I hope you guys don¹t take this the wrong way, but ³crate² engines are production engines, as in you get a bunch of parts and assemble them. If you had an engine ³built² the block and every part that went into the engine would be measured and the assembly would be as accurate as the person doing the work. This takes time, requires mock ups and the parts chosen are those of the highest quality for the type of engine being built, all of which costs money. I¹m sure this is not the first crate engine to develop a problem and it will never be the last. Ed
From: Rick Schaefer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: The Chevelle Mailing List <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 13:35:40 -0500 To: The Chevelle Mailing List <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Chevelle-list] Hi-Tech Don't be sorry. First it was probably good to get it off your chest, and second we all need to be aware of both good & bad experiences with suppliers. Hindsight is 20/20, but I know from experience that if possible order from your local supplier. Problems are usually resolved better/faster when face to face with someone. And I'm certainly glad to hear that in the end you'll be getting what you want. Hopefully you'll be on the road soon. On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Chuck Speake <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Hello Everyone, > > To start off, sorry for this being so long, but there is a lot to it and I > want to get this out to as many people as I possibly can as I feel I have > ripped off. > > I bought one of the crate engines from year one that they are advertising in > the different car magazines and listed on their web sight. It was a 350ci, > 411hp with ported Vortec heads. This is by no means a slam on Year One, they > have been extremely cooperative thru my entire problem, and have said they are > giving me a full refund (I haven't seen that yet but it is only a couple of > days). > > Once the engine and transmission (700R4 with shift kit) was installed I drove > the car home out on the street one time for a total of at the most 20 miles > and did not get on it hard any of the time(I wanted to, but restrained > myself). I was about 3 miles down the road on my way back to DRC Performance > Transmissions (who has been doing all the work for me and is great for > transmissions and engines) when I started getting a loud knock from the > engine. I immediately pulled over and had the car towed to DRC. Upon taking > off the valve covers he found and the owner of AES engines two doors down also > saw it, the rocker arm studs had started to pull out around #4 cylinder and > caused the rocker arms to become loose and start knocking. Dean at DRC taped > the studs back down (shouldn't have, but hind sight is great) using a brass > punch and adjusted everything to get the car running so he could move it next > door till we could decide what had to be done. Hi-Tech told year one we had > to send the engine back for them to examine and would arrange for someone to > pick it up. We waited over a week and not a word from a truck line. After > bugging them thru Year-One I was told the guy who would have arranged it was > out sick the last week. (Like no one else works for the company) They picked > up the engine last Wednesday and I found out yesterday the results. > > They say there is nothing wrong with the engine except that I painted the > block Chevy Orange. They claim that they did a 250lb pull out test and none > of the studs moved. They said that no one had driven the studs back in as > there were no marks on the studs. Final decision, they feel there is nothing > wrong with the engine, and if I do not want it back they will reassemble it > and paint it black and resell it to the next person ordering that particular > engine. Of course they did not see any marks on the studs, they are hardened > and that is why Dean drove them in until they stopped using a brass punch. > Both Dean and the owner of AES engines said I did not want that engine back as > those studs will pull out again. I checked with Blueprint Engines who > manufactures the engines for Jegs and Summit Racing and for their 350 or 355 > engines with Vortec heads they use screw in studs which is what my people said > should have been in this engine having a roller cam and roller rockers. This > is supposed to be a high performance engine not a mom and dad around town > engine. They have cut corners to put more money into their pockets, and Year > One indicated to me after telling them about Blueprint and their treaded studs > that they were going to look into their engines. SO if anyone is going to buy > the same engine I did from Hi-Tech be ware. > > The story ends up somewhat happy at the end as I am getting an engine from DSR > that is a 350 that is balanced with TRW pistons, double gear timing chain, > high volume oil pump, and Tony the owner of AES Engines is getting for us > aluminum heads, matching manifold, rolling cam, and roller rockers and it may > come in at less money than what I paid for the other engine. So I am actually > coming out with a better motor put together by someone I know and that stands > behind their work. I have lost the money for the labor to remove and now > install the engine a second time. > > Year One has already been billed for the freight to get the engine from DRC in > Elk Grove, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah where they are. Nice people to > deal with. I hope their roof caves in. Lost me a lot of time and money I do > not have, and I guess the studs pulled out sooner than they expected, or at > least before the warranty expired, but didn't matter because all they have to > say is there is nothing wrong with the engine, end of story. > > Year One if I get my money back I can't say anything bad about, they backed up > their products and their company name, I wouldn't deal with Hi-Tech again if > they were the last people on the planet that had the engine I wanted even > though they are advertised by supplying engines to Overhauling on TV. > Probably should contact Overhauling and let them know the kind of people they > are really dealing with. > > Sorry for this being so long. -- Rick Schaefer 72 TPI El Camino
