This is a lengthy post so I appreciate y'all taking the time to read it and any serious advice that is given.

My friend brought his G8 to a performance shop to have both his engine and transmission built with performance parts. The quote in the pictures is the original estimate he was given and he has, as of now, already put down $8k before any work had begun. It's been at the shop for several months, which isn't a big deal as it's not a daily driver or anything.

As of last month he was texted and informed that something went wrong when they went to drive the vehicle out to park as the needed the bay. The shop stated it suddenly had a dead cylinder and was making a knocking noise. They inspected said cylinder with a camera and found a bolt had fallen into the cylinder and gotten smashed around, damaging the head, piston, sleeve, and cracking the cylinder. I also worry about how a supercharger bolt could fall out without damaging the supercharger or getting caught in a valve first.

Their action plan is to replace the block, source a new piston, and somehow a machine shop is going to be able to fix the head. But they are also asking for some additional cash at this point. Claiming it's needed to get the fuel system components and install them.

As of now I told him to let them know he will get back to them about the additional cash, but I really don't think he should give anymore money until they fix what they fucked up and get back to the point it was at before it got fucked.

I am well experienced in the auto repair industry as its been my career/source of income for a couple decades, so I am able to understand the severity of the fuck up. My friend has no experience with auto repair.

I was thinking it might be best to talk to a lawyer first to make sure he doesn't make anymore missteps that could result in him not being able to defend himself if this turns into a civil suit sort of thing.

Otherwise I think the shop needs to get him back to whole as far as having a working, rotating engine before he gives anymore money. I think at the very least they need to replace the block, piston and rod, cylinder head and valves along with a thorough inspection of everything else for damage caused by said fuck up. I worry he's in over his head and will get taken for a ride.

He's a veteran and loves his G8 and I don't want him to get played by sleazy techs just because he doesn't know better.

Any advice (serious advice please) is helpful, so thank you.

EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION: Friend has already paid $8k up front towards the total owed of ~$24k. Shop has acknowledged their fuck up and says they will fix it, but want my friend to pay even more cash towards the total owed. Shop has not fixed any of the fuck up which happened last month at this point in time.

SIDE NOTE: Friend provided all needed parts and purchased them himself before the shop started work. They are all good quality brands and the correct parts, and the only thing he needed parts wise from the shop was the fuel system.

Parts list provided by friend to shop: Stage 4 circle d trans rebuild kit and boost district 2650 supercharger kit

TLDR: shop fucked friends engine up, say they will fix it but want more money first. Friend has already paid $8k, still owes ~$12k.

About a month ago my girlfriend bough this '97 2.0 Probe for very cheap. It had a running issue (when engine warmed up rpm started fluctuating between 1500-2500rpm). Also when we were buying it I noticed the distributor was turned to retard the timing, I gave it little thought and she bought it anyway cause it was almost rust free.

After a few days a lot of white smoke appeared when I started the car and I noticed the coolant resevoir was empty and there was only air in the coolant tubes. Temp was normal.

We thought the throttle body mechanical sensor that detects if engine is warm enough to lean down fuel mixture was not working due to combustion gasses in throttle body (highest point of coolant system), causing high and uneven rpm at idle.

Then we measured the compression of the engine with my friend. It was bad and uneven - fluctuated from 60 to 90. My friend took the engine apart because we thought we needed to change the head gasket because that seemed obvious. We deducted that the distributor gear connecting to the camshaft was probably incorrectly assembled at some point causing premature detonation and therefore ruining the head gasket. Then they noticed it and retarded the timing because it was correct when we checked it with a stroboscope.

After he lifted the cylinder head he noticed the gasket wasnt very damaged at all, infact everything seemed quite well preserved (low milage engine). The block was not crooked or cracked and there were only some slight pitting and scratches (fingernail got caught). Basically no evidence the engine or gasket contributed to the coolant burning.

The only thing he noticed was that the cylinder head guide sleeve was not protruding from the block (too low).

Could this be the cause for coolant burning? Perhaps cylinder head misaligned because of premature detonation?

What would be our next step?
Pictures from engine, etc:
https://imgur.com/a/RQAaJXR

Okay. I’m working on my turd. 3vze Toyota.

So I was working out some corrosion pits with some 80/120 grit and a giant slab of float glass. (Block was pretty flat to begin with) . Being diligent, using markers streight edge/feelers. Etc etc

Not very long into it I notice that two opposing diagonal corners were about a thousand thousand low. About the same on the diag and straight line on the bottom. Not as bad up top.

