Aftermarket Vendor ReviewProvide questions and comments about aftermarket part vendors for the Third Gen F-Body.
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I purchased my 408 stroker from these guys back in may, and the project is now on the home stretch and the engine is in and running like a top. I have to say that my experience dealing with T and L was exceptional. The guys there know what they are talking about and are a pleasure to deal with. They are quick to answer e-mail and always answer the phone. I am more than pleased with the engine and the workmanship of the finished product. Cant say enough good things about these guys and would deal with them again in a heart beat.
If you are looking for a good crate engine, or a totally custom powerhouse, i would highly recommend giving these guys a ring.
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i too have purchased my engine from them 383 stroker, i have both pros and cons with them. first, i wanted the afr heads installed on the engine, but they said it was going to be $800 more on top, i did not see how seeing as the dart pro1's that it came with just about the same price as the afr's. so i ordered it with the darts, and installed the afr's that i purchased seperatly. i wanted to have 1.5 rollers installed, they said no problem, but when i got them they were 1.6. they said they would send out the 1.5's for me and when i recieved them i could send the 1.6's back, after about 5 calls, one every week, about the time for shipping, to see whats going on, i never recieve the 1.5's, so i purchased my own 1.5's and im still stuck with their 1.6's. i was told that from the time i paid for the engine to whenn they shipped it out would be 6 weeks, and this was a gaurantee not an estimate, i started calling after 8 weeks, and they kept pushing the date further away each time i called, it took a total of 12 weeks and 2 days to get to me, twice the time it took they gauranteed. i sent them my own cam and lifters, they had no problem doing that. other than that they have very friendly service and quality work, engine is running, but not yet fully tuned do to my being lazy.
My brother-in-law bought one of their engines off ebay.. he has nothing but good things to say about this company. They swapped in a different cam for his specific application, and he also sent them his twisted wedge heads to replace the 'supplied' heads for a substancial discount. Engine was delivered very well crated and in a timely manner.
His engine is still on an engine stand as the engine bay has been stripped and repainted, awaiting installation. BTW, its a stroked out Ford 347 engine.
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dont get me wrong, they are a great company. i would still buy from them again. and the price you pay for the engine is equal to what you would pay to put it all together yourself. i think for the 383 aluminum head its $3500 in a roller block. thinking back on it now i wish i would have went with the 408 rather than the 383, but all is said and done now.
I plan on buying their 408 stroker within the next few weeks. I just need the shortblock though. I already have rockers, HSR intake, valve covers, and a set of .525 lift capable Vortec's with about 1,000 miles on them. I'm gonna send em my heads and have the exhaust ports ported out a lil bit. They say they dyno and video record the dyno pulls. Does anyone no how accurate that statement is? Hopefully they can dyno it with my heads and an Edelbrock rpm intake+ a 750 cfm carb to get similar results to the HSR I plan on using.
yep that is correct they dyno the engine and record it to video, and also give you a print out of the pull, they send you a dvd of it with the engine, but i asked them if they could also send it to my email, and they did. i thought they ment by them taking the video that i would see the engine do the pull and then record the numbers, but it was only a video of the pull with no numbers. i didnt purchase the intake manifold, but they put it on there with the carb and dyno'd it then pulled the manifold off before shipping, im sure they will do the same for you.
484.7TQ @ 4600 peek, 480.5TQ min. @ 3300-5000, 474.2HP @ 5600. thats with a mild cam, i wanted this cam for street purposes tho. 219/219 .560"/.560" with 1.6 rockers, 114 seperation. and mine came with the 200cc heads not the 220cc like most of their engines have. i chose this because of the smaller cam and it being a hydraulic roller type cam i would benifit more from a smaller intake port. keep in mind that the numbers i have posted are with no accessory drag, even the water pump was electric. the air/fuel ratio ranged from 13:1 to 14.5:1 on the dyno pull, im sure i could have got more performance out of it if it was in the 12-13:1 range.
