blown formula

Just gotta ask one question.
Do we expect highly paid professional shops to practice "good tradecraft" ?
The answer is obviously yes. Now to my point:

Arizona Speed & Marine

The previous owner of my Formula spent over $7000.00 for Arizona Speed to rebuild one engine and do a valve job on the second. The results are as follows,
PORT ENGINE-valve job only.
1. Engine mounting bolts loose on both sides of engine- result:spun coupler
2. Exhaust manifold bolts loose & not torqued: result burned exh. gaskets & bolts in the bilge loose
3. EGT gauge not working port eng- root cause- broken ring, downed cylinder #2 (they did a valve job, why did they not find this?)
4. Intake manifold (EFI) port engine- 3 intake bolts loose, one backed out 3/8 of an inch
5. Head gasket leaking compression port side/port engine
6. Exhaust risers corroded so badly they would not seal- had to remachine surfaces, why didn't they? Water leaks in manifolds

STARBOARD ENGINE
1. corroded risers, leaking- had to remachine surfaces to stop leaks.
2. stripped threads in two head bolts, some head bolts not torqued to spec's (somewhat tight but not as tight as needed)
3. Loose exhaust bolts- I caught this one in time.
.....?????????
This boat has never seen salt water, where did the corroded manifolds come from??? This is a '97 Formula, my '93 has NO corrosion...also fresh water boat. Not original manifolds?????

General sloppiness of work, not securing cables, wires, hoses, missing exhaust flappers (internal), etc as needed.

We just tore down the Port engine after having fixed the other problems earlier and finally figuring out #2 cylinder was dead resulting in the EGT gauge not working (did not work when purchased right after Az.Speed did the rework)...I had replaced the sensor, the gauge & then the wiring, before finding the dead cylinder. I know now how to test this EGT stuff!! On tear down, again we find some "not quite tight" head bolts, leaking head gasket (compression, not water), terrible trash in the engine & pan, badly worn bearings, etc. This?, on an engine with base 140 hrs & within 20 hrs of AZ Speeds work.??? The oil was grunge inside the motor, ...did they not change it? Left their trash in the engine? Remember, this was only a "valve job", no mechanical problems known in original Merc engine. I am beginning to wonder if the previous owner even got his original engine back from Arizona Speed. A teenager car nut could have done better than this, with no special training. Shofner must have hired a few $5.00 mechanics!!!

Arizona Speed may have a good reputation, but I cannot see why from this example of their work !!!

Turbojack

Problem is just not engine people but also trailer people. I am so tired of showing people pictures of what I want & then going to pick up & find a large bill & trailer look nothing like the picture. When I show them the picture there response is "You did not say you wanted it to look like that" Why would I give them a picture if I did not want it to look that way. To date we are on build #4 & still does not look like picture.

Vinny P

Like the old saying goes "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself"

Pure Energy

I am not defending anyone, but how do you know ASM actually did the work? Are you friends with the person you bought the boat from? Did you see receipts, with serial #s? Maybe those motors were swapped out before the sale.

I too have been a victim of shotty workmanship.

Just food for thought.

Intolerant1

I agree w/Ken. Seems like alot of unknowns to go bashing the company. You should contact them and get their side. If you have further evidence than you have posted, put it up for some validity.

Dont want this to become like Puders saga.

blown formula

.....YES, AZ SPD did the work. Not only was the previous owner a record holding APBA offshore racer....which somewhat makes me believe him, but after the purchase, he offered to send me the reciepts. Secondly, I talked to the original selling dealer and the original owner about any other work done. I also called and asked to speak to Jim Shofner about this (at AZ Speed). I was never able to reach him, (busy right now, always out, on a trip, etc) , but his shop guys looked it up and sure enough they did the work as stated. They have been absolutely no help, other than grudgingly answering basic questions about what they did and I asked for none . I knew what the response would be after seeing their work. They will never work on a boat of mine again,
nor would I purchase one they have modified or rebuilt. That's the facts!! Sad as it may be......

KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

blown formula, to back you up on your question the answer is "yes" the work shouldn't be anything less than correct and well done whether you spent the $7000 with them or the previous owner it's still not right and they should take some care, pride and responsibility in what they do in the first place, and at least stand behind their workmanship if the finished work isn't correct. If what you say is true, then I cannot believe the audacity of some of these shops---what a crock!

Check around your local area with some other performance boaters and find out who's who or what machine shop in the area has a good reputation, one that the locals go to that their workmanship can be trusted.

liquid lounge

Intolerent1- You can call and get Jim's side of the story, but he won't be there unless your buying somthing. Blown isn't blowin' smoke on this one I'll bet. My dealings with ASM have been equally negative...except I'm only out maybe $7000.00...I'm lucky I wasn't running twins!!! I will elaborate if you guys absolutly make me... its just too depressing to rehash this experience. My experience with ASM is that you have to know as much or more than them to make their products work...ditto what Check454mag says. My side of the story.

Brad Perry

Sorry to hear the results, Blown. Checkmate454 has got it right. Even with the shops that I have come to trust, I still ask, ask and ask and watch....for anything that doesn't look right. To top it all off, I only let them do the things I cannot...like machine work. I do all the assembly and check all the work that I can.

The really sad thing is that you would think that since we are dealing with higher dollar, recreational engines, these "specialty" shops would be better than "Joe's garage". Many times, the opposite is true.

I can count how many boat repair and parts places I trust on one hand in an industry that has 100s and 100s of supposedly top notch outfits.

Good luck..

blown formula

I really don't have the time to assemble the engines or drives, so I have a friend/ex-fuel-funny car/flattie fuel drag boat builder/welder/machinist (in his garage!) build all my engines. His 29 Fountain w/NA 502 carbs runs 95 GPS..... reliably, none of his engines have ever failed. That's good enough for me. Even his "stock" rebuilds use file to fit rings. You can hear the difference between his and Merc factory engines, even with stock cams. Crisp- , that's the best way to describe them.