ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
#697320
05/13/10 08:00 PM
05/13/10 08:00 PM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080 organ
maximum entropy
OP
master
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OP
master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080
organ
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a guy at our track has had nothing but trouble over the years with various local engine/transmission builders, and i felt bad for the guy, so i offered my services. i didn't hear back from him until last year, when he asked if i'd build an engine for him. i agreed, and we put together a proposed combination and price tag. he had purchased a rolling chassis, a nice back halfed cuda, and it was pretty light, and he had no experience in anything faster than about a twelve second car, so i didn't want to go crazy. an acquaintance of his warned me that the guy was "different". i just wanted him to have a properly built engine. i built him a nice bracket motor, conservative, "almost" indestructible, and i told him that i would conduct the initial run in (i don't have a dyno). i went up to his house, and was immediately taken aback by all the loose ends in this car. he had described it as "completely ready to go". uh oh. the wiring was a rat's nest. what a mess. we tried to start it, and the braided fuel lines were rotten it had been sitting so long. i told him to replace ALL of the fuel lines. we tried again a couple weeks later. he had only replaced the leaking line. we tried to start it and it had no fire. i traced his wiring (getting annoyed now), and found a connector he installed that wasn't properly done. OK! we now have fire. the engine starts, but the tach doesn't work, and he has no fuel pressure gauge in the car. it sounds good, we break the cam in, and i tell him to change the oil, get the tach working, and get a fuel pressure gauge in the car. i'll run the valves at the track. a couple more weeks and it's race day. i run the valves, set the timing, and he STILL doesn't have a functioning tach in a nine second car! i tell him, "dude! get a [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] tach in that thing before you run it!" i also gave him VERY specific break-in instructions. he's never driven the car. EVER. he doesn't know if the brakes work! steering? i hope so! i told him to just drive it down the track first run. short shift it (powerglide), and then roll into it in high, and back off, on, off, until he gets to the stripe. just to put load on it, and not get going too fast. the moron launches full throttle, runs it up on the chip in low, hits second, and the car falls on it's face. i talked to him in the pits. i asked him what the hell was that? "what?" and still no tach. he said "it layed over at the big end." fuel pressure? "ida know" so he does it again! i told him he gonna torch that thing if it's lean at the big end. he gave up at that point. next tnt in two weeks. plenty of time to get the tach working and check the fuel system, and replace all the fuel lines. of course, two weeks go by, and he shows up, still with no working tach! i told him he was on his own. he then proceeded to run it out of fuel again. hmm. he checked the fuel filter, and it was completely plugged with chunks of neoprene. from the lines he was supposed to change. he may have just left the element out, i couldn't watch. it flooded at the line next run. it hydro locked. they pushed it back to the pits, took the plugs out, and cranked it. with the ignition energized. it caught on fire. BIG fire, from what i hear (i was making a concerted effort to be nowhere near the circus). they got it extinguished. they made two full passes. first one he was approaching the stripe when he did what any card carrying imbecile would do- put it back in first! i was on the return road for that. i knew, this would be the day i have my first major engine failure. but no! it still runs! he pulls into the burnout box to hot lap it. he starts his burnout. they shut him down. water leak. he called me last night, irritated. he has a water leak, and he traced it to a giant crack in one of the heads. for the sake of my sanity, i told him why this happened. did he think i was kidding when i told him he's gonna torch the thing after the first run? i don't know how you guys do it for a living. thanks for letting me go off. i spent 6 months building him a REALLY nice engine, and he killed it. in one day.
Last edited by maximum entropy; 05/13/10 08:03 PM.
for what is the good life if not doing things thoughtfully?
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: maximum entropy]
#697321
05/13/10 08:19 PM
05/13/10 08:19 PM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 10,542 BROOK PARK, OH
WILD BILL
Senior Member of the Junior Dragster Club
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Senior Member of the Junior Dragster Club
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 10,542
BROOK PARK, OH
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The real shame is he is probably spinning a different story to his buds and bad mouthing you as a builder
Try and do right for someone only to have them destroy your efforts with their incompitance
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: MR_P_BODY]
#697323
05/13/10 08:44 PM
05/13/10 08:44 PM
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,675 Akron, Ohio U.S.A.
roadhazard
master
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master
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,675
Akron, Ohio U.S.A.
