I talked to KB today (7/16/2014), and they are trying to ship my block today. They need to get the final shipping cost and call for pickup. I expect the final inspection sheet and cost info emailed to me this afternoon so I can double check it.
Most of this has been posted in Wade's topic, but I thought it would be nice to have my story in one place so it is easier/quicker to read instead of going though many pages of several buyer's posts.
I started my attempt to buy an aluminum block in Dec 2013. Since I wanted a low deck to reuse things in my current car with a factory low deck block, I seriously considered both Indy and Keith Black. I liked the features of the KB so long story short, I sent an email to KB on Dec 25, 2013 asking for an order sheet and options. I figured they would respond after the Christmas holiday. After not hearing back, I phoned a few times, left messages and got no response. I talked to a few others and they recommended I phone at a different time (I am on the East coast, they are on the West coast). That worked and I talked to KB on 1/7/2014.
On Jan 10th, they sent me an email with the order spec sheet, options, and pricing. After several exchanges both on the phone and with email (for pictures), I finalized my order on Jan 17th and paid half the bill as down payment. Ken was very helpful and informative selecting options and even making a special change so I could bolt a stock 727 case to the new block (lower two attachment holes are thru holes on a factory block and are threaded holes on KB standard). We had serious talks about delivery issues in the past and he assured me that was behind them and they could deliver in 12-13 weeks (3 months). So the estimated schedule was:
- March 21 casting arrives from the foundary
- April 11 machining complete
- Then ship across the country from CA to MD
I arranged for all the internal parts to be ready to assemble in April and run this season at the drag strip.
