SCAT Enterprises

[luis velez]

Guys think about it before you buy from SCAT Enterprices. My experience with them was not a great one. I placed an order with them back in March, paid in full and was told that my order will take 7-10 weeks. It is now October and my Ghia interior is still incomplete thanks to SCAT. Finally got SCAT on the phone today and they suggested that if I wanted the rest of my interior by this Friday, I will have to pay extra for shipping. This is after almos $1000.00 spent by me with them. Before you order from this company, ask if your order is going to take as long as Luis' from Clearwater Florida. I dont think anyone should be taken advantage like this. Just though I let you know in advance.

VW's 4 Ever.

[heaf828]

I was told that my 1600 engine would take two weeks to build and one to ship. By week four, the engine was not ready, but I was consistently promised "It'll be ready for shipment in two days." After the 6th week, I was told that the Scat engine wouldn't support the 34pic carb I ordered and that they'd have to install the dual carbs to make the 1600 work right. (This is strange because 1-It's only a 1600 and 2-They advertise and offer a choice between single and dual carbs. If it doesn't work with their "performance engines," then why offer them to customers?) I canceled my engine order at that moment. This was a horrendous experience (for many reasons that I'm not going to relive by typing). But I completely agree with LV's advice. Stay away from Scat if you're looking for good customer service.

[Pink MG]

This is the main portion of the e-mail I sent on 9/21/10 to a great vendor I use. He was kind enough to forward it to SCAT so that they could reply to me. It's been almost 2 months and they have not replied. I'm done with SCAT.

I placed an order with you on 31 Mar 2010 that included the following VERY long lead time items that were drop shipped from SCAT:

#25091S 36hp Fan Shroud w/o heater, Powder coated silver, $125.00
#25093S Cylinder tins, Powder coated silver, $ 75.00
#25074 Welded & balanced cooling fan, $ 90.00

I believe it was the fan that held up the order and I received the stuff in late May. It was not until late August that I actually got the time to install these items on my MOFOCO 1776cc Type 1 longblock. I was thoroughly disappointed when I did.

First, the fan shroud to cylinder tins gap was over 5/8" on each side. There was no way the cylinder tins could be trimmed to bring closer to the block to narrow this gap. Even the Bugpack #4552-51 spacers wouldn’t fill the gaps. If I did try to trim them, the holes that anchor the cylinder tins to the head would not line up and drilling new holes would have been required. In addition, the other engine tin would no longer line up. There were more problems with the tin interfering with the exhaust ports and intake manifold ends and ports that slight trimming wouldn’t solve.

Second, the fan shroud area around the cooling fan intake hole was not crimped properly, misaligned and the cooling fan would have hit it.

Third, the welded and balanced cooling fan could not be attached properly to the fan hub. To get even a minimum of 1mm of the required 2mm clearance, I had to install 10 shims on the hub. When I did this, the wavy lock washer under the special nut wouldn't set on the flat spots of the hub. After close inspection, I determined that the fan had a backspace (like a wheel) of .625" and the OEM fans I have are .495" and .498". So, this allowed the fan to sit too close to the alternator. I also had to file down each weld on the back side of the fan or even more shims would have been required. I also noticed that the fan had a distinct wobble, so I doubt it was balanced very well...if indeed at all. It had "PRO MSA" stamped on it, probably made in China.

I have since gotten the OEM German tin I removed front the engine glass beaded and powder coated locally. I've installed it on the engine and it fits like a glove. I also re-installed the almost new OEM, non-welded fan that was on the engine when I bought the car.

I have not contacted SCAT. I feel you should. I am not asking you for a refund either. However, I wanted you to be aware of the ill fitting, but very expensive stuff they are selling. If SCAT would be kind enough to refund the $290 I spent for this junk, I'd be grateful, but do not feel that you are "on the hook" for this horrible merchandise they drop shipped to me. Just be aware this is happening (as it is universally with the car hobby).

[Woogies]

I ordered a 2027cc kit from them back in Oct, because they didn't have the 1915cc with the forged crank that I originally wanted. After completing the order they said it be out the next day! I should have known better, it took them a week to actually ship it. Never notified me either, I had to email them for the tracking number and receipt.

So then I get the parts; I took the day off and was ready to install them all. To my surprise they forgot the pistons and cylinders. I check the invoice, and it said "box 1 of 1". I checked my email, nope nothing saying about forgotten or back ordered parts.

So I call them. Essentially they said, "Oh yea we don't have any. We are looking for them now and we'll get back to you soon!". Why didn't they bother to tell me in the first place? I could have bought my stuff else where, and gotten EVERYTHING I needed in a timely manner. So I wait 2 more days with no contact from them. So I call them again. This time I talked to a different person because the guy I was dealing with suddenly was on vaca. They said they got them in and they'd be in the mail in a few days.

I wait a couple more days with, again, no contact from them. I email them and to my surprise I get this:

"HI Greg

we have not yet received the forged 90.5 mm pistons kits yet
we did receive some cast piston kits

I am trying to find out when they are to arrive"

I reply:

"Alright, I'd really appreciate it if you let me know as soon you find out when your going to get them back in stock"


So here I am, a week later, with no pistons or cylinders. I haven't received any follow up from them. Just sent them an email and I'm going to call tomorrow. I've been patient for long enough, I'm starting to get very frustrated with this.

My experience with SCAT has been down right awful. I feel like they don't give a rat's *** about their customers.

[windsoreight]

I also have a few things to say about Scat. I spent $3500 with them in the last few months. I bought a complete 2110 forged stroker kit, engine tin set, and a complete interior. I also had them balance the rotating assembly. This included the kennedy stage 1 pressure plate, and forged lightened flywheel. I recieved everything in a timely manner. First issue was the C45 cam. It had the gear holes mis drilled. If you put one bolt in the other 2 holes were barely visiable. It took 3 phone calls. First they wanted me to ship it back on my dime. They finally emailed me a shipping tag. It took them a week after they recieved it to even look at it. The second issue is the firewall tin is stamped wrong. I got tossed around between the operator and salesmen. They said I would have it by the 16th. Never came. They are lousy at customer support. They tell you "I didn't take your order, you will have to deal with so and so." You get a constant run around. I have a motor on the bench ready to go in. I have been delayed 4-5 weeks because of their crap. I will never buy directly from them again.

[Junkyardjockey]

After reading all of this, I mistakenly thought things would improve with this company. I placed an online order with ScatVW & called to follow that up. No email , no order confirmation, no tracking number, nothing. After initially placing the order their website stated I would be called to confirm everything & finalize the order & someone would call me very soon. I never rec'd any phone call, or any communication from them for that matter. I guess I was wrong to assume things would change. I am considering cancelling my order.

[Junkyardjockey]

I just rec'd a text alert from my bank; the charge from them went through on my CC this morning; still no communication from them at all; not very happy!

[subhuman]

all i have to say is the quality sucks, along with cust service! what a pos shifter this was (drag fast), i had bought one used at a bug show in 1994 and used it in my previous bug for over 70,0000 miles with never one problem the new one, problems from the get go, shift plate had to be drifted over about 1/2" for proper shift 1st to 2nd, then 500 miles later with easy shifting it bent and left me hunting for 2nd and avoiding reverse! so i drifted it over agian and about 200 miles later the shift plate bent/broke and i said to hell with it a got a gene berg gb6770 which i should have done the first time, note to self buy the best and buy it once, lesson learned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
here is a pic of the bad shift plate, and by the way scat will and has done nothing about it, i know i am not the only one with these issues.

_________________
63 restomod build
http://s431.photobucket.com/albums/qq37/johnnysubhuman/?albumview=slideshow

you can have everything you want, just don't want so much!

"the wrong way always seems the more reasonable."
george moore

1963 type1
2002 Subaru Wrx

never argue with an idiot, they will only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience!
Mark Twain

[Junkyardjockey]

Sorry to hear about that subhuman! That really bites! Hopefully the powers that rule our forums will take notice of their lack of customer service & quality issues, and at least try to bring it to their attention. Do they post or advertise on here at all?

