[Chevelle-list] Hi-Tech

[Chuck Speake]

Hello Everyone,

To start off, sorry for this being so long, but there is a lot to it and I
want to get this out to as many people as I possibly can as I feel I have
ripped off.

I bought one of the crate engines from year one that they are advertising in
the different car magazines and listed on their web sight.  It was a 350ci,
411hp with ported Vortec heads.  This is by no means a slam on Year One,
they have been extremely cooperative thru my entire problem, and have said
they are giving me a full refund (I haven't seen that yet but it is only a
couple of days).

Once the engine and transmission (700R4 with shift kit) was installed I
drove the car home out on the street one time for a total of at the most 20
miles and did not get on it hard any of the time(I wanted to, but restrained
myself).  I was about 3 miles down the road on my way back to DRC
Performance Transmissions (who has been doing all the work for me and is
great for transmissions and engines) when I started getting a loud knock
from the engine.  I immediately pulled over and had the car towed to DRC.
Upon taking off the valve covers he found and the owner of AES engines two
doors down also saw it, the rocker arm studs had started to pull out around
#4 cylinder and caused the rocker arms to become loose and start knocking.
Dean at DRC taped the studs back down (shouldn't have, but hind sight is
great) using a brass punch and adjusted everything to get the car running so
he could move it next door till we could decide what had to be done.
Hi-Tech told year one we had to send the engine back for them to examine and
would arrange for someone to pick it up.  We waited over a week and not a
word from a truck line.  After bugging them thru Year-One I was told the guy
who would have arranged it was out sick the last week. (Like no one else
works for the company)  They picked up the engine last Wednesday and I found
out yesterday the results.

They say there is nothing wrong with the engine except that I painted the
block Chevy Orange.  They claim that they did a 250lb pull out test and none
of the studs moved.  They said that no one had driven the studs back in as
there were no marks on the studs.  Final decision, they feel there is
nothing wrong with the engine, and if I do not want it back they will
reassemble it and paint it black and resell it to the next person ordering
that particular engine.  Of course they did not see any marks on the studs,
they are hardened and that is why Dean drove them in until they stopped
using a brass punch.  Both Dean and the owner of AES engines said I did not
want that engine back as those studs will pull out again.  I checked with
Blueprint Engines who manufactures the engines for Jegs and Summit Racing
and for their 350 or 355 engines with Vortec heads they use screw in studs
which is what my people said should have been in this engine having a roller
cam and roller rockers.  This is supposed to be a high performance engine
not a mom and dad around town engine.  They have cut corners to put more
money into their pockets, and Year One indicated to me after telling them
about Blueprint and their treaded studs that they were going to look into
their engines.  SO if anyone is going to buy the same engine I did from
Hi-Tech be ware.

The story ends up somewhat happy at the end as I am getting an engine from
DSR that is a 350 that is balanced with TRW pistons, double gear timing
chain, high volume oil pump, and Tony the owner of AES Engines is getting
for us aluminum heads, matching manifold, rolling cam, and roller rockers
and it may come in at less money than what I paid for the other engine.  So
I am actually coming out with a better motor put together by someone I know
and that stands behind their work.  I have lost the money for the labor to
remove and now install the engine a second time.

Year One has already been billed for the freight to get the engine from DRC
in Elk Grove, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah where they are.  Nice people
to deal with.  I hope their roof caves in.  Lost me a lot of time and money
I do not have, and I guess the studs pulled out sooner than they expected,
or at least before the warranty expired, but didn't matter because all they
have to say is there is nothing wrong with the engine, end of story.

Year One if I get my money back I can't say anything bad about, they backed
up their products and their company name, I wouldn't deal with Hi-Tech again
if they were the last people on the planet that had the engine I wanted even
though they are advertised by supplying engines to Overhauling on TV.
Probably should contact Overhauling and let them know the kind of people
they are really dealing with.

Sorry for this being so long.

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