Bummer Matt. Hopefully you get it squared and can make the Socal Challenge at Adams later this month.

Damn... that sucks Matt.

At least you have JR on it... he's the man!!

Yeah Josh, I think I'm going to have JR put things back together. I'll probably break the top end down myself and I'm thinking of pulling the accessory drive off the front so that I can shim or replace the oil pump so that I'm getting more oil pressure. Ordinarily I'd be fine with 10-15 lbs at idle because the pressure jumps up as RPMs climb, but with the abuse that the car is going to take, it is always better to err on the side of caution. As much as my wallet would probably like me to take it back to the place that dyno'd and built the engine with Steve, I'm fed up with their lack of attention to detail, and despite the fact that I think they're a good group of guys, and more than reasonable to work with, at some point, I have to say enough is enough. I'm a firm believer that you always need to give a shop a second chance, sometimes a third because stuff just goes wrong in this hobby. However, the weak point of my car has always been its engine. The old engine never ran right, and well... the new one was likely broken under their care. I'm no expert with LS engines, but I've come to take their advice with a grain of salt, and been justified in doing so multiple times. Writing this has been good, because as I've been typing this out, I realized, even if they put the engine back together on their dollar, I'm not going to trust that it was done right. I'd love to save a little money getting this back together, but I also want to have a car that runs well enough that I can put all of my attention towards sorting out the suspension, and the idiot behind the wheel.

The only question I have now is how much I trust them at all, because that will dictate how far I take the engine down. How many mistakes can what I consider to be a fairly reputable shop make?

That concludes my rant for today! :lol:

Matt

Sorry to hear this Matt, I be hoping for the best for you.

Heard this... makes a lot of sense IMO.

"Who you trust determines your future."

Always go with your gut......:cheers:

:thumbsup: :unibrow: :yes: :wow: looks good!

Sorry to hear about the engine Matt. Hopefully you're able to thrash that beast again soon.

Well guys... It is coming back out. the number one cylinder sleeve is scored pretty badly, so it looks like we'll be dropping in a new sleeve, which is easier than boring everything out from 4.185 to 4.200 and replacing pistons, etc. Not sure what the rings looks like yet, but we'll be finding out soon. It's a shame it wasn't something simple like replacing two head gaskets, but rebuilding it from the ground up gives a lot of added piece of mind. Just from looking at things, it doesn't look like I did any of this damage this weekend, meaning that it has been in this condition since it was in Penny, and remained this way after being "freshened up." I need to give a big shout out to Steve Rupp for volunteering to help get this thing back together. He could have told me to take it up with the company that looked it over after he pulled it out of his car, or just chalked it up to getting a used motor, but he didn't. The car will live again. It probably won't be ready to drive two weeks from now, but that's why I've got a Ford :lol:

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...A/IMAG0460.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...A/IMAG0461.jpg
http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/o...A/IMAG0462.jpg

Matt

Matt,

That's a real bummer. Sorry to hear the bad news. Pretty sure this is how things end up getting faster though. :lol:

Hope it's not to much of a pain.

:cheers: