I have read both threads here, and I have heard the voice mails over the past week or so. I feel I need to clear the air and set the record straight on a few issues.

Firstly, nobody is getting ripped off!! Everyone will get what they paid for, or if free then a free engine you will have. All returns and credits will be issued. We are not in the business of cheating people; anything to the contrary is simply absurd.

Secondly what surprises a lot of people when they visit the shop is how small we are. Our shop is 4500sq. ft. and there are two hoists and a dyno in that space. We also have an engine machine shop and that is it. When the phone rings, somebody puts a wrench down to answer it. So work stops every time the phone rings, and trust me that’s a lot. We are actively searching for a phone person, but that is turning out be harder than initially anticipated. Our engine program consists of only two people Nick and I, Mike and Rudy are the mechanics and that’s AP Engineering in a nut shell. The obvious solution most would say is to hire more people. We eventually plan to do just that, while at the same time maintaining the quality and workmanship APE has become known for.


Thirdly, not that it’s the customer’s problem, but allow me to paint a picture of what APE has become over the last 6 months. We had a good following on here and a decent amount of people were running our engines. Business was growing well and we were able to afford certain luxury items to better the quality of work we put out. Mostly tools around the shop, but we also purchased a machine shop just before Christmas. Just after the New Year we decided to have a short block sale to help jump start the engine season. I’m sure everyone remembers the now famous $500 off and no core sale that we had. The sale was going well and we took in probably ten engines in the first five days, so we were pleased with the progress of the sale. At that time we were telling customers that it was a 4-6 week lead time on engines, and at that point it was. Then in the last two days of the sale we sold thirty-six engines. So here we are sale over, and we have damn near fifty engines to build. Hindsight of course is always twenty-twenty, and we should have set a quantity limit for the sale. We know this for the next time, but as in most things you learn as you go.

We began to order cores, but all of a sudden we can’t find cores to save our lives. LT1’s are a rare breed to start with, and now 6.0L truck blocks aren’t to be found anywhere. LS6 blocks, yeah right!! Again that is an APE issue not a customer issue, but these are some of the set backs that have caused these delivery dates to be so late. We have also had supplier issues here and there with getting us parts, but hell that’s business so what can you do. We then had our hone break down which took a week to repair. Basically Murphy’s Law was in full swing.

In an effort to correct this situation, we have stepped up the engine program to maximum over time. Nick and I are both here in excess of seventy hours a week, now that we finally have blocks we can start making things happen here. A lot of the parts to make these engines come together have been here for a while. It’s the blocks to put the components in that we were lacking. Nick has been a honing mad-man, and the machines have more or less been running sun up to sun down, and usually well past. Efforts are being made on APE’s behalf to right this situation and get our customers their engines as fast as we possibly can, while at the same time still keeping the quality that we have become known for.

I know that a lot of times customers just want a quick update, or some contact to let them know that they haven’t been forgotten. This is not the case, nobody has forgotten you. Stopping progress to deliver bad news didn’t really seem like a good idea on our end. Apparently we were wrong there though, and we’re big enough to admit that.

Our goal is to have the bulk of the engines out of here in the next month. If you need to get in touch with somebody during the week both Nick and I can be reached via PM or e-mail nick@automotiveperformance.net chris@automotiveperformance.net . I ask that you use this method, simply so we can stay working on projects at hand. We both answer PM’s and e-mails well into the night, every night. Nick is more in tune with status updates, and is usually more reachable during the week.

Please don’t take any of this the wrong way; this post is intended to shed some light on the situation for our customers. One post is easier than fifty phone calls and right now time is of the essence. Did we get in over our heads, you bet. Are we going to get every engine out, absolutely. A big part of business is learning from your mistakes, and we have learned more than a few lessons from this sale. Again I apologize to anybody that feels slighted by the impersonal nature of this post, it was simply meant to inform our customers of the current status at APE.

 

Growth isn't easy. You guys have a great reputation and I'm sure in the long run, as long as you live up to your word, that's what people will remember you for.

So does this mean no more MOTHER of all sales anymore. I knew I should have gotten in on the last one.

 

I sent a few PM's to you Chris don't know if you've gotten them. Still need that 408! Let me know when things are looking good.

 