[Junkyardjockey]

update:
I did get a cryptic email from Scat concerning my order; it has missing & incorrect information. My CC was billed for $704 just this morning; but this is their 'acknowledgement' I rec'd just now:

items:
1 x 043101025 : NEW AS41 Dual Relief Universal Type 1 & 2 VW Magnesium Engine Case ($669.00 ea) $669.00

shipping: TBD
tax: TBD (if applicable)
total: $669.00

No other communication from them but this. It did have my order # but still no tracking # What gives? I don't think I'm asking for much.

[Junkyardjockey]

update:
I finally did get a tracking #, but I had to call & ask for it; it was not offered, nor did I get any communication from their end yet. The salesman said he couldn't understand why I never rec'd an email from them with the tracking or order #. Hopefully it is packed well!

[las912]

Just received my second order from SCAT and once again the products look really well made. I'm happy.

On order was a 78.8 SCAT crank, Flywheel, disc, Kennedy stage 2 PP, 1.25 ratio rockers, Manton Push rods.

The shipping / handling was on the slow side, but when the parts look the part, I don't mind waiting a few extra days.

[VWCOOL]

[las912]

The finish on the crank looks good, when the crank, PP and disc are being sent out for balancing I will know if there's any run out.
Sure they should be balanced, but I need to know for sure they are, and they are most certainly not balanced together.

The rockers looks really well made with a fine honed crosshatch in the rocker arm. Not like the 1.4 forged set I bought from CB that looked liked garbage!
This rocker kit I have no reason to believe will fail on me.

Pushrods are cut to length ones...


I take it you have received some bad parts from SCAT given your reply?

You know, sometimes you can actually see if a part is crap... I have received my fair share of it from VW shops.

[germanx]

I just wanted to thank the guys at ScatEnterprises (and especially RON) for their speed and quality of response!

They dug up some engine specs of a turn key motor sold in 2005 (12 years ago!) to a company in the UK for a bus I bought not long ago.
I posted my inquiry last week, and today I received the specs with all components and what it would cost me today to get this motor assembled.
This info clarified some wrong information I got from the seller about the engine components and will help me big time to decide where to go...
_________________
'73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe

[Buggy Brian]

I'm DONE with SCAT VW at this point. My Manx 2 came with a 1776 that SCAT built about 12 years ago, and it's a great motor, but the carbs needed rebuilding. They're the Solex (Pierburg) 35 pdsi(t) dual carbs, which they are exclusive seller of here in the states (or at least the only one I have found). I ordered the rebuild kits 2 weeks ago today!

Placed order for 2 carb rebuild kits and a flywheel seal install tool. I had to add the flywheel tool as they have a $10 charge if your order is less than $50, which is RIDICULOUS. I paid the $20 UPS ground charge (another RIDICULOUS amount, for what I ordered).

I got called to confirm my order, get my credit card number, and explained that I had to have them within two weeks, as I have a show this Sunday. I was told UPS ground would be 4-7 business days. They stock checked the items and went ahead and charged me for the entire order.

It has now been two weeks, and I find out (by going to their website) that my order is on HOLD????????? How can you stock check something, verify it's there, charge me, and then TOTALLY FAIL AT ANY CUSTOMER SERVICE, such as letting the CUSTOMER KNOW that there is a problem???

There is a better rebuild kit available for the 35 psid(t) carbs on Ebay, but I chose SCAT, as the engine was originally built by them, and has only SCAT products, but I find this absolute lack of concern or customer service 100% unacceptable.

I received a call from a representative and said they could overnight them to me, and it's a $70 charge. Since I paid $20 towards shipping already, they may be able to waive "part" of the added fees. I told them 10:00 am with NO added fee at all, or cancel the order.

SCAT called back. This time it was the manager. He started by saying that they finally got the gasket kits in (that were already stock checked two weeks ago) and were ready to send them out. I asked how they would be shipped, and he stated that I had paid for UPS ground, and could have them sooner if I paid. YES, IF I PAID. I recounted the previous events, and he readily admitted they were at fault. I told him I need them by tomorrow at 10:00am, and I wasn't going to pay any additional, and he said the best they could do was split the cost with me. I told him I wouldn't do that, and then he starts asking ME why I didn't look into it sooner, basically trying to say it's partly my blame.

