Snyper

iTrader: (27)

So heres the short story. My friend brought his unraped 8,000 mile 2007 Corvette down to Cartek for their stage 3 heads/cam(exhaust, ported intake bolt ons, etc) and spent $8600..he JUST wanted a nice power increase along with the beautiful sound that comes from a cammed LS engine(thats all)....

He was given a 2 week waiting period and the car was supposed to be delivered to him. On the day it was supposed to be delivered he called to ask when the car would be there and they responded with "oh you didn't get a call? we are having trouble with the car...we need more time" So as time passed he was told they put the car on the dyno and on the first pass and the clutch let go. Add $2080 for a clutch job.

After that while the car was getting tuned the engine decided to let go(bearings went bad and the rot. assembly was destroyed) due to a "bad" engine...Supposedly its common for a brand new LS engine to let go from doing a heads/cam swap. Now they recommend he get a fully built 402ci(the works supposedly) and its going to cost him another $8800($1800 just to remove and replace the engine)...and right now the car is all apart getting ready.

What started out as a simple(but over priced) head/cam swap is now costing him $19,480. As of right now he send them 6 of the 10k to get started on the build.My friend isn't really familiar with modding cars so he has no idea what they are talking about when they tell him he NEEDS cometic head gaskets for a simple built engine at 200$ for the gaskets along with all this extra stuff.

What kind of advice can you give him? Right now the car is sitting in pieces with the engine all apart. I recommended going to get the car and doing a simple TSP short block with the heads/cam that he already bought from them....but id like to hear some of your opinions.

98hardtopSS

hmm...I am on here quite a bit and have heard nothing but good things about cartek. does seem weird for sure but i guess **** does happen. That sure is a lot of money though....doesnt your friend ask more questions when dropping 20g's???

subarubill96

iTrader: (9)

thats pretty terrible, at 8k miles id bet the engine was pretty mint and somebody "oopsed" during the install. i sure as heck wouldn't be paying for R&R. and people wonder why i do my own work...
he's getting it hard and raw, imo. id pull that car right out of there

HitmanLS1

iTrader: (16)

lawyer!!!!

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

Thats exactly what I said. He doesn't drive the car hard..and for an LS engine with only 8kmiles to blow up from a simple heads/cam package...

Well so far hes paid the 8800 for the first setup..and hes given them 6 of the 10 to start getting parts..I told him to get a refund on the 6k worth of **** since they didn't build it yet and get the car out of there. He better be getting a good set of heads/cam along with whatever else that cost him the initial 8800.

HitmanLS1

iTrader: (16)

SOUNDS LIKE A ******* WITH NO GREASE

My84Z

iTrader: (18)

I'd say bring it to Slowhawk lol but honestly I think after the first oops I would have pulled the car out if I were him I would take someone with him that knows these cars and inspect the motor to see what exactly went wrong maybe that did happen but I would want it checked out to make sure. I would probably also take the car to another shop and just have them do the whole motor etc.

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

I told him to order a TSP short block and I would assemble the long block and put it in the car for no charge just give me his old block....the TSP long block is around 4000 shipped..and comes with a brand new block and brand new GM crank. He does NOT need a 402 or even an engine with a forged crank for what hes looking for.

brucelee

iTrader: (3)

ouch...
8600 for cartek heads n' cam
8800 For a 402 after they destroyed his motor
10000 for **** that they have not even thought of ripping him off for yet
But...












being able to put CARTEK TUNED in the sig.. Still PRICELESS

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

8800-Initial
2080-Clutch
8100-402--(remember the heads/cam/ect are in the intial cost)

subarubill96

iTrader: (9)

being able to put CARTEK TUNED in the sig.. Still PRICELESS[/QUOTE]

i think thats what got him in trouble in the first place lol

baalic

iTrader: (8)

WOW...For $19,480 I may be wrong but I thought I saw people selling Longblock LS9 Crate engines for about that much.......

Did your friend at least get a kiss cause he's getting FUCKED.

baalic

iTrader: (8)

FWIW http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-19201990

01FbTaWs6

iTrader: (12)

Yank the car out ASAP. first off, its plain and simple rediculous to pay ANYONE over 8 grand for heads/cam! Thats just plain stupid to ask that price!!!! You can get fully ported TFS heads and your choice of cam with all the fixings for under half the cost he paid for carteks stuff. no way in hell!

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

It also came with the kooks headers, CAI, underdrive pulley, ect.

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

They told him the enginewent bad due to something not being torqued right from GM.....after they installed the heads/cam.

01FbTaWs6

iTrader: (12)

highly doubt it. Went fine for 8k miles.....

red1998z28

iTrader: (1)

Go to a new shop!

Snyper

iTrader: (27)

Since he paid using credit cards and technically he didnt use the parts..shouldn't he be able to get all of his money back..minus the labor charges for them to blow up his car.

Pimpium57

iTrader: (104)

I know each car is different, especially with a stick, but a good friend of mine has a '06 LS2 Vette w/ a 450rwhp Livernois H/C package with a BONE stock clutch. The car has 12k miles on it (H/C installed at only 2k) and I myself took it down the track twice on Hoosiers, dumping it at 5k+ rpms both times and hooking....I can't see a clutch going out from a one gear pull with a rolling start.

As for the motor, something obviously wasn't right with the install job or parts themselves for the motor to let go IMMEDIATELY after going together.