I'm going to give you some advice...GO SOMEPLACE ELSE! You are going to get cornholed again from these dummies! You think they are going to a better job FIXING a job they should have easily got right the in the first place? For that kind of damage to accur only a complete MORON could make such a mess. Betcha you could have done better at home on the garage floor! I'd be getting my 1800 dollars back and a used block OR i'd be getting an ATTORNY! I hate machine shops almost as much as I hate private contractors and doctors!<FARKIN CROOKS


I have a rule with machine shops....if there isn't a 3 week wait on ANY work I go someplace else. Good machine shops are SWAMPED with work.

 

I gave them the option of a refund plus a used block back. They want to try to correct the issue by starting the build over. I would lose more than $1800 in legal fees if I decided to go with an attorney anyway. Plus how do you prove this stuff in civil court? Very difficult since all they did was the machine work and I installed everything. It would be a crapshoot and totally dependent on who the judge is on that given day.

So, crossing my fingers build #2 goes well. I know they built a lot of ls1s for other people on this very forum just fine, so maybe my build was just a fluke. We all make mistakes, so I am giving them the benefit of the doubt. I am just thankful they are at least owning up to it and working with me. I have read about other horror stories on here where the shop refuses any liability and the customer is out a motor AND all their money.

 

Their options:
Refund and used block.
Rebuild it at their expense and give you a new gasket kit.
Small claims court (No attorney needed).

 

Agree. It is not just the $1850 I am out. It is the price of buying head gaskets and bolts twice. Not to mention pulling a motor out of a C5 twice...it is a tall order. Imagine if I wasn't doing the labor on the engine swap. What a nightmare that would be for me.

I already purchased ARP everything just in case this happens again.

 

Hopefully you get everything sorted. I agree with the other guy on hating machine shops just bc your whole build is based on if the guy maching is competent or not.

 

Good luck.

Hope you dont have to pull it out a 3rd time

 

God me too. First time was on a lift. Not too bad. This time is on jack stands in my backyard and winter is coming...

 

Oh that really sucks.

If you havent done it that way before I recomend unbolting the entire kframe and using a cherry picker, lift the car off the engine.

 

The way we did it on the lift is we dropped both front and rear cradle and rolled out the tranny, torque tube, and motor as a unit. Since the heads and intake are already off, the car doesn't have to be that high to get it out, so I can do it on high jack stands.

I do not have a cherry picker, so this is the only way I can do it.

 

durr i forgot you have a vette lol, but still similar and easy enough with some tools and a helper

 

Yup, it isn't too bad at all really. Just a ton of disassembly work.

I already had a fire sale and sold all my mods just to cover my *** financially in case this 2nd motor doesn't work out. They were already off the car so I figured now was the best time.

Sold headers, ported AI 799s, FAST 90, LS2 TB, 227/235 cam, UDP. The car made 460 RWHP and trapped 125 before I popped #7 at the track. It was a damn fun car for 18k miles on that setup.

Now it will have stock 241s, ls6 intake, and a C6Z exhaust system. Fun times

But this is all just a precursor to bolting on a novi 1500 kit . All I want now is a reliable motor, I do not care about power right now.

 

wait did you assemble the motor? You said you paid them to, but then said all they did was the machine work, that changes things.

Either way, if they bring up knurling pistons and honing to clean that damage up. Thats not a good sign I would not let them do any more work.
If your selling off mods to pay for this, your out of funds, and dont really need the forged motor anyway. I would put a good running used short block in it. And see about getting you money back, or if they what to buy the stuff them fucked up. There not going to, they know its junk, and hope you dont come back after the 3rd time.


You dont want to hear this, but look at what you have.

A LS1 block thats at 3.905 thats not going to clean up with any more honing. It didnt have a tq plate, so there not round, and they have some taper. I've spend some time on a sunnen hone on LS1s and been shown what the tq plate dose, and how much the bore changes with and without the clamped force. With the plate clamped, un clamping it, and after a engine has been run with and without a plate. It matters.
Those 2 cly is just the damage you know about, and have found so far. Its gona have more, if you want to find them, or hope the shop "lets you know" what else they find going on. It was assembled dirty, and the clearances were to tight.
So it need 2 sleeves at least, price that up. And think about what you have, and how much money your gona have into this block, and how good its been "fixed"

Its a shelf piston so you can get 2, but there a good chance your going to need to get more then that. But with 500miles on them you shouldn't have to. And you still need a good block to pout this in. It sucks man.

 

I paid them to machine AND assemble my motor. All I did was bolt everything else onto it (heads, tranny, oil pan, etc). I did not touch the inside of it. I do not know how to build a block, that is why I paid them to do everything. There is zero chance I did anything to cause this issue short of dropping a screw inside not one, but two bores. Obviously, I did not do that since there is no mark on the pistons or the heads.

Please don't make assumptions, I am not out of funds. Not even close. I would never drain my account to ever pay for anything on a car. I can easily afford this basic build. I simply sold off the mods and put that money aside IN CASE it gets uglier since they were off the car. I do not like using too much of my take home money to pay for this stuff, that is all. Plus I got tired of a smelly exhaust and the cam lope anyway. For what it's worth, the motor is paid off already. The only problem is the motor I paid off is this busted motor. If all works out with this car, it is getting a blower anyway, so I won't need the mods I took off anymore. It is not like I completely demodded, I am still going to run a cam, a 224/230, and a C6Z exhaust which flows almost as good as long tubes.

With all that being said, I wish I could go back and just do a basic rebuild with stock parts. That was my original plan and it would have only cost $800. I am sure a basic hone and re-ring would have gone fine. But then I got these grand aspirations of "yeah let's build it stronger!". And now look what I got. Oh well, too late now.

Can't say I disagree with what you're saying, but I am at the mercy of the shop for now. I do not want to go to civil court unless I have to. If the motor has issues again after it is "fixed", then yes, I better be getting every penny back including the price of the pistons and rods. As for how much money I will have into this block. They are not charging me to fix their mistake, so I will have about an extra $60 in from having to buy extra head gaskets again plus an assload of time installing it again.

 

We aren't resleeving it btw, I am sourcing another block on their dime.

 

PM sent

 

As long as theyre making it right thats all that matters. Mistakes do happen.

 

Which is exactly why I am remaining civil with them .

 

Did you get to see the pistons from those two holes? It looks like there may not have been enough clearance between the pistons and the bore. Was there any black death on them?

 

The fact they bored it without plates and then suggested knurling pistons says that even when they are doing their best it is not right. If it were just a couple scratched bores from rings that never got deburred, that is a mistake, this story is way beyond that.

 

good luck with all that