Any experience with MuscleMotors?

I live in Los Angeles. Looking to have a 512 stroker built. Have not had any luck with the local shop many of you pointed me to in just getting a quote. MuscleMotors appears to have good pricing and a good reputation. Any thoughts, please.

Google

Sure, MM has been building stroker motors for at least 20 years so they know their way around a Mopar. But really there should be a ton of shops within driving distance in SoCal that can take care of you. You live in the center of the hot rod industry so you shouldn't need to go 2000 miles for an engine.

Pettis.........760-244-4415............Hesperia Ca

What he said.

Troy, I have emailed you 5-6 times in the last 2 days! I don't know why you can't get my emails but if you are that interested in having us build you an engine, why would you not just call me?

Brian Hafliger

Thanks Brian! I will check my junk email filter perhaps it got screened. I didn't say your name as I wasn't trying to give you or anyone else bad feedback. As you recall I had called you initially and sent you what I was looking for and followed up a couple times since. I will reach out to you again. Thanks for this message.

I sent you a quote back in Jan....! I got a little frustrated and so the last couple of emails I started thinking you were just F'n with me!

I just PM'd you. I figured I was too small time... All's good. I look forward to seeing the quote. I will send you my alternate/work email address now is a PM.

It's always best getting something like this done locally, and I believe Brian has a good reputation. The only times I've been disappointed with having a build done, it was when I sent it long distance. Good luck with your build.

Whats so hard about picking up the darn phone these days, to communicate?

I agree with camastomcat.....keep it local or you could get s c r e w e d

honestly in my dealings with Brian, I'm pretty sure he agree's with this statement 100% and then some...

...I just hate calling people when I know they're busy during the day. Take 10 people, talking for 10 minutes..... that's a lot of productivity time out the window for the most part.

Always find someone close so that you can be involved in the build.You can moniter the progress and payments.It hard to do any thing and your at the mercy of the shop and hard to deal with any issues from a distance.Stay local and build your relationship with your local builder.

IMM, QMP, Pettis, Eric at Jones Engine Development, Dustin Lee Race Engines are all shops in the SoCal area that do good work some not as fast as others but a few of those have very good track records with making power. Also FWIW they are almost all small shops, a couple kinda one man deals so sometimes getting in touch can take some doing but in the end you will be happy. You can google for contact info.

We are good! Thank you guys...

I,2nd QMP Brad or Mike 818 576-0816 and Eric Jones 661 942-3364.Pettis does excellent work also. Never have used him but some buddies have.





Ray

I agree with THIS......use the phone. Guys send me PMs on here, other boards, emails, whatever and get upset if you don't respond in a few minutes it seems like. I rarely check PMs here or anywhere else. I get dozens of emails a day and for whatever reason, many go to junk if my system doesn't recognize address. USE the PHONE. If nothing else, leave a message and I will call you back

My machinist runs a 1 man shop.Most times he is so busy that he has work piled up and will tell you if in a hurry just leave.But its worth the wait.He is one fussy guy.Sometimes he is so particular that its a pain but in the end well worth him being so particular.Get a local guy.Rocky

The focal point is to go to a local joint.

Good luck.

Today, I'd agree...


In days gone by, I'd have had no problem dealing with...

Jim Hale...

Dan Dvorak...

Bob Reed...

Dick Landy...


With the exception of DLI, don't know these other dudes current status...

Best machine racing, Has a new engine program if you are looking for a max effoft na build. Won't be cheap but it will be fast. 565-500 inches, has all of the parts to build one right now. 248-987-6038, talk chuck Wescott intake , crower crank ,wescott cam, Indi block, Indy 600-13x heads ported by Goodwin.

Someone whose name would be familiar to everyone had a bad experience with MM. It was a mistake a child wouldn't make, and happened just prior to an event.
Sorry, I can't give more details other than:
1. give them exact instructions in very clear language: operations, parts to be used, measurements, prices
2. make sure they acknowledge this
3. when you get it back, assume nothing, examine everything.

Maybe they're better now than they were, but that's what I would do.

Well.....23 replies and no one has any MM experiences?

Ok, here's one.

I spent 24K at MM for an engine and it's currently at a different shop, and I'm hoping they can salvage it...true story.

Unfortunately, I've even had "the guy down the street" do poor work and/or charge for work not actually done. Caveat emptor, regardless of how far the shop is from home.

I worked with MM about 12 years ago on main parts for my engine (496B) and just recently on a freshen, EFI tuneup and dyno test. Little bumps were handled smoothly. Very satisfied with the parts, engine work and esp. the EFI tuneup.

