Need Some Advice On Motor Work!

[JoeT]

As some of you know I have 1980 Trans Am, no booing or hissing please. :laughing:

Anyway I had the motor work done on this vehicle at a place called OPM Customs in Tempe to the tune of about 7900 bucks, to make an extremely long story short, the motor has already blown, or at least I believe it has a blown head gasket, milkshake colored oil, which I drained completely a day after it overheated. The shop WILL NOT stand behind their work, so if anyone knows this shop, I do not recommend them! I am also currently in the process of going to small claims court to recoup some of the loss, but there's no guarantee they will pay. Most shops arent know for honesty.

Anyway, money has recouped a little since getting rid of the Mustang :gloomy: so now I'm trying to put myself in a position to get the Trans Am running again.

The question is, does anyone know of a shop that is straight up and knows what the hell they are doing? Do they stand behind there work with a written guarantee. Aren't there any shops like the ones I see on Spike TV in Arizona, where they truly seem to care about the cars they work on?

I'm not a huge mechanic in anyway, I know simple basic stuff but in no way do I know rebuilding of motors, so I'm leaning on the Mustang Club to help me here with some direction.

The motor currently in the vehicle is not numbers matching as a 1980 TA came with a 301 or 305 motor, I pulled the motor and replaced with a Pontiac 400. Has Ram Air III heads off a 1967 GTO. Has a minor cam and an Edelbrock Performer intake with an Edelbrock 650 CFM carb, hedman headers, only ones that would fit. Other than that I'm clueless. Ran pretty good initially, but I had less than 500 miles on the motor when this blew, and of course the shop says its because I race around in the car. Which is not true, I do not abuse my cars, and especially one that I have about 30k into.

So if anyone knows of a shop that is capable and competent to handle this please let me know.

If you read this and own a shop I will require a written guarantee. Im extremely picky, and will go over the car with a fine tooth comb upon dropping off the vehicle to insure no damage is done to the car while in the shop, I will hold the shop responsible for any damage occured while in your possession.
The car is virtually restored completely except for this motor issue.

Eventually the goal is to enjoy the car this fall because of the T-Tops and then dump it next year for another Mustang.

I'm hoping someone has a few ideas, because Im really gun shy now of shops. This restoration of the TA has been an 8 year nightmare. Nobody does what they say they will in the beginning to get the work. They are my best friends initially, then they change on me when they know Im trying to get the best from them. When I try to get them to promise me something they usually start with "Keep In Mind This is a 30 year old car". Which is BS! You spend enough it takes away from the age of a car. Spending 7900 on the motor this car should scream and like it!
I'm a car guy, so I want maximum effort for the money I put out.
I also don't want the car to sit in a dirty dusty shop for months. If you cant handle the work please don't apply.

Any advice or direction I would greatly appreciate it.
Car does not run currently.

[JoeT]

Thought Id toss some photos up.

[HigherPower]

Joe, give me a call.

[99WhiteGT]

Call knudsens auto on 19th ave and Cactus. 602 861 2119 Talk to lyle sr. They built my mustang motor and my nova motor and trans, both run like dreams and a good deal as well. He will tell you what you should do or what you could do to save some money but still be a great motor and ask you which one you prefer and give you a price for it. he built my mustang motor from scratch in two days so it wont be there long

[JoeT]

Thanks for the 2 recommendations. I have spoken to one already but would like to get more opinions. This is the 2nd time Ive had motor work done on this car and it absolutely must be done correctly this time. So keep the opinions, recommendations and experiences coming.

[DVSRICK]

Carmens Inovations located at 27th ave and deer valley. He has been around for over 10 years. When i lost oil pressure in the stang I knew it was internal so I had it towed to him. He went through the motor to make sure nothing was damaged cause I seized the oil pump and gernaded the oil pump drive shaft. Took him 3 days to clean everything out and replace all the needed parts to have me back on the road for less than a grand. This happened about a year and half ago and I havnt had any issues since then.

[67 'Stang Lover]

Joe,
Sorry to hear about this mess that you are in. This is why I learned how to build my own car's from the ground up including my engine build. I have built 4 Mustang's myself and I love doing it as a hobby.
However, I can recommend a Speed Shop in Mesa for you. It is called Maximum Horsepower Performance (MHP). They are right next to Loper's Performance Shop on Country Club just south of Main St. The engine builder that works there is Bruce and he built my 9" rearend over at Darryl Smith Racing. He is good and they warranty all of their work. Hope this helps. If you need any more info call me on my cell- 480.200.5606......
Steve............

[JoeT]

Thanks Steve! I'll definitely look at all recommendations, I'm surprised all these car guys aren't all over this for recommendations.

Whatever I do I'm going to need guarantees from whomever fixes this. I'm leaning towards a crate motor at this point.

[67 'Stang Lover]

Joe,
BTW, nice T/A. If i were you I would keep it. Good luck on whatever you do but you can call me any time so we can talk more. I have been doing this for 25 years and have a lot of connections. I have my '67 Mustang that I built myself and know quite a few people in the 'Business'. Yeah, I thought you would get a lot more responses since most of the guys/gals on here are 'Motorheads'. I hope you have some success though.
Steve............

Thanks Steve! I'll definitely look at all recommendations, I'm surprised all these car guys aren't all over this for recommendations.

Whatever I do I'm going to need guarantees from whomever fixes this. I'm leaning towards a crate motor at this point.

[JoeT]

I guess I dont drive a Stang anymore so these guys don't know what to say :laughing:

No biggy I guess. Ill figure it out somehow, I was just hoping these forums would help me not make more mistakes. My concern with the current motor is the water in the motor and what damage its done internally. I removed the water the next day but water is not metals friend. Contemplated just building this one up more to save a few bucks and it fits correctly. With the TA shaker scoop fitment is most important. Just don't know if I trust this motor to fully rebuild it. It obviously wasn't done correctly the last time at OPM Customs. Probably going to need sub frame connectors to tighten everything up once I get the horsepower sorted out.

[67 'Stang Lover]

Joe,
yeah, it sounds to me like a head gasket but it could be a lot of different things. Did it overheat because of the head gasket or vice versa? It could be the block being 'decked' wrong or the head being warped, etc. They did something wrong most likely. Your engine is probaby OK but it depends on how long it was overheating. I know what the Shop probably told you- that it was your fault because you let it overheat. Typical, always blame the driver and never take responsiblity for their own actions. It sounds to me they messed up and not you. Call me if you want but let me know either way what you do and good luck..............

[Blackmagic1]

Joe, you better come get some ice cream today at the GTG, it'll help !! :biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:

[Torchmach]

Nice looking T/A Joe!

Back in the day, when Trans-Am, Mustang, and Camaro owner got along, and know the real enemy were the Datsun/Nissan Z Car owners, I was looking real close at Formula Firebirds. Never was a fan of the "Flaming Chicken" Hood Decal on Trans-Am's.

Sounds like you have some good sugestions where to take your car, keep us posted on your progress.

[JoeT]

Couldn't make it for the ice cream social had to go to my 10 year old nieces Bday party, trying to be the favorite Uncle!

Hopefully Ill figure it out on the motor. I'm looking at Engine House actually, anyone know anything about this place? I'm trying to have the work done by a company that has been in business for awhile, and also one that is part of the BBB. In 30 years the BBB reports 1 complaint, dont know how accurate this is really.

Ive loved Trans Ams since Smokey and The Bandit. When I bought this TA it was with the intentions of turning it into a Bandit Edition clone, Black and Gold. Then after discussing it with the paint shop since the car was white he said going to black would be time consuming and costly if I wasnt going to dissasemble the car. Also if I just went the cheaper route of painting white to black without it being done correctly, I would always deal with the black chipping off showing white. So I redid it in White Pearl. Looks great for a high quality driver, but definitely not show paint. Body work was missed in a few spots being the biggest negative.

I appreciate the members that have chimed in with there 2 cents worth. Wish I could have gotten more results!

This car will be running by August!

[Torchmach]

If you are a member of AAA they can give you a few referals. I have been a member since '93, can't say enough good things about them.

[SloSVO]

try haneymotorsport... they are in goodyear.. they are a mustang shop but casey is very anal and does good work... If i didn't wrench on my own stuff I would go to them..

[JoeT]

Thanks sloSVO now that's the kind of recommendations I'm looking for! I don't care where the shops located in the state and I like anal mechanics, to many of them out there dont give a crap, yet they make 65-100 per hour. Part of whats wrong with Americans, charge alot and give a little.

[JoeT]

I decided to go with Amwest Vintage Auto we'll see how it goes. Figured I couldn't go wrong with Dan, hes a good guy and a car freak!

[1rad67]

Joe,

Before you spend lots of money taking the car to shops and getting told many different things about your problem, I would suggest you take your car to a Mechanic, possibly the ones some other members had mentioned before and let them perform what is called a Leak Back test to see what exactly where a leak exists and then you can determine what you need to do to fix problem. Leak Back tests can determine if you have a head gasket leak, intake manifold leak, and if you have a cracked block etc......I would start with that first to pin point where a leak is.

[SloSVO]

thats leak down test....

[1rad67]

Leak back - leak down....all the same thing i suppose, but you get the point..... I have always heard it called leak back, guess it depends on who is saying it but the meaning is all the same......

[JoeT]

I agree on the leak down/leak back test. Dan already said that's the first thing to do along with checking cylinders for compression. Hopefully this motor is salvageable, could save me a ton of cashola. I charged the battery yesterday and the car started instantly. I only let it run for a few seconds but I was just glad it started. I truly thought the motor was froze up. I could tell it was running rough though.

Some shops have already told me they don't want to do this job. If it was the original stock motor that's one thing, but because its been changed from what it was the 301 to a 400 they say there are to many issues that could come into play and they don't want that headache.