I've been waiting FOREVER to get my engine/crank/rods/pistons/bearings back from the machine shop, that I dropped off mid December 2010 with a $600 deposit and another $200 in Feb 2011. Now, 11 months later, I get this hunk of **** crank back that the shop screwed up after me SPECIFICALLY saying how I wanted it done, and how others do it.
The crank is for a Honda D16z6 engine, which people ALL OVER THE WORLD have had modded to fit in the g16 engine used in the Sidekick/Tracker/Vitara (if you know anything about Honda D16, vitara pistons are one of the choice pistons for 'budget' builds).
Basic rundown with what I had done to the crank to fit my application:
Snout shortened ~1/2"
Keyway recut
Mains machined down near 3mm to accept OEM Suzuki main bearings
Block machined to place thrust bearings in the d16 location (using OEM size Suzuki thrust bearings)
Spun rod journal ground down, welded, and machined / polished
All journals polished.
The welds didn't machine down at the same rate as the d16 crank, and there are imperfections in the welds that were machined into, and when drilled/tapped, it feels like the welds moved slighly (which concerns me).
September 23rd I received a voicemail that everything was done so I went in after the weekend, but I noticed they didn't recut the keyway. I left it with them and the machinist said 1-2 days. I call on October 4th and the guy at the desk said he'd give me a call when it was done as it wasn't worked on yet (6 work days later). Fast forward to Thursday, October 28th I sent an email (so I would have more time stamps) asking if the crank was done. October 29th I received a voicemail asking to give them a call. Monday October 31st I gave them a call and the guy at the front desk told me that the crank was done and was ready to be picked up.
From the start, they said they were going to press a seal saver on it but when I picked the crank up, it isn't there. I've had a HUGE issue with the shop now since the work took forever and they had a large deposit up front stating it was more then enough down to do the work.
Am I now screwed? Their 'warranty' disclaimer at the bottom of the invoice states the parts are covered if assembled by them, but not if somebody else does it. I have $1,700 into machine work between head and bottom end/crank along with another $1,200 or so in internals/gaskets/etc. I still have to sink near another $200 into nitride treating the crank so the journals really last, but at this point, I don't want to use the crank.
Issues:
Below is an overal pic, directlly from the end. I told them from the start I wanted the holes done like the bottom photoshopped picture, they told me no matter how they rotated the flywheel, that it would fall on the welded (old) holes. I insisted to just turn it 30* to place them in the middle and they still insisted it wouldn't work. It only falls on 1 old hole (as seen in the pic), so they could have just filled that hole as well and only MAYBE had issues with that hole.
They also said they were going to press a sleeve on. At this point, I'm scared to even use the crank.
