*** Warning ***

[Space Cowboy]

All,

Think twice before you purchase an engine from "5 STAR ENGINE EXCHANGE" out of Arizona. After 14 months of restoration on my 68, I drove it home to Houston (a 90 mile trip) and it totally broke down on me 5 miles before I got to my house! I have no idea what the problem is yet, but it "sounds" like a possible spun piston bearing. This block has also leaked like crazy on both front and rear main seals. The rocker nuts continuously back off as well because they decided to use poor man lock nuts... yeah, you got it... regular nut, then crush the threads! Less then 700 (gentle) miles has been put on this block and its a piece of CRAP! ad

Take this warning from me... stay away from this company.

Space Cowboy

 

[JohnZ]

I've never seen any company with "engine exchange" in its name that was any different; generally used parts with an absolute minimum of machine work - just enough to create an engine that runs (for a while, anyway), at a rock-bottom price, with no warranty. With engines, you usually get what you pay for; good engines with good parts and good machine work cost money. :eyerole

 

[Space Cowboy]

This is not a "used parts" engine. This engine was built up brank spanking new. The cost wasn't cheap in my books by no means... $5000. I know its cheaper than others... but others are rodded. I didn't want a rodded engine.

Here is a list of what they used to build it out:

GM 2 bolt main block bored .030
steel GM crankshaft
GM truck connecting rods with ARP bolts
Sealed Power forged pistons
Sealed Power rings
Clevite cam / main / rod bearings
Cloyes double roller timing set
New pioneer harmonic balancer
New pioneer flexplate
Competition Cams performance camshaft
Competition Cams hydraulic lifters
complete Fel Pro gasket set
GM closed chamber large oval port heads
2.19 / 1.88 stainless steel valves
Competition Cams performance valve springs / retainers / locks
hardened 3/8 pushrods / guideplates

Machine work included:

Bake / bore / hone block
turn crankshaft
resize connecting rods
computer balanced
assembled
heads enlarged for bigger valves
new valve guides / three angle valve job

 

[WONKABOY]

You Better "hope" These Parts Are Installed , Bearings , Leaking Oil.etc Sounds Like A Old Motor Maybe Repainted To Look Like New,
Did You Ever Go There While They Were Rebuilding It?
Just A Thought......good Luck!!!! Sue The Bastards And Make Them Pay For The Tow Back To Their Shop!! Rick

 

[Space Cowboy]

No... I live in Texas... they are based in Arizona. We exchanged many emails and phone calls before I purchased.

 

[invinceablevett]

Space Cowboy........don't feel like you are the first to get a "bad engine re-build.I have a brother -in-law who re-builds engines and he has had to re-build engines that were"done" by someone else.In every case they got what they paid for.When something is cheaper ask yourself why.....most of the time it's because they cut corners.Sometimes they use old parts because they can't get the new ones on time and sometimes they underestimate the costs.

My brother-in-law has seen lots of engines done wrong or carelessly.His advice concerning engines is get it done by someone who has done it before,that is;that same engine.He rebuilds mostly stock engines.

My advice,sue the pants off them if they botched the job.It's the only way to get rid of the scumbags.It might be costly to do so but that's what they thrive on.............whatever you choose to do I hope it gets resolved quickly.

Good luck......

 

[Space Cowboy]

invinceablevette,

This was actually a new engine... not a rebuild. I think I know the problem through another thread I have going. Still the fact is that this is not a fantastice engine and it still leaks like crazy. There is no way of me knowing they used old parts unless I strip it apart unfortunately.

This is a legit company that aparently sponsors a lot of racing in Arizona. I did some looking around on the web. That doesnt mean that they can't build themselves up to something they're not. Believe me, I asked a ton of questions before buying... but you can do that until you're blue in the face.

 

[dshanks]

Hi Space Cowboy. I have to admit Im a little alarmed to read this. I am currently expecting an engine from Chris at Fivestar. I got the 325hp crate motor with a steeper cam.

I too have been back and forth with Chris, by email, and by phone, and they don't appear to be shady at all. I did alot of research about thier company, I actually built thier new website:

http://www.dshanksdesign.com/fivestar

After doing all the research, I have concluded that maybe you have an isolated incident on your hands. After all, they have been in buisiness for 20+ years, and sponser and support winning race teams in the Glendale area. Also, they do alot of Ebay business, and have an outstanding feedback rating selling engines, not a bunch of bolt-on parts. I also know that your engine should have at least a 1 year warranty. I have a feeling that Chris would be willing to work with you on this if your engine came with this warranty, I have spent alot of time on the phone with him, and he seems like an honest guy to me.

