Same exact crap that was in my engine. Mine are tulipped to beat hell as well. I found mine out after they had put the wrong head gaskets in and I tore it down to put the right ones in. Mine had the Qualfast as well. They definitely know how to cut corners and have just enough generalized to cover everything up. You can definitely tell they have been confronted about it multiple times. They are definitely "wordsmiths".

Karma will get them someday.

AES - Home of the World's Fastest Runaround and Record Setting Lies and Ripoffs

 

Funny thing is that they are NOT the home of the fastest street cars- that guy Andreas told me they fucked his engine up too, and has had his engines built elsewhere.

 

It is only a matter of time. Hopefully the boys from Bahrain and Qatar realize this soon.

 

Bro....seriously. If I opened my engine, especially after a failure, and found parts that were paid for and they were not inside my engine.....I would get cash in hand from them at their shop upon a visit there, for the entire cost of the engine plus my shipping costs.......period.

.

 

The problem is, they know how to cut these corners and get away with it. Their generalized invoices. I had received about 10 iterations of mine before it started to get to a point with everything being spelled out. The first iteration had every line item completely generalized. I finally had them break down most of the line items, but I failed to have them breakdown the cylinder head section. I am guessing dmaxvaz and probably more consumers are in the same boat.

You go to the Heads section of the Invoice, and it is labeled as "AES Headpk". In the Description, it says "GM Cast 243 Heads(pair), Stainless valves, double springs, retainers, locks, cups and locators. 2.000 Intake Valve 1.570 Exhaust Valve."

Those crooks have themselves covered because they will say I don't see anywhere on the invoice where it was discussed upgraded valves. Hell, mine were 2.02 and 1.60 valves, not the 2.0 and 1.57 spelled out on my invoice. So they end up putting the cheap, piece of **** valves in, that are not proper to the application (mine says 390 Boost Beast in the PO Number), and they don't stand behind anything when they fail. I believe I have about 1400 miles on mine before noticing the issue.

 

Yea...I see. When I ordered my engine I received a build sheet before I sent any cash, then I only sent 50%......build sheet had every single part and bolt I wanted and the brand/model of the part. I however, only had the short block built, no heads involved. I then had the engine sent to a local builder to look it all over and finish the top end for me. He verified every part was what I ordered...down to the rod bolts......

Sucks to hear these friggin stories.....money doesn't grow on trees for most of us street-strip guys........

I learned a lesson in 2002 with a 436ci stroker I had built.......and some little shinanigans that were almost pulled on me....luckily I straightened them out and got everything I asked and paid for......but I was close to getting screwed over with some things that were promised.

Now I make sure I have the upper hand. I will show up to a shop and I will get a full refund if I ever found the wrong parts in a motor I paid for.....thats a damn certainty.....

.

 

Faarrrrkkkkk.

I'ma check my invoice. Theoretically I should be ok, seeing as I purchased "complete" heads... Right?

https://i.imgur.com/98tugKn.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3tAb4Px.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZiFVmsC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Vcxrr4n.jpg

 

It is hard to tell. When searching the part number, I went to the Summit link. In there it says the heads come with valves. I would not imagine they would be switched, but there is only one way to tell what is installed in there.

I will say that your invoice is more thorough than mine.

Hope you have better luck than we did.

 

I also had a set of cylinder heads rebuilt and flowed at AES. Intake Valve Replacement was recommended, and I obliged. When I picked up the heads and inquired which Valves were installed, Brian tells me that "they're all really the same". I wanted a part number for internal records only, and he was unable to provide one.

Thankfully, AES is not just incompetent in their machining operations, as they follow suit with their billing (or complete lack thereof). They failed to charge me for what are clearly (insert brand and cost here) stainless steel intake valves. Now I'm battling them over in the Sponsor Feedback forum, and contacted my lawyer.

These guys need to go. They're nothing short of a disease to the LS Community.

 

This just keeps getting better and better.

 

I'm sorry, but for my build, four months to build a set of cylinder heads is not acceptable. There was no CNC machining done, and even if it were required, I'd still have considered a four month wait pretty extensive.

Admittedly, I made the mistake of telling Brian I was in no rush, which I believe was a cardinal sin on my part. I believe what happened was I was put on the back burner, for lack of a better description, once it was discovered that my direction was fluctuating. First engine build, he has my cylinder heads AND the engine for my car. Where on earth else am I going to go other than back to AES?!? NOT ANYMORE.

