Rebuilt $350 long block questions

[scenic760]

I would not trust their work or the engine.

To many red flags brother dispute the charge, or file small claims lawsuit. It cost $75.00

Judges hate shops that put the screws to the little guy. The judge will identify with your situation.

I sued a body shop over some shoddy bodywork and won. It’s really a simple process to file a small claims suit.

Small claims is quick and vicious.

Tell them what you want. (The machine shop) Remember it’s business, not personal your not trying to make friends your paying for a service per a verbal contract.

If you feel like you got ripped off. Say what needs to be said.

Hey all, sorry for the late reply... I wasn't getting email notifications on the thread!

As of right now I have disputed the charges with the credit card company and they said they are going to mail me something of a questionaire that I need to respond to in the next week or so.

I only spoke with them when I questioned the .060 over and the 2 sleeves and got the "oh well" response... I spoke with another friend of mine who was/is an actual mechanic and he said going .060 over could potentially lead to overheating issues?

So as Idahovette said, I think I'm done with them.... the credit card company asked me if they offered a discount (no they didn't) but as most have pointed out i'm not really sure I want to take a risk installing it at any price really.

I'm at a point that I'm so mad that they ruined my block (the block was clean) and tried to pass off exactly what I told them I didn't want at .060 while overcharging me. Wasting about a month of my time in the process (so far anyways) is just insult to injury.

I think I'm going to tell them they can supply me with a new 4 bolt main block (std bore), I will keep the heads with a full refund and they can have the rest of their creation back. Or they can supply me with a complete 350 engine (std bore) with a head casting I find acceptable and they can take the entire long block back with a full refund.

If they had truly done their professional due diligence in the beginning and, once again giving them the extreme benefit of the doubt there actually was an issue, measured the bores and determined they were going to have to sleeve 2 cylinders and bore it .060 over and it was going to cost me $3200 to rebuild a SBC 350, who in their right mind would not have said no thanks and gone BRAND NEW GM crate at that point? Or at least said let me find new block...I just doesnt make any sense

 

[idahovette]

@scenic760 I'm hesitant to push the like button because of all the BS you've gone thru, but I think you are doing the right thing in pursuing these a@#holes!!!!.....I DO LIKE that!!

 

[scenic760]

@scenic760 I'm hesitant to push the like button because of all the BS you've gone thru, but I think you are doing the right thing in pursuing these a@#holes!!!!.....I DO LIKE that!!

Thanks my man... I really dislike anyone taking advantage of someone for any given reason. I'm one of those guys who doesn't mind paying for a quality product as I suspect almost 99% of the members of this forum are, which I love.

However, in this particular case I'm seeing that some shops are willing to alter their moral compass with trusting clients to put more $ to the bottom line. Doesn't sit well with me, money aside..

 

[Pmac]

Do you have images of the casting numbers and the 'pad' number from the block you dropped off for machining? If so, do they match the block you got back?
You certainly have a case with or without those numbers; are machine shops so busy in SoCal at this time that customer follow-up fell by the wayside so consistently?
Best of luck.

 

[K3082]

What yr is the block. Did they supply all parts, why not just bore all 8 instead of sleeving? The cost difference between the pistons and sleeving should have been a no brainer since they were taking the block to the limit. Beside you will more than likely have a issue on those cylinders down the road. We’re these cylinders next to each other?

 

[scenic760]

Do you have images of the casting numbers and the 'pad' number from the block you dropped off for machining? If so, do they match the block you got back?
You certainly have a case with or without those numbers; are machine shops so busy in SoCal at this time that customer follow-up fell by the wayside so consistently?
Best of luck.

I think I just drew the short straw on this one... the shop has been around a while and has overall good ratings on google and yelp... peculiar thing is I just looked at yelp and saw a review posted 3/19/2021 from someone who had a similar experience I did!! I'm wondering if someone new took over the place at this point?!

 

[scenic760]

What yr is the block. Did they supply all parts, why not just bore all 8 instead of sleeving? The cost difference between the pistons and sleeving should have been a no brainer since they were taking the block to the limit. Beside you will more than likely have a issue on those cylinders down the road. We’re these cylinders next to each other?

The block was an 010 casting from 1971.. I didn't take pics of the deck # before drop off but the casting # is the same.

You are just as confused as I am..it went from a std bore to .060 over PLUS 2 sleeves..not being a professional machinist I'm not sure how that happens as if you needed to sleeve 2 cylinders you would do that first and then bore the block at the minimum needed? All that assuming sleeving those cylinders made sense in the first place, which it doesn't...

And yes they supplied all the parts..funny thing is I looked at the oil pan gasket they supplied and it had RTV on it like someone had installed it before...which leads me to question what else did they use that wasn't new

 

[K5ride]

In California , it's in regulation that they they contact you for any increase from the original estimate. They have to document the phone call or conversation on the invoice along with the time and date. I would also file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair. They control their license and really work hard to fix situations like this, usually by getting you a refund. You can file the complaint online at www.bar.ca.gov. The regulations that the shops are required to follow are listed in a publication called "Write it Right". I attached a copy for your reference. Also, what area of SoCal was your shop? I'm dropping off my 350 for machine work this week and don't want to end up with the same shop.....LOL.