I hope to have my engine in the next couple weeks, and installed in a month or two. I will certainly repost once I can confirm or deny that thier quality is sub-par. I have a feeling that my engine will be just fine, I'm not that worried about its quality.
Also, once you speak to Chris, please post back and tell us of your experiences with the warranty process.

Derrick

 

[Alan76]

Had my 1973 rebuilt locally because the numbers were matching it cost me 1800.00 and they took it out and put it back in the car. It was a stock rebuild no prformance parts. the only thing they screwed up was when they put the distributor in they position it with a bind in the cable, and it twisted in half. I oulled the distributor moved it over and bought a new cable. I guess I was Lucky. Moral to story sometimes it pays to do business locally.

Alan

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Have you talked to them? What do they say?

 

[JJS]

I sure hope these people make good on this.
Please keep us posted....that REALLY sucks.

 

[Space Cowboy]

dshanks.... I hope you don't have the same problems as I have had. True, Chris seems like a nice guy. My issue is the fact that I bought the engine over a year ago and didn't get it running until a couple of months ago because of MANY delays on my restore due to painter issues. Chris stated that they would look at it, but all freight costs and mechanic labor costs would be on me to pull it back out and put back in once fixed. I guess I should've gotten more details about the "warrany" before I purchased. Currently freight costs are totally outrageous, so it will probably be cheaper for me to have it fixed here rather than ship it back to them.

When I started having problems with the rocker nuts backing off, we pulled the valve covers and found out what kinda of quality I bought. I called Chris to complain about them using "poor man" lock nuts, but he stated it was "standard practice" for their company. I'm sorry... but it that is their standard practice, that only shows me the quality they put into their engines.

I too was looking at ebay listings, but was very spooked by all the horror stories passed to me. I also made contact with one "company", and the conversation lead me to not trust them.

 

[dshanks]

I really hope I dont have the same problems either, but I am confident that it will turn out fine.
Im not very familiar with the ways an engine builder could cut cost. Are thier certain things that I should look for and replace before I start it up?

This is what is done to it already:

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Engine block, cylinder heads and crankshaft thermally cleaned, shot-blasted, and Magnafluxed [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]All crankshafts and reground, oil holes chamfered, and micro-polished [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Thorough cleaning including all oil galleys, engines are absolutely clean inside and out[/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]All blocks are bored and honed using torque plates [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]New cam custom fitted [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Connecting rods fitted with new bolts and resized [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Rotating assembly Sunnen computer balanced (balance sheet included) [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Cylinders heads completely remanufactured, including new guides, new seals, and performance 3-angle valve job. [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Every engine custom-built (no assembly line) by professionals [/FONT]


[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Sealed Power hypereutectic pistons and rings [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Competition Cams performance camshaft [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Fel-Pro gaskets [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Clevite 77 rods, main and cam bearings [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Melling high-volume oil pump, pickup screen and driveshaft [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Valve guides [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Pioneer harmonic balancer, flexplate, performance valve springs, brass freeze plugs and bolts [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Melling push rods [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Double-roller timing set [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Professional Products polished dual-plane intake manifold (non-EGR) [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]Chrome timing cover, valve covers, oil pan, dipstick/tube and breather [/FONT]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica]GM valve locks/retainers[/FONT]

Any help is appreciated...

 

[Five Star Engines]

Two sides to every story.

