King MoneyBanks
THE POWER OF ONE
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
Has Aggressive produced anything fast?
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app
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Is there any turbo buick shops in SW Michigan?
- Thread starter joesguitar
- Start date
ok first ill say this...this was not the first car that ive taken to Bruce nor do I care about what story Bruce gave you nor was this my first grand national build nor do I need to make more than 1 post to make a complaint about bad work. you want the story...heres the story. Bruce did not do only what I asked...he also did what he recommended. I took this car to Bruce to have the turbo rebuilt (1/13). the car had been sitting for a while so he also did new plugs, wires, oil/filter change, fuel pump and filter and empty tank of old fuel, a cam sprocket, and thermostat. when doing the oil change he said the oil came out slow and sludgy. he removed the pan and cover and found sludge but he was able to clean it out and flush the engine and remove the sludge, changed the oil, replaced a cam gear he said it was fine...my total was around $2100. I drove directly to a friends house which is aprox 25 mins away from Bruce's shop. When I went to leave, the car would not start...cranking but no start. The car started 30 mins later but the issue was continuous. I call Bruce immediately and he tells me I may need a new ecu, chip and ecu wire harness. he says the signal from ecu to fuel pump or to ign module may not be transmitting due to corrosion on the connector at the ecu. I order a new ecu, TT chip, and I cleaned the corrosion from the harness. I installed the new ecu and chip but the issue still occurred. Bruce's shop is not around the corner from me so I had someone check it out and they said it was some problem with some aftermarket fuel pump wiring(Bruce installed) and charged me to straighten it out and to fix a wire at the ecu connector. they got the car to start on every try but the check engine light came on and the same crank but no start issue occurred again. I then took the car to Bruce . he told me the other tech mixed up two wires when he fixed the one and that that is what caused the check engine light to come on. the car also had a duel fuel pump set up so Bruce put the entire fuel pump set up back to stock. I did not have the no start issue again. THIS IS ALL IN ABOUT 30 DAYS. a few weeks later im driving the car and I decided to open it up a lil bit one time and I blew the head gasket and the trans stopped shifting properly. I call Bruce and tell him that I blew the head gasket and the trans may have went too because it was not shifting properly. I towed the car to bruce and bought a rebuilt 200r brf for $400 and I asked Bruce to put that one in because I thought that I had blown the trans also. I did expect the technician that im spending this kind of money with to at least diagnose the blown trans prior to r&r the trans. Bruce calls me and tells me that the trans is installed and the head gaskets job is done...but then says I need to rebuild my engine. I get to the shop and the trans is in, the heads are bolted down with the valve covers on them and that's it. intake is off and so is