Also helps that my basic B engine with Ed heads runs very well... in the car and on the dyno. Summary post attached.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbt...tml#Post2006836

FWIW, I had great customer service from Brian at IMM. 499 Wedge rebuild.

Almost all big shops are capable of doing clean work, and meeting their time constraints - but it's not 100%.

The problem is that you don't know when they're going to do that.
When I put a penny in the machine, I expect a stick of gum every time, not when they feel like it.

They have $20,000 of my money for a hemi. I asked them to hold off on the build to let me finish my new house. They have been very helpful and easy to work with. I will be the biggest cheerleader if treated right. I hope my experience is better than Steve660's.

I'll join the chorus: Brian @ IMM. What performance level do You want or can afford? This shouldn't be this difficult. You burn through the list of shops in So Cal there are more up here in Nor Cal as well. Chose one and go forward.

The only problem is if it is a max effort build , Goodwin and Best have components that are not available to other shops at this time.

Muscle Motors has treated me well. Eric has always been a straight shooter.
I have a set of there CNC -1s on my turbo car.

Another Idea: Auto Club Raceway in Fontana has Test 'N Tune next Saturday, 20 Feb '16. Go talk to the racers 'mopar or chevy' about who does their machine work? Good shops can do either flavor. You've not said what level of hp or performance You are shooting for? 512 is just displacement, not what performance You are working towards. It makes a difference in who can do the work. You can call Bob Mazzolini in Riverside. Go to the Winternationals this weekend and just ask reasonable questions if You are serious. Still recommend IMM, Indio, CA.

So Eric sold you a set of CNC'd Indy-1 heads?

I bought a Rollmaster double roller timing chain from Eric in 2007...it fit perfect.

A friend of mine bought some CNC-1 from MM and he could see daylight through all the valves.

I have a stroker kit in another block, had them cut pushrods to my spec before I picked up a lathe.
The head kit I had them upgrade springs, valves,for my turbo cam. I will use MM again and again. They have always treated me well

I have never had someone else build me a motor lol

I've seen Muscle Motors' quality (or lack thereof) first hand. I would not let them do a lawnmower engine for me. I only wish that I had taken photos of the parts before we sent them back. I didn't have a digital camera back then. Eric was nothing but rude to me on the phone.

I know its hard to please everybody and some people shouldn't have race cars
I tried to stay out of this but i have to draw the line when it comes to Eric the guy doesn't have a mean bone in his body Inside or Outside of the shop in over the 20 years or so i have never even heard him say a swear word....75% of mopar people are cheap they want to go fast buy [censored] crap and wonder why chit breaks or why nothing fits like it should....With that being said

I support Donald Trump for President......lol

Not sure if these comments are directed at me or not. Seems like it. I do demand high quality. One of the things I expect is when you are paying for heads to be machined and fully assembled, as in ready to bolt on the short block, they should not have a handful of chips from the porting process fall out of the water jacket when you remove them from the plastic bags. I also expect that the custom made pushrods do not have S bends in them from the ends being pressed in. I also expect that when you call to bring up these issues, you are not talked down to with comments like "we build race engines for lots of people and they run fine".

I stand by my evaluation and will never use them again.

There are some folks that I respect that are repeat Eric Jones customers.

However these are all out NHRA Stock and Super Stock engines.

Good Luck,
Bill

some people shouldn't have race cars

It's your own fault if you get bad service?

The only Eric I know of at MM is Eric Budden..

Is their a Eric Jones at MM????

Also note there is a friday/saturday/sunday test/tune @ Famosa this weekend. They will be testing their new electronics setup after the fire getting ready for the March meet. Alot of racers available to talk to...

Just my $0.02...

I can and will only speak for myself but I have been doing business with MM for well over 20 years and have always been treated right and taken care of. I have never had an engine built by them, but have bought a lot of bolt ons including a set of old cnc'd stage 6s that I still have and probably have put 3000 passes on over the years. I am currently helping assemble a 74 Duster with a brand new MM 511 in it...I recommended MM for the build...should have it fired up in a few weeks...

Bought a stroker kit from them a year or two ago. They worked with me and delivered it to Carlisle where my parents picked it up. Then had a local shop build it for me. They had nothing bad to say about the kit. I also called and or emailed them a few times and always got the answers I needed. It's ready to go in he car but health issues have left it sitting in the garage since August. I'm really nervous as the old motor ran and did fine for 30K miles, I just wanted to go faster. Had Modern Cylinder Head CNC my stealth heads and had great work done by them with fairly quick turn around. Still gotta put in the hemi 4 speed and new strange Dana 60.
Knew I'd be spending a lot of money and wanted it done right the first time. I will deal with all the same guys for any future build.