The only real benefits of my dealings with AES is I've dealt with several other engine builders since who have been able to discuss both financial and mechanical benefits of machining and specifying a high performance build. AES is not strong in the customer service department, this isn't even a question at this point in the game. One good job will yield 5 recommendations, one poor job will yield 30 recommendations to take your business elsewhere. I believe the people have spoken in this regard.

If your knowledge is "advanced" and you know exactly what you want, give AES a try, but be prepared to wait. Otherwise, guys like Kyle at TMS, Randy at PER, Steve at Legend - these are all people that have the foresight and instinct to look at an engine build from an inexperienced first time clients point of view. THESE are the types of guys I prefer to do business with because they not only are knowledgeable, but at the end of the day, they understand that they're employed because of people like us.

 

Sounds like good advice, and since this is only my second moderate performance build, I fall into the "much less advanced" catagory. My diesel build took 18 months(mostly head work related) and this LSish build will probably take a similar amount of time. So if I ever do it again, 18 months will be what i consider normal. Vendors, feel free to surprise the hell out of me on my next attempt.

 

Anyone know if AES sells 55 gallon drums of Valvoline VR1? I want to make sure I don't end up with bad valves like you guys who didn't listen!!

 

I looked up Manley Extreme duty valves and apparently they are Qualfast valves that have been soaked in 55 gallons of VR1 for 72 hours at a constant temperature of 230 deg F.

 

I suppose that's likely where Brian got his "all stainless 2.02" intake valves are pretty much the same" concept.

Oh lord. This just keeps getting more and more interesting. And no response from AES.

 

I was at AES yesterday. They had probably 40 builds ongoing in their machine room that would make a $10K LSX build seem like a valve job to many other shops.

They have 1 lady answering phones (not empowered) and Brian (great guy) and Mike (seems like a great guy also) running all the errands and taking all the phone calls and planning all the builds - This customer service crap comes down to time and incoming calls from my point of view.

You may get a shop who spends all day on the phone with you talking about your build and going back and forth about what part could be better than another. From my perspective, AES is not a shoot the **** with you company. They want to you to tell them what you need build (Race Car Program Shop) and a targeted completion date and they will tell you if they can accomodate you.

I directed them to all of these threads. They have not decided if they want to respond yet or not. I imagine if they will, some people on this forum they legitimately feel there was opportunity for improvement. Others, they feel, are just complainers and always will be.

Customer service is not this company's strong suit. Very good machine work is. If you don't think so, I wonder why they have probably 10 x275 builds going on right now all ready to ship out for big name vehicles?

 

You bring up a couple fantastic points.

My response to that would be:

A) I don't feel bad for AES being busy. 10 X275 builds and $10K LSx builds that look like Valve Jobs compared to the rest, you'd think they'd have the capital to hire someone and scale like most successful young companies do. Or, maybe it's that the ownership group is comfortable with current revenues, and doesn't wish to see any decrease in cash flow.

B) I cannot, nor can any human do anything about time. It's a depreciating asset. If three people cannot perform the work needed to operate efficiently, and clearly have the capital required to bring on a fourth, then why has this not already been done? They're shooting themselves in the foot with their current business model, and it's pushing potential and previous clientele to rival organizations. How does one argue that this is good business?!?

C) Customer Service is defined by the following: The assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services.

AES has made it clear that my money, as well as other customers past, present and future, is no good to them. I guess us middle class folk will seek our machining work elsewhere. This isn't because it's necessarily the route we've chosen to go, it's because we've been driven to investigate outside options.



Good luck with your build. Mike IS a great guy, you're 100% spot on there. Brian, I'd be cautious with. Establish deadlines and don't pay them until they meet them. That's your best bet, otherwise I'd venture to guess you'll be on our side of the fence within the next few months.

P.S - It doesn't appear that AES is accredited with the BBB. Another sign of how seriously they seek client input. It's literally $700 to register. You'd think they could afford that much...

 

Yep valid points. My commentary in red.

I am very near geographically to the shop. That has helped me keep my sanity. Phones frustrate me with AES

 

You made some compelling counter arguments. Really no disagreement from me either, only a wish that AES would put more eggs into the "taking care of our clients" basket - no matter how big or small.

You're spot on though, that a high dollar, high margin job is going to get the attention. I definitely understand that, I'm just trying to back track to when AES lost it's desire to cater to smaller guys - which from what I have gathered was after Fraser left, but I could be wrong.

I truly do wish your build the best. Please keep us posted. I think I speak for the majority when I say that I don't wish bad goods or services upon anyone. It's just unfortunate that there is such a sizable crowd that feels just that way about AES.

 

Proceed with caution everyone...