The upside down piston pictures arent on here because of a certain person complaining (mostly because of the fact his car is still there so wouldnt want it to get worse now...) Email or PM for copies of the pictures

The following is my personal problems ive had with him...
And I was going to post the rest of the pics of the install from my personal problems (LS1 car)

True duals from the shop

Interior/exterior messed up

Went in origionally for:
Differential upgrade and swap to 3.73s
Cam install and valvetrain
synchros/shift fork replacement
Clutch install
True Duals install

In addition I have 7 other references of FBodies that came out of this shop with similar problems or severe problems... all costing a pretty penny to fix!

 

Pics of exhaust


Exhaust write up from 2 outside sources... Names also not being disclosed.. these were the problems with the system when I took it elsewhere and attempted to get it repaired before just finally getting it replaced...

*Exhaust rests on rear axle, no suspension travel on passanger side of car, when car hits bump the exhaust smacks into the upper panhard bar causing a clunk and also bends exhaust pipe

*passanger rear brake line pinched between exhaust and rear axle, outer protective layer is damaged and inner is showing wear... possible to burst soon

*exhaust hanger under passanger rear seat supporting midpipe and xpipe has ripped a 2x2 inch hole in the floor board, exhaust hanger was just welded to the floor without any support and the floor board was not strong enough to support it. Exhaust gas capable of leaking into car and also heat may cause fire with the carpet

*rear exhaust hanger weld broken, exhaust just resting on axle

*SLP 3 inch Y-pipe was just cut and used with the new system, the 3 inch to 2.5 inch reduction has about 4 inches of 2.5 inch pipe inside the 3 inch HIGHLY restricting airflow, in addition the reduction welds are leaking badly

*SLP pipes are badly banging against driver floor board

*Mufflers are actually 2.25 inch in and 2.25 inch outlet mufflers, expander used to make it fit the 2.5 inch pipes. Restricting flow.

*Rusting on ALL pipes except for the X-pipe and SLP y-pipe occured because 409 grade stainless was used... it just does not contain 8-10% nickel that quality pipes use. The nickel and chromium added to the stainless is what makes it extremely resistant to rust & corrosion.

*All welds are cracking, leaking or rusting, many have already broken and left small leaks. Leaks can be seen by the black carbon surrounding the welds.

*2.5 inch pipes coming off the 3 inch SLP pipes are not supported by any brackets and are resting on the driveshaft loop causing a rattle. Bracket needed!

 

Pics of exterior and interior


I didnt have time to get all the pictures last night so heres where most of the money is going to come into repairs... and this stuff should not have even been an issue.

The Above shows all the pictures of problems with the car beyond the exhaust or mechanical problems... they are as follows:

*Paint permanatly damaged due to acid from the swap cooler draining on it and having it bake in the sun for 4-6 weeks. The spots WILL NOT come out of the paint no matter what kind of devices are used, its been through two complete details with buffers and paint cleaners.. still no luck.

*Driver seat, rear driver side seat and carpet are permanatly damaged due to the fact that the windows were left down while the swamp cooler was draining on the car. I have had 2 shops look at the car and the leather is permanatly damaged, as well as the holes in the carpet permanant

*Missing ECU bolts, and on one side the bolt attempted to be used was stripped and broken

*Wrong radiator shroud bolts, the ones used are some random bolt which has literally 1 thread inserted, which causes them to come loose all the time and the radiator to fall out

*two large cuts in the front fender, not scratches, but actual cuts in the urethane which cannot be repaired unless bondo is used

*Front fenders are bent out behind the wheel... while there was previously a small bend in one side, there was NO space in the fenders where as now there is a 3/4 inch gap in both sides from the car being jacked up incorrectly.

* Stops were NOT installed on the B&M shifter making shifts dangerous without the stops installed!

*Front Oil seal leaks BADLY on a 9 month old 2002 LS6 because he either didnt change the seal or the below effected it...

*All oil pan bolts are the standard 10mm bolts EXCEPT for the front two which he removed for the timing cover which are 1 silver 14mm bolt and 1 gold 15mm bolt... MUCH larger than the others so chances are the threads didnt match and an impact spun them in... leak could either be there or at the seal.

