Nismo280zEd Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 I recently orderd their deluxe carburetor kit for my 280z came with triple 40 DCOE Weber Carbs, TWM intake manifold, fuel pump, filters and airhorns. What it came in was a beat up box tapped together. Upon opening the box i noticed two of the carburetor boxes are normal, and the third was "hodgepodged" together with tape, opening that box i found out later the linkage is bent not allowing full open throttle for this carb. Also I decided i would dry fit all the parts in my house on the floor. Good thing i did. I installed the studs into the manifold as directed by the poor instructions, then slid on the "anit-vibe kit" which is basically a plastic spacer with an "O" ring on each side of it onto the manifold. Next i slide one of the carburetors onto the manifold imediatly i knew something was wrong. The carb could not seat properly to the manifold due to the stud length from the manifold. Frustrated i disasembled and installed the stud the opposite way so it was shorter (the opposite way the instructions say to do) now the carb slid on, but the manual choke part of the carb hits the actually manifold!!!! Furious at this point i called the company to tell them what had happend, after having to take digital images and e-mailing them to the company the manager decided i should just "grind" down the manifold to allow the choke to move. I paid over 1600 dollars for this kit... for that kind of money everything should precisely fit. Furthermore the company should have test fitted the part before shipping! I will never do business with this company ever again. The people are not knowledgeable of the products they sell and the tech-support is a joke. Any fool can take a dremel to an intake manifold but for over 1600$$ you shouldn't have to!!!! The only thing i like from the kit is the Carter fuel pump. (I should prolly test that while i'm at it) Just wanted to for worn any future Z buyers of this company I am very disapointed in a company that offers such a vast variety of performance Z-parts, I would have expected the quality to be top notch, seems like the only thing that is High is the price. -Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Ed - Sorry to hear about your experience. There have been quite a few posts in the past in regards to poor service, product etc etc over at TEP. Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZmeFly Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 is demand my money back, if they refuse since you didnt use the part and since it isnt going to go together properly they should give you a refund. if they decide they wont or will just ignore you i would take it to small claims court and notify the bbb. i had a problem with a shop and its work, the bbb was on it instaneously, everything was resolved within a few days. i hope this works out for you, its a shame to pay 1600 for something you cant use and wouldnt work if you tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAFantaZ Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Isn't that fraud? You should look into getting your money back and suing them if they refuse. Spend the money on a much better kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 14, 2003 Author Share Posted October 14, 2003 We sent them in e-mail telling them we will be sending them an invoice for the amount that it costs to properly machine the intake manifold to accept the Carbs and we are holding them responsible since they consented to "grinding" the manifold, Also our attorney has been informed of all troubles so far. BTW I am not aware of any other such kits... do you know where i could purchase one? This is the only company I have found. I want the triple 40's.. not the dual Weber. Thank you very much. And I am saddened to hear this is not the first time this company has had problems. I woudl think your main priority of owning such a company would be customer satisfaction and parts quality. Ross Corrigan is a good example of a business owner as well as Mike Kelly, as i have dealt with both of them before. Great people, great parts, outstanding quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awd92gsx Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 What did they say when you called them about the condition of the parts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 I'm no big fan of TEP, but I've been to their shop and they know what they are doing, at least to some extent. Just don't believe their hp ratings. I would bet that they had a set of duals for a 510 or a 2002, and they grabbed another carb to throw in the box they sent to you. Sounds like maybe the third was a return... or maybe they ran out of the proper length stud??? I still can't understand exactly what the problem is, and I know that others have had problems of one sort or another with them previously, but this sounds like a simple mistake. Steve is the owner, and he'll usually listen to you if you are spending money there. He's given one friend of mine completely incorrect advice, and sent another the wrong parts, but in general he's not a complete idiot. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philUK Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 If you can find someone who could import it for you, there is a great looking kit from japan.. haven't had any experience with it though.. http://www.tomei-p.co.jp/_2003web-catalogue/e122_intake_carb.html At a second look.. looks like the smallest is for 45s though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neil Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Or, you could just buy my rebuilt L28 with new tripple webers for $1500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 The interference of the starter choke circuit and the TWM manifold is a known issue. Ultimately, TWM is at fault since the manifold is incapable of accepting the Weber DCOE carb as specified. I e-mailed them once before regarding this and would suggest you do as well. That said, TEP is selling this as a kit and has obviously never fitted the parts together, because it is obvious from the get-go that there is interference. In that sense, they are liable are should either offer you a complete refund, or pay for the rework required to make the parts fit. Personally, I have given up on parts fitting correctly with the Z as quality seems and fitment seem to be a thing of the past. I've had issues with everything from my MSA airdam to the TWM manifold to the sway bar bushings. All of these required some sort of rework to make fit. I usually don't complain too much, but when you're spending good $$$ on things just to get parts that don't fit/work, things get irritating real fast. As a solution, I removed the starter circuit from my carbs and machined a block to replace the starter circuit. Since the car is only driven in the warmer months, and since I live in good ol' Kalifornia I really don't need a starter circuit. I now have no interference and the end result actually looks a bit cleaner anyway so it sort of worked out nicely. I'll try and take some pics tonight of the car so you can see exactly what I'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 14, 2003 Author Share Posted October 14, 2003 yes i've had fitment problems in the past before and they usually didn't bother me.. but for this much money i expect more as you mentioned furthermore i tried to assemble the linkage last night to see if that even worked and guess what... the holes for the main linkage bar on the TWM intake manifold are not aligned properly, or the bushings are not properly installed because the rod can not easily slid in the bushings and the linkage rod