My dad bought a 540 stroker big block chevy engine off T and L about a year ago i remember he called on several occasions and he was told the engine had been shipped and then about two months later he asked were it was and the owner gave him some bullshit story that was something like ''i owed the state money so they took a truck full of engines and sensed them as pay,'' and told my dad that his new engine would be ready soon so another two months pass my Dad is pissed and sick and tired of wait so he finally calls the guy who said '' your engines ready and will be shipped soon,' so my dad says ok no need for that ill drive down there and get it he told me he could hear how nervous the guy was when he said that and could tell he was lying about it being ready so we drive from new England down to north Carolina and watch them dyno tune the engine and after all that bullshit and waiting and how much the owner the owner! lied to my dad he gave him a free dart block upgrade and a whole bunch of attitude and we then we left my opinion i would NEVER do business with these people, YOU DON'T MIX WHAT CUSTOMERS PAID FOR WITH YOUR PERSONAL AFFAIRS AND YOU DON'T LIE TO THEM!
My dad bought a 540 stroker big block chevy engine off T and L about a year ago i remember he called on several occasions and he was told the engine had been shipped and then about two months later he asked were it was and the owner gave him some bullshit story that was something like ''i owed the state money so they took a truck full of engines and sensed them as pay,'' and told my dad that his new engine would be ready soon so another two months pass my Dad is pissed and sick and tired of wait so he finally calls the guy who said '' your engines ready and will be shipped soon,' so my dad says ok no need for that ill drive down there and get it he told me he could hear how nervous the guy was when he said that and could tell he was lying about it being ready so we drive from new England down to north Carolina and watch them dyno tune the engine and after all that bullshit and waiting and how much the owner the owner! lied to my dad he gave him a free dart block upgrade and a whole bunch of attitude and we then we left my opinion i would NEVER do business with these people, YOU DON'T MIX WHAT CUSTOMERS PAID FOR WITH YOUR PERSONAL AFFAIRS AND YOU DON'T LIE TO THEM!
Sometimes **** happens and you can't get the job done, at least they gave a upgrade for the wait a lot of places you woulda been SOL.
before this turns into a pi sing match, i will say that T and L does have a problem with production times. Almost everybody you talk to says that it took them a very long time to build their motor, i know a guy who waited over a year to receive his motor. I have never heard anything bad about the quality of their work, i still feel that it is exceptional, but they seem to take on much more work than they can handle, get really backed up, and tend to no be very straight forward and truthful with people about it. If the wait time for the motor is 6 month+ dont tell people it will take 6 weeks to receive their motor, thats when you start getting into trouble. Its a shame this is happening, i had a very good experience with them, although it did take a little longer that expected to receive my motor, but time was not an issue for me at the time.
I want to say, T and L is an outstanding company customer service wise. I shot them an email with some questions about some different engine/tranny packages and applications, and I let them know it'd be a good while before I could afford any of it, they didn't care, they promptly emailed me back with a couple adobe attachments with all the info I needed, and said I could call or email them and talk it over with them. Great company customer service wise, I'm definitely doing business with them in the future.
I want to say, T and L is an outstanding company customer service wise. I shot them an email with some questions about some different engine/tranny packages and applications, and I let them know it'd be a good while before I could afford any of it, they didn't care, they promptly emailed me back with a couple adobe attachments with all the info I needed, and said I could call or email them and talk it over with them. Great company customer service wise, I'm definitely doing business with them in the future.
this is true, they guys there were always helpful and quite prompt answering any question i threw their way.
But all of that aside, they do have serious ship time/engine completion time issues, and right now i would not consider dealing with them until this is all straightened out. I would expect to wait at least 6 months to receive your engine after you order it.
yea time isnt a factor for you but my dad really wanted to make the test and tune and then do chevy fast at the new england grag strip but because he was lied to about the amount of time it would take he didnt make it to either one
Hello,
I know I'm will probably be shot down for being on this forum but I have done a search on T and L and I have read your post on this thread and I need some insight with this company.
I am considering having T and L build me a 347 stroker for my 90 mustang vert. Some post are favorable and some scare me. I can wait a reasonable time but 1 year sounds like an awful long time. Spoke to Lloyd on the phone. They have given me a quote. He sounds like a reasonable person but until they have your down payment that can change in a hurry. I have also done a search with the BBB. They are not rated very well.
