Engine Builder screwed up

[coolcarz]

Hey guys, if you took your 1971 340 orignal motor for car to a machinist/engine builder and to just have new bearings and rings , balanced, new cam ,lifters ,push rods ,your block is in great shape, cylinders only need polished the old pistons in great shape,rods ,crank great shape, get heads done SS valves and spring great, you know, doing the stuff that needs to be done just fresh'n up the motor.. and 250 miles later is sucks valve and bends push rod, valve hits piston that is not all, find tons of stuff wrong, from rocker shafts on wrong way to loose timing chain , torque wrong on heads , rocker shafts, rod and pistons replaced in wrong cylinders. cylinder walls scuffed and scratched bad , ground my heads to where they are no good , he wants to fix them!!! to much to list.... my heart is crushed.... he wanted me to give him another chance, and have me help him $%^$!%#$%@#!!#% can you believe this guy!!!!!! i said no , wanted money back and damages, please read my other post asking questions.. in 5 angle valve, and 71 340 heads brass ......would any of you give this guy another chance, im in CA im sure i dont have a obligation to give him another chance at rolling the dice, not 1 thing correct on the dang motor.. he wants to try again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im sure ill have more post going up........

[b-1ken]

He wants another chance? What makes him think he'll get it right the second time around, unless he screwed it up the first time on purpose?

[amxauto-x]

no way!! get your money back and run away!
Where is Rosamond? what big city? Somebody has to know a good shop.

[amxauto-x]

I left a message for a Mopar guy on another web site. Hopefully he'll answer soon. He lives in Calif. LA area I think.

Norwalk, Ca.

[darren509]

Absolutely not !! Dont let him waste a good 340. That motor is not a dime a dozen 350 chebbie !!!!!!! If your anywhere near Sonoma County CA I will give you a short list a good shops and the number of our clubs guru- 9 second 68 charger.

[Fig]

Rosamond is just north of Lancaster, maybe 1 1/2 hours north east of Los Angeles. Dick Landy and Keith Black are both local as well as some guy in Westminster who is supposed to be a good mopar guy.

Good Luck

[amxauto-x]

Mike Young has a resto shop in Norwalk. He's a Mopar guy. I'm waiting for him to answer my e-mail. I don't know where Norwalk is.

[myoung]

Hi coolcarz, Tom(amxautox) e-mailed me about your dilema. Man that sucks, sorry to hear what happened. I'm not too familiar with the Rosamond/Lancaster area, but I would look for either a performance parts shop or cruise night hang-out in the area to see if anyone knows of any local shops that specialize in perfomance motor work.

To be honest, i've been going to the same shop for machine work and balancing work on any motor I've rebuilt, be it Mopar, GM, or Ford, for a long time now. I've always done my own assy. work so I've never run into the kind of problems you have. The problem with the place I go to is that for you it's a bit of a drive. The place I go to is Reath Automotive in the Long Beach area in the city of Signal Hill. I live in Norwalk but my shop is in Long Beach so Reath is nice and close. Another place that other people I know take they're stuff to is Speed-O-Motive, I think they're in Whittier or somewhere close to it.

There are actually quite a few performance engine builers in the L.A. area, you just have to figure out how to find them. Next time you find your way to a car show or swap meet look for the Drive magazine that gets handed out here and there, they're free. A lot of local L.A. area shops advertising in there, I'm sure there would probably be someone in the north part of L.A. or maybe lower central Cali. that would be reasonably close to you.

You definately need to go to a different shop for the second time around. As has been said, if he couldn't get it right the first time, he probably won't get it right the second time. The only thing I can figure is that this guy was either in an incredible hurry to get your engine together and just didn't pay any kind of attention to what he was doing, or he is the dumbest engine builder alive and doesn't know that engines have to be put together correctly and can't just be thrown together while crossing his fingers. The worst part about it is that the whole thing probably went to hell in a handbasket because of a 10 cent valve keeper installed incorrectly while the guy was just slamming through the head assy, or something stupid like that. I hope this clown didn't cause any unrepairable damage and you can still get it fixed properly.

Good luck, Mike

[jimm II]

Get your money back and damages paid;......... the machinest can make his reputation on someone else's BUCK. Head 180 degrees from this company as fast as possible.
The guys on this board can give you some pretty good leads to shops close by you... Good Luck...with the 340...

[cuda66273]

....no wonder I'm so busy.....

This Guy sounds like a real rocket scientist.

You'll probably have to fight to get your money back, as far as damages...you'll be in front of Judge Judy and even then if you get a judgement good luck collecting.

Another Chevy Shop .......