well when he is done and the heads should easily hold 20+lbs of boost. Head repairs - $1200-1400 depending on how many new buckets need to be purchased.
http://www.headgamesmotorworks.net/ Dave 609-882-3211
Since the motor was in pieces anyway, I decided something needed to be done about the horrific color that it had been painted. Karl (ibkarlito) had very politely confirmed my suspicions that it was indeed "very ugly" when we met at Frank's. The front and rear timing chain covers, valve covers, intake (the piece under the lower plenum), upper plenum and a few other goodies were taken up to a powder coater in Mechanicsburg, PA. Lots of pics and a huge plug for him later
.
http://www.headgamesmotorworks.net/ Dave 609-882-3211
Since the motor was in pieces anyway, I decided something needed to be done about the horrific color that it had been painted. Karl (ibkarlito) had very politely confirmed my suspicions that it was indeed "very ugly" when we met at Frank's. The front and rear timing chain covers, valve covers, intake (the piece under the lower plenum), upper plenum and a few other goodies were taken up to a powder coater in Mechanicsburg, PA. Lots of pics and a huge plug for him later
.
11-26-2008, 12:29 PM
#36
On a slightly lighter note, here is what happens when your wife checks the paypal account for something she ordered and sees your $5250 motor purchase that you failed to mention. You end up with these to teach you a lesson 
Needless to say, another lesson has been learned the hard way.
Needless to say, another lesson has been learned the hard way.
11-26-2008, 12:34 PM
#37
Registered User
On a slightly lighter note, here is what happens when your wife checks the paypal account for something she ordered and sees your $5250 motor purchase that you failed to mention. You end up with these to teach you a lesson
Attachment 216904 Attachment 216905
Needless to say, another lesson has been learned the hard way.
Attachment 216904 Attachment 216905
Needless to say, another lesson has been learned the hard way.
by the boss!!!
11-26-2008, 12:50 PM
#39
Wow . When i was down getting my car tuned at dave's me and Jon asked to be present when he's tuning it etc... this thing should def. be a beast !!!! can't wait to get a ride in it !!! ( if thats aight ) Good luck man.
