Ugh! 427 Rebuild

[aa909]

Hey guys, searching for a shop in Los Angeles to pull my Smeding Performance 427 (heading back to Smeding for a rebuild) and came across Valley Head in Northridge. Has Anyone had Larry do any work on their cars? Pulling an engine isn't a unique job but I also don't want to get the car back with scratches or any other issues

thanks in advance
Artin

[IMLost]

Allstar Miller south of you.
Miller Motorsports

[Sledge]

Artin:

Having recently installed a Smeding Cobra 427, did you have an issue that I, too, should be concerned about?

Thanks

[MFE III]

Looking forward to hearing more about your particular problem(s). I also have the Smeding 427W. It's now 12 years old with 22k miles and still running strong. Only problem I have had is one failed rocker.

[aa909]

Originally Posted by IMLost

Allstar Miller south of you.
Miller Motorsports

Yes, Alistair did my original install back in 2014 and he's worked on my car over the years. Unfortunately timing didn't work out this time with Alistair. Found a shop in North Hollywood and finally got the car home today after nearly 7 months. Seems to be running fine on the rebuilt engine but need to get a new battery.

Originally Posted by Sledge

Artin:

Having recently installed a Smeding Cobra 427, did you have an issue that I, too, should be concerned about?

Thanks

My engine died after about 4500 miles. the cam gear that drives the distributor shattered. Smeding did the rebuild under warranty, they mentioned back in 2014 they had some similar issues on a few engines but have since remedied this issue.

Originally Posted by MFE III

Looking forward to hearing more about your particular problem(s). I also have the Smeding 427W. It's now 12 years old with 22k miles and still running strong. Only problem I have had is one failed rocker.

In addition to the cam gear issue I noted above, my engine was burning a quart of oil every 200 miles so something was off with my engine out of the gate. I only have 50 miles on the rebuild but so I'll have to give it some time to see how it performs.

[tortuga]

Tell them what YOU want dont give them a free hand, demand a build sheet complete with ALL parts make & model, clearances, and if dynoing all parameters…

Do yourself a favor and plan on NOT driving it home when THEY say its done. If its all good then fine, but be ready to leave it for correction. Review the invoice carefully…

Better yet do it yourself if you are up to it…