Re: Hold Off On Headflow Masters Engines
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:58 pm
I have held off for a long time, in an attempt to be as fair as possible. However, I feel it is time I tell my story.
I may be one of the original complainants, that spurred Colin to start this thread. Take heed of the warnings and do your homework, before you give over your engine, and hard earned money, to this individual! Adrian claims to have over 20 years experience with VW engines. I don't doubt that for a moment. However, all that experience [rebuilding engines] cannot possibly compete with the teams of German engineers, that managed to keep these cars and their air cooled engines in production for several decades! That claim is preposterous! It has been alluded to on several occasions, that perhaps Adrian is overworked and subsequently forced to shell out sub-par work. Couple this with a desire to market "new and improved" oil cooling ideas: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... highlight= and your sure to have an absolute disaster on your hands!
I sent Adrian an 1800cc engine, torn down and cleaned, back in early 2013. I bought a Raby 9590 cam kit, swivel foot adjusters, chromoly pushrods, a set of AMC heads for him to upgrade, etc. I sourced a pair of DRLA36 carbs. I had the guys at Blackline racing rebuild them and ship them directly to Adrian to ensure the optimum set up, before he returned the engine. It took a little longer than I was originally quoted, but no big deal...I'm pretty easy going, what's another few months after all these years??? I took delivery in September, 2013. Sadly, once I received the engine, I couldn't put it in as I had just had back and knee surgery. I'm saying this to make a point of full disclosure. By the time I was healthy enough to tackle the job, it was December 2014. Also, I did not get back all the parts I originally sent. I was missing a dipstick, oil filler tube, and a crankcase breather. I suggest, you take pictures of every item in each box and itemize them, before you send them out. I did this and it helped bolster my argument, Fortunately, I had spares, as what I received was not what I had sent. e.g. a Porsche 914 breather.
Colin came by for my first Itinerant visit: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=12346
Man I was stoked!!! Engine in...won't be long, I'll be able to start driving this thing around and keep promises I'd made to my children about getting the bus running and going camping in it. Wasn't too long after Colin's visit that I installed a couple of gauges and noticed that things weren't what they were supposed to be. I wasn't getting the oil pressure readings I should on a freshly rebuilt engine. In fact, I was nowhere near. To top it all off, it was leaking from several places, including the pushrod tubes and the front engine seal. Reached out to Colin and tell him what's going on. "Let's get scientific about things," he says. That's right up my alley. Look up the specs for oil pressure at prescribed temperatures and RPM ranges and begin to take notes. NOT GOOD!
I called Adrian and explained what was going on. I told him that I had a total of 6 miles on the engine, since the install. That's right, you read it correctly...six miles. It was enough to go around the block a couple of times. I also told him that I fully understood that I was outside of warranty etc. I even sent him video, showing the tests. Adrian was very even-keeled and stated that the timeframe didn't matter, and that he believed my assertions of not having used the engine. "I've been doing this a long time and my name is clean. Send the engine back so that I can look at it and get it fixed." Wow! I thought. This guy really is as stand-up as everyone says. Hopefully he'll send me back a fully functional engine. Once again, it took a lot longer than promised to get the engine back. I wasn't going to complain. It was his "busy" season and let's face it, he's taking the engine back outside of the 12 month warranty; who am I to complain? I finally got it back, towards the end of July and early August, 2015. In fact, I received it the same week we were moving houses. For some strange reason, I had the fool-hardy notion that I would be able to install it before we moved When I asked what was wrong, I never got a clear answer. Rather, the fix was to put a larger oil pump on it. Adrian assured me he ran it on the bench and that it was in good working order. Needless to say, it was another red flag! In fact, so much so, that I told Colin, that I didn't think the Band-Aid was going to resolve the true, underlying problem.
Anyhow, I finally got it installed, this past weekend (March 2016), with another visit from Colin. It was good to get her back in! We got it started, but didn't have an opportunity to put her through her paces, as it was late. That would have to wait for another day. Colin came back, to help get her dialed in and to get her out on the road. It was a lot of fun. However, the whole time Colin was driving, I was paying close attention to the gauges. The numbers were not great. Not terrible, but not good. In fact, at idle speed, there is near 0psi. Things were just not right!!! We performed a leak down test and compression test. The leak down numbers were acceptable. The compression test numbers however were not. 125 psi on #1...Woohoo. 80 psi on #2...WT holy F??? 102 psi on #3 and 120 psi on #4. Not at all what I was expecting from a freshly rebuilt engine! Nor should anyone! By the way, I still have a decent sized leak, coming from the front engine seal.
Here is what I have learned. Sure, there are plenty of people running around with an engine that Adrian built for them and they seem to have no problems. That is not the case for me! Also, after a few conversations via PM, I am not the only one! All sorts of nightmares have started to surface, specific to the build quality of Headflow Masters. This is a nightmare. I traded my dollars for his time and expertise. It was an attempt on my part to free up additional time on my end, to help address other issues. Ultimately, the amount of money spent was not worth it!!! I would have been better off spending my time rebuilding the engine myself. It most certainly would have cost less in time and money. I can not in good conscience recommend the services of this business. Please, please, please, consider carefully what you are doing before sending this man your engine. I have nothing against him personally. He seems like a nice enough guy on the phone, but I reiterate stay clear of his business, until he manages to:
1) Get caught up on the workload at present
2) Get some additional help
3) Properly train that help
4) Begin to put out quality work again
5) Stop selling people "gimmick" gadgets that don't work
I'm going to maintain this engine to the best of my abilities, and attempt to enjoy driving it, for as long as it will last. I also plan to rebuild another engine I have, on my own. This time, I'll know exactly what went into the engine, what was done and the level of attention it received during the build. If you have the ability, I suggest you do the same!
I may be one of the original complainants, that spurred Colin to start this thread. Take heed of the warnings and do your homework, before you give over your engine, and hard earned money, to this individual! Adrian claims to have over 20 years experience with VW engines. I don't doubt that for a moment. However, all that experience [rebuilding engines] cannot possibly compete with the teams of German engineers, that managed to keep these cars and their air cooled engines in production for several decades! That claim is preposterous! It has been alluded to on several occasions, that perhaps Adrian is overworked and subsequently forced to shell out sub-par work. Couple this with a desire to market "new and improved" oil cooling ideas: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... highlight= and your sure to have an absolute disaster on your hands!
I sent Adrian an 1800cc engine, torn down and cleaned, back in early 2013. I bought a Raby 9590 cam kit, swivel foot adjusters, chromoly pushrods, a set of AMC heads for him to upgrade, etc. I sourced a pair of DRLA36 carbs. I had the guys at Blackline racing rebuild them and ship them directly to Adrian to ensure the optimum set up, before he returned the engine. It took a little longer than I was originally quoted, but no big deal...I'm pretty easy going, what's another few months after all these years??? I took delivery in September, 2013. Sadly, once I received the engine, I couldn't put it in as I had just had back and knee surgery. I'm saying this to make a point of full disclosure. By the time I was healthy enough to tackle the job, it was December 2014. Also, I did not get back all the parts I originally sent. I was missing a dipstick, oil filler tube, and a crankcase breather. I suggest, you take pictures of every item in each box and itemize them, before you send them out. I did this and it helped bolster my argument, Fortunately, I had spares, as what I received was not what I had sent. e.g. a Porsche 914 breather.
Colin came by for my first Itinerant visit: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=12346
Man I was stoked!!! Engine in...won't be long, I'll be able to start driving this thing around and keep promises I'd made to my children about getting the bus running and going camping in it. Wasn't too long after Colin's visit that I installed a couple of gauges and noticed that things weren't what they were supposed to be. I wasn't getting the oil pressure readings I should on a freshly rebuilt engine. In fact, I was nowhere near. To top it all off, it was leaking from several places, including the pushrod tubes and the front engine seal. Reached out to Colin and tell him what's going on. "Let's get scientific about things," he says. That's right up my alley. Look up the specs for oil pressure at prescribed temperatures and RPM ranges and begin to take notes. NOT GOOD!
I called Adrian and explained what was going on. I told him that I had a total of 6 miles on the engine, since the install. That's right, you read it correctly...six miles. It was enough to go around the block a couple of times. I also told him that I fully understood that I was outside of warranty etc. I even sent him video, showing the tests. Adrian was very even-keeled and stated that the timeframe didn't matter, and that he believed my assertions of not having used the engine. "I've been doing this a long time and my name is clean. Send the engine back so that I can look at it and get it fixed." Wow! I thought. This guy really is as stand-up as everyone says. Hopefully he'll send me back a fully functional engine. Once again, it took a lot longer than promised to get the engine back. I wasn't going to complain. It was his "busy" season and let's face it, he's taking the engine back outside of the 12 month warranty; who am I to complain? I finally got it back, towards the end of July and early August, 2015. In fact, I received it the same week we were moving houses. For some strange reason, I had the fool-hardy notion that I would be able to install it before we moved When I asked what was wrong, I never got a clear answer. Rather, the fix was to put a larger oil pump on it. Adrian assured me he ran it on the bench and that it was in good working order. Needless to say, it was another red flag! In fact, so much so, that I told Colin, that I didn't think the Band-Aid was going to resolve the true, underlying problem.
Anyhow, I finally got it installed, this past weekend (March 2016), with another visit from Colin. It was good to get her back in! We got it started, but didn't have an opportunity to put her through her paces, as it was late. That would have to wait for another day. Colin came back, to help get her dialed in and to get her out on the road. It was a lot of fun. However, the whole time Colin was driving, I was paying close attention to the gauges. The numbers were not great. Not terrible, but not good. In fact, at idle speed, there is near 0psi. Things were just not right!!! We performed a leak down test and compression test. The leak down numbers were acceptable. The compression test numbers however were not. 125 psi on #1...Woohoo. 80 psi on #2...WT holy F??? 102 psi on #3 and 120 psi on #4. Not at all what I was expecting from a freshly rebuilt engine! Nor should anyone! By the way, I still have a decent sized leak, coming from the front engine seal.
Here is what I have learned. Sure, there are plenty of people running around with an engine that Adrian built for them and they seem to have no problems. That is not the case for me! Also, after a few conversations via PM, I am not the only one! All sorts of nightmares have started to surface, specific to the build quality of Headflow Masters. This is a nightmare. I traded my dollars for his time and expertise. It was an attempt on my part to free up additional time on my end, to help address other issues. Ultimately, the amount of money spent was not worth it!!! I would have been better off spending my time rebuilding the engine myself. It most certainly would have cost less in time and money. I can not in good conscience recommend the services of this business. Please, please, please, consider carefully what you are doing before sending this man your engine. I have nothing against him personally. He seems like a nice enough guy on the phone, but I reiterate stay clear of his business, until he manages to:
1) Get caught up on the workload at present
2) Get some additional help
3) Properly train that help
4) Begin to put out quality work again
5) Stop selling people "gimmick" gadgets that don't work
I'm going to maintain this engine to the best of my abilities, and attempt to enjoy driving it, for as long as it will last. I also plan to rebuild another engine I have, on my own. This time, I'll know exactly what went into the engine, what was done and the level of attention it received during the build. If you have the ability, I suggest you do the same!