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goddamn you've been through some shit! You certainly give people more chances than most people ever would! I've been doing my conversion for just about as long as you have, but the thing is, (and this is not to rub anything in), mine is done. Why? Cuz I did it my damn self. There's no way in hell I would trust ANYONE to do this conversion. WAAAAAAY to many things that can be overlooked and cause serious damage, or not run at all. Some things to keep in mind as well.
If the car doesn't run PERFECTLY when you pick it up, DONT TAKE IT HOME and certainly dont pay ANY money. The moment you pay and drive away you have put them at the advantage.
Since you are having the engine rebuilt, you need to make sure that THEY put some miles on it. At least 200-300 miles BEFORE you pick it up. Let them know they can drive it as a shop car to run errands, but put some goddamn miles on it before you get it. That will allow them to find any quirks and work them out BEFORE you find them. Note the odometer mileage. When you pick it up, they should have cleaned the entire engine bay (pressure washer works wonders) and removed all grime from all of the components. It is important to do this in order to locate any leaks of any kind. You should have them put it in the air so you yourself can visually inspect everything. Look for any oil or coolant leaks from anywhere. There should be NONE. Go out and run the car for 10-20 minutes and listen carefully to the engine. When you get back, let it idle for a few minutes before killing it and listen to the engine from several different angles and step back from the car about 30-40 feet and listen to it. STepping away from the car allows the high-frequency chatter to dissipate and you will be able to hear any low frequency knocking, if there is any. Put the car back in the air and re-inspect the underside. There should still be no leaks. Of course, there should be no smoke either, if they put the miles on the car like they should, it will all be cooked off by the time you get to it. It is very important that they put those miles on the car. It ensures that everything is in fine working order. You showing up after the last bolt is put in and taking off in the car is only asking for serious trouble. My conversion had a little fuel leak from a loose fuel hose, small oil leak from the oil cooler connector, all simple things to fix by just tightening up a few fasteners, but you dont want to discover this when you get home. EVERYTHING should function flawlessly. What you are having done is a very big project and one that demands some serious ass attention to detail over a mind-boggling array of components. There is no room for large error and the time, oh-the time involved to do this is amazing. You need to make it very clear to whoever is doing this that you expect that everything be *perfect* when you get it. No leaks, no ticks, no smoke, but perfect will ONLY be accepted. If they can't do it, they should pass up the job to someone who can do exceptional work. This is NOT a job for any joe mechanic to do - it involves something more than just putting parts into a car. IT takes someone who will see it through to the end until there are no more kinks and everything works as expected. Good luck to you man!
My CarPuter Headquarters
[ ashleypowers.com ]
[ agpowers@bellsouth.net ] |
