Modification Regrets?
Hopefully tires can be bought in the near future.
Jesus, dude. You have my kind of luck. Any time I've relied on others to do something on my car, I get cheated or they screw up the job. My friends and I decided to open up our own, for that very reason. I do all my own work. F everyone else LOL.
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I don't feel like I was cheated or anything, but the fact remains that I paid for a reliable, running car, and still don't have it...soooo it's like, where did the money go? I try to do all the routine stuff if I have time. Fluid changes, bolt on part installs, tire rotations, brakes, etc, but I don't have the time or desire to drop motors or transmissions .
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My regrets aren't with the mods so much as the shop I chose to do the mods. They were great for the basic stuff, but after my stock motor blew, and all the issues I have had with two built motors blowing on the exact same issue as the stock one, and now after 2 years and thousands spent I STILL don't have a reliable car...talk about a pain in the ***.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
Ive had the same issues as well.
Evolved Member
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 70
From: Australia
Probably the reason when it comes to the time, I'll be doing my engine myself!!
My regrets aren't with the mods so much as the shop I chose to do the mods. They were great for the basic stuff, but after my stock motor blew, and all the issues I have had with two built motors blowing on the exact same issue as the stock one, and now after 2 years and thousands spent I STILL don't have a reliable car...talk about a pain in the ***.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
"I really should have left everything alone. The stock block is fine for my power levels. In my experience, deviation from OEM starts a domino effect of stuff to change out, that never seems to end. I'd rather have another OEM engine that will last 100k miles."
Unfortunately, we've all seen this dozens of times no matter what car you are modding. Nobody in the aftermarket builds an engine to as high a standard as the OEM. Some exceptions may include domestic crate engines (GM, Ford) where the aftermarket stuff is built on the assembly line.
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Unfortunately, we've all seen this dozens of times no matter what car you are modding. Nobody in the aftermarket builds an engine to as high a standard as the OEM. Some exceptions may include domestic crate engines (GM, Ford) where the aftermarket stuff is built on the assembly line.
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
"I really should have left everything alone. The stock block is fine for my power levels. In my experience, deviation from OEM starts a domino effect of stuff to change out, that never seems to end. I'd rather have another OEM engine that will last 100k miles."
Unfortunately, we've all seen this dozens of times no matter what car you are modding. Nobody in the aftermarket builds an engine to as high a standard as the OEM. Some exceptions may include domestic crate engines (GM, Ford) where the aftermarket stuff is built on the assembly line.
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Unfortunately, we've all seen this dozens of times no matter what car you are modding. Nobody in the aftermarket builds an engine to as high a standard as the OEM. Some exceptions may include domestic crate engines (GM, Ford) where the aftermarket stuff is built on the assembly line.
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Other than pistons not lasting as long due to the alloy they're made out of to make them withstand abuse better, I would not hesitate to run a well built aftermarket engine from a shop like English, Buschur, or a few of the motors I've built. And quality pistons will still live long enough to be acceptable. They may not go 200k+, but that's not really what I'm looking for when I'm build a 600whp 4 cylinder. Kaj, and many other people, have gotten unlucky by buying engines from "engine builders"...
Neither my friends nor I have had a good experience with built engines. That's the only reason I shy away, personally. Others have had great success.
Also, if I were going for big power, i would have to keep trying. No choice there.
To be fair, my problem turned out to be the combination of a bad turbo and a failed oil pump bolt. But.. It still died. And it's the third built engine that I've had fail. Out of three. LOL
Neither my friends nor I have had a good experience with built engines. That's the only reason I shy away, personally. Others have had great success.
Also, if I were going for big power, i would have to keep trying. No choice there.
Neither my friends nor I have had a good experience with built engines. That's the only reason I shy away, personally. Others have had great success.
Also, if I were going for big power, i would have to keep trying. No choice there.
My regrets aren't with the mods so much as the shop I chose to do the mods. They were great for the basic stuff, but after my stock motor blew, and all the issues I have had with two built motors blowing on the exact same issue as the stock one, and now after 2 years and thousands spent I STILL don't have a reliable car...talk about a pain in the ***.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
I was never one of "those" customers either. I told them to take all the time they needed with the car. I also told them repeatedly to look the car over from top to bottom and ANYTHING that looked like it MIGHT give me an issue in the next 5 years, let me know now and I would replace it while the car was down. Tried to do everything to ensure the car would be built for reliability, and it still wasn't enough.
