[767Jockey]

BEWARE of anything to do with a guy named Tim McLoughlin. He's the guy behind Genesis and Sideoiler Garage. He's shady at best. I'd like to use stronger terms, but being a public forum, I'll leave it at that. I had the misfortune to deal with him back in 2009, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. He cost me months of lost time and lots of money. The guy has no ethics whatsoever. Here's a summary that I wrote back in 2009 on the old FordFE forum about him and "his" company, Genesis. It's self explanatory:


"I called Genesis and bought a cast iron block directly from them. Spoke to a guy named Tim, all went well, block arrived as promised in a few days. There the problems began. My engine builder looked at the block and saw some strange machining marks and what looked like porosity in the main saddles, and a few pock marks in the cylinders. He called Tim and expressed his concerns and asked for another block, and Tim insisted it was likely not a problem and he authorized my guy to machine it and "see what happens." On line boring many bits broke. My engine guy had done FE's for many many years and had never seen anything like it. He was able to get an acceptable result, and went ahead and bored it. The cylinders were bored only .040" or so, WELL within max boring range on this block. They emerged looking like swiss cheese. No big deal, bad blocks happen, as long as Genesis stands behind the problem I am OK with that. Here's where the fun begins.

Again, it's much more involved than I will write here, and actually much worse, but you'll get the general idea. Over about a 4 month span, I called Tim at least once a day, sometimes twice. He answered his phone no more than 5 times in this span, usually to tell me that he was busy, call back in a few minutes, when of course he would no longer answer the phone. I have phone records to back all of this up. When on the rare occasion I would talk to him, he would tell me that I was right the block was bad and he would be right on it for a replacement. That never happened. I told him that he authorized the machining of the block, and he told me that I could pound sand on the $700 machining bill. At the three month mark, I was running out of time when I could reverse the charges on the credit card I used. The day before this window of opportunity was to expire I called Tim to inform him of my last remaining option. Of course he did not answer, I left a message. The next day I reversed the charges. After all the many many phone calls I had made, it was a last resort. I have never done this before, it's not my style. I made every effort with this man to resolve this incredible situation, and was met with a stone wall of silence, followed by a barrage of empty promises.

A few days later I called Tim and he took my call, which rarely happened. He told me that "I had made a big mistake" and that now "His hands were tied" and he would no longer be "able to negotiate with his partner in the business" for a satisfactory resolution to my problem. He then gave me the phone number to his "partner". I talked to this man and found out that although Tim was the founder of the company he had long ago sold it to a large company, and his "partner" was now his boss. This man moved things along, and in a few days I was offered my choice of another iron block with a long lead delay on delivery (I was ALREADY 4 months plus behind on the project thanks to these guys) with NO restitution at all on the machining, or a aluminum block at a small additional cost to me in replacement for the defective iron block. I told them that I was way over budget and what I really wanted was another iron block and for them to cover the machining that they themselves had authorized and insisted upon. Again, I was told to go pound sand on the machining. Long story short, I took the aluminum block although I have no real desire for aluminum. The kicker was, the day before the deal was sealed they told me that I was not permitted by them to use my credit card for the aluminum block because I was not trustworthy.

These guys are pond scum, I would never ever deal with them again, they are the worst. It's even worse than I wrote here, but it would take way too long to go through all the additional details of the nightmare. Hope this helps anyone thinking about dealing directly with Genesis. If you must buy Genesis, go through a major engine builder like Barry R, Keith Craft or others. Maybe, just maybe, Genesis gives a damn about offering these guys a modicum of customer service, although Keith Craft wrote to me to tell me that they treat him the same way I got treated - a barrage of lies and empty promises. Buyer beware - if it was me I would be on the phone with Pond. No more Genesis for me....never again."

If that's not enough to convince you, look for posts from a guy calling himself "McGivr". He's an Aussie (very nice guy, he actually called me after he got scammed by Tim) who sent Tim McLoughlin payment for a Sideoiler Garage block. After Genesis, Tim started a new venture called Sideoiler Garage. Naturally, given Tim's lack of ethics and sense of customer service, after payment was sent by McGivr, his calls to Tim went unreturned and the block never showed up. This guy never changes. I know both Genesis and Sideoiler Garage are long gone, but I write this in case our old friend Tim ever slithers out from under the rock that he lives under with another scam. If you see his name involved, run away as fast as you can. I got hosed by him, McGivr got hosed worse than me. If this saves one if you guys from becoming his next victim, it's worth the 10 minutes it took for me to type this.

As for blocks, I have a BBM block and it's flawless. I know Doug, the owner of BBM, very well. He's a good upstanding guy, and I can't imagine him mistreating anyone. If you're looking for a FE block, I would strongly recommend the BBM.