Warning given, advice useful.

[dxke38]

Hi guys, had a few phone calls from a friend and fellow E owner who is absolutely devastated and angry.
He has been restoring a Series 2 FHC for the last seven years and finished the car about six or seven weeks ago.
The car looks stunning but unfortunately the engine failed in under a hundred miles of use, no oil pressure, water leaks etc. I've dismantled the engine and found all of the bearing shells ruined and crankshaft scored,oil pump ruined plus scored bores. The engine was overhauled by a company that have a good reputation for this kind of work six years ago and was kept in storage untill the car was ready for it to be fitted. It seems that the crankshaft was reground but the journal plugs were not removed and cleaned out so upon running the engine the debris was washed out of the crank and caused the damage. He has contacted the company involved who do not want to help at all and deny any responsability. The invoice for the work was over £10000 so the warning is, don't leave an engine for too long before you make sure its been done correctly and don't expect an expensive repair to be done well. Any advice wellcome.

[abowie]

Not cleaning out the crank is a very amateur mistake.

We always advised restoration clients not to rebuild their engine until they were ready to install it.

Having a freshly rebuilt engine sitting unused for years is bad for it, and if there's a subsequent problem when it's finally installed it makes it a lot harder to get help from the builder after time has passed.

[rfs1957]

Very sorry to hear how hopeless your friend's engine builder was.

Brings me right back to my experiences with Chesman.

I quote, an extract from this :

posting.php?mode=edit&f=2&p=108803

I'm working towards a YouTube video detailing everything that was cocked up by these people, thus pulling into one place the kind of questions that any putative customer should be discussing with an engine-builder or a machine-shop.

I had no idea that firms as poor and hopeless as the one I dealt with existed, and would have been far more careful if I had believed that when I bothered to write a job-sheet as detailed as this, for example, they would essentially not read it :



Their invoice seemed to suggest that they had understood what I was asking



but essentially they have no system in place to track a customer's requirements, and are visibly not interested in the slightest in the detail quality of the work they do.

Yet this is PRECISION ENGINEERING FOR PERFORMANCE, you'll note.

The upside for me was that I didn't pay for an assembled engine, and discovered their horrors in time ; so I was able to correct them all, and - happily - can report that so far MY engine (not theirs) is really good.

[Iansparky]

Does anybody else have experience with chesman motorsport in Coventry, I was under the impression they were the place to go for XK engine machining and was planning to take mine there when I rebuild it

[rfs1957]

One word.

Don't.

[Gfhug]

Look for CMES in Bracknell or Rob Beere in Coventry

Geoff

[ysmalkie]

My experience with Chesman motorsport in Coventry was good. It was couple of years back though.
I have never sent them crankshafts, only heads.

Tadek

[dxke38]

This topic seems to have a few people concerned which is what I had hoped for. I simply advise that you make sure you get what you are paying for with an engine rebuild. Having said that, mistakes and accidental slip ups happen in all jobs. The thing I am most annoyed about is the reaction of the company when they're informed of a problem. If I heard that an engine I had overhauled was faulty I would immediately want to inspect it myself to either disprove my responsibility or if it was my mistake help to correct it. My friend paid enough money to expect a reliable engine which he didn't get. Obviously I can't name the company involved but I can understand his anger and disappointment. It means that even if he gets the engine sorted it will probably be sold as the shine has gone off owning an E for him.