Lloyd..... I would appreciate it if You sent me a video link of my motor (#1984) being dynoed before I send You another $2,600. I was told this afternoon that the dyno link would be sent to my email address. I logged in to find nothing but a payment request! Now I've waited almost 2 months longer than expected to recieve this motor. I have called, e mailed, and have left numerous messages with little to no support! As a customer.... I require that my $5,200 motor performs up to the quality specifications and custom demands that I deem necessary to meet my particular application. I understand Your shop is busy and understaffed, but there are alot of folks out there trying to convince me that I was ripped off by------- "a bumbling e bay corporation". I'd like nothing more than to prove them wrong with a BAD *** street motor, that's capable of smoking just about any other naturally aspirated small block on the road.... on a reliable basis. Hopefully You guys can get it together and pull through for me! I'm tired of staring at my gutless Firebird in the driveway!!! Thanks
This is the email I sent them a few months ago. As You can tell I was getting quite impatient. I ended up getting my 408 the week after that and it looks great! It dynoed at 505 hp and 517 lf ft. of torque. Hopefully I'll I have the Formy ready for test and tune this spring.
Well Lloyd called me today, after I sent him an email telling him my concerns with the better business burea and there turn around times. Hesaid that they have had scheduling problems and he doesn't deny those problems.
He told me the biggest problem they have is when they do exotic, complicated engines where parts are on back order. He also said the 347 ford stroker is a basic straight forward motor that does not require off the wall parts. He said parts are plentyful for this engine, so the turn around time wouldn't be long. Please chime in-- give me your thoughts.
Well Lloyd called me today, after I sent him an email telling him my concerns with the better business burea and there turn around times. Hesaid that they have had scheduling problems and he doesn't deny those problems.
He told me the biggest problem they have is when they do exotic, complicated engines where parts are on back order. He also said the 347 ford stroker is a basic straight forward motor that does not require off the wall parts. He said parts are plentyful for this engine, so the turn around time wouldn't be long. Please chime in-- give me your thoughts.
I would still be cautious, Im sure you will get your motor and be happy with it, but Im quite sure it wont be in the timeframe he tells you.
Stay well clear of T and L . They will promise you delivery in 2 - 3 weeks but once they have your cash you wont hear a peep out of them. I have learnt my lesson the hard way.
i have had my engine installed and running for just about 2 years now. I have not had a single problem with it, it runs perfectly and performs very well. No leaks, hichups or anything. Never even had to adjust the carb or ignition.
I still feel they make a great product, but they do have a serious scheduling issue and i cant understand why they dont make the lead time quotes more accurate, its a shame for a company that does such nice work to get a bad rep on little things like this.
seems like i got my engine just before the order times got out of hand. 12 weeks doesn't seem so bad now that i see some people waiting for a year.
i thought i would add another downside that i recently found out. when they assembled my engine they used standard pushrods, not hardened pushrods, and the heads are setup for guidle plates. found this out after i bent two pushrods on cylinder #1, costing me $360 to replace all 16 pushrods with hardened chromoly type, two roller rockers that wore the tips down on the retainers, two retainers, springs, and keepers, and a set of poly locks just in case.
also i requested a 1 piece crankshaft, they gave me a one piece block with a 2-piece crankshaft with adapter, i didn't like that because when i first got the car together and running the rear seal was leaking, and made it to where not only did i have to drop the oil pan, i had to remove the transmission also. they said they did that to save on build cost, which was like $50 bucks, which i gladly would have paid to get a 1 piece crankshaft.
Last edited by QuickStyle; 02-04-2010 at 07:27 AM.
Like it has been said, beware buying from T&L. There was at least one guy that ordered and paid a down payment on a crate motor in 2007 and as of Feb 2010 has not received his motor and can't get through to anyone via phone or e-mail.
There are even web sites created by people who have been waiting months or in some cases over a year for their engines.
Reading about all the problems has steered me away from buying from them. Some may have good experiences, but when I hear people saying they are still waiting for an engine they ordered in 2007 and have gone as far as contacting the BBB, law enforcement and are talking lawsuite.... is it REALLY worth taking the chance?
