dcreech0

dcreech0

Ok. This is a sad/frustrating update for me. I have to say I normally don't post things like this, but my frustration with Raw Brokerage is pretty high at the moment. Ricky has been great with trying to resolve some issues, but I keep revealing more and more. The story goes something like this......

I took the car to Hal at Dynosty in Louisville (could speak highly enough about this group) a couple weeks ago to get the initial startup, break in tune and dyno completed. I ended up having to leave the car with them due to some punctuality issues on my end.
So later that next day I get a call from the guys at Dynosty and they have some good news and some bad news. They tell me that they got the car turned over, idles well, but the valve train was really noisy. They have a guy with some RB experience and guessed it sounded like valve lash clearance issues. They sent me a video and suggested that I have them pull the cam covers and measure out the clearances. Keep in mind this car has only idled and got up to operating temps two times total before this. There was even still assembly lube in the head when they pulled the covers. I mean we are talking still really fresh from Raw Brokerage's build.
After I give the ok to measure out the clearances, they give me a call and a couple emails with what they found. They advised that every one of the lash measured between .019"-.022". They even sent pictures showing that this error on the build did damage to my camshafts and lifter buckets. Will attach pictures. Nothing that was detrimental by any means, but still frustrating to drop a huge coin on a build to only have these issues.


After finding this, the guys at Dynosty suggested the whole head needed to be removed and gone through again just to make sure everything else was kosher. Not to mention took the opportunity to order a fresh set of Tomei poncams from Japan. This is where we contacted Ricky at Raw Brokerage. Great guy and was more than willing to try and figure out the issue. Raw Brokerage wants the head shipped back to them down in Florida to go over. Understandable, but geez. Now Dynosty has to get paid to remove and reinstall the cylinder head. Not to mention the headgasket and other associated cylinder head gasket would need to be replaced.
Dynosty officially removed the Cylinder head this morning to prepare for shipment and found a couple more issues. First being the headgasket. This was supposed to be a brand new Tomei gasket. Clearly it was already failing after two short idle periods on the motor. The second issue being small scratches found in cylinder wall number one from the oil control ring. Again nothing that would cause the motor to crash and burn, but still unacceptable when dropping such large coin on a fresh build top to bottom.



Bottom line frustrated and a major set back.

RalliartRsX

Wooowwww

Sad state of affairs indeed!

bova17

That is the exact problem my friend had and it took us about a month, and two pump later to realize that it' the slotted hole and had it welded and back on running great.

dcreech0

Cylinder head and a fresh set of poncams on the way back to Raw Brokerage. I will update as soon as I can.

Sforteen

I have heard other crappy stories about Raw, everyone does nothing but praise them, but i have my reservations about them..

Hopefully they completly take care of EVERYTHING.. they should.

Sorry to hear man.

DJTTon

Any update on this?

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NOLAGG

Damn bro ....I would be effing pissed!!!I swear the only shop I never hear bad things about is REAL ST. Performance.good luck man and hopefully raw makes things right.

Highway Riding

+1 on Real st. this is the same with all shops.. The Z & G world might be the worst of them all.

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Nurgleton

Following how the rest of this goes. I'm in cincy and would love to eventually see this thing in person!

dcreech0

Ok guys...... Sorry this thread has not been updated in such a long time. Long story short, they car is still at Dynosty in pieces. #HATEMYLIFE. Here goes my long sob story. I would like to state for the record the purpose of this post is not to bash on Raw Brokerage by any means, but just to document my build and share my experience with others.
So we last left off with my cylinder head being shipped back to Raw Brokerage to get looked over to find out what exactly happened. While at Raw Brokerage Ricky and company turned my Cylinder head around very quickly and I was grateful for that. While it was back apart we went ahead and has some Brian Crower Valve Springs installed along with some Brian Crower bronze valve guides for good measure. After about 3-4 weeks time, a box ended back up on the door step of Dynosty. Raw Brokerage even sent a brand new Tomei headgasket back with the second attempt on the Cylinder head. Needless to say I was feeling pretty good about this time around.....
The RB tech at Dynosty made sure all deck surfaces were clean enough to eat off of, and torqued down the RAW Brokerage pre-assembled cylinder head to factory spec.......
Ready for the kicker on this story?...... I get a call from Dynosty the day i knew they were going to start it again. I knew this couldn't be good.. The crew at Dynosty advised that the initial start up went much better than before and the valve lash sounded to be in spec compared to the prior attempt..... They left it to idle on the dyno so that it could get up to operating temp. They said within 5 minutes of idle the whole shop echoed with a loud screech that made everyone stop what there were doing. I was advised that following the noise the motor locked up.... SMH SMH FML!!!!!!!!!!!! They had me drive up to look at the carnage for myself. They pulled the exhaust side rocker cover and found that the mechanical timing was off by 3 or so teeth and found the following under the rocker cover......



They found metal shavings all around a lifter bucket. Brock the RB tech advised that they believe that a lifter bucket tolerance was not in spec and was too tight. So when the motor started to warm up it caused interference. They actually came to the conclusion the head at this point was trash due to the damage in the casting around the lifter buckets. I had them to go ahead and disassemble further to asses the destruction and found the following....






