He is just using scare tactics hoping you will back off. There is very little chance he will win. Good luck man, and take the bastard for what he owes you.

sorry to hear about this. take him to small claims court and sue him for the max (5 g's) ---

Bring him to claims court. Weigh what you have to lose and what has already been lost versus what he has to lose. If you initiate this and lose, you might be looking at court costs...a whoppin 60-100 bux maybe?? If HE loses, which we all pretty much believe is the case here, you stand to gain alot more back on what is in black & white. The black & white is an initial contract more or less on what was to be used and installed, versus what was done. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. DON'T contact him anymore though, just go through the legal system and you'll likely have this resolved in a matter of a month or 2.

I agree you should avoid him until the trial. However, at least now you know what his defense will be to the judge. That gives you time to gather the evidence to be able to successfully refute those claims. The catalogs are a good thing to take. You should also be able to find the ring depth measurements for the pistons he used to prove that they are not too close to the top.

The excuse for the fuel tank issue may well be true that one of his employees did it. However, as the owner of the shop, he is ultimately responsible for their screwups just as if he had done it.

Wow, what a POS hack. Good luck in court!

Wouldnt it be great if we could all just get together,go up to him and convince him its in his best interest if he does the right thing.properly armed of coarse.I hate people like this.I got burned on a trans build like this

Good luck and I hope he gets what he deserves.

Any updates?

Sounds like a nightmare, there is a good reason to do you own work and this is it!!! As far as taking it to court if this is a street vehicle then I think replacing a factory FI setup with a carb. is illegal in all 50 states, not sure if that would be an issue, but something to think about.

Quick Update:

I took the car to another shop . The mechanic ran a camera through the spark plug hole into the combustion chamber and told me that it does not even appear that the block was bored out. He told me that he saw no cross hatch marks on the cylinder wall which should be there if the engine had been bored. He further told me that the pistons appear to have signifcant carbon build up on them.

I am going through the Delaware attorney general's office now. I contacted a lawyer and he suggested I do that before I hire him. He told me that it may be able to resolve the situation and save me $$$. He also told me that if it did not pan out with the AG's office to contact him back. I am disputing the charge on my credit card and dealing with the AG's office currently. Lawyer told me that if it does go to court and I can get the mechanic to testify as an expert witness and he can tell the judge what he observed (that the block was not bored and machined as it was supposed to be and the pistons most likey re used stock pistons) that would be the end of the case b/c everthing else he did would be void.

BTW: I ran the engine for about 3 hours total since it had been assembled so it should still be clean inside. Timing cover is strating to leak and Antifreeze is also leaking around thermo housing and water pump.

IMO you did the RIGHT thing by not continuing to try and reason or deal with this other hack and instead contact the AG, an attorney and another mechaninc. If you can, avoid running the car anymore either. That way the hack can't claim addtional use of your car caused carbon build up and no crosshatch because you ran the car.

FWIW, I finished a 383 build over the winter of 08/09 (less than 11months ago). I cleaned the pistons the same as if they were out of the box (mine are forged SRP's). The bores were finished from the machine shop bored over .030" and of course honed with a nice crosshatch. I ran the car for almost 2000 miles, had one decent dyno run on the engine and while my pistons did have a bunch of carbon on them (from me having my timing whacked out and excessive fuel), the crosshatch pattern the hone is still VERY visible. I know this because I have just built another 383 right now and have that mentioned block sitting in my garage in an engine bag.

Read your post...what machine shop was this? My father is a special invesigator at the AG's office in Delaware so if you get the run around tell me and i'll run any questions you have past him.

TANK-- I hope all works out for you!! You've been thru ALOT since spring//summer!! Best of luck!!

why i dont do shops.. being an "engine builder" and doing all my own work and builds i can say what he told you about everything is the biggest crock of shiz... the pistons and rings not fitting?? WTF?? He should be ashamed to even dream of being a mechanic, complete joke.. 8k $$ for a standard sbc build in a original sbc v8 car wow.. !!?? sry you got hosed.. just another victim in the shop horror story world...
sbc is one of cheapest easiest builds there are.. to have so many "parts issues" ... wow..

ive done a hatch floor cut job on my old 87 v6 car simply because i had 0 pride in it and didnt even see it as a nice car or even a camaro.... obviously the same attitude he is carrying.. unaceptable if running a shop.. he wont be in buisness long.. seen many come and many go.

i never had to learn the hardway.. but for 8k next time get some books, tools, and some knowledge to help "in person" dont even rely on forums..
for 8k you could have alot healthier of a motor with a few k in your pocket still

Take this one to Judge Alex, He helped a girl get back all her money before on a shoddy knight rider kit

How goes the case?

Sorry to see what you are going through, but you are not the first and will not be the last. If I were you I would try and get the guy to refund as much $ as possible and take the engine back. Taking some POS lowlife shop owner to court isnt much of a threat, this type of shop owner is used to the threats. Most people just go away licking there wounds.

I dont trust ANY machine shop or engine builder. Body shops arent much better. I had a low milaege 1971 Camaro that had some rust in the upper windsheild channel. Found a shop, agreed on the price to cutout the rusted channel and fabricate / weld in a new one. I stopped by the guys shop on the day he said he worked on it. I stopped by after work, went straight to the back lot to inspect the work. I found sand all over the enterior, bondo residue on the dash ans fresh primer. I scraped the primer off and found Bondo, lots of Bondo. I walked into the owners office, told him I wasnt paying a Fin dime for the work on the car. He tried all of the usual BS lines, but I had an estimate saying exactly what I wanted. I drove the car home and Evergreen Auto Rebuild can Kiss my A$$.

Get what you agree upon in writing, and dont trust anyone. O yea, you get what you pay for.

This is JMHO, but you cant go wrong with Scoggin Dickey and / or GMPP's. I know a guy who wanted more power for his 69 RS/SS 396 4speed Camaro. He paid 40k for it. I told him to just by a GMPP502. He went with a local shop that bad mouthed GMPP engines and talked him into spending 8K on a POS big block that put down 330 RWHP and 390 tourqe. That engine grenaded a month later. On tear down, the crank, rods, pistons and bearrings were NOT what he was told he was paying for. Actually, there were two different brands of pistons in it.

Dont trust any local shops.

Wow what a scummer.
I can't believe a PROFESSIONAL business would do this. And he has balls to talk about anybody else's knowledge, he doesn't seem too bright. A tpi pump will cause the carb to flood and ultimately destroy the needles. Now if you are to pull a fuel regulator on without a return line (which I doubt he bought a $300+ regulator when the non-return regulators that Holley makes are like $80) it will work for a while but because of the higher pressure that the TPI injectors needed, that pump will be constantly straining due to being regulated from a high psi down to 5-7; it will ultimately burn out the fuel pump.
As far as the acess plate for the fuel pump goes, that's pretty bad. You are a one peice cab, unless he sealed it after putting the plate on, you are having fumes enter the cab of the vehicle.

EDIT:
What's happening with the case?