rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

So just out of curioscity, but what made you decide to go at this level of a build on your own and piecemealing it together? Its clear you have a goal in mind. Why not just call up Mamo and pull the trigger on one of his many proven recipes? Im very thankful Eric Roycroft jumped in to help get my disastrous 427ci build turned around, but him n I had talked quite a bit before pulling the trigger. He laid out a decent plan and most importantly(to me) has the ability to dyno the engine. I spoke with Tony for quite some time prior to Eric, and he would have surely had my business if I had access to a decent engine builder and a dyno. The guy knows how to make hp. And quite a few on here are more than happy with their set ups. I only ask bcuz after reading this thread, I dunno that id have the guts to dive in on such a bad *** build and still have any questions(open to discussion) along the way. In for results tho, this thing gunna be nasty. I just know in my heart,a build of this caliber(non cookie cutter),I needed a builder like Mamo or Eric to tell me exactly what we were doing and why sorta thing.

jayyyw

Only thing I'll say about TM is, he won't ever get anymore of my money. Just a personal opinion.

I'm not scared to try new things. The NA setup in my last car was faster than pretty much every other NA car I ran against because I went against all the cookie cutter recipes out there. The only cars that were even close, were the other custom builds.

The build at the start of this thread, ripped. It was no where near a cookie cutter setup. Unfortunately that was short lived as the stock piston decided it didn't want to play anymore.

I'm working with some of the best in the business on this next stage. If we get it right, it will pay off. If we don't, back to the drawing board. It's only money right?

BigDaddy97

I'm 100% with you on that 1st sentence!

C409

iTrader: (1)

"If you aren't the lead dog the view never changes" ... author unknown ... "If you aren't first , you're last" ... Rickie Bobby ... Too many gurus , too many sheep , and too many deep pockets on the forums ... if you aren't willing to try new things or if you just use someone else's formula you will have to find your advantage in other places . Get out of the box and LEARN new **** !

Mickyinks

Ive seen a few people with mamo gear say similiar things, will never use his products again, then change to different parts and make no where near the same power!!!!
I see people posting numbers on similiar cubed engines as mine minus mamo parts and wonder why there down on power. I think the adage goes "the proofs in the pudding"
Each their own , We all have our reasons

02EBC5Z06

iTrader: (1)

The Kool-Aid pitcher is tall on this forum... That is for sure.

Mickyinks

runs are on the board my end

02EBC5Z06

iTrader: (1)

Huh? lol

grinder11

iTrader: (1)

It's one thing to to criticize a vendor, and some people have good reason. What I can't understand is why all of a sudden all the anti-Mamo posts? I have none of his parts on my build, and I've actually stated in the past I had an issue with him while he was at AFR. However, I did state the issue, and although it wasn't an issue in the thousands of $$$$, it was several hundred $$$. Now, how much of that was AFR policies holding him back, and how much of it was Tony himself, IDK. But, I'd never just slam any vendor without listing the reason I'm pissed. Then the community at large can form their own opinion. But even though I had an issue with him, it was 17 years ago. Bottom line-I'd still buy from him again. He is probably in the top 2 or 3 most knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to port design. One thing I've learned thru over 50 years of building engines is:
#1: Make sure you use top notch parts, and
#2: Assemble and set up your own valvetrain with those same parts.
That's just me, and my .02, but I think many will agree with my statements.

G Atsma

Very well put, Grinder11. And I agree!

jayyyw

For the record, I never slammed anyone. Just stated I would never spend money with him again. It's a personal reason and I don't feel I need to explain.

Floorman279

iTrader: (11)

i believe both jayy and bigdaddy have mentioned their issues with tony either on here on corvetteforum. i believe that i have read it somewhere.....honestly im also in the same group of not planning on spending anymore money with him. i know jayy wont mind me barrowing his thread, since this will give us some stuff to chew about while we wait for updates.

when i was shopping for my street setup, i was on the "streetability" goal while getting as much out of it as i could both rpm and hp wise, which obviously led me to tony for obvious reasons. i did get a set of heads and the typical YT rocker and johnson lifters, ported 10295 from him. One thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was while dynoing it, a tick developed. we eventually pulled the rockers and out came pushrods with witness marks on them. the tick was from the pushrod holes not being clearanced enough for the manton 3/8" pushrods he sold me. as the rods hit the head, either the rod was coming out of the lifter cup, or out of the rocker. then one the way down was snapping back into place causeing the click. I did pay for the clearancing of the pushrod holes so i wasnt happy. i called him and he literally just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. so that added cost to my build to pay the tuner to remove heads again and clearance the holes more. I have read this happened on here to others, and josh bauer also had this issue i think. But im sure the response will be, well out of 100 heads it may happen to 1 or 2. But yet it was on both banks for me.