 

[scenic760]

In California , it's in regulation that they they contact you for any increase from the original estimate. They have to document the phone call or conversation on the invoice along with the time and date. I would also file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair. They control their license and really work hard to fix situations like this, usually by getting you a refund. You can file the complaint online at www.bar.ca.gov. The regulations that the shops are required to follow are listed in a publication called "Write it Right". I attached a copy for your reference. Also, what area of SoCal was your shop? I'm dropping off my 350 for machine work this week and don't want to end up with the same shop.....LOL.

Thanks K5,

Yeah...I think the BAR route is definitely the hammer if this doesn't get resolved via the credit card dispute route...I posted the one and only written invoice I received earlier in the thread..it was 3 or 4 lines...no written estimate. Retrospectively it does seem odd that a BAR licensed shop wouldn't generate an initial written estimate, etc... like I mentioned earlier I had the brake drums turned at Pepboys for $50 and I had to sign in 3 places and initial in a bunch more, and that was walking the parts in.

The shop is in San Diego county

 

[Bextreme04]

Thanks K5,

Yeah...I think the BAR route is definitely the hammer if this doesn't get resolved via the credit card dispute route...I posted the one and only written invoice I received earlier in the thread..it was 3 or 4 lines...no written estimate. Retrospectively it does seem odd that a BAR licensed shop wouldn't generate an initial written estimate, etc... like I mentioned earlier I had the brake drums turned at Pepboys for $50 and I had to sign in 3 places and initial in a bunch more, and that was walking the parts in.

The shop is in San Diego county

I think you need to report it to the BBB and BAR regardless. They messed up a bunch of stuff from the get-go, especially with not providing a written estimate. All the price increases from that point are just adding bad on top of bad. Just trying to resolve it through the credit card dispute doesn't help anyone else coming along after you. This is a predatory business practice and specifically illegal in your state, report it.

I'd suggest you try and get a full refund and whatever parts you dropped off returned to you. Sell the parts or replacements they give you and buy a GM crate engine with a full warranty. Using anything they gave you would mean you would only be able to rely on them for warranty work, and at this point I wouldn't want anything to do with them.

 

[Bextreme04]

Also, before dropping anything off at a machine shop, I always stamp my initials into all parts so that I know I'm getting back what I dropped off. I wouldn't be surprised if you "accidentally" got a different block and crank than the one you dropped off. Going off the stamping number on the front isn't usually enough since decking the block will wipe those number out.

 

[scenic760]

Also, before dropping anything off at a machine shop, I always stamp my initials into all parts so that I know I'm getting back what I dropped off. I wouldn't be surprised if you "accidentally" got a different block and crank than the one you dropped off. Going off the stamping number on the front isn't usually enough since decking the block will wipe those number out.

Definitely one of those life lessons I learned!

I have two theories on what happened, one being I didn't get back what I dropped off.

 

[scenic760]

I think you need to report it to the BBB and BAR regardless. They messed up a bunch of stuff from the get-go, especially with not providing a written estimate. All the price increases from that point are just adding bad on top of bad. Just trying to resolve it through the credit card dispute doesn't help anyone else coming along after you. This is a predatory business practice and specifically illegal in your state, report it.

I'd suggest you try and get a full refund and whatever parts you dropped off returned to you. Sell the parts or replacements they give you and buy a GM crate engine with a full warranty. Using anything they gave you would mean you would only be able to rely on them for warranty work, and at this point I wouldn't want anything to do with them.

I think you are right that I owe it to other consumers to report it to the regulating authority... which I absolutely hate involving the government in anything...

It gets kind of messy asking for all my parts back because essentially they are all sitting on an engine stand in front of me..aside from the fact they butchered them! I agree that I don't want anything to do with them at this point...

I was looking at the Yelp post I mentioned in another reply and it's scary how similar the experience was except it looked like he took even more punishment. Here is his review:

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Catbox]

jeebus...
Not rad at all.

 

[Bextreme04]

I think you are right that I owe it to other consumers to report it to the regulating authority... which I absolutely hate involving the government in anything...

It gets kind of messy asking for all my parts back because essentially they are all sitting on an engine stand in front of me..aside from the fact they butchered them! I agree that I don't want anything to do with them at this point...

I was looking at the Yelp post I mentioned in another reply and it's scary how similar the experience was except it looked like he took even more punishment. Here is his review:

You must be registered for see images attach

Everything about that screams "I have no idea what I'm doing". Why would you sandblast a cylinder head?!?!? After reading that review I'd be concerned that they gave someone else your parts or kept them for themselves and then saddled you with some junk they had laying around.