American Speed in Moline Indiana, bad business be careful

Old 07-28-2009, 08:26 AM
  #1  
blownnalky
Junior Member
SHOW GUEST
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1
Default American Speed in Moline Indiana, bad business be careful

They are located in moline Indiana, Terrible company just out to cost you money for no reason. and a real jerk to deal with. Calls you a liar.
Ive been building drag engines for 20 years I know how to tell what happend.
paid $6700.00 for a 383 stroker engine from them. it was out of warranty due to the time that passed, but engine had 439 miles on it and it dropped a rod cap and seized the engine up. I contacted owner Gail Trent and told him dont expect warranty but wanted to let him know what happend. he told me to ship the engine back to him at my expense and he will look into it. I told him for that cost will just rebuild myself, i asked if he would sell me replacement parts, he said dont worry about it ship him the damaged parts, including the crank and he would take care of it. i shipped parts back at 100.00 to me and as soon as he go them he started calling me a liar and that i wasnt telling him the whole story said engine had way more miles on it, claimed the crank shaft had been welded on and re machined ect. Accused me of trying to get parts for free. Even after i asked him to sell me replacement parts. Never asked for anything for free, The copper was still on the main bearings and rod bearings, not to mention hone marks still in cylinders, hes a joke hes a liar and now he said hell ship me my parts back cod. another 100.00 this guys a jerk to do business with. I could have purchased replacement parts for the 200.00 i got in shipping costs now. dont do business with this company they are very quick to accuse you of the damage, with no responsibility of their own, even after i told him i didnt expect any warranty just wanted to give him a fyi on the engine i purchased from him for $6700.00 failed. the rod nuts were not torqued on this one rod. and it failed, the nuts literally came off the rod bolts and the cap came off then seized the engine. Everyone makes mistakes. hes lucky it wasnt still in warranty, he offeres a 2 year warranty but my build took longer than this but engine was never ran until this summer.
blownnalky is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 08:45 AM
  #2  
Scorpion1110
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Standing right behind you
Posts: 1,151
Default

Sorry to hear this Blown- No reason for the business owner to act like a jerk towards you.

What I find interesting is how many times a "reputable" shop sells an engine and someone didnt torque rods or mains. I dont build alot of motors, but for everyone I do, I keep a build log with all specs and note that I checked all torque settings three times.

Got it pro engine builders? CHECK your torque specs several times- sheesh.

Scorp
Scorpion1110 is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 08:56 AM
  #3  
THERATTLER
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
THERATTLER's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: LICKSKILLET , MISSISSIPPI
Posts: 1,466
Default

I have gone as far as taking the pan back off an engine to recheck everything because I had a bad feeling that I missed something :shock:
THERATTLER is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 09:05 AM
  #4  
performanceengin
Member
JUNIOR BUILDER
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ohio
Posts: 94
Default

here at my shop i have gotten in a habit of marking any bolt that is torqued ,i dab it with a paint marker. it is so easy to get interrupted and forget what is tight or not. just my way to keep things right. sorry to here about you'r misfortune..
performanceengin is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 10:49 AM
  #5  
wlpatterson
Senior Member
EXPERT BUILDER
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 287
Default Why Buy From Someone Else?

Just curious as to why you have been building race engines 20 years would buy from someone else for $6700?? Thats alot of money!Just curious--
wlpatterson is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 01:39 PM
  #6  
Tod74
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,137
Default

Originally Posted by maniac
I have gone as far as taking the pan back off an engine to recheck everything because I had a bad feeling that I missed something :shock:
me too. I have been called "PARANOID FLOYDE" before but I don't care I can't afford to lose one over being in a hurry.
Tod74 is offline  
Old 07-28-2009, 01:46 PM
  #7  
MEMRACING62
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: orland pk il
Posts: 2,399
Default

Originally Posted by performanceengin
here at my shop i have gotten in a habit of marking any bolt that is torqued ,i dab it with a paint marker. it is so easy to get interrupted and forget what is tight or not. just my way to keep things right. sorry to here about you'r misfortune..
I DO THE SAME THING. ALSO SHUT OFF CELL PHONE AND HAVE NOBODY STANDING THERE TALKING AT ME!!
MEMRACING62 is offline  
Old 08-02-2009, 08:07 AM
  #8  
pharaohwolf
Junior Member
SHOW GUEST
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Shipshewana
Posts: 5
Default Engine Building 101

I have been building engines for my street cars and later for all my race cars. It's a job best done while by yourself in your own little world. Any distraction and it could be and usually is cause to a mistake. The 383 Stroker of late has become my specialty.
One thing I have found with them is every build will probably be different from the last. I have used different four bolt main 350 chevy blocks and have had some kind of clearancing issues with every one. Never always the same issues either. One the rods hit the block somewhere. Another the rods hit the cam. Another the crank rubbed the inside edge of the block where the oil pan mounts. Etc.
That's because poured castings are not a perfect science. Also machinists aren't perfect either. That is why CLEARANCING is the most, if not most important part of any build. So many engine builders out there that do not do this enough or at all. Plastigauge is cheap and does not take that much more time when you factor in the life expectancy the engine should have. If anything it makes you attack the torquing process twice too.
I use mostly Eagle Brand bottom ends and shy away from domed pistons. There is alot to say for a low compression engine especially the 383 Stroker. Drag racing engines require more refreshing due to their use and many run nitrous. I build for circle track cars so low compression does not hurt this engine at all. It still provides up in around 450# of torque while still maitaining peak horsepower damn near through the entire range of the cam. And speaking of cams research on this engine will sometimes speak of low base circle cams. They do work better for clearancing issues with the rods but just a change in bolts on the rods will allow clearancing for the large base circle cam.
This engine is phenominal for a circle track car. Especially the guy with the smallest pockets because although I won't use low quality parts there are good parts available for very reasonable prices and the result is one monster of a motor even on pump gas.
So I apologize for the long post in getting to my point, but here it is. I don't know what all parts you had installed in your engine that it would cost $6700 and you also say your an engine builder yourself but, methinks you been hosed! :roll:
pharaohwolf is offline  
Old 08-02-2009, 08:39 AM
  #9  
Scorpion1110
Senior Member
RACING JUNKIE
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Standing right behind you
Posts: 1,151
Default

I can honestly say that between machine work and parts I have over $6k in my 327 in my 66 Nova-

Built the motor myself and went high end across the board, edelbrock SY1 intake, Stahl headers, aluminum heads etc. Its an awesome runner, but it does add up-

However, with that said I could have built that motor for a lot less if I didnt want all the goodies.

Scorp
Scorpion1110 is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service - Do Not Sell My Personal Information -