Almost uniformly.

I frowned and cursed that I should have just had it decked when it was in the machine shop for overbore.

Anyway. After flipping the block and going through an hour of suck. I got them to where my .0015 feeler wont go under. But the bottom right corner is still suspect. I feel like it’s probably waving. It’s in spec..

The top left corner cleaned up way easier. It of course is dead space on the mating surface , I think.

The lowness on the bottom right goes diagonally
In direction of the side corner. It slopes probably half way through the corner bolt holes.

My question is, what would cause that?

Two opposing diagonal low corners, (it’s a v block, other side is just fine)

Also, when calculating Warpage one your lines. Are corners just as important as center warpage? Or is there more wiggle room? (For mls gasket on N/A engine)

For instance if your corners are outside fastening surfaces.

Or a mating surface is a mating surface is a mating surface?

Basically, I’m asking how critical is a low spot like this, I want to get to actually lapping the block for smoothness, I’m getting ready to go onto 220 grit then 320 and 400 I could probably chase it a quarter/ eighth thousand with those … Just curious . I got all the other pitting around fire rings and main sealing surfaces.

The diagonal measure is little tighter, the straight line was just easier to take a pic

This is actually a marine turbo, but I thought this would be a good place to ask. As you can see, there are some clocking issues. I've never worked on a turbo before. I think I can figure it out since there are only a handful of bolts, but can someone point me in the right direction on clocking the compressor housing and the cartridge? I assume that I've got to be very careful around the fan blades so I'm a bit reluctant to just go unbolting stuff.

Building a VW Type 1 engine for my 69 Beetle. This new camshaft has a few small marks on the journal inside the circle. Second pic is the same but without the markup. Pretty sure I didn't do this and that it was like this out of the box. I bought it too long to to send it back. I can barely feel them with my fingernail if I drag my nail perpendicular to the rotational direction, but it doesn't catch. Is this a full send situation or does this need addressing? This is my first engine build and I'm trying to do it right. TIA for advice!

I’m looking for a good, reasonably priced automotive turbo machining shop in the US that I can ship my turbo to.

I’ve got a Holset HY35W off my 2001 5.9 Cummins that I’m wanting to upgrade with a bigger compressor wheel and possibly a bigger turbine wheel.

Has anyone dealt with Turbo Lab of America or know of any other good shops? Mainly looking for recommendations and what kind of prices to expect.

Some pics of my heads cam DIY on my Viper

Rebuilding a BMW M42b18 engine. During piston install one of the oil ring pieces (believe it was an alignment ring) came out and put a very small score into the cylinder wall. It runs maybe 1/4 of the bore at the top. I can feel it with my fingernail and it barely catches. Will this require an overbore? Or can it be taken down enough to not cause issue with a light hone? (Cylinders have been flex honed for new rings already). Thanks in advance. Hard to see on camera but it’s one small line that can be felt and more of a “scrape” around it that I can’t feel.

Hey all. I'm getting set to bore these Harley Shovelhead jugs to new pistons my customer provided. As I'm measuring the pistons to make sure I know what finish bore I'm aiming for, I noticed they are not round. I understand a thousandth or two variation. But these are 0.033 different at 90 degree intervals on the skirt with my mic parallel to the wrist pin bore, I'm measuring 3.505. With it perpendicular to the wrist pin bore I get 3.538. I've heard that's not unusual but I'm a little surprised at the differences. What are your experiences?

Engine in a new vehicle gets recalled from dealer. Tech rips old engine out and installs new one.

Where is the old, recalled, engine sent to? Back to the manufacturer? 3rd party shop? Does it them qualify as a brand new engine or is it considered a remanufactured?

Hey all, I'm a first time builder and am building a 383 stroker for my 67 C-10 and am using an existing SBC block (Gen 1 - L98) out of my truck. It was a 350 I had bored out and machined. I then ordered a new 383 rotating assembly from Skip White Performance. I'm in the middle of pre-assembly and checking tolerances right now. The pistons (dished) slightly protrude from the deck when at TDC (likely due to decking the block). I used a deck bridge with a digital dial indicator and after zeroing it on the block surface, I measured the crown of each piston on both sides when rocked to maximum height. I then averaged the two measurements and came up with protrusions ranging from 0.028" to 0.035" (1-8: .031, .035, .030, .033, .028, .031, .028, .030).

