Quote:
Originally Posted by Ns RS
We started rebuilding the car at the beginning of 2018. In 2017 I dropped in a new LS7 from a well known engine builder, ran a total of two events, pulled the motor to seal up leaks, found out the bearings were shot after 1500 miles, rebuilt it, went to LS Fest West, and then lost a titanium valve spring retainer on my way home. At that point I decided to let it sit in the corner of the shop for a while.”
Hi matt I remember you mentioned this to me at ousci last year did engine builder ever make good on a fix for your motor or did you chalk it up as a loss cause?
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I always have a difficult time figuring out what to do when it comes to sending stuff back to get fixed. I have a shop, and I know that sometimes things happen. As much as we try and get things right the first time, every now and then we have to go back and fix something. However, I also try and gauge whether or not its worth my time to send it back. My time is worth something and if I think I'll get stuck in endless troubleshooting/repair hell, I'd rather pay to rebuild or buy a new engine and be able to use the car!
In the instance with the engine in question, I decided to send it out for machining and rebuild it in house, instead of sending it back to the builder, and that's why I haven't mentioned them by name. I also just wanted to send the motor back and get a refund, but they weren't up for that.
Anyway, here's why I chose to rebuild it. The first time I pulled it, I found valves from two different manufactures that had different shaped bowls and a 13 percent difference in weight. If it was a kid putting the the heads together, I could maybe understand, but this wasn't an isolated incident, another one of our builds had the same issue. There were other issues like over half an inch of slop in the timing chain, cam bearings that weren't lined up with the oil passages, etc. When I got it all back together I broke a titanium retainer. The engine only had 3k total miles on it, 3 autocrosses and 20 minutes of road course time.
For those concerned about buying what I did, you are more than welcome to private message me.