79CMC

iTrader: (4)

Been dealing with this goat rope for several months now and I just wanted to warn others in the area about this place.

Bottom Line Up Front: I paid Jerry at Southern Speed Racing in Jacksonville, NC to do some engine work on my LS1-powered '79 Monte and he lied about his work, causing me to have to rebuild the engine myself to clean up his mess. The engine was running perfectly fine when I took it to him and it was crippled once I got it back. I took Jerry to court in March 2015, won a judgment for money owed, and after numerous phone calls, voice mails, a certified letter, and now taking additional legal actions, I still haven’t received any money back.

The long drawn out sob story (with pictures) is in full detail below.

Obligatory photo of the true victim in all of this:


April 2013: While deployed, I had my car dropped off and paid Jerry to do a daily driver heads and cam (TSP 228r) swap on my stock LS1.

August 2013: Return from deployment and zero work has been done to the car. Jerry said he was “afraid of the paint job” and didn’t trust any of his guys to work on the car, so he’s doing everything himself, which is taking longer than usual. He offers to completely rebuild another LS1 for me and swap it on my next deployment as compensation for taking so long.

August 2014: (Yes, over a year later from initial payment) Get back from another deployment. “Completed” car is delivered to my home under the guise that it needs a tune and bigger MAF. I’m told to “drive it with both feet” with a foot on the brake and one on the gas. After replacing the MAF and numerous sensors, it was still untuneable and making a lot of racket, so we started to tear down the engine to find a broken valve spring.



While I'm at it, I decide to consult the “Professional” build sheet from Jerry.



The funny thing is, there are no forged pistons, no light weight rods, bottom end is untouched, there’s teflon tape on the reused, torque-to-yield stock head bolts, a destroyed knock sensor harness, and a variety of other JV build mistakes.





The cam is also FAR from a daily driver grind (manufacturer specs below since Jerry didn’t have them) and way too aggressive for the re-used stock valve springs, which is why they broke. Stock valve lift is about .472 and this cam calls for .635. Basically, the engine was mismatched and nothing I asked for.



Jerry also lost the keys to the car (still haven’t gotten those back), left cigarette butts under the seats, and removed the 9” posi for repair and never replaced it.

March 2015: After making no progress trying to work it out between the two of us, I take Jerry to small claims court where he openly admits to the judge that he lied and that sometimes “you tell the customer what he wants to hear” in regards to why his build sheet doesn’t reflect the actual contents of the engine. Judge rules in my favor and tells Jerry to refund some of my money. Judgment is public record and a copy is below.



June-July 2015: I’m still trying to get my money back after phone calls to his cell phone and business, voicemails, a certified letter, and now getting the Sherriff to enforce the court’s judgment.

Jerry seemed like a respectable, good-guy shop owner and that’s exactly why I trusted him with my car. I overlooked some of his quirks as old-school charm but in hindsight, they were indicators of his sketchy work. There's many more details to the story, but the hard facts are in the pictures above.

I caution anyone against taking a car they care about to Southern Speed Racing. This debacle has been going on through what will be 3 deployments and Jerry has basically robbed me of the enjoyment of driving my car for the short times when I am home. At the end of the day, it is costing me far more in time, effort, and parts than I originally paid Jerry since he started with a functional LS1 and returned to me a questionable hunk of aluminum. Southern Speed may work out for you, but I got hosed and absolutely recommend you look elsewhere.

Brian Tooley Racing

iTrader: (13)

I almost never post anything negative about anyone, however after reading your story I can't hold back. Anyone who would put a 271/281 @ .050" cam with a 108 LSA in a LS1 is a complete moron...

And to top it off with using stock springs is the icing on the cake...

Taking advantage of a veteran is the final straw, this guy seriously needs to close his doors...

Thank you for your service to our great county, may you have better luck in the future dealing with honest people who do the right thing.

Fraser588

How did he get the valves to clear??? Flycut the factory pistons?

1979rs/z28

iTrader: (21)

No flycutting, it was a STOCK ls1 bottom end. I feel sorry for him and yeah those cam specs

79CMC

iTrader: (4)

Thanks, BTR. I asked for a "daily driver cam" from Southern Speed and we discussed the 228r, but that's the Frankenstein that I got. In court, I explained to Jerry about the stock springs vs the cam's aggressive lift and he told me, "We're talking about the width of a dime!"

The worst part is that I'm coming up on my fourth deployment in four years and one of the main things I look forward to when I'm at home is driving my Monte. This threw a wrench (literally) into those plans, but the bright side is now I've got an opportunity to learn more about LS1s as my buddy helps me rebuild the engine (thanks, Jamie), and I'm swapping out the 4l60e for a t56 at the same time. Hopefully my post will encourage others to take their business elsewhere.

79CMC

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like similar issues to what I had with Jerry in the way of broken/missing parts, delayed timelines, and improper repairs. Disturbing, but not surprising, to hear there are others out there that had the same problems with Southern Speed.

If you haven't talked to him already, I will say that you owe Jerry the chance to make it right before you take any further action. Maybe he'll come through for you or it's just a misunderstanding that can be talked through. Unfortunately, Jerry kept avoiding me, stalling, or giving me excuses when I tried to work it out amicably, so I had to take additional actions.

I considered Jerry and I more like "friends" and I actually hung out at his shop on a couple of Fridays drinking beer. Because of this "friendship" and what he said was his respect for the military, I cut him way more slack than I should have. You've read my thread, but at the end of the day, I'm honestly just more disappointed that someone I trusted and that I thought had some old-school respect would deliberately lie and cheat me.

Your most powerful course of action is to tell your story so that others can learn from your situation. Ultimately, it's the customer's decision who will work on their car, but it's our responsibility to ensure accurate information, both good and bad, is out there to help inform the public. Public reviews, facebook, google, car forums, etc are a good method to share your story.

If you're truly interested in the court process, it requires vigilance and time. I went to Small Claims at the Onslow County Courthouse second floor and filed a complaint for money owed against Southern Speed and a court date. I think it was something like $130; the court picks a date within the next month and then sends a notice to Jerry of the date.

On your day in court, you just need to prove to the judge (there is no jury) that Jerry didn't fulfill his end of the bargain. Receipts, documentation, and a summarized timeline of the events will help and pretty much be necessary if you want to win. Don't tell a long story and don't appear scattered or unsure; you have a finite window to make your case and then Jerry can tell his side. Tell the truth, be honest, and be respectful. Don't get emotional. The judge will make his decision if you've proven your points.

In my case, I won, but Jerry still hasn't paid, even though it's been months since the judgment. There are a few other legal courses to pursue, which I'm executing, but you need to win your court case first. If you lose your case, you can appeal it, but you have to do it within 10 days and you'll need to argue your case better the second time around. I think it then goes to the next higher court and costs more money (lawyers are then recommended).

I hope this helps. Keep me updated on how things are going. Let me know if you have any more questions, as I see you just joined the forum.

67scorpion

WOW Quite that bashing!!! 79CMC needs to tell the whole story. Your car was at Majestic Motors for 1 1/2 months after a fresh build. You should know you cant Dyno a new motor. There has to be a break in period atleast 2000K to break in right. Majestic should have known this if you told them it was newly rebuilt. And I'm sure you dident tell Majestics who built it ????? Majestics Dynoed it an it was knocking but after a ridged drive down Rt 24 it came back knocking. They did a bunch of stuff to the engine. I'm sure your asking how I know this info is because my good friend worked there during that time an saw what happened. Well enough said. Southern Speed worked on all my cars 4 years ago when I was stationed here an will always have my service. I don't know why you dident just go see Jerry. He is a reasonable guy but you also took your ride to a competator and he probebly knew about it!!!. I look forward to meeting people who's not whining about their stupidity. You live an learn. Rant over!!!!
Anybody who would like to message me. I would like to meet new people in the area.

b1er

iTrader: (1)

Hmmmm...

Join date: check
Post count:check
Trashing a guy who won in court by demonstrating shoddy work:check

GTF outta here...

Hope you get the car fixed up 79CMC and thank you for your service...