It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who this "new guy" is. If you search his other posts, you will see that it used to be 601HP.
Using a little deductive reasoning, you'll know that I am the engine builder that's being put under the microscope with this thread.
I'm not much into playing the "he said, she said" game. So this will be my one and only post.
I haven't seen this engine in person for about 13 months. However, I've been in correspondence with 601HP/HTM101 ever since he picked it up last year. He called me concerned with very bad
oil consumption....along the lines of a quart per 200-300 miles.
The short and skinny of it is that I sent some parts back and forth trying to pinpoint exactly what was going on, but we couldn't really point a finger at any specific thing, so it was mutually decided to bring the engine back to me so I could tear it down and take a look. It was still under warranty.
The second to last email that was sent was a verification that I was bound and determined (I think my exact words) to figure out what the problem was and even mentioned that I would disassemble the engine in front of Mr. 601HP. He replied and stated that he was pleased to hear that and he would see me the following Friday. The day before, I received another email stating that he was taking the engine to a "third party engine builder".
My last email stated that my warranty boldly implies that if a problem develops with an engine that it comes to my place first. If someone else tears down the engine first, the warranty is void. Pretty simple. If you haven't noticed, engine builders have a tendency to be a little on the cocky side and we all like to point out how we do things much better than the other guy. It's like a feeding frenzy when the competition's hurt engine comes into the shop...."Oh, his bearing clearances were .0018" and I like to see them looser than that." "Oh, his 2nd ring gap was a lot looser than this 1st ring gap. We set them tighter." The problem list could get extensive.
Regardless......the engine never came back to me.
Now, my next statement is that everyone makes mistakes including myself. I am not perfect. I'm not admitting guilt in this particular instance, but my point is that since problems do occur and mistakes do happen, the saying, "Problems happen. It's how you take care of the problem that proves your integrity..." holds true. I offered to take the engine back, tear it down, and see what was going on. If the issue was a result of my own actions, then it would be taken care of. Pretty cut and dried.
I'm somewhat upset that 601HP waited until the day before Thanksgiving to bring this to light publicly. Building engines for a living is not without its ulcers, but it sorta ruins a good family weekend when dirty laundry is aired across Club Cobra. I also can't really figure out the motive behind posting. If everything was supposed to have been anonymous, then why show a bunch of photos with pointing fingers? That "information pool" would kinda be pointless without naming names.
So, in the spirit of transparency, I'll go ahead and nip the anonymity in the bud. No need to grab popcorn or wait to see who the other shoe is. I have nothing to hide. I also don't know what all has occurred to this engine in the past year, nor do I know who has had their hands inside. Not really sure what was going on with the engine and I suppose the "speculations" and "opinions" don't offer much concrete evidence either, but regardless, I would have been happy to get the engine back in-house and take care of any problems. No one wants to take a reputation hit, and in most cases, engine builders will usually go out of their way to offer good customer service.
Still living in that spirit of transparency, I have all emails saved and can post them if necessary.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...
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