I ordered on a Friday, two weeks ago. I was told by Sylvia that they were going out that day or Monday at the latest, and that it was 4-7 business days. If they had gone out that Monday, 7 business days would be YESTERDAY. I showed him this, and he again said it was their fault. He then again told me that I had to split the difference with them or they wouldn't ship them.

He then explained that they would be out money, and I explained I was already going to be out money for the show entry fee, and that I felt I shouldn't have to pay extra for THEIR MISTAKE! He refused to tell me why I needed to pay for their mistake, except to repeatedly state that I had to pay so that they would go out today.

I have always been a firm believer in SCAT products, but cannot for the life of me believe that this is happening. Never again will I buy anything from them or their retailers.

Asking the customer to pay for their mistake is the biggest crock of crap I've ever seen. Now I'm out the show entry fee, and have to wait for the rebuild kits from overseas.
_________________
-(Loretta) Manx # M2940D910E on customized 1970 chassis by Joescoolcustoms
-(Scarlett) Manx Resorter #12 (R0012B931S) on 1969 chassis.
-Original Home built buggy that started all. I learned to drive in it back in 1985.
Manx Club Member # 4436

Check out my Loretta here: http://www.manxclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3365Manx

Scarlett is getting a Makeover! http://manxclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=3745&p=24983#p24983

[Don Jones]

I order the Scat Volksracer aluminum case 2161 kit earlier this year. Took over a month before they got it together. I had to constantly email and call Ed why it was taking so long. I mean how hard is it to package a engine kit? I had my shipper pick it up as their shipping would have been outrageous.

When i got the shipment (8 boxes) i found that i was sent a c55 cam. I wrote back and told scat i ordered a c45. They kept trying to tell me the c45 cam cannot be used with the 1.4 rockers as the lift would be too high for the heads and the c55 with 1.25 would be better. I kept demanding that I ordered the c45 and want the c45...took a couple of weeks but I finally got the c45 and am going to use it with 1.25 rockers.

Now the painful stuff.

Barrel Shims:
Assembling the engine, they included a .256 barrel spacer which I found to be strange as what would the c/r going to be. I cc'd the heads and found them to be 54cc's. Did the engine calculator and found that I would have 8.2 : 1. Called Scat and asked what are the super-d (42 x 37.5) heads cc's supposed to be. Told me 56 cc's. Well mine are 54 cc's. If they were 58 to 60 i could get away with a lesser spacer which is what I wanted. I then ordered a .177 and .020 spacer (need .200" but scat doesn't sell a .200" spacer) to get the compression to 9.1 : 1 which I wanted for the c45 cam. Kept checking my order and after 4 days it kept saying "processing", I'm so fed up with them I called and cancelled the order. I then went to Gene Berg and got their .200 spacers.

Studs:
I found that the 8mm studs were way too long. The studs behind the intake manifold had to be cut as it prevented the manifold from being installed. When putting on the rocker arms i found that the #2 intake & #4 intake rockers hit the stud behind of it. At that point i decided to pull all the studs and cut them all one time.

Rockers:
When doing the rocker geometry found that the rocker shoes were riding high on the valves. Had a local shop cut the pedestals down .060". Now they riding where they should....cost me another $207 to cut them.

Shimming Rocker Side Clearance:
Scat recommends .005"-.008". I got .021", .019", .011" and .013" on one shaft. They were nice enough to give me an extra (7), why (7) .031" spacers. They're is no way i can set the clearance with (23) - .031" spacers. The shims are made from cheap Chinese steel. A couple of spacers were cupped from when they punched them out, all the spacers had sharp edges and needed to be sanded down. Why doesn't Scat shim the rockers? Now i had to buy rocker shaft shims and thanks to Bugguy1967 who sold me a set of shims i can attempt to get the side clearance correct.

9 piece Cooling Tin Kit:
Another piece of crap. Every piece had to be trimmed and massaged to get it to fit decently. The cylinder cover tin was the worst. Had to trim a lot around the intake port to get the intake manifolds to fit.

Cooling Fan:
I purchase the "welded / balanced" cooling fan. When putting it on today to the alternator I found that the fan is out-of-round up and down and front to back. Now I'm off to Gene Berg and buy a quality cooling fan.

Would I recommend or ever buy anything from Scat again? NO, NO, and NO!