CSX2300 (or whatever your name is) I have no idea which shoe fits. What I can tell you is my experience with SA has been far from what you describe.
My front seal failed, at less than 1000 miles. I called SA and was told to bring my car down and they would fix it. I really didn’t want to drive the car and told Bill that I would drop by and pick up a seal. At the time I was making weekly trips to Savannah and it was easy to swing by. He offered to send someone to my house (80 plus miles one way) to replace the seal. I again told him I would do it.
I picked up a new seal the following week and installed it. I had assumed it was simply a bad seal. I was wrong as the new seal failed within a few hundred miles. I was now pissed and sent Bill a rather nasty email. He called and wanted to know what he needed to do – before I could make a larger ass out of myself he offered to pick the car up.
Bill sent Lewis to my house (80 plus miles one way) and we loaded my car into the trailer. I called Bill and expressed my desire to get the car back by the end of the week as the Atlanta group was going to the drag races and I wanted to run my car. He told me no problem it would be ready.
Rather than replace only the seal Bill replaced the front cover, the main bearings, rod bearings and
oil pump as a precaution. He also adjusted the valves and generally checked the car from front to rear. He didn’t like the way I had run my radiator hose and had his guys fabricate a really slick aluminum bracket to support my hose.
As the week wore on I became concerned that I would miss the Friday night drag racing – his answer - Don’t Worry. Bill had the car finished on Thursday but I was stuck in Savannah and couldn’t make arraignments to pick the car up. Bill’s solution - he told me to go to the track and he would deliver the car. Yeah you read that right – he trailered my car to Commerce Ga. ready to race. My cost – zero – nadda – nothing.
This past summer I started having clutch problems – again nothing that SA did wrong. Bill’s solution - He made the trip again and we loaded the car into his trailer for the trip back to his shop. His guys noticed an
oil leak (
oil in the bellhousing) and suspected something was not right. We later found out that Scat (the crankshaft manufacture) had recommended the wrong rear seal. Bill replaced my rear seal, surfaced my aluminum flywheel, installed a new clutch and pressure plate adjusted the valves and changed the oil – my cost – the difference in a standard clutch verses the upgrade to a street strip clutch and 2 hours labor. Based on my experience I find it hard to believe the story you describe.
You mentioned that you bought your engine from finish line and not from SA. Could it be that they screwed you not SA. Is this the same guy that took a dying mans money and wouldn’t build his car until the Cobra community came down hard on him?
You may or may not be an asshole – I don’t know – I do know that Bill stands behind what he sells.
Randy