Bad start to a new relationship

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by jhv48

As a new owner, I hope you are at least familiar with how to turn a wrench, otherwise you will become a very frustrated owner.

You can't just drive your car down the street to the local dealership, get a loaner car and come back later to pick it up when it's done.

The majority of repairs, maintenance, adjustments will need to be done in your garage, with your tools. If you want to ship it back to KC every time a problem comes up, you will be without your car more than you will be driving it.

My history:
Bought the car in August of 09 from Hillbank.
Installer put motor and tranny in.
Installer found leaking intake manifold gasket. They replaced it twice before I took delivery.
Horn didn't work when I got it home. Crawled under the dash and connected the wire to the horn button.
Oil pressure line began leaking right away. Removed the line and fixed the ferrule (this happened twice)
Engine overheated. Trailered back to the installer for diagnosis (I wasn't going to mess with the engine as it had a warranty from Roush) Tow bill $350.
Side pipe gaskets blown. I replaced the side pipes with Full Throttle 3 inchers, with Remflex gaskets.
Front wheels out of balance from day one. Vibration at 65MPH. Had the fronts balanced by three different shops (including the installer) until I found one that balanced them on the car using a 70's style machine. Problem solved. Found one wheel slightly out of round.
Oil temp gauge stopped working. Ordered one from Nisonger and re routed the line away from the engine vibration. Cost $160.
And the big one: Trans started grinding in reverse. Drove back to installer and paid almost $1000 to have the tranny removed, transmission and clutch inspected and the pilot bushing (a $13 part) replaced.

My point is that these cars are not done till they are done. And then something else will need attention. But, when they are right, damn they are a kick in the butt. Until they kick your butt!

One person here described them very well. They are race cars with license plates. Race cars require a lot of care.