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I work with over 150 engine builders on a daily basis. I RESPECT EVERY ONE OF THEM!!! Sure there's glory for the performance achived but all it takes is a few of the LOOSE CANNONS to hurt your good reputation. Gald I'm just a lowly 'ole gasket manufacturer And build my own motors for fun
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: maximum entropy]
#697324
05/13/10 08:45 PM
05/13/10 08:45 PM
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,406 New Jersey, USA
yella71
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,406
New Jersey, USA
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I have a similar story except my coustomer never followed through to build the engine. 3 yrs ago someone asked me to buil them a nice small block for a 71 charger. A stroker was agreed on and I gave him a detailed price and parts list and he left a deposit. I got him a nice std bore block which was paid for with the deposit then.... nothing for a year. He calls again brings a few hundred bucks then nothing.Another year goes by and he calls and wants a price on the engine again. All of the origanal prices have changed since the origanal quote so I do it again.About 8 months go by with no contact. Now he wants to know whats going on and another price or just give him his money back! So I called him again ... 3weeks ago. The point is you know you did nothing wrong. Eff him don't loose any sleep over it.
71 challenger convertable, 64 sport fury 383 ci with factory air
99 sebring convertable
89 CTD pup
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: maximum entropy]
#697328
05/13/10 10:08 PM
05/13/10 10:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,547 State College, PA
RyanJ
moparts member
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moparts member
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,547
State College, PA
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You have no control once engine is out of your hands... it sucks, but it is way it is.
Most of my customers know how to take care of an engine & have properly setup stuff, just for simple fact most of engines I do are a bit more high $ than most, but even still every once in a while you get guys that don't know what they are doing (or even worse they think they do when they really don't) & stuff happens... It would be nice to babysit them all, but that's impossible. I actually love customers who are somewhat self proficient, & when some small issues pops up they can take care of it themselves without even bothering you about it.
Local shop I dyno @ just had a 610" Ford destroy some rockers/pushrods on dyno last week, mostly because of stuff the customer supplied/insisted on in the build.... & then the customer has the audactity to be pissed because something failed that he was responsible for??? It definitely can be trying to say the least. Race engines are highly complex, very expensive pieces & if not treated properly @ all times you can not expect to have happy ending.
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: 1974PW]
#697330
05/15/10 12:07 PM
05/15/10 12:07 PM
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 576 Bend, Oregon
67cuda340
super street
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super street
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 576
Bend, Oregon
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You cannot fix stupid!!! See you at the track.
1973 Dodge Dart Sport 360 Drag radials
12.30 1/4 mile 7.82 1/8 mile
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: atoetly]
#697332
05/15/10 03:13 PM
05/15/10 03:13 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,675 Columbia, CT
moper
I Live Here
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I Live Here
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 12,675
Columbia, CT
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Once you get burned a couple times you can pick out the problem children pretty easy and quickly. Took me three times and four figures worth. Unfortuntely, it's made me a harder person to deal with because being nice generally leads to having someone take davantage of that trait. Just let it go and duck when the car goes by.
Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know.
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: maximum entropy]
#697334
05/17/10 01:00 PM
05/17/10 01:00 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,528 Mansfield, Tx
Jacob Pitt
master
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master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,528
Mansfield, Tx
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Some people you just can't reach. I have been building motors now for just a few years and am still learning as much as I can. I started advertising a little to see if I could help out some locals. No bits and I'm kind of relieved about it because of all the headaches it would produce. I'll just keep building my own motors since I baby them anyways.
2013 NHRA D4 Stock Champ #4 in the World IHRA Stock 2x IHRA Div.4 Stock Champ 14x Track Champ All using a Ultimate Converter Concepts converter. Call Lenny today 704-892-6837
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: Jacob Pitt]
#697335
05/17/10 01:09 PM
05/17/10 01:09 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763 Walton's Mountain, Pa
Steve1118
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,763
Walton's Mountain, Pa
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I don't know how you guys do it. A lot of good engine builders put one together, sell it to someone who has no clue and then get the badmouth put on them.
It happened to one of my close friends...he built a Hemi for a guy, a big dollar one. First, it ran just as well as it should have, This guy just screwed it up royally....they had the MSD and distributor screwed up running 60 degrees of advance and just ruined the motor. Of course, he didn't accept the blame. And, the engine builder, who we all know, went way above and beyond for this customer, way, way, above and beyond.
I don't know how you guys do it, I really don't.
"Old age and treachery trumps youth and enthusiasm, every time!" East Central Director / Chrysler Power Magazine www.reasbeckracing.webs.com
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Re: ENGINE BUILDER'S LAMENTATION (LONG)
[Re: wings471]
#697338
05/17/10 04:57 PM
05/17/10 04:57 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,288 Oregon
sg66mopar
pro stock
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pro stock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,288
Oregon
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Well there is a small upside. I had my car at Madras over the weekend for the first time in about 4 years. Must have been around 10 people that came up and told me about this yo-yo catching his car on fire at the previous race. Not one of them said the engine builder had anything to do with it.
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