2 1/2 years ago I had a 1098 engine rebuilt by him. It never ran well from the off. Power was way down on what was to be expected, it smoked a lot, had a noisy clicking sound, leaked oil due to bottomed out bolts on the gearbox case. Other bolts had been packed out with multiple washers. The whole thing was shoddy. I did try for quite some time to make contact but all my efforts were ignored. Gradually I sorted out the obvious issues and lived with the result.
Now my engine is back out for some (a lot) of body work I’ve taken to stripping it down myself as I’ve got more time on my hands as I’m still furloughed.
The engine has done about 2500 miles since it’s rebuild. The honing marks are still very prominent so at least that did actually get done. But the rest is truly shocking.
Primary gear end float - 9 almost 10 thou.
Crankshaft end float - 8 thou and the thrust washers are second hand for sure. Even the silver steel is showing through the copper.
Cam timing miles out. 0 degree key and one tooth out on the cam gear.
The transfer case nuts weren’t done up. Some were finger tight and one had fallen off into the case, maybe that was the noise I could hear or maybe it was the worn cam followers.
The head which id paid for a refurb plus valve upgrade is completely standard, never skimmed and standard sized valves.
The 9.5:1 CR I asked for is in fact 8.7:1. No attempt to improve this.
To be fair the crank did get ground and new bearings were fitted.
I’m sure there is more I’ve forgotten.
Now I know why the power fell away after 4000rpm and it made no bhp. Not even factory standard figures.
It’s water under the bridge and the £3k he charged me is long forgotten but the standard of workmanship and lack of professionalism won’t be. He even nicked the waterproof kit off of my dizzy not that’s a big issue but it’s the principle of the thing.
Anyway I hope this serves as a warning to anyone down in the West Country considering an engine build. Learn to do it yourself or nip up the M5 to Slarks if you want to stay ‘local’.
Edited by Minigman, 26 August 2020 - 06:18 PM.