Chris I have been calling for the last two weeks. I've been leaving messages with no return phone calls.When I ordered my 370 iron block on Feb. 14 I was told 4-6 weeks. I never cared about the on date promise or your motor is free. I was not looking for a hand out as it seems some people here are. I understand that problems occur in bussiness,as I'm a bussiness owner too.But from the beginning I felt a little dissapointed because I was discussing cam options with you and you told me that you'll work on it and call me back. You never did. I know I changed my order in the 23rd hour to custom pistons,which I was told will delay my shortblock delivery by a max of 4 more weeks.The next time I finally spoke to you was last week Monday.I called to inquire about my shortblock update when I was told by you that you were looking at my completed shortblock. You told me to pay for my motor balance by Wednesday;so that it would ship out on Wed. or Thursday. I tried calling on Wed. and Thur. to make my final payment with no answer. I finally spoke to someone on Friday who gladly took my final payment and told me that my shortblock will go out on Monday via Fedex Freight. I have been calling since Monday to discuss my shortblock head gasket and cam options with you with no call back. I did finally speak to Erik yesterday who told me that the engine builder will call me back. Again no call back. After a couple of calls today I finally spoke to Nick. Nick informed me that the motor with the custom pistons that you told me that is done is not. So the final payment that I made was for a motor that didn't exist. He then apologized and told me that you guys are extremly backed up and are currently working on LT1 motors.He also said that he'll try his best to get my motor out within the next 2 weeks but can not promise me anything.Like I said from the beginning, I don't mind waiting a little extra time but I do not like getting Lied too. I have since contacted my cc company to inform them of this. It is unfortunate that I was brought to do this. But I will be more then glad to pay for my motor in full if you ever get it built. But for know I can not risk having my money sit in someone elses account while being Lied too.I'm sorry that we have to correspond this way but I guess it's the only way to get in contact with you. I choose not to e-mail you because I beleive that other people here have the right to know about our sponsers here. Again I will be more then glad to purchase the shortblock from you if it's finished for sure in the next 2 weeks.

FRANK

 

WOW! You guys might want to hire someone to answer your phones.

 

You're still 2 weeks before the expected delivery. What's your problem?

And, no, it's not my business, but you're making it mine by posting on a public forum, so deal with it!

SC-

 

Did you read his post? He was flat out lied to, plain and simple, doesn't matter if his due date is two months from now, he was LIED to for the sole purpose to get him to send more money. Damn man, take the blinders off.

 

Awesome Sig!

 

Stop tring to be a APE cheerleader and see how you would feel if you were asked to send your payment for a engine that was not even finished. You say "deal with it". I did I contacted my cc company. So grab your pom poms and go and mind your own bussiness. As I said earlier the reason I put this on a public forum is for other people in a similar situation should be informed. I understand that APE had a A+ reputation and just got caught up in a huge order. But why did it take Chris this long to come out and tell people his problem with engine cores. They all seemed to be working day in and day out to fill orders, but still seemed to find time to try a 12 bolt GP. I might just be venting but it still all comes down to being Lied too.

 

All this **** is true!!! I order my motor on the 11th of march and its april the 20th and i haven't got a call from chris i call and call and finaly got a hold of chris on monday of this week he said the my motor was going to be shipped in two day. Guess what i call today and didn't get a hold of chris he was too busy or he was not in but he was not too busy to call one of my friends back beause he was going to order more stuff LOL..
I talk to one of his employee ask him if my motor was ship he said he will call me back but he never called me back so i called back to talk to someone alse and he told me the my motor was not shipped yet.

So what chris do i get my motor for free?

 

I can't say that I have ever had any problems with the guys at AP. I do understand your frustrations, although these types of things can and will happen. I am sure Chris takes several calls each week asking about this motor or that motor. They might just be guilty of poor organizational skills that come from being over worked. In other words, maybe he didn't lie to you on purpose. I don't want to make excuses for him but I can understand both sides.

 

Good point...

I have been trying to get some work done at APE and until this week I did not understand why no response to my requests for quotes and additional tune info on my recent tune by APE.

I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

But, I am not waiting on a motor and can imagine that would create more frustation and concern than what I am waiting to do.

 

I call APE today and got to talk to Nick and he was very helpful he shipped my motor today they took care of me sooner then i thought, hopefuly i get my motor next week.

GOOD LUCK WITH ALL YOUR ORDERS GUYS!!!!!

 

Well I believe the guys mean well and Nick has been very helpful just by returning phone calls. So APE is still all good in my book. I just like a little communication. But I can vouch for them. They have been busy as hell and have a lot of stuff going on in that 4500 sf building.

 

Thanks for the kind words guys, I am trying my absolute best.

Now that we have cores things are coming along very nicely.

5 days, 5 engines shipped.

Machining blocks this weekend here, to try and repeat that same deal next week. Trust me when I say that everyone will get what they paid for. We got caught up in a few situations with suppliers and trying to locate cores, but we have since solved that problem.

We now have Eric running the front end for us, so all calls will be answered and we will get back to you. He is in direct communication with me through out the day, so getting back with people is not an issue.

I thank you all for your continued patience. Know that I am doing everything in my power to satisfay every job here in a somewaht timely manner. Quality is #1, everything else is secondary. Well enough typing here, the hone is calling.

 

so back to the "WE NEED ENGINES!"

lets do this! SPDC has given me the best price of 3200 coreless for callies rods, Mahle/Diamond pitsons, and the normal bearings and such all fully balanced

 

We are satisfying jobs currently. IF you would like to be patient, we can get you a price. Soonest delivery date I would safely offer would be late into July though.

We have a lot on our plate, so I would say another motor GP is at least until x-mas time away if not longer. Probably going to be an annual thing, and next time there is a limit on orders we will take so first come first serve.

 

Patiently awaiting a quote from Chris......

 

Thanks Nick and keep up the good work.

 

Hey Chris or Nick what would a GP price be on a 408?Let me know