*Transmission 3rd gear synchros were all BRAND new, along with an upgraded shift fork... on day 3 of driving the car, the 3rd gear synchro went out (the car had fresh rear end gears so it had NOT been driven hard at all)... and 2 months later the entire tranny locked up with the sound of what sounded like change falling into a bowl when I finally got it out of gear... then the shifter was jammed and would not move. I had to buy a new tranny after that.

This is all for now and I will have more when I can get the car up on a lift! the rest of the problems will come with the transmission pictures. As far as disputing the charges, I did, and he sent a letter to AMEX saying "the car is ALWAYS at the race track and dynos, and is constantly raced" Which made AMEX re-bill us. Truth is the car hasnt been to a track in over a year... and hasnt been running well enough for a dyno pull other than the one that it went to the day after the install... the car made 20 rwhp LESS than when it went in with some pretty heavy mods being done!

 

 

those are some crappy welds how can some do work like that

 

what shop is this ??? Im guessing 1rstperformance ? Where are they out of ? my god Ive never seen a car abused like that at a shop before in my life and that is the ugliest exhaust setup I have ever seen. You should call the BBB or something. I bet all those "performance mods" werent cheap either.

 

Thats probably the worst exaust work I've ever seen. You should take legal action if they do not offer to compensate you for the damage done to your car.

 

Mesa, AZ... taking care of whats owed as we speak

 

Sorry to hear of your badluck man.I lived in PHX for a year and just moved home at the end of June.I bought my Mustang out there in PHX.It had the Factory exhaust on it from 1991 and the pipes on that were not even close to what yours looked like.Stuff does'nt rust up like that out in AZ unless it is absolute garbage material that is used.I hope you get back what you have coming to you.That **** just aint right.

James

 

Y2K1 SS 5.0 THIS: I have no problem with alerting fellow board members with threads here about businesses' shady practices and poor work. But, if you can't do it without causing problems (like you are doing) then they are not welcome here.

I thought that you could take a hint and quit posting links and offering to send strangers a picture that does not belong to you after the first two threads got deleted. Evidently not. Do you think that the first two threads were deleted by coincidence?

Keep it up and you will be gone.

 

This person is making libelous statements concerning me and my car. Due to many other threads and statements where he has specifically named me by name without my permission or consent I will follow through with my legal action.

He has no right to concern himself with me or my car and making untrue statements and posting pictures or offering copyrighted material will only further bolster my civil case.

I have a copy of all of the previous threads and the original version of this one.

The best case scenario is for this thread to be deleted and for him to make a public apology concerning any statement about me or my car/motor or work being done on them.

Mike

 

Seriously, you need to get a life, and stop stealing other peoples pictures!!!! The whole thing about the pistons, if you would take the time to get the whole story, is that is was the initial mock-up of the engine. The engine was completly disassembled after that, and rebuilt the right way....So there is no PROOF in this. Maube what ever else you have is proof, but I just got my tranny built there, great work, the thing is amazing, and because of complaints about cleanliness, every car gets washed before it is handed over.

You can bash Steve and 1st performance all you want, but first make sure that you actually have proof of bad work. The 383 LT1 (which is actually a 396 if you actually knew what you were talking about) is not done wrong, is almost done, and will be smoking your a$$ very soon my friend. So please get your facts straight BEFORE you really try to bash someone!!!

Troy

 

What is this...?

And why is it here...?

 

Do you guys know many engine builders that do mock ups with the pistons upsidedown?
First off:
Prove the picture is your engine
Prove I didnt take the pic myself of your engine if it was yours
prove the pic is being hosted by me or connected to me and not some random pic found on the internet

and Lastly... GET A LIFE

 

I have $4,000 in repairs that have been done and another $6,000 that need to be done because of that shop. In addition I have 7 other references of FBodies alone with problems, not to mention two lawsuits filed by mustang owners BOTH of which 1st performance lost and was ordered to pay out, yet has not payed. I would LOVE to post all the proof as well and as soon as the transmission write up comes back be sure it will be on every site this is. Pictures dont lie and I have PLENTY of them to show, as well as reciepts and wittnesses that saw the car in the condition listed.