• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

427 engine (part 2) - RHS block

Bob K said:
I know one thing for sure. I would not want to be working on a different car and let Rich catch me if I was Chris. I thought the next explosion I heard about would be Iran's reactor going up in smoke but maybe it could be Rich at the shop. :rofl1:
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Actually, I fully understand that a business has to have cash flow and in order to do so, has to take in jobs as they come available. That's one of the drawbacks to paying up front for a long involved project like this. Eventually, you get pushed to the back burner, because paying customers wind up having higher priority than the ones where no new money will be forthcoming. This sort of thing can't help but generate some anger and frustration as it becomes obvious then that your priority level has dropped down below ANY paying job that comes to their door. I am not saying for certain that this has become the case, but it completely boggles my mind that something as simple as the replacing of the timing chain cover is going to take a full week to accomplish. I just can't reconcile this fact with the claim that my car is anywhere near the top of the priority list, I'm afraid.
 
RevXtreme 1 said:
Takes 3-5 hours on average to do. Thats working on it and no interruptions.
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So since the old timing chain cover is already off, is it safe to assume that putting it back ON from that point would only take 1.5 to 2.5 hours? :thinkin:
 
Rich Z said:
So since the old timing chain cover is already off, is it safe to assume that putting it back ON from that point would only take 1.5 to 2.5 hours? :thinkin:
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Depending on other brackets in the way, yes. Goes together easier than it comes apart, but the rack is a ROYAL PAIN!!
 
Well, apparently the hold-up is that Chris is waiting for some stainless steel bolts for the water pump and the timing chain cover to come in.

But regardless, my car won't be drivable this week anyway, as the turbos won't be back from being recoated by Jet Hot anyway till maybe next week.

And Lord only knows when those new headers will finally show up.
 
Well Rich it sure looks like your build and mine are sure getting dragged out. If Chris is waiting on parts for yours it sure seems like he could be getting the top end of mine put on. I sure didn't expect a rebalance job would take this long.No telling how much longer it's going to take.
 
vetteguy61 said:
Well Rich it sure looks like your build and mine are sure getting dragged out. If Chris is waiting on parts for yours it sure seems like he could be getting the top end of mine put on. I sure didn't expect a rebalance job would take this long.No telling how much longer it's going to take.
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I gotta ask Mike. I never heard of a re-balance. What's that?
 
When the motor was balanced the first time it wasn't right and I had a bad vibration.It was sent to LME to be redone with a correct balance,all new bearings,piston rings and put back together.The motor came back the first week of June. It was the short block assembly that was redone.
 
vetteguy61 said:
When the motor was balanced the first time it wasn't right and I had a bad vibration.It was sent to LME to be redone with a correct balance,all new bearings,piston rings and put back together.The motor came back the first week of June. It was the short block assembly that was redone.
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Thanks Mike. PM sent so I don't hijack Rich's thread.
 
To properly balance a rotating assy you need the crank, rods, pistons, balancer/dampner, and flywheel/flexplate.

All are critical to get it right, and the higher the engine is going to rev, the more critical it is.

Vibration, harmonics, and resonance can shatter or break a crank in half in extreme case.
 
I guess it would have been too much to hope that the timing chain cover would be compatible with my engine without modification.... :banghead: Chris told me today that a section of the bottom needs to be milled off to fit.

I think I need to take up a new language, because I've already overused all the curse words in the English language....

Perhaps I need to get a branding iron made up that says "OEM COMPATIBILITY" and burn it onto the asses of all these jokers making aftermarket parts so they get a hint about that concept.

I've asked Chris to make me up a list of all parts that are NOT OEM compatible on this engine so 10 years from how when something breaks I'll have something to refer to. Assuming I still have that car then, of course. Way things are looking, that just might not be an issue.

Anyway, so as to when the tuning will resume, beats the friggin hell out of me.... :banghead:

Oh, before I forget, Chris told me that there was an extra hole drilled in the timing chain cover that came from LME that was also a source of the oil leak. I'm not sure why it was there, but obviously LME screwed up with that entire situation with the cover. Not only was the bung wrong, but a hole was drilled and left unplugged when it was bolted on the engine.

Lovely, eh?
 
Rich Z said:
Oh, before I forget, Chris told me that there was an extra hole drilled in the timing chain cover that came from LME that was also a source of the oil leak. I'm not sure why it was there, but obviously LME screwed up with that entire situation with the cover. Not only was the bung wrong, but a hole was drilled and left unplugged when it was bolted on the engine.

Lovely, eh?
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Give me a break. It's got an extra hole in it and it wasn't discovered until now? Rich, I got a bridge I'll sell ya. You may have heard of it. The George Washington bridge!

The only way you're going to get that car anytime soon is to get a trailer and go get it. I know, it's got a warranty. Good luck with that too.

Sorry Rich, but someone had to say it. I just hate seeing people getting screwed.
 
