Well, its official, the motor that Lo Vang built me from the former 1320customfab/1320 performance is blown and im going to have to sue the dude. It was about a month after he shut down shop that i started having problems with the car so i took it to a certified honda mechanic. We thought the head gasket was blown and that a new one was going to fix everything, it didnt. 5 hours later the car wouldnt start but for a few seconds then die. So i took it back to the shop, had them dissemble the block and inspect it. Unpon inspection (and extraction of the engine) the mechanics were amazed at the mistakes that the previous builder had made. Parts were missing on my suspension (various pins and screws that held stuff together were missing) So at the end of the tear down they discovered a crack underneath one of the blanceshafts. So we shipped it out the golden eagle thinking they would warrenty it. No deals, they told me the crack was because of builder error, and that putting the gears back together incorrectly when reassembling the balanceshaft, the balanceshafter was not balanced and shift around (i dont know if you guys remember me saying that i heard a distinctive sound in the engine and that we thought it was suspension related in previous posts). So right now, im in the process of trying to contact Lo Vang, i have his cell phone number and address. If i cant contact him by the end of next week, im filing a small claims lawsuit for the cost of repair, and damages done to my car (california limit in small claims is $7,500 and thats what im seeking) so ill keep everyone posted on what happens in the weeks to come. This is pretty shitty because it was my only car, and in the last year it only drove for a month!

Oh, and i forgot to mention. The car had no f/i or 'performance' parts on it that would stress the motor at all. It was a buttom end build, with springs/valves/retainer on the head and thats it.

 

good luck with that...

the only factor that might prevent u from winning is the 1 month time span

 

I hope you get some sort of reparation for this..

That's messed up

Good luck withe verything, try to get statements from golden eagle saying that it was a builders error, as well as statements from honda, and all the receipts to prove how much you spent.

 

yeah i hear that man. But i have to try anyways, the dude has had a horrible track record on my car for almost the last year and i have documented everything that has gone wrong with my car from his shop. And now i have two different professional shops telling me how bad of a job hes done on the build. Im going to contact golden eagle again on monday and have them put in writing the reason they arent warrentying the engine (because of lo) and have my shop thats working on it now document all the mistakes that were performed on the build prior to them seeing it. Plus the motor didnt work right from the moment he worked on it (the first time it spund a bearring, it didnt even get threw a full tank of gas). The belts were whining when i got it back the second time, check engine light came on, tach didnt function, car felt like it was shaking on the freeway, metal sounds coming from the engine, rats **** in my car, the list goes on and on. Hes paying for this, i cant see a sane judge rule against me with all the evidence i have against him.

 

I highly doubt you'll get anything....as with all "race/aftermarket" parts there is seldom a warranty on ANYTHING (including shitty labor).

not trying to be an *** or anything but as a law student going to USC (and having interned at several law offices over the past 3-4 years) I can say you're case doesn't seem strong. primarily because of the 1 month time span. There is no proof how many miles you got out of the motor, whether you abused the **** out of it or not, etc. I really hope you can recover your $ but I will be honest with you, it is an extremely small chance...just get an excellent lawyer and plenty of evidence/witnesses


EDIT: just read your 2nd post in the thread, seems like you're taking al;l the right steps so far

 

You mustve missed all the posts that i posted about this whole build man. Their were so many mistakes this dude made its unbelieveable. The car never ran right, a week after i got my car back he closed up shop and would no return my phone calls. And their is no way to abuse an engine that has been setup for 9k+ rpms and f/i without a turbo or supercharger and with a stock rev limiter. I couldnt have done anything in my power to abuse it, even if i wanted it. But as far as evidence goes, i have plenty of that and professional documentation from certified mechanics, i think i have a really strong case against him. This is going to be a small claims case, lawyers are banned from these cases. Small claims cases are different from superior cases, i dont have to have forensic evidence for the judge to grant my case, just have to meet the burden of proof (which i have a lot of)

Edit, also forgot to mention. The warrenty on performance/race parts comments is irrelavent because the reason the engine blew was from a stock part that was installed incorrectly. I guess if it was a race part it would be harder to prove, but the balance shafts were stock not aftermarket.


