IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

So, i just had to VENT about this. 4 years ago, right about this time, i spun a bearing on my 87 L98. Hey, it had 140k on it. Now, normally, i would have taken the engine to a rebuilder and had it done. But i was under time and $$$ constraints, so we ordered an engine from jasper. We SPECIFICALLY pulled the numbers from their catalog, and ordered and l98. Cam, heads, etc. Engine showed up, casting showed 350, so we were happy. NEVER occurred to us to take it apart. (who would take apart a new engine?) Well, we put it in, and it ran, but..... never to its potential. Got good mileage, didn't smoke or burn oil, but it didn't seem to have the power my old 140k motor did. and it WOULD NOT go above about 115mph. Just acted like thats all there was. (no, no limiter on the engine/computer) my OLD engine I had up to 145mph once! After 3 years of putzing around with it, I decided i was tired of getting creamed by 5.0 mustangs, and saved up some money to do heads, intake, cam, exhaust, etc. Well, today, it went into the shop to pull the motor/tranny out. AND WE HAD A TRUCK ENGINE!!! The stupid 190HP truck engine. Crappy heads, practically flat cam. No wonder it wouldn't run right! Of course we are past the 3 year warranty period so Jasper won't even talk to us. So for those of you considering ordering an engine, esp from Jasper, its CAVEAT EMPTOR! I'd consider taking parts of one apart to check (esp the the cam!) if I ever had to order an engine again! Thats probably $1500 in parts, and another couple thousand over the past 3 years trying to make the wrong engine run right!

RANT! RANT! RANT! VENT! VENT! VENT!

ex-x-fire

Was it roller cam equipped?

scoflaw

iTrader: (2)

When I was looking for an engine, I asked them what #'s were on the heads and block. They gave me 3 possible combinations of parts but had no control what went out the door. 2 of the head #'s were truck parts. No thank you Mr. Jasper

lunati397

cant trust anyone

Was it at least a one piece rear main and some of the truck blocks were 4 bolt so that could be a plus. If you look at it this way you were going to do heads cam intake so it may just cost you alittle more now but it wont repay you for the years it was in.

I see crap like that all the time when I get projects that other shops messed up wrong parts used parts ect and the customers always told different. I have one car now that supposedly got a new cam well after checking it out its the stock cam used and has never been touched you can tell when a bolt has been touched or has been torqued for years

zraffz

Above all that, almost any reman engine is not good for performance applications. I've first hand seen them only bore one cylinder. Seems they sell them so cheap because they only fix the "problem" the core had.

ASE doc

That's good to know about Jasper. The shop owner here insists on Jasper. I prefer Archie Somers, my local engine machinist, and do my own assembly on performance projects.

A couple of people mentioned opening up the Jasper engine before installation to verify correct parts. You know that this would void your 3 year warranty. For being so obviously slack about what engine goes into what application, Jasper is sure **** retentive about anyone going into one of their products without prior approval.

IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

yeah, well, like i said, at the time was under time and money constraints. So i didn't have time for a GOOD rebuild (should have made time!) But i didn't know that about reman engines either. And it wasn't 'cheap', it was $3k just for the engine. But i guess you live and learn! Now, it IS a 4 bolt, and roller cam, so we have a good bottom end to work with. We are looking at fastburn heads, zz4 cam.... yumm!!!

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Man that sucks! If it makes you feel any better I just made their sales rep in Fort Collins buy me and all the guys lunch...

ASE doc

Damn! The Jasper rep was just here. One of our techs is putting one of their stock replacement engines in a customer's 4th gen Firebird. We didn't get anything from that Jasper jerk.

IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

BADNBLK - it does! lol. the right heads and cam would have been about 1500 worth of parts, retail. The good news is, it IS a roller block, and since its got truck heads on it, its probably a 4-bolt. (we don't have the oil pan off yet) The HONE is beautiful, and the pistons look good. I have pictures, but can't figure out how to add them to this text.

IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

ok - pictures of the old 70cc heads next to the new fastburn heads! Album is Fastburn heads vs old heads

IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

turned out to be a 2-bolt. Jasper got absolutely NOTHING right, except it was at least a 350 block.

RBob

iTrader: (1)

Note that if you ordered an L98, and received an L05, this is an issue with fraud, not a warranty issue. 20/20 hindsight, for anyone else that orders a reman engine. Pull a valve cover, and check the head casting numbers.

Look down past a push rod with a flash light and check for the lifter type. Can also use a dial indicator to check the lift.

With the above checks you will know what was delivered. And if they scream warranty is void due to the valve cover being removed. Nope, they committed fraud by not delivering what was paid for.

IIRC, f-body L98 engines are 2-bolt mains.

RBob.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If you can't tell what type of lifters it has before putting the intake manifold on...

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Ive heard of these engines with different cylinder heads on each bank... Consider yourself lucky to get a roller block. The trucks were not rollers until 96, and 4-bolt 1 pc RMS blocks are a little harder to find than the 4-bolt 2 pc RMS blocks.

I wouldnt get too hung up on the number of main bolts. If you're making enough power that it's an issue, you need splayed mains or an aftermarket block anyway.

novaderrik

i would never put an engine in without at least verifying that it has the proper heads and cam for the application. you can do this by merely pulling a valve cover and looking around.

does Jasper put their own serial number on each engine? did you send in some sort of a warranty card? you might be able to call them up and give them any numbers off it and see what they tell you it is.
if you yell loudly enough to the right people, you might be able to get them to make it right if you can prove that the screw up is on their end even tho the warranty is long gone.

IROZINCO

iTrader: (1)

yes i knew the l98 was a 2 bolt. So it seems they bored a 350 block, slapped in a crappy re-ground cam and some truck heads, and called it a performance engine. Bleah!
We didn't know to break apart a 'new' motor. So live and learn.

ex-x-fire

My experience w/ Jasper engines is they don't come w/ intakes or valve covers, they come w/ oil pans & timing covers. You should have seen if it had a roller cam.

philde38

i sugest never use jasper engines i just pulled a set of heads off of a ruck the rebuilt the motor in 9k miles ago and they never even put seats in most of the valves wer sunk a 1/4 inch below the combustion chamber took to reputable machine shop here in chico named terrills and told him what was up and all he could do was laugh one head may not be fixable avoid jasper

mrestrictrplate

iTrader: (2)

I would never have used the stock cam anyway, but maybe money was a consideration.