For WHOM the bell tolls,it tolls for JPR.
Keep your chin up Bear,its gonna only get better from here on out.

 

Bear I will be at Eastside around noon Tomorrow and I will e-mail you the pics later that day.

 

Thanks Jim. I spoke with JPR and he wants to see the pistons and the inside of the bad cylinder bore. I await the pics.

 

aw man, that sucks bear

 

I agree!! Just hang in there Bear.

 

Hey EZ This aint going to be easy for you to hear,but you are the reason that I am finding this out. If your newly built, well constructed motor didnt come apart, I would have never taken apart mine. I guess I should in some sick twisted way say Thanks to You. I starting to think

 

well doesn't that just suck..... JPR still owes my 4K... good luck getting any money out of him to fix a motor w/ no warranty......

 

Why does he owe u 4K?

 

because he spent 4K elsewhere (other customers cars) and then didn't have the money to build my motor......... after 3 months of I'll have it next weeks we finally said f'it and paid JD's (who was now assembling the motor) the difference between the final bill and what JPR had given him of the 7K we had sent JPR. The difference was actually 6K but that's because we went w/ different rods/pistons than we originally had in the quote from JPR.

 

bear if you want i can take the pics and email them to you they will be from my camera phone so we will have to see how they come out PM me if you want me to get the pics ..........

 

Chef Thanks for the offer. I would like some high rez ones with Jims camera. I need the "evidence" shown clearly.

 

Hey, im glad you could save yours. If losing mine helped someone else, then I can take some comfort in someone else's disaster being avoided.

 

I can understand you thinking... :


Bear- The good news is that everyone on this forum cares.
The bad news is there is nothing anyone can do about it.
You know - that I know - all about your woes.
This will be my 3rd rebuild. (Thanks JPR & JD)
Good luck. Let's hope JPR will at least give you the parts you paid for.

 

George who is doing your next motor?

 

U can still sue JPR guys,I would if he screwed me this way.Call a lawyer at least for piece of mind,he wont ever be able to own anything w/o forking it over to u guys.

 

Guys maybe we should all get together and talk about legal action, I know I have proof regarding my heads, Im sure you guys have proof regarding your motors, PM me if you are interested.

 

Mike JPR said he will give me $250 a week for 4 weeks for a $1000. IF that comes through I would just Part ways and move on. IF IT DONT COME, SIGN ME UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am super pissed about not having billet main caps installed and no ARP main studs. I paid for both up front and they are not there. I WILL TAKE care of THAT ONE way or ANOTHER!!!!!

 

Just ask Jay Fisher about the money he was promised

There is no excuse for this Bear,U stuck by this guy like a rock.The sad thing is when he actually did the work correctly it was on par with any of the sponsors on the board.

 

John Melkun “Bears” motor.


John’s original 346 spun a bearing and broke rod’s, The original build idea that was posted on LS1.com was posted as original idea’s of what he wanted for his next motor, which was a TSP mini stroker engine, which I supplied the crank to TSP for re-grinding, we waited about 3+ months just to find out that this “kit” wasn’t going to be available and wouldn’t be shipped. In the interim, the pistons/pins and rings were already ordered for the TSP kit through Diamond which turned out to be non refundable or returnable, we were just waiting on the crank/rods through TSP . so basically a waste of $561.00 for pistons and rings which I still have plus the crank shipping to Texas and waiting all that time for nothing.

The new idea when the TSP kit was defiantly not going to be available was going to a 427 engine which entails a Darton 4.125 bore block (which I supplied through Darton) and sent to Precision for final machine work – final bore to 4.125 / line hone/ cam bearing install/ mill block deck for truness. John supplied the Callies 4.0 crank unbalanced from a dealership. I re-ordered a new set of pistons for his new 427 and a set of H beam 6.125 tour lite rods. The rods/ crank/ pistons/ rings were sent to Precision in PA for balancing and of course everything was running a bit late again pre Nov 11-03.


This was about the time period that I turned all my buissness over to JD’s Performance center. (Just a time line stamp).

I got a call that Bears engine parts were balanced and the block was ready for pick up so the engine assembly started that weekend. In the inturum pre assembly, I was told by a few people Tom/JS second hand advise on the forum that if a motor was properly clearanced that there is no need for a ported/shimmed oil pump to achieve correct oil pressure and to not build them “loose” anymore. Final oil pressure was 65 cold 40 hot.

I checked re-checked every clearace with plastigague the main/ rods/ cam bearings and they were within factory spec clearance and file fit the rings.


A few problems arose during the engine assembly,

All the pistons were above deck app 26 thousands ( decks could have been milled too much or the piston pin location wasn’t optimal?) I spoke to Steve @ race engine development about this problem and he told me the way the Darton blocks should be measured for proper deck height and custom piston order. They should be OB 10-11 max and the bottom of #8 piston was hitting the reluctor wheel. The pistons were sent to Diamond for the tops to be “turned down” #8 bottom clearanced for the reluctor and re-shipped back to us, I installed 1 rod and piston right from Diamond and they now fit to perfect deck height and reluctor clearance.

Installation of the ARP main studs was ill fitting IMO at best, the center row of studs are too short and do not allow the nuts to completely take up all the stud threading meaning there is a “cup” at the stud top once the nut was torqued and the studs were screwed into the block and installed, not that it was a problem, but the outer row of studs were longer than they had to be even to accomidate a windage tray, it seemed as if the deficite of length was reversed, one set too low, one set too high.


The “JPR” engraved 4 sets of custom Billet Main caps spoken of were originally going to be ordered from Chris @ Diamond but at this point would have to be re-machined into the Darton block as Line bore/hone but I did not order them nor do they appear on Bears receipt as being charge to him and would have caused even more time delay of completion.

The old motor was completely blown and nothing was used from the block besides sensors and heads which had to be slightly repaired from bending valves.

The recorded phone conversation I had with Bear on 6-5 yesterday was basically going over problems that were found in this motor,

2 pistons skirts? scored along with 1 clyinder that was out of spec from abnormal wear. We explored a few different ways to “fix” the problems but I stressed that I need to see the abnormal wear of the pistons or sleeve for proper blame placement and final decision of what I will be willing to take care of and if it was indeed something I did wrong that I will cover it to help him, I don’t know if the bore is egg shaped? Or a piston out of round? Broken rings, it’s anyones guess at this point until I see the pictures e-mailed to me and make my jujgment call. This motor left with no warrentee for a couple different reasons, #1 I was running out of money for covering a lot of other problems/builds/warrenty work listed below and the final JPR billing over costs of what we incurred on Bears build basically at cost.

1 Darton block with JPR supplied core that was never received because the old block was trashed, I supplied a core block at no charge app value of $500.00.

#1 $2,250.00 + shipping both ways of app $240.00.

#2 Machine work- final 4.125 bore/hone, deck milling, line bore, and cam bearing installation app $500.00

sub total $3,000.00 – $3,490.00 if you want to include the block supplied by JPR.

Balance Customer supplied un balanced Callies 4.0 crank, rods, pistons, pins, rings. $460.00

2 sets of Diamond pistons/pin /rings 1 set 427, 1 set TSP mini stroker kit which one set is useless for the TSP ordered kit $1,1750.00 and the TSP mini stroker pistons are still here collecting dust.

2 sets of Fed mogul main and rod bearings, one set = $91.00 I buy them in doubles for a more accurate measurement of individual bearings upon assembly but the customer is only charged for 1 set of each.

