TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 24, 2009 10:36 pm

Oh, I see................

Mon May 25, 2009 9:25 pm

Adrians work is good. The problem is some people bring there own crap parts & expect a miricle to happen!! Over night even!! There is no one person who is the best, just some who can make something work out of a heap of crap.

Tue May 26, 2009 5:29 am

manxracer1 wrote: Adrians work is good. The problem is some people bring there own crap parts & expect a miricle to happen!! Over night even!! There is no one person who is the best, just some who can make something work out of a heap of crap.

Not in my case...

Tue May 26, 2009 7:43 am

Quote: Not in my case...

So what happened in your case?

Tue May 26, 2009 8:18 am

RZAR wrote: manxracer1 wrote: Adrians work is good. The problem is some people bring there own crap parts & expect a miricle to happen!! Over night even!! There is no one person who is the best, just some who can make something work out of a heap of crap.

Not in my case...

I know Adrian very well, I'm sure there is an untold situation here.
He has always taken care of his customers properly unless some unreasonable circumstance on the customers part took place leaving him no choice other than to refuse to do business with them.

Tue May 26, 2009 11:46 am

SRP1 wrote: He has always taken care of his customers properly unless some unreasonable circumstance on the customers part took place leaving him no choice other than to refuse to do business with them.

I have had very good luck with Adrian. The "other" shop in north county, not so much.......

Tue May 26, 2009 2:44 pm

Adrain built the 1915 cc motor in my baja bug a few years ago and althoug it realtiely low miles I have had no problems with it. It "marks its spot" a little (minor oil drips) but that is pretty much expected from a type 1 motor. He seemed honest and his prices are right.

Tue May 26, 2009 5:23 pm

volksterii wrote: Quote: Not in my case...

So what happened in your case?

To make a long story short. My engine built by Adrian lasted 1 year 3 months 7100 miles before a major failure occurred (beyond my control) leaving me stranded in the middle of the 15 freeway during rush hour. He did fix the problem that I had to pay for, which is understandable because it was 3 months out of warranty. Also when my engine was brand new there was a leaking oil pump cover do to a decent size chunk missing from the corner of the oil pump cover which I had to fix but he supplied the new cover. Other than that the engine ran awesome, had tons of power for a stocker, and ran quiet and smoooooth. Its just been a very expensive and time consuming experience. He obviously knows what he is doing, I guess he just had some bad luck with my engine.

Tue May 26, 2009 5:33 pm

Was this the type 4 motor for your bus? Pritty much any monkey can put together a type 1. Type 4's are a whole different animal!! The type 4 in a bus is under powered anyway, most people flog the crap out of them. I know I did when I had one. Most shops can't even figure out how to take them apart, much less put them back together correctly. Adrian is probably the most experianced type 4 person in North County.

Tue May 26, 2009 5:40 pm

Yes. that's why I took it to him. Type 1 and Type 4 engines equally need both the time and effort put into them to make them run right and last. I would go as far as saying the type 1 engine needs more attention when being rebuilt because of all the sub-standard parts available for them.

Tue May 26, 2009 5:49 pm

So true!! Crap in, Crap out!

Wed May 27, 2009 11:01 am

RZAR wrote: Not in my case...
Sorry you fell under the 1%- we are all human and we all make mistakes. Some of us just strive to make less mistakes than others. And when we DO make them, we try to get them resolved as accommodating, and fair, as possible for both sides. All in all, we tried to be as fair as possible for both of us.

Sun May 31, 2009 10:04 pm

Headflow Masters wrote: RZAR wrote: Not in my case...
Sorry you fell under the 1%- we are all human and we all make mistakes. Some of us just strive to make less mistakes than others. And when we DO make them, we try to get them resolved as accommodating, and fair, as possible for both sides. All in all, we tried to be as fair as possible for both of us.

Well that 1% could have been avoided if Adrian didn't re-use a 30 year old Magnesium cam gear in my engine. I don't call that a mistake its poor judgment.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:31 am

RZAR wrote: Yes. that's why I took it to him.

:?: That seems to contrast with buying a "new" engine. Did Adrian rebuild the engine that you supplied him?

If that was a used cam gear, then the cam was used as well. I'd suspect the lifters were used, too. I could only envision this happening on a stock "rebuild" for an engine the customer provides to the builder.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:14 am

That is definatley a used gear. It is not a magnum gear it is a stock gear & had a stock cam on it, because it has the riviets still in it. If it were a non stock cam it would have bolts holding it to the cam. So is what you need to do is see if you paid for a new cam or a used cam.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:05 pm

Stripped66 wrote: RZAR wrote: Yes. that's why I took it to him.

:?: That seems to contrast with buying a "new" engine. Did Adrian rebuild the engine that you supplied him?

If that was a used cam gear, then the cam was used as well. I'd suspect the lifters were used, too. I could only envision this happening on a stock "rebuild" for an engine the customer provides to the builder.

Yep took the whole longblock to him for a rebuild. Stock 2 liter type 4 for my bus. He said he has his cams sent to Schneider Cams in San Diego. I dont know how they rebuild camshafts. You would think he could have spent 40 bucks for new camshaft gears then this problem would have been avoided. Adrians rebuilds aren't cheap.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:23 pm

That suck about your engine, Adrian built my 2027 I had in my Kombi which is now going into my DC. Havent had any issues with it so far but then again I have less than 700 miles on it. Only time will tell I guess.
I went with his recommendations for internals, I got the spec sheet somewhere filed away. Hope I don't join you in the 1% club.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:41 pm

Wow, thats really wierd. Some of the teeth look untouched and some are wasted. Wonder how strait the cam was? Thats about the only thing I can think of that would cuase something like that to happen.

Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:06 pm

There was no warning. I was just driving down the freeway at about 40 or 50 mph (in traffic) and it just quit. It died so fast I didnt have a chance to get over. I was stuck in the middle of the freeway during rush hour traffic. The cam gear obviously has a big patch of missing teeth on one side but whats hard to see in the pics is there are some teeth that are razor sharp and some teeth that are normal. That cam gear was garbage before it made it into my engine and should have never been re-used.

Fri Jun 12, 2009 5:10 pm

Glenn wrote: SLC62Ragtop wrote: CJG wrote: Why have it shipped when you have one of the best engine builders right there at your finger tips, down the road in Orange County, DRD another great engine builder does everything in house, why go out of state. :roll:

DRD makes some nice stuff. However after seeing all the resent reviews and posts about people waiting 2-9 months it made me nervous.
The saying is perfection takes time, but not that much time.
My friend got a DRD 2276 in just a few months. Darren did a great job.... it's a beast.

anyone have a phone number and address for DRD? Or website?