So here I was feeling like I had been bent over as I was out a Cylinder head (not the easiest and cheapest to find a replacement), out a brand new set of $550 Tomei camshafts, and the new headgasket. Not to mention all those metal shavings would have been ingested by the bottom end as well. As much as I hated to do so, I had Dynosty schedule to pull the head yet again, and advised i was going to have them make this problem right as RAW brokerage couldn't seem to get the job done and was just costing me money. Needless to say I was left with this



I went ahead and made the call to Raw Brokerage to see how they wanted to proceed in resolving this. Keep in mind the second cylinder head that failed was fully assembled by Raw Brokerage and was just set on the block and torqued to spec by Dynosty.
Raw Brokerage asked me how I would like to proceed and came to the conclusion they would source me a brand new OEM casting, one more Tomei headgasket (they wanted the old one back?????), a partial refund on the machine work and assembly of the cylinder head, and asked to shake hands and part ways. I agreed to this knowing I wanted Dynosty to do all the work from here. 2 weeks later the box landed on the steps of dynosty. I was grateful that Ricky was able to source me a brand new OEM casting, due to them being on a backorder currently and may be harder and harder to get.
I gave dynosty the go ahead and pull the rest of the motor so that they could go over every bolt and bearing to insure all was correct. I didnt want to take a risk of something else going wrong having this brand new head. Not to mention the track record with the assembly from Raw Brokerage has not had the best track record
So here is where I am at to this date..... The motor is totally torn down. The machinist recieved the new cylinder head and the old one to trasfer all usable parts over along with getting a valve job done. I was advised the OEM valance had been cut past spec and could not be used again, so I was force to purchase all new Supertech valves to go with the prior installed Brian Crower goods.
Another thing I should note, upon the careful disassembly of the short block, Brock took note that all the pitons rights were clocked incorrectly. ALL SIX pistons had the ring gaps stacked right over top of the ones below it. This would have cause major issues with blow by and compression. Brock advised that there was no way with 10 minutes total of idle time that all six cylinders would have coincidentally aligned that way. Another incorrect assembly point from the original build by Raw Brokerage.
Anyway.... The block has been sent to get hot tanked to make sure all metal has been removed. New ACL bearing have been ordered and brand new piston rings are on order as well.....
I promise to keep this updated from here forward as i will receive periodic pictures of the third and final build attempt. I feel that every single part at this point has been upgraded and replaced at this point. I have been assured by Dynosty this will be down hill from here and this motor will be able to support 750hp plus.
I did decide to also purchase a Fluidampr to be installed upon reassmbly and TOMEI metal intake manifold and exhaust manifold gaskets...

Just because Im excited about this piece..... Ignore the cat in the background and my new years eve beverage... LOL

RalliartRsX

Ugghhhh, once bitten, twice shy

kouki-gymkhana

Good grief! Your perseverance is very inspiring. I've had nothing but bad luck whenever I've had a shop do any of my engine work to the point where if I can't do it myself, it ain't getting done. +++ imaginary rep for you...

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Joobie610

Agreed, kudos for keeping on keeping on. I don't understand how anyone could put piston ring gaps in line with each other? That's a generic any engine build step; make sure you always put them evenly spaced around the piston.

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Nurgleton

That's some unbelievably bad luck there. Excited that you are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel though.

Highway Riding

Eff me following this on My350... Hope for a fruitful outcome. This is one of my fantasy builds for sure. GL man

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supersayianjim

in for updates.........

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dallasc

holy shit i would of probably killed someone if a shop did me like that dude but sick build dying to see it running!

supersayianjim

Updates dammit!!!

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Mitsubayati

Be careful with that fluidamper. I've heard stories about them shearing and ruining engines. The only damper I havent heard bad things about is the ATI Dampers.

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dcreech0

Haha. Thanks guys. I am hoping that the finally assembly on the short lock will happen in the next week or two at the latest. I just also ordered a hells racing vertex wheel for the car and waiting to receive it. I happen to have it done in time to drive it to the Atlanta import alliance meet in march. Fingers crossed

dcreech0

Got a quick picture from Dynosty yesterday of the completed short block.




And also decided to pick up a set of Tomei Cam gears as well since the whole thing is apart.... I dont know if I will be able to force myself to put the front cover back on now

dcreech0

justchrisyo

This thing is going to be amazing once completed. Good for you on being patient, and not giving up. Looking forward to seeing what's to come.

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yes, unfortunately I'm from florida. I know.

supersayianjim

fkn tits!!!

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STEEZxIT

so glad you're seeing this through all the way. what a headache!

you're a fucking champ dude

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dcreech0

Thanks everyone!!!! It really is nice to see some support. Like I said before, I hope to be able to drive it to the import alliance meet in Atlanta next month. Anyone else going?

dcreech0

Sooo pumped!!!!!

Nurgleton

This is awesome! I bet you're pumped.

pacotaco345

You would win that bet because he just said that he was pumped...


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