Bad machine shop in AZ

I have a customer that brought me a 67 Firebird he purchased about 7 months ago that the engine was making noise and ran like crap. He agrees for me to pull the engine apart, i find the cylinder bores worn out like the engine had over 200 K miles, mind you this engine did not have more that 150 miles.There was 1/2 inch of metal sludge in the bottom of the oil pan and #7 rod cap was installed backward which galled both #7 and #8 rods to crap and destroyed the side of the rod journal on the crank.
I come to the conclusion that either the piston rings were never fit to the bore or the rings were wrong for the pistons and did not fit into the ring groove all the way. Once the engine was hot the pistons expanded and the rings just wore away at the cylinders.
The machine shop takes the engine back and sits on for 5 months before sleeving all 8 cylinders, they end up boring the sleeves to .040 so they can re-use the pistons which the ring groves are worn from the rings being wrong. They use another crank but they surface grind the bad #7 and #8 rods instead of just replacing them, these were after-market eagle rods that i'm sure they could have got for cheap. So now the side clearance on the rods is at .030.
To top it off they machine the chamfers at the top of the cylinders and went way to far into the deck so the ring on the head gasket overlaps the chamfers at 3 cylinders. This is a 1967 YT block that did have the chamfers but not anything like they hacked into the block.
They take the engine back and say that everything is fine and it will be good.
In reality the sealing ring in the head gaskets will just burn thru where they are floating in air because the deck was machined away.
Makes me wonder if anything on this assembled short block is done right including the sleeves.
Bottom line is they basically said F you we are not taking care of it.I find it amazing a machine shop of butchers that don't have any basic machine shop skills could still be in business.  

OK, everything is now ground beef.,. the block, crank, rods and pistons are garbage.
IF, a rod goes, then the one next to it on the same journal should also be replaced.
.030" rod side clearance is double of what you want or will ever need.
Once a rod goes, the crank journal takes a pounding and chances are that the crank is bent now, reducing it to scrap, unless you throw money at it, in my opinion.
Pistons are beyond help, but can be cam/barrel ground to a smaller size for the next build that has a smaller over bore.,. again, this costs money.
Poor block,,,, with 8 sleeves and a "chamfer" so huge that the gasket overlaps.
This "overhang" would glow and cause serious detonation.
Start from scratch and find a different shop, that knows what they're doing.
Sorry, but them's the brutal facts bud.
Twice we cut.,. still too short.

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

+1  
Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

I feel your pain.  The shop I used in Dallas was bad but not that bad.  I have had my engine out of the car for 4 months when it should have only taken 1.  Mine goes back in on this Sat so I'm a little more forgiving.  As far as I'm concerned, these people need to be drawn and quartered.  They are no different than Bernie Madoff just on a smaller scale.  If you don't know what you are doing - DON'T DO IT!  

The sad part is i told my customer not to bring it back there after the first screw up. The block would have been saved at that point, it really didn't need 8 sleeves which the machine shop charged for.

How do i post the pics on here?  

You create a free Photobucket account, upload your pics, and then copy the IMG code that's under the pic and  paste it here.

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

wow!  what a saga.   one good thing about finding a bad machine shop is,...you know where not to return.  cant wait to see the pics.  

+1
Unfortunately the damage is already done and from the sounds of it, 8 sleeves is a few too many for my liking.,. in a block that was not designed for wet sleeves in the first place.
So, what is holding the deck surface to the rest of the block now.
This drama only confirms the fact that "BUYER BEWARE"

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

+2  
Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

Correct about the 8 sleeves. Would love to do a pressure test since I could stick my fingernail inbetween the sleeve and block at the butcher chamfers.
I'll get pics on here tomorrow.  

I'll take a pic of a properly sleeved block tomorrow.,. so it becomes clear what a good job should look like,,,,,,,, barely noticeable, unless pointed out.
I'm curious to see those pics of "chamfers"

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

Here they are




 

I'm glad I looked at that,,,,,, before breakfast
WHY!,,,,,, was that valve relief scallop fayed (tapered deeper into the bore)
THIS is already in the path of ring travel and would result in a tremendous loss of combustion pressure.
Scallops are great if large valves will not clear the confines of the bore.,. but the scallop is plunged to a predetermined depth, stop abruptly and well short of ring travel,,,, case closed, from a professional frame of reference.
No comment on the rods, I'm shocked.,. the results were predictable, as per the verbal description.
I've seen enuff.

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

I checked the top ring clearance from the butchered in scallops and it is fine, the ring does not reach up that far."not that it matters now"
I am going to disassemble the short block and see if anything is salvageable.

***
The bill from the machine shop was $2150 for this latest fiasco.  

Oh my.,. for that money you could almost have shipped the engine to Pman or myself.,. and gotten it right the first time.
 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder