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Old 05-14-2020, 01:44 PM   #25
JarHarms
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 138994
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: apparently I "spread the hate"
Vehicle:
2006 WRX, 6MT, 5x114

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It has been awhile and this project hit a spell of turbulence. Like all projects tend to do.

The short block v1.0 was built promptly on the expected date. Unfortunately the shipping carrier took it to an incorrect address and it took awhile to figure out what happened. *Although exactly whom put the label on the package? P2P has the UPS guy attach the labels WTF!*
Once we figured that out the shipping error, it was send back to the builder for inspection then re-ship back to me. The inspection found some damage on the deck surfaces. So that means another set of seasoned cases need to be prepared to build a v1.5 version. It will work out in the end but still a tough break. Maybe a couple of weeks and I will have something to look at. While I wait I guess I will re-gasket my shop air compressor.

I finally had time to look over the cyl heads closer. Overall the work looks solid, they communicated well along the process, and ultimately met their completion estimate. Roughly 20 work days but likely less since new cores were ordered. Here they are sporting the GSC gear.


However there is a catch. I must disclose that I am picky...SUPER PICKY. Since I am not sponsored and pay my own way; I feel justified in my degree of scrutiny. Besides when is having high standards a BAD thing?
These shipped in Hgames boxes and packing material. The forward cam cap assemblies are removed and in separate smaller boxes for shipping. Separate is a good idea to avoid shipping damage to the AVCS mountings. The cyl head exh studs poked through one of the small boxes during shipping. So (depending on how positioned inside the box) studs could have poked through and damaged the underside of the cam cap assembly. I was lucky and no damage was incurred. Whew...dodged one there
So what if damage would have happened? All their good work could be effed up from a botch packing job. You cannot buy new cam cap assemblies separately from complete cores so you would be repairing or starting over. This risk was completely avoidable.

So further down the rabbit hole we go... The cyl heads were packed with deck faces downwards. Faint marks on the decks were seen through the plastic bags. I found a few alloy debris floating around in those bags. So essentially this debris settled between the deck and bag with cyl head weight pressing against the cardboard box. All while jiggling around on its journey to me. So these decks are probably functional but still not right by my picky standards. I completely accept that cleaning out 100% of the machining debris is not realistic. This risk was also completely avoidable. A few layers of masking tape covering the decks is all it takes.

Debris you say... So I cannot tell if any of the oil galley plugs were removed for cleaning or not. Those allen plugs are a PITA to get out, and these look too "nice". So I have to expect that this was not done. My mind goes directly to how much debris should I expect inside there?
*I did email them some questions and photos. Also confirmed that the oil gallery plugs are removed during their process. So logically mine were removed as well...but were they? A bit of back and forth communication on the deck marks. They suggest these were not deep enough to warrant re-milling. My engine builder and I disagree since a few of these are right in the combustion seal area. HG offered to re-mill these (not certain if that includes all re-shipping costs) but I really do not want to risk any more shipping. Effing A. So I am going to try some other things to see if I can make it work. If these have to be cut again I'll just have it done at a trusted local shop.
Overall I'm less enthusiastic about the outcome since those issues could have been easily avoided.

An example of a few of the deck inclusions. Hard to tell in photos though.




This is a my 100% transparent experience to show some of the things that you deal with. Not just posting up ONLY the "ohh shiny parts, everything is awesome, now vape" narrative.
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Last edited by JarHarms; 03-23-2021 at 05:06 PM.
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