should be able to slid like butter in these bushings. I guess the only solution is a full refund, or small claims court... i'm getting to the point where i might just get a vendors liscense and sell a kit that actually works for all the Z people out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zline Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 YES, then call Tomei get their intake manifold kit and then sell webers =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 15, 2003 Author Share Posted October 15, 2003 hmm only one problem... the only person i know of that speaks japanese is in idaho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 16, 2003 Author Share Posted October 16, 2003 It's a good thing i don't live in California, otherwise i think i might be in prison for killing the owner of this company!!!! What started out as a simple problem has turned into a nightmare. Realizing Top-End was not going to help i decided to do it myself since time is becoming an issue with my car, so i went to the garage... and took the manifold and put it put to the engine to make sure the port sizes matched etc. and guess what i found!!! THE INTAKE MANIFOLD DOESN'T EVEN BOLT UP TO MY DAMN ENGINE!!!!!! !! So far... the throttle rod bushings where mis-aligned onthe manifold not allowing proper movement of the throttle rod. The carburetor cold start feauture hits the manifold and needs to be ground down to fit properly The actually linkage that opens the butterflys on one of the carburetors is bent only allowing 3/4 of full throttle. The studs that screw into the manifold to attach the carburetor are too long. And now this... the manifold doesn't even bolt to my engine. Not to mention the company refuses to refund the products claiming they have done nothing wrong. At this rate.... my car will never run again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Return it and buy a set off of ebay that was actually taken off a Z. If TEP gives you any hassle, dispute with your credit card company. One more thing: for some reason I've come across several Weber carbed Z's that had no insulators between the carb and the manifold. If you didn't get those with this kit (sounds like it since you say the studs are too long) make sure you get them with the next setup you buy. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 It's a good thing i don't live in California, otherwise i think i might be in prison for killing the owner of this company!!!! What started out as a simple problem has turned into a nightmare. I can help a bit here, things can be made to work if you can stand a little customizing. I'll get to that later. One thing is certain though, the TWM manifold is certainly not a direct bolt-in affair without certain adapters and some customization. You might try contacting TWM directly as they usually ship an "adapter kit" with this manifold to make everything line up, but maybe TEP didn't include this with the "kit" they sent to you. Nevertheless, the fact that TEP is not helping doesn't bode well for their business. They did sell the product to you, and it has serious problems. Ultimately, TWM is responsible for the manifold fitment but since TEP sold the unit to you, they should be responsible and give you a refund and/or a solution and then TEP should complain to TWM for the fitment problems and work with them to solve them. The problems are so obvious with this manifold that it would be impossible for TEP to not know about them. Since TEP is apparently taking the stance that they don't think there's a problem, this either means A) they have never even assembled this product before and/or they know there's a problem but are choosing to ignore it. In the end, it doesn't really matter since they look bad no matter what. I'd love to see someone from TWM or TEP look me in the eyes and tell me there isn't a problem with this manifold. OK, enough ranting on to the solutions.... the throttle rod bushings where mis-aligned onthe manifold not allowing proper movement of the throttle rod. Again, another known issue with the TWM manifold. You can either get an adapter to move the linkage on the firewall ~1/2" closer to the passenger side, or drill new holes in the firewall to locate the linkage ~1/2" closer to the firewall. I chose to use the adapter since this will allow me to return to stock should the need arise without any extra holes leftover. The carburetor cold start feauture hits the manifold and needs to be ground down to fit properly Again, another known issue with the TWM manifold. The solution is to either grind down the manifold with a dremel, or even mill out the interfering portion. You can also remove the cold-start valve entirely if you do not need it (I never have in 5+ years of driving in CA w/ Webers) and replace it with a shorter "block-off" plate. I promised a pic earlier and will deliver but it's getting hard since the sun is setting earlier each day and I haven't been getting home from work until ~7pm. I'll try again tonight though. The actually linkage that opens the butterflys on one of the carburetors is bent only allowing 3/4 of full throttle. Not quite sure I understand what you mean, but you can either bend the linkage back to a position where it allows full travel or return the carb for a refund since it is defective. The studs that screw into the manifold to attach the carburetor are too long. I don't remember if they use metric or standard bolts, but I do know you can get SAE standard types if you go to the hardware store. I was able to find some at OSH without much hassle. You can also cut off the unnecessary length and then run a die over the screw to clean up the threads. And now this... the manifold doesn't even bolt to my engine. Mine bolted to the engine without too much hassle, no more than any other manifold I have assembled. Can you elaborate a bit on why it doesn't fit? Better yet, any pics? Not to mention the company refuses to refund the products claiming they have done nothing wrong. At this rate.... my car will never run again. Don't worry, it will...it just seems like it won't. Here's a pic of my old triple setup that I ran for years with no problems. My old Cannon manifold is for sale if you decide to 86 the entire TWM setup thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Here are the pics. Sorry if they're a bit blurry but my digicam is hard to keep focused. Hopefully, these will give you an idea of how things go together. Overall setup of the linkage, using TWM hardware... View of the shortened firewall throttle linkage... View of the throttle linkage firewall adapter... View of the custom starter circuit blockoff plate... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 I've got a complete working set of tripple 44 Mikuni's with Canon manifold and all the linkage that I want to sell. I'm currently polishing 'em and then some Zoop seal to make it hold. I have no use for the tripples anymore, because I'm going turbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 Thanks for all the pics... but when the manifold does not bolt to the head... makes it a little difficult to modify anything to fit. -Ed moridin2004-how much are you looking to get for them? I don't have alot of spare change, also... the manifold needs to fit to an n42 head from a 280z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted October 19, 2003 Share Posted October 19, 2003 I was looking to get a premium for them. Maybe a few hundred cheaper than what you paid for the setup you have now. It should fit, but I don't know a whole bunch about the differences between L6 heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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