Ok, CM has screwed up twice now for me.

First time they sent my cam on a 113 when i ordered a 112. They sent me out a return right away and handle the situation excellently from a customer service standpoint. I ended up changing my order to a 111 because they had it in stock and i'm happy with that decision.

Now my newest problem is that i got non-self aligning rockers when i ordered self-aligning because i didn't want to mess with guideplates. GRRRRRRRRRRR. I thought i was quite clear when i was ordering that I was trying to "one stop shop" for gaskets and everything i'd need, so even if i had ordered non self aligning why didn't we talk guideplates? I certainly wasn't gonna place another order somewhere else just for guideplates.

Now before anyone goes making fun of me for not recognizing the problem when i installed them, at least i picked up on it now before blowing my valvetrain apart. I've never installed roller tipped rockers before, just the 1970s stamped steel ones on my jeep. I thought there was a slightly taper to the roller or soemthing that made them self aligning. I should have looked into it some more when i was thinking they didn't self align too well while i was installing them.

I called CM and told them of the problem. Since they probably don't want used rockers back i asked them to send me the guideplates for free and i'll use the ones i have. This situation really angers me because i could have screwed up all the work that i just put 29 hours into because someone didn't check what they were sending me. The cam and rocker weren't right, thats nearly the entire order! I'm not the only person who recieved a cc502 on a 113 LSA when a 112 was ordered. Incase anyone is thinking they just got two orders mixed up, I did not recieve the wrong order all together because i got my csi and extra gaskets.

If they take care of this rocker situation, as i expect they will, I'll probably still have a positive view of their shop and would consider them in the future. Their customer service was exceptional, their shipping dept just needs some work.

-brent

 

I can understand your order being incorrect and you being upset about it especially when you have a time budget, BUT, (and don't take this too personally) if you don't know the difference between self-aligning and non self-aligning roller rockers, you probably shouldn't be putting the top end of a motor together alone. You should probably have someone more experienced there along with you to show you or give you advice/check your work and at least make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. Just my opinion though.

 

No offence taken. I knew i opened my self to that by posting, but i'm not to proud to hide my mistakes, i share them so others can learn.

Yes i conceptually knew the difference, but have you seen every model of rocker out there and know exactly how their design works? Hindsight being 20/20 this one seems pretty obvious and should have been a red flag. Give me some credit, I identified the problem on my own, i just didn't catch it in the 26th hour of work. The cam install was a piece of cake and i'd do it again in a heartbeat. I don't get intimidated by this stuff and this is the closest i've ever come to creating a larger problem. But your completely right, there is noway this would have happened if it wasn't my first LT1 roller rocker install. Thats a small risk of doing your own work when you don't have any good experienced help to lend you a hand. I used cam install guides like shoeboxes, which were helpfull but sometimes slowed me down becasue i was trying to figure out what the directions meant instead of just doing it. I've turned my share of wrenches as a bike mechanic for world championship riders and spent plenty of time modifying jeeps, i'm just not that experienced in SBC teardown and assembly but wasn't gonna let that scare me off.

No damage was done!
It was only a 'near miss incident' as we call them at work. The point of this thread is that CM screwed up twice on my order so not everyone has the perfect transaction experience. I'm not trash talking them, i said that their customer service was great, i just had to share/vent this.


Edit* I got ahold of Seth, he was working on car earlier, and he is supposed to be priority shipping them to me.

 

Just a note. If you get the guide plates make sure you have the hardened push rods too!!

 

No vendor can be perfect all the time. The more one gets hyped up, the easier it is to point out when they fail. Unfortunate that you had a couple of problems, but it happens. Hopefully they will see your feedback and be more vigilant.

 

Rob, I'd agree if they hadn't done almost the same to me within a week of Brent's order. I also ordered the 502 w/ 112 and got 113. There were several other problems including the "lost" order, promise of priority shipping and 10 days later it arrives but the biggest is getting the wrong cam. They must have had the need to move the 113 since they were introducing all of the new grinds. Mistakes are going to happen but what are the odds that we both get the 113?

 

I just got my 233/239 and pro magnum rockers today. Only problem is that they shipped to my billing address-not the shipping address.

Ive ordered quite a few things from them over the last couple of months and their (Seth's) service is what keeps me coming back.

 

They were having problems when I ordered my stuff. I waited two weeks after I placed my order and then called them. They said my order got lost between two of their computer systems or something like that. I got my stuff, but it took a while. I also got a 112 LSA instead of a 111, but I just said **** it and installed the thing; not worth the hassle if the order got "lost" again while my car is in pieces.

 

the sign of a good business is after everything is said and done did they do the right thing. there's still some time left on this one.

good luck

 

most of the grind problems come from comp from what I understand.

From a technical standpoint- non SA rockers are DEFINATLY a better choice anyway. If you cant install a guideplate- thre is a problem . No to say it was "right" to send you NSA when you asked for SA- just wanted to point that out.

Also, if something did happen to your motor and it was their fault, i am confident they would take care of it- one way or another.
I couldn't take my springs off my core heads and i sent them back to seth and asked him to take them off (they were really stiff).

Anyway, the head porter or machine shop or something skrews up and throws them out. Seth took care of it for me. I thought that was a real class act. He was doing me a favor and ended up having to buy me new springs. SO i'm sure that if their incorrect parts blew up your motor- they would work something out with you! I wouldn't sweat tat.

Everyone makes mistakes- its how they handle them that makes the differance.