Well about 16 months (September of 2001) ago I ordered a second gen b16 swap from Steve at HMO, We talked for a while on the phone while I ordered it and I was sure I wouldn’t have a problem with the entire ordeal.

The engine arrived the end of October, looked like it was in perfect condition. no broken sensors no missing parts.

I didn’t get a chance to put it in till January of 02 and everything was going fine till we got to the mounts. They were the wrong ones...

Well I called Steve and he said what happened was about the same time I ordered my swap he had a first gen order and the person who ordered the first gen swap said they had the wrong mounts and shift linkage, so Steve sent me new linkages and the correct mounts 2day air.

We finally get the bastard running and I go to back it out of my garage, there is no reverse. Nothing. When I tried to put it in gear as I release the clutch you can hear the idler gear skipping off the reverse gear in the transmission...

I really didn’t care because I was going to turbo the b16 and use an LS transmission so I figured I would bite the bullet and push my car when I needed to. it wasn’t that big of a deal to me.

Come September of 02 I get busted for street racing and decide to rethink the whole boosting my car idea, a couple months earlier I was turned on to road racing and autocross. in late September I decided to sell my car and what I had of my turbo kit and start road racing because myself and a bunch of people were working on a Honda-challenge for the west coast.

Well nobody wants to buy a car without reverse. So I had taken the transmission off 2 different times and had it apart, with a local guy named Scott byers (2point6 on here) and he was totally stumped, as was I. Everything seemed to be in working order in the tranny but it just wouldn’t engage reverse.

well November rolls around and I call Steve and just ask if there is anything that he can do for me, to my surprise he says to send him my transmission and he will send me a new one for just the shipping prices (35$ each way FedEx) needless to say that night I had the car on jack stands with the tranny off again. I sent it out the first week of December and call to make sure he got it. He tells me the new transmission is on a boat coming from Japan and will be here in 2-3 weeks. Cool I thought because the semester was almost over and I didn’t need my car, and I was going out of town from the 23rd to the 30th.

Well I get back into town and call him on the 3rd he says the tranny is there and I call FedEx to get it picked up. 3 trys later (FedEx is retarded, cant take simple instructions ) Steve tells me its gone and I expect it on Tuesday (1/14) sure enough it gets here about 3:00pm and I spend the next 4 hours putting everything back together.

Moment of truth, reverse works and I roll out of my driveway. I go through the gears (they feel shorter than before, good ) and the transmission is in PERFECT condition.

So to sum it up, Steve and hmotors online is a GREAT company and I will definitely be ordering from them in the future.



[Modified by Kamin, 5:01 PM 1/15/2003]

 

ahhh about time sombody gives us a detailed story with their UPs and DOWNs regarding to their swap and HMO. Now I'm wondering if HMO customer service and services is still the same? I'm split between HMO and passwordjdm... I guess I'll see during this summer when I get the swap done. thanks Kamin for your story

 

nice to hear something good

 

I'm in the same boat

 

I bought a whole B16a swap and my friends have bought motors from him. We never had any problems what so ever.

 

hrm Lately I haven't heared good things about them

nice story Kamin hope everyone gets that same treatment

 

I am not saying steve is bad or anything... I have never spoken to him or bothered to call. My question is... Why would he want a broken transmission?
I'm almost positive that a broken gear is not covered in the warrenty. Likewise I don't think he is going to return that broken transmission to a junk yard in Japan for a refund. Kamin, you bought the transmission, somone else might as well. The buyer is not at fault for this.... The seller is. We will never know if he sells this transmission or not. But I dont see how a business makes a profit giving away good parts for broken parts.

I're read both sides of HMO stories. Some are good, some are bad. This is a good case... but it started out bad. It might be bad for someone else if that transmission is sold with another swap.

Like I said... I am not judging anyone in anyway. I just made this obversation and wondered what will happen to that broken transmission. No, I am not going to call him and ask about this specific case in point, but I would like to bring up this argument to anyone wondering if they should order from HMO.

thats all
Joe

 

Partially cuz of this site and other means of communication a shops reputation gets around and sometimes the reputation and customer service is more important than a POS tranny. You gotta pick your battles, take one for the team. Because of http://www.civichatchback.com I bought my JDM b18c from Steve and I couldn't have asked for a better motor. He might have lost a tranny but cuz of this post some one might choose his shop to get a ITR swap or something. That’s how I look at it.

 

Wow, good stuff Kamin, so it looks like you decided to keep your car?

 

actually it is covered in the warranty, and the yard in japan warranties these motors.

so just because i sent it to him dosent mean he is gonna send it out with another swap.
its back in japan probably in the trash can.

and NO im not keeping my car
nobody wanted a car with a broken transmission
so its for sale again (see sig)

 

to steve. got my motor from him this past summer (02) and had a broken mount that came with it. called him up and with no questions asked, he sent me a new one (didnt even have to send him the old one back or have proof). great guy, he'll probably be seeing more $$ for an itr engine when i get my ek at the end of the year. again : to steve and hmo

 

Good to hear, especially right now when I'm looking into buying an ek, and a swap. They have good prices too.

 

Wow, after 16 months he still sent you a new tranny? Good deal man!

 

Steve's been good to me.

HMO-

 

kamin,

did you get my im about the Wastegate?? i want to buy it!!!!!!

lol

Brian

 

I was expecting a horor story nice to hear something positive.

 

yea i figured alot of people seemed to have bad experiences with him but he really is a good guy and practices good business.

 

how well was the motor packed when you got it?

 

Great story, glad to hear "Steve" helped you out so well!

Sucks you got busted for road racing...

 

motor was packaged GREAT, about 20 layers of plastic shrink wrap, on a pallet with 3 straps. the oilpan was dented but thats expected when you ship a motor.

and i got busted for STREET racing, not road racing there is a diffrence hehe

 

Good story. I bought my swap from him but since I live couple of blocks from there I made sure I had everything and nothing was broken or missing. My motor runs very good with no grinds in the tranny.

 

yea the next one i buy from him im gonna go there and pick it up, just so i can hand pick my stuff

 

yeah steve is a good guy, i usually just chill there and listen to him deal w/ people on the phone. I've been reading a lot of people talking bad about him. And when i'm there i just don't see it. He helps out everyone he talks to. and when i hear people complaining...i just don't get it. I've known him for quite a while, since jr. high actually. People say the money changed him, but he's still the same person he was when he first started this business. He is an *** sometimes, but if you're rude to him, he'll be rude to you. If you talk to him nicely he'll be nice to you. Simple as that. If something goes wrong, don't call him cussing him out, just tell him what happened and he'll do what he can to fix the problem. everybody i know who gets swaps from him always have good things to say about his business, but when i come on this site, everybody bad mouths him, i dunno. but to hmotorsonline.com

peace
Jimmy


[Modified by hionvtecxda6, 6:09 AM 1/17/2003]


[Modified by hionvtecxda6, 6:13 AM 1/17/2003]

 

anybody here bought a USDM engine from steve and found out it was stolen?

 

ive never heard of anyone buying a usdm motor from him
didnt know he stocked them.