The best way for me to sum mamo up is that hes a salesman, plain and simple. He thinks his stuff is the best, which is ok, but his attitude about his product is basically your car wont run as good with any other product. If you run his heads but not the rockers, and you have a "down on power" issue, he will blame you for not taking his advice and that you need to "run his package setup". ask me how i know.....

it is interesting how you have a handful of people who made above average numbers with "his package", then you have a handful of people who made less than average numbers, but this could be a million different things, especially since its never the same people assembling the setup. I do think in the end tho that the johnson st 2126 that he sells is the issue. I think they are super finicky and are just too tough to setup, even for a competent individual. I actually am in the middle of getting rid of them and go LLSR on my first build with mamo heads to see if this helps resolve a few of my issues.

I do need to add tho, his "responsiveness" is top notch. he wont leave you hanging for a few days or a week, never did i feel i would not get a response from him. like everyone else, i probably had about 2 hours or more in total of phone conversation before the heads were in my hands. I actually just texted him a few weeks ago asking how much to mill off my heads to achieve XX cc in the chamber, and i did get a response within an hour. i ordered the heads 2 years ago. And then it was followed up by a text or 2 figuring out if he could sell me more parts lol.....again hes a great salesman. It is extremely tough to argue with his heads tho for an "aggressive street" setup. my tuner is decent i think, and on my 0411 pcm with the mamo 247/261, the driveability is insanely good. it can be driven at 1600in 5th with basically no surging. i do think it could be tough to match his mid range numbers that his heads get, but the top end i think can be replicated. but at what cost?

that is my personal interaction with him, sorry for the long post jayy

Che70velle

iTrader: (6)

Not really. We don’t have nearly as many Mamo builds over here, as you guys have on CF.

02EBC5Z06

iTrader: (1)

Really?? I know there's a lot on CF, but I thought there were a lot more here.

BigDaddy97

Same here, I had a very poor experience so i've just moved on....

grinder11

iTrader: (1)

I'll say this; I bought a very early run of AFR 225 heads. Had them by Christmas of '04. I paid extra for the CNC porting, and upgraded REV valvesprings. At approx the 300 mile mark, I left a stop sign about 1/2 mile from home, heading for work. An A4 C5. Just as it shifted to 2nd gear under very light throttle, maybe 2,000-2,500 rpm, it happened! WHACK-WHACK-WHACK!! WTFF!!! Shut it down. Re-started it, noise was gone. Turned around and drove home. After work, pulled the valve covers, broken "upgraded" valvespring!!! Called Tony (then at AFR). He said "I'm not in the habit of handing out a free set of valvesprings." I said "I'm not in the habit of dropping $3,000 on a set of heads that can't make 500 miles before a major problem!! I lost the argument. But I could've lost a $15,000 Darton sleeved 427 engine. All I got was his cost on a new set of 921 Comp springs. He openly admitted some early sets of 225s had left AFR with an incorrect installed height, by an error in converting metric to SAE. Not my fault, but I paid dearly for it.....

jayyyw

Just got hit with some huge delays. Probably won't see my heads for, at least, another month. Changed pistons again. Block still hasn't shipped. Builder is milling down the rod cheeks and then sending to get recoated.

jayyyw

Updates for anyone still following along....

Cesar has my heads now. He is installing guides, valves, springs, etc... Verifying the rocker arms can reach .800 lift without binding/touching something, port matching my hi ram base, and possibly porting it further. Should have these in my hands by end of next week - hopefully.

Block has arrived and engine builder will start on my shortblock in a few days.

I've added the Holley I/O module to the car. I want to monitor a few more things and needed the extra inputs and outputs. Adding a vacuum sensor so I can monitor the vac pump, nitrous pressure gauge, second fuel pump output, and one or two other things.

Acquired stuff to do a dry shot of nitrous on top of whatever it makes on motor. Purchased a Nitrous Outlet Hi Ram plate. I will be spraying the meth through the plate for better distribution, but turning it off when I spray. I don't want the complications of running dual fuels when I spray it.

Still working on weight reduction. Have a few places I can pull from still. A buddy weighed his at 2720lbs and I have way more taken out than him. under 3000lbs with me in it is looking real promising.

Going to try to make SCT in OKC mid May. Plan to do the roll racing. See how close I get.

02EBC5Z06

iTrader: (1)

Where are you planning on mounting the vac sensor at? I was debating that for mine and moving some stuff around.

jayyyw

Going to put the sensor on the valley cover