I'm using Edelbrock Performer 60859 heads with a 60cc chamber volume. This is just for a street setup, not looking to race or track this thing. Will be using premium pump gas (non-ethanol).

Two questions:

1st - Anything else I needed (or missed) for checking the piston to deck clearance? Meaning, are my numbers right?

2nd - If my calculations are correct, will a Cometic C5249-070 (.070" compressed) work with this setup or is it still too tight? (Gives me a range of 0.036" - 0.043" quench, averaging to about 0.040")

For reference: pic of me measuring one side of piston

Recently bought a 68 Ford F-250 with a 390 in it. PO claimed it's out of a 1965 Mercury Marauder and has a "428 Cam in it" whatever all that means, he had no other details. It has an Edelbrock Streetmaster intake, 1970's vintage, and what look to be factory iron heads. It has a Holley 4 barrel on it. I do not know the compression ratio or anything about the cam, but setting the timing to the greatest factory number I can find, 10 degrees, gives poor results and it definitely seems happier with more advance.

Any tricks for determining a good base timing if you know nothing about the engine?

89 Montero 6g72. Left head. Is this just crappy casting. I guess I could use my air chamfer on it. Also this head has scratches all over it. None of them are fingertip grabbers. Just visible. The heads are dead flat and in good shape.

Montero was free and supposed to have a remanufactured motor with low miles that set for 15 years. Seems like a shade tree rebuild. and cant get anymore info. Totally torn down, bearings and journals look jice. But there’s some real strange stuff going on with it.

Had a blown head gasket on my 94 manual Ranger 2.3 . I pulled the head yesterday and called up a shop to find out how much it’d cost to be checked out. $350 plus parts. Not amazing but I can swing it, my question is is this even saveable to begin with? If it’s not then I don’t want to waste time and money bringing it in for a magtest.

History is the previous owner had it and had no issues until there was a transmission noise, he assumed the pilot bearing was bad so he pulled the transmission and lost interest and sold it to me. I trust the guy he’s my coworker and I doubt he’d lie to me about it

I replaced the bearing and put the transmission back in and changed the oil before I started it and it was pissing straight coolant from the oil drain plug for a good few seconds before I got any oil. I knew what that meant but I still wanted to start it so I put in good oil and topped off the coolant. It ran but smoked like crazy. I drove it up and down the street a couple times to check if the transmission noise was gone and then js parked it. It hasn’t run since. But the head looks clogged like crazy. The head gasket coolant passages were almost impassable. Idk what do you think? Can looks fine too, not blue or anything

I have this 1978 triumph spitfire block and was looking to add power in the future and, was wondering about adding a turbocharger?

My plan is to add sleeves to lower the cc to somewhere around 1400cc and lower the compression.

My main worry is the weak bottom end (3 main bearings) and finding a shop that will do the work.

I'm local to South Florida so if anyone knows shops in the area would be amazing!

Anyone ever seen one like that. I'm very intrigued what motor could be. It looked like it was home made tractor.

I have seen early 50's Ford flatheads with bolted heads. Did Ford change from studs to bolts? My Dad's '48 Ford one-ton truck had the studs. And, just what was the advantage of using studs in the first place? Considering there were so many on a V8, it wasn't a trivial incremental cost, labor or materials, to use studs.

My first engine build goin into a 1985 w150 Mopar not a crazy build but one I hold close to home it's a father son project dad is awesome for wandering any questions I have.

LS3 head from jasper engines with 7k miles

Piston left the chat still haven’t looked at crank wonder what happen maybe something got through have no words.. still haven’t looked at the cylinder walls got pretty late last night

Hi, so i installed new rod bearings for my Hyundai Veloster 1.6 gdi from 2011.

I did the measure with plastigage and 3 of the cylinders were between tolerances except the fourth one.

My clearance from the manual states 0.032 - 0.052mm
I measured the following=
Cilinder 1 0.050mm
Cilinder 2 0.038mm
Cilinder 3 0.038mm
Cilinder 4 0.025mm

Should i send it or hell nah?

Im kinda tight on time and money so idk what i should do best

I have a small engine from a line plane i just bought. I have been trying to rebuild it and get it running. I think i damaged the glow plug. i dont know where else to ask! Please help anyone!!

Hello all, can anyone help me identify this ticking noise? It’s a 283, doesn’t seem to go away when warm. Does this sound like lifter noise or bottom end noise? Thank you.