Hello, This is Chris from Five Star Engine Exchange and since Derrick chose to give a "warning", I feel the other side of the story is appropriate. Derrick did contract with Five Star to purchase a remanufactured Chev 427 engine for his Corvette. A engine was totally remanufactured by our machine shop with state of the art equipment. We have the latest Sunnen line hone, cylinder hone, guide and seat machine, computer balancer, connecting rod hone and Rottler boring bar. All of the internal component are quality name brand parts ie. Clevite, Sealed Power, Fel Pro, Melling, Comp Cams etc.. Derrick called with a problem and my response was that if the problem had anything to do with the parts we supplied or our workmanship the engine would be warranted 100% even though the one year time period has exhausted. We have and always will stand behind our product. What Derrick does not tell you is that he or others have not dissassembled the engine for internal inspection and do not know what exactly is the problem or the cause of the problem. The problem may very well be an issue from Five Star but also may not be. Derrick has changed intake manifolds on the engine and performed other work with the valve train. The engine was supplied with new top quality rocker arm adjuster nuts which were backing off for an unknown reason and replaced if I am correct. I have seen just about every problem and cause of engine problems from defective parts to installation error. Anyway Derrick has given me the intention of returning the engine and I will inspect and post with the results good or bad. Five Star Engine Exchange has been in business for over 15 years with an exemplery record of service. We have sold several hundred crate performance engines with an excellent record on ebay. We have also built hundreds of race engines with hundreds of victories in circle track, drag racing, boat racing, mud bogging, and off road racing. Some of our most recent successes include National championship in class 8 SCORE off road racing, National Supernationals modified championship in Boone, Iowa. I invite any local corvette enthusiasts to come by for a tour of our facility and post thier opinions on this forum (by the way we currently have two corvettes in the shop for engine installations). Thanks for your time in reading this novel. Please call toll free 1-888-700-3483 with any conerns or questions. Chris.

 

[dshanks]

This is Space Cowboys 427 that Chris is describing, I have been satisfied with Fivestar so far...
I dont have the engine yet.

Derrick

 

[BarryK]

what strikes me as odd is the seemingly different description of the motor by the two parties involved here. The original poster said the motor "was built up brank spanking new" while the shop is saying he purchased a "remanufactured" motor. I really don't know much about purchasing motors or having them rebuilt but to ME that is a big difference. If it's new it's new, if it's remanufactured it's a rebuilt unit and not new.
Is this a misunderstanding of terms by me reading these posts or is it a major miscommunication between the customer and the shop and what the engine is or was suppose to be?

If the engine, AS BUILT BY THE SHOP, failed than the shop should cover all costs involved in fixxing the problem including the labor to remove than reinstall the motor. On the other hand if the motor was modified by the customer after the shop built it as mentioned by the shop, than the customer must assume at least some of the responsibility of the motors failure but I think that depends on exactly WHAT failed. If the customer modified the top end of the motor but didn't touch anything else and it's the bottom of the motor that failed than that is the original shops responsibility. If the failure is from any modification made by the customer than i'm sorry to say that is completely on him.

just my $.02

 

[Five Star Engines]

extension.

Sorry for the confusion. You can insert "Space Cowboy" for Derrick in my post. I will refrain from using his real name. Also I forgot that I can supply numerous letters and e-mails from satisfied customers of praise and recommendation. My '69 numbers matching 47K original miles, 427 tri, convertible is for sale.

 

[Five Star Engines]

I'm sure space cowboy meant that the engines was "new" remanufactured. There was never any intent by either party to misrepresent. You can only purchase a "new" engine from General Motors or General Motors resellers. Arguing whose fault is was is moot until an internal inspection is done. Failure can be caused by hundreds of scenarios.

 

[dshanks]

My '69 numbers matching 47K original miles, 427 tri, convertible is for sale.

Wow, Chris. I had no idea. Wish I were coming there to pick it up so I could check out your vette. Not to buy of course...at least not until I win the powerball...

 

[Space Cowboy]

Five Star Engines (personal names refrained),

You have stated that I have not disassembled the engine as of yet, and this is true. However, after being broke down and getting the vehicle to my house, the rockers were readjusted (yet again) & a positive compression test performed on all cylinders, it only leaves a couple of things... Main, or piston rod/bearings that is causing the knocking noise.

As for "modification' that you are leading people to believe as the cause of the problem... I asked several times if the completed engine (as purchased) would fit in my 427 with you stating "yes". Upon installation of the engine and attempting the close the hood... it would not fit. This was because you put on a dual-plane intake. Even after purchasing a Edelbrock single-plane AND 1/2 height air cleaner, the hood still wouldn't close due to clearance. This forced me to spend a lot of extra money to purchase an L-88 hood. Even with that, I barely have clearance. This is why there was a modification and by doing so would NOT cause the type of engine failure such as this.

This engine will not be going back to 5Star! I can take the money that it would cost in shipping (in both directions) and have a father/son team of NASCAR engine specialists that I know to fix it for me.

The bottom line is folks is to take whatever you want from this post and make your own decision. Thats what this forum is for anyway... to share knowledge and experiences... both good & bad.

Sorry to edit this for those of you that get emails... but I will inform the forum as to the findings once the engine is disassembled.