Benjamin Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I recently took my cylinder head to a local engine shop to get cleaned up and for the tolerances to be checked. When I got it back everything looks good except that they sandblasted the inside of my cam towers. Aside from getting my money back, I am unsure how to proceed in my rebuild. Im not sure there is enough material left for it to be align bored again, Or would it be better to source the cam towers from another engine.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
78zstyle Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Source the towers from another engine if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueStag Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 That bites. You are in your rights to ask them to pay the cost of a used set. Possibly even to line bore them. Somebody here has a set that has not been bored and will give you a good price, to be sure. Post in the "wanted" section here with a note on how the machine shop shafted you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 I have a friend in town with a motor I can pull another set of towers off of, Just trying to figure out best path to take. And I will be seeking a full refund on the work done. This should have never happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Wow, what kind of machine shop media blasts a bearing surface?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Al Retief's engine repair on hwy 621 in Gonzales Louisiana is the shop that did it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soga280z Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I have some I could sell you. Pm if you need em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueStag Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I have a friend in town with a motor I can pull another set of towers off of, Just trying to figure out best path to take. And I will be seeking a full refund on the work done. This should have never happened I am glad that you have an out. I suppose it is possible that the goof who did this thought that there were bearing inserts involved, but that would be the mistake of a major goof. Camshafts spinning directly in aluminum is not in any way unique to the L6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inline6 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Have you measured the ID's? If they used glass beads, I'd think there is a chance that no appreciable (measureable) amount of material was removed. I'd grab a bit of aluminum polish and a rag and polish the inside of one, then measure it. If it is within spec, I wouldn't think it would be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh817 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Have you measured the ID's? If they used glass beads, I'd think there is a chance that no appreciable (measureable) amount of material was removed. I'd grab a bit of aluminum polish and a rag and polish the inside of one, then measure it. If it is within spec, I wouldn't think it would be a problem. I would have to agree. Even sanding blasting it, I would think it would just dull the surface and not chew it up a lot. Perhaps a cylinder honer of some small size, something similar, and some compound will clean it right up. Certainly something that could be done with a hand drill at home. Remember, they don't have to be mirror finish and polished like a crankshaft, usually. Well, mine weren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I have never been a fan of media blasting cylinder heads period! This just adds to the pot I would be sourcing a new set of towers and being sure that there isn't any media in your water/oil passages... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! Have ANY of you guys ever heard of 'line boring'? This is a PERFECT time to discuss with the shop manager their REPAIR of the damage done---which is one of two possible ways: 1) Heliarc the damaged areas undersize, and line-bore. 2) Turn Inserts (can be bronze if you wish) and then insert and line-bore. With a head that has been milled extensively, this is the PERFECT answer to regain cam-to-crank centerline dimension without the use of shims (other than the resultant lash pads...) by using offset bushings in the cam towers. This is all basic machine work that any competent machine shop should be able to do. But then again, there's that word 'competent'... And I don't know that a guy running beads onto bearing surfaces fits that description. Some time with snap-gauges is in order as mentioned above...but even if they're the correct size---where is all the media? If they didn't take the time to cover the bearing areas, do you think they plugged the oil passages as well? I'd be in for a bristle-brush and solvent cleaning session on that thing like you wouldn't believe! And I'd still get them to give you a free line boring... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Benjamin mentioned having the shop do exactly that, although he mistakenly called it align bore but I got it. Bluestag also chimed in on that as well, so by ANY, yes. I'd probably be doing an oil change real soon after installing and running it, perhaps it's just paranoia... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 Thank you Everyone for chiming in. The engine shop told me to piss off when I went back to ask for a refund. This shop was recommended to me by various people whom I will be contacting to let know. I don't know of any other engine shops in the baton rouge area nor do I have the money at the moment to send it off. I will be sourcing another set of towers from a local source to continue my rebuild. Thanks -Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbias Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Why don't you take legal action against them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddle Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Why don't you take legal action against them? Legal action, the US way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morbias Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) I'm from the UK and I disagree with the suing culture, but in this case the guy got totally screwed over Edited February 28, 2012 by morbias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noddle Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) I'm from the UK and I disagree with the suing culture, but in this case the guy got totally screwed over I'm sorry for insulting you. as for the cost to get "all lawyered up", court costs and the OP time, I think in the end, $50 for a second had set of towers would be the cheapest / easiest / most time saving solution, check it up to a learning experience, and never deal with the shop again.. Nigel Edited February 28, 2012 by Noddle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0N Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 No need to sue. Just tell them your going to report them to BBB and you'll be going to various websites to post the work they performed and the customer service given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 You can't simply line bore the towers (any line bore, unless oversize, this being true) The bearing bores must first be made undersized, then bored back to standard at correct Center-to-Center distance. There is NOT enough material remaining for line boring. And for the record, Bluestang did not mention lineboring, he postulated the machine shop made the mistake thinking there were bearing inserts used in the towers... Without measurements it's all useless theory. No diametrical dimensional checks were done, or if they were dimensions were not provided. Frankly Josh was the only voice of reason providing an answer of practicality---they DONT need to be mirror finish, they DO need to be dimensionally correct. Pulling two sets of towers and manually lining them up us a LOT more work than getting a set of snap gauges and MEASURING them to determine if they are OVERSIZED, therefore ruined, and THEN calling for replacement or line boring. Replacing them because they have a surface profile is stupid without a dimensional check beforehand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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