1 Comp custom grind 242 single pattern cam,1 set of Crane double springs/cups/Ti retainers $625.00 from Thunder Racing invoice # 21053A.
1 set of 16 Comp lifters my cost $210.00.
Oil pump timing set my cost $120.00.
Full gasket kit my cost $200.00.
1 set of Tour lite H beam rods my cost $498.00 good for 600+ horse.
1 set of GM head bolts $42.00
New Ferrea valves to replace the old and bent ones my cost $239.00 shipped invoice #65759 in stock.
New GM valve seals my cost $21.00
1 set of Fel Pro C5R 4.125 head gaskets my cost $135.00 from Summit racing.
1 set of ARP main studs (which are being returned) my cost $167.00 didn’t fit right IMO.
1 set of Yella Terra rockers from Raging motorsports $425.00
1 set of 30lbs SVO injectors from Summit $228.00 shipped.
1 Shifter cable –0-
Install customer supplied headers and Y pipe –0-.
Re plumb / weld Y pipe at JD’s $108.00 paid to JD.
Ship customers old Mac headers and Y pipe to his buyer, about $28.00
1 GM crank bolt my cost $4.00

There are some other details like dyno fees that I paid for and Bear supplied:

1 drop shipped un balanced Callies crank from some dealership.
Kooks headers with Y pipe.
Tow to JD’s

SUB $8,125.00

8 hours + In house block prep for complete final assembly + shipping charges to Diamond racing for piston adjustment. $500.00.

Engine R&R $500.00 includes coolant, old engine disposal, oil filter, oil, crank/ring assembly lube, molly lube.

Rough total $9,146.00

The last detail we spoke about was that he wanted to settle on 1000.00 cash over 4 weeks time that I said will be up to me once I see the pictures of the damage, I sold and built this motor for Bear at an obvious loss or even ballance in house to “ help a friend”. My total invested is $8,100.00 low side to $9,146.00 high side subtracting the refund from TSP. I will not respond to this post, e-mail invited.


Here are some other warrentee claim cash lay out I have done in the past 7 months, here is Lorenzo's phone number to confirm I did not build the last 5 motors (215) 750-8324, I just paid for them, I at least have cancelled checks paid to JD's and Lorenzo's to prove it.



email 12/22 email 1/27
Owed to JD JD Rick JP revised 1-30 Notes
1 Dave Crowley 4,500.00 4,500.00 4,500.00
2 Mickael Knight 2,500.00 250.00 250.00 JPR supplied the block-orig deposit was $2,300=cost of block
3 Carter Edwards 6,059.00 4,000.00 4,000.00
4 Erik Zerner 3,000.00 2,530.00 2,530.00 Lorenzo's bill; JPR supplied all other parts; customer pd labor
5 George Culli 4,000.00 3,955.65 3,955.65 Lorenzo's bill; includes $618 from previous George Culli bill
subtotal 20,059.00 15,235.65 15,235.65
6 Oil filter 10.00 10.00
7 John Melkun 108.00 108.00 JD's should be collecting this from John, not JPR
Total Owed to JD 20,059.00 15,353.65 15,353.65


Paid to JD
1 Ck-Joe Prince 2,000.00 2,000.00
2 Ck-Joe Prince 3,000.00 3,000.00
3 Ck-Len Griffith 2,000.00 2,000.00
4 Cash-Joe Prince 1,000.00 1,000.00
payments made since Rick's email 1/27
5 Ck-JPR 1,441.00 1,441.00 applied to carter edwards
6 Money order # 300.00
7 Cash-Lorenzo 425.00
7 Thunder Racing Ck 800.00
8 Cores-cylinder heads 1,500.00 1 LT1 and 4 LS1
9 Engine 4,500.00 JD received the proceeds from the sale of all the engine

Total Paid 1,441.00 8,000.00 16,966.00

Balance Due/(From) to JD 7,353.65 (1,612.35)



Notes:
For Eric Zerner - JPR paid $862 for pistons, rings, bearings, rods, and oil pan gasket in addition to what was paid to JD.
Still waiting for receipts for cash and engine supplied to JD.
Still waiting on receipts for monies requested from JD for Lorenzo's Fastflow machine shop for the engines JD billed us for.

 

I guess your computer is back from the fbi?