Modified by Mr.Hankey at 9:18 AM 6/17/2007

 

Oh jesus... you are back again.

I feel bad you have a blown engine but I feel bad for the builder as well... mainly because you came across as a complete pain in the *** in your other 3 threads. You will end up losing your fight... all of the products that are in your engine are unfortunately for 'off-road use only.' Read the fine print as well as the legal disclaimers that you signed with him months ago. On top of that, he can simply void your arguement by saying you drove your engine 'un-tuned' and he can also say the failure was due to abuse. Also, I highly doubt that he can warrant outsourced machine work... which could have led to the failure quite possibly. Also, the balance shaft that you provided could have been damaged before therefore not being his fault. This type of claim is more favorable for him instead of you... especially since you pretty much harrassed him to the point of no return. I have no ties with this guy... I just specifically remember this ordeal because of how 'whiney' you were and how you spoke poorly about his shop. Some of your posts could also be interpreted as slander as well.

Either way, let us know what happens. I feel sorry for you and I hope everything works out but try not to be such a 'cry-baby' this time around. Good luck... the law sucks.

 

yeah dude, your going to fight a losing battle on this one........ Like PrecisionH23a said, everything favors him more than you. Yes you may have a certified mech. that has said it was put together wrong etc etc but the builder will tell the court "The motor was fine when it left, he must have taken it apart and put it together wrong." and there was a month gap in this so the court will probably go with his word.

Good luck. Do you have a lawyer? and how much is he going to charge if you do?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostedEG6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Good luck. Do you have a lawyer? and how much is he going to charge if you do?</TD></TR></TABLE>

he already stated he wont be using a lawyer because it's small claims and theyre not permissable in this type of case.

As much as I want to see him win, I don't really see it happening. There's a lot of things that could affect how the motor lasted if it was perfect when it left.

Even if it's not true, he could say you neglected to do a vast amount of things in order to keep in running properly. The time factor kills it all too.

I really hope you get something out of this though, Good luck with everything.
It sucks to see people get screwed around by shops.

 

 

don't waste your time. Part your car and put your money toward a new car with warranty.

 

ugghhhhh not this clown again

 

i doubt you'll get anything.

as they say...**** happens.

 

**** happen's... Build another one!!

 

I hear your skeptisim but your reasons for me possibley not winning are totally irrational. I took the engine apart and put it back together wrong? That's rediculous, who would believe that if that was his defense? And aftermarket parts have no warrenty, I know this but the aftermarket parts were the ones that didn't fail. The area where the balanceshafts are were not sleeved, and the balanceshaft was not an aftermarket one. He just didn't install parts right. I've seen people sue builders for doing crappy work on there cars and win, its not as much of a lose-lose situation as some of you may think. Even if I don't win the maximum I'm going to get something from this I know it. If I just got a new block resleeved, machined, and installed I'd be happy.

 

I hope you win man. I think if your smart about it, you have a good case. A motor built to be abused shouldn't go out in 1 month. The whole took it apart and put it back together thing is stupid, if he could have built the engine the first time, he wouldn't have taken it to a shop to be built. Anyway, I've been ripped off by a shopt to, thankfully it was just a set of brake pads, but still, it sucks.

 

Anythings possible. Prepare your case with as much information as you can. You might win if you can get the other mechanics to come in and vouch for the shitty work that was done. If you can prove that it was a builders error and not parts failure you have a good chance. Like I stated get written statements from those mechanics. Anything is possible so give it a shot. Show the courts that he closed his business and its because of this very reason, horrible service. I understand your frustration but next time source things out before you give some jackass your money.

 

yeah man, i thought that Lo Vang had a good rep. thats why i used his shop. But you see what has happened to me since then, next time im going to have a machine shop build it, theres absolutely no reason to have a mechanic work on a build like this again. i might just send GE my parts and have them asemble it for me. Only think i need is a sleeved block and balance shafts, everything else is fine.


Modified by Mr.Hankey at 9:33 PM 6/17/2007

 

like I said before.... good luck

 

good luck hankey...shops should stand behind their work.