Every time I shipped the car off it was spotless, and with all body panels, etc intact. Every time I got the car back I was missing clips, or full undertrays, car was filthy inside and out. Oil hand prints all over the interior, scuffs on the seats that weren't there before, scuffs on the paint...
Then other more serious **** like the turbo manifold being held on by two bolts that were tool tight, the rest weren't even hand tight, and one was completely off. The radiator fan wasn't hooked back up, and caused my stock radiator to blow. My OEM oil temperature sensor line was severed, so that doesn't work anymore. Had a brand new tactrix cable in the car when it left, comes back with no cable, then I get sent some cable from who knows were that doesn't even work in the mail. Paid for a professional alignment, and when I got the car back it was pulling and handling so bad I brought it to an alignment shop, and the before was so bad you'd think the car had been in a wreck recently, so that professional alignment I paid for never happened. Then I get the car back this time, and it's handling the exact same way, so it needs another trip to the shop for that.
Did I mention that after all of this time and money spent (the car has run under its own power for maybe 5 months total in the past 2.5 years, but has been driven reliably less than a month in all that time, at a cost of close to $9000 with the build/shipping back and forth) I still have no answers, or even suggestions as to why the motor blew 3 times on the same issue in the first place? Not to mention the fact that the car still isn't reliable.
I'd already replaced just about everything that could break over the years either through modding, or preventative maintenance, so I've decided to replace all the **** that never got replaced. Just recently replaced ever pulley on the motor including the crank pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, alternator, and I'm waiting on new injectors, new wideband, and then I'll have the car retuned and HOPEFULLY it'll be good to go after that.
The motor build I bought was supposed to be good for 600whp. My motto is overbuild, and under tune. All I want is whatever I can get out of the stock turbo safely along with the mods I have. A stock motor should really be able to handle what I'm throwing at it. The car peaked at 385whp on virtual dyno, and still blew up. On a dyno dynamics the car is putting down 354whp right now, but I don't trust that at all until I get the rest of the parts and a new tune.
I'm a simple man. All I want is a reliable EVO again, and it makes no sense that after all this time, and patience that I don't have one.
You read my mind! The last time they did it, I didn't need a motor. If those motors had been around after mine blew I absolutely 100% would have bought one. A stock motor is more than enough for the power I'm trying to make. All I want is a full bolt on car with a stock turbo. 400-450whp (dynojet) is all I want. Whatever I could push safely out of the stock turbo. Even if it's only 360-380whp, that would still be more than enough for me. If they ever do another sale on those motors, I'm definitely picking one up. I'd give anything for a fully built brand new bone stock motor right now.
I think that's what pisses me off the most about this. I never had any lofty goals for the simple fact that I know it's risky when you start trying to build a reliable high hp motor, and I didn't want to deal with the headaches. My motto was overbuild, then under tune, and that STILL didn't work because of the way the work was done. So now I'm picking up the pieces, and trying to get this thing reliable and ready to race again.
I think that's what pisses me off the most about this. I never had any lofty goals for the simple fact that I know it's risky when you start trying to build a reliable high hp motor, and I didn't want to deal with the headaches. My motto was overbuild, then under tune, and that STILL didn't work because of the way the work was done. So now I'm picking up the pieces, and trying to get this thing reliable and ready to race again.
+1. I'd be all over one. I'm with the post above: I'll never need more power than the stock motor can handle. That and I can get well over 100k miles on it? Yes, please. A fresh, OEM engine would be awesome. Cam swap, Kiggly, and done.
I'll start saving up now LOL
I used to think the same way until I realized that deviating from OEM seems to cause problems, for the most part. Now I leave everything OEM unless I absolutely have to change it (with very few exceptions). That and overbuilding was a waste of money for me. Why pay for forged parts and go through the trouble of building an engine when I'll never need more torque than the stock bottom end can handle?
Now I keep it simple and I'm also picking up pieces from trying to go with a built engine LOL
I'll start saving up now LOL
Now I keep it simple and I'm also picking up pieces from trying to go with a built engine LOL