Free Advertising

It seems to me that you should start charging him for all the free advertising he is getting on this site. However if it is not the kind he wants then he should be paying you not to publish. One thing is clear in my mind, If I were in the market to perk my cars performance up I would probable chose someone other then this shop. I spent my working years associated with the prototype build of new products for the auto industry. If this was my car I would be in a straight jacket by now and Webster would have a whole new dictionary to publish. I remember when I took Dale Carnagie they told us that if we applied their training we could tell people were to go and they would look forward to the trip. Applying that principle I went into a meeting with a supplier and threw a roll of toilet paper on the table. Then I said just so no one gets the wrong idea that is for the blood letting that is about to begin. Keep smiling.
 
Bob K said:
Give me a break. It's got an extra hole in it and it wasn't discovered until now? Rich, I got a bridge I'll sell ya. You may have heard of it. The George Washington bridge!

The only way you're going to get that car anytime soon is to get a trailer and go get it. I know, it's got a warranty. Good luck with that too.

Sorry Rich, but someone had to say it. I just hate seeing people getting screwed.
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Sorry, but I am just not inclined to call someone a liar unless I can PROVE it. And quite frankly, that just is not the case here. And I SERIOUSLY doubt you have that sort of proof yourself. Chris said he is going to take some pics of the cover to show me, so I am thinking it must not have been visible when we inspected the engine. I happened to take pics of that cover when the engine arrived, and my guess is that the hole was covered by the camshaft position sensor, as that was mounted along with the timing chain cover when it arrived from LME.

rhs_lxr_02.jpg



rhs_lxr_03.jpg


But until I see pics of that cover from LME, this is all strictly speculation. But ask me if I would be surprised at having yet another glitch like this show up.... :nonod:

Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, it actually turns out that it is a good thing that Chris wanted to do this right by replacing the cover instead of just jury-rigging the sensor as I had requested. I wanted the QUICK way done, but he wanted it done the RIGHT way. Otherwise with the drilled hole, there would have STILL been a leak. As it is, Chris purchased a new cover from Edelbrock ON HIS DIME, no less, that turned out to be the correct way to fix this problem. Chris would have absolutely nothing to gain by claiming that there was a hole in that cover that truly did not exist. The new cover was already bought, paid for, and delivered.

Yeah, trust me, I want this done as much as anyone, but please don't go off half-cocked making baseless accusations on my account. Personally, I think that sometimes Chris does walk away from my car and do other things (that I would consider a lesser priority in the universe), but quite honestly, I wouldn't want to be there myself working on that damned albatross day in and day out. This entire build has been nothing but a WORLD of problems, one after another FOR BOTH OF US, from about every angle imaginable, and I certainly cannot blame Chris for being as frustrated about this as I am. He has lost money hand over fist from this build and has never once come to me asking me to pay more than I already have for this build. Quite frankly, that says a hell of a lot about him, in my opinion. I'm actually REALLY surprised that when I said I was going to pull my car out of his shop that he didn't literally leap for joy at that prospect. But no, he said he wanted to FINISH it, no matter what it takes. So please KEEP this in mind. It actually means quite a bit that I believe a lot of people are completely overlooking.
 
I just went through my folder of images I took of the new RHS block when it came in and cropped and expanded all images of that sensor. If anyone else could have told there would be a problem just by LOOKING at it without removing that sensor and inspecting it, then you are a much better man than I am...

cam_sensor_01.jpg


cam_sensor_02.jpg
cam_sensor_03.jpg


cam_sensor_04.jpg
cam_sensor_05.jpg
 
Rich Z said:
But no, he said he wanted to FINISH it, no matter what it takes. So please KEEP this in mind. It actually means quite a bit that I believe a lot of people are completely overlooking.
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This does say a TON about him. :thumbsup: If I had to guess, he's probably three times as frustrated at this build as Rich is. And to stand by it and say he's going to finish it, I think takes quite a man.
 
The rest of of the story

As Paul Harvey used to say now for the rest of the story. Thank you for sharing how the builder has been working with you on this project. You obviously have been treated with respect and in a professional manner by him. Again I have embarrassed myself by speaking out of turn. As I have said in other post I have the utmost respect for you and the civilized way you have handled this build. And yes some times you just have to take a breather and walk away from a problem. I agree with you there is no way from a visual inspection that you or the builder would have suspected there to be a problem with that part.
 
CorvetteJohn said:
As Paul Harvey used to say now for the rest of the story. Thank you for sharing how the builder has been working with you on this project. You obviously have been treated with respect and in a professional manner by him. Again I have embarrassed myself by speaking out of turn. As I have said in other post I have the utmost respect for you and the civilized way you have handled this build. And yes some times you just have to take a breather and walk away from a problem. I agree with you there is no way from a visual inspection that you or the builder would have suspected there to be a problem with that part.
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You're OK John, I have info and will send Rich a PM. I'm not throwing darts in the dark. I have made two posts about getting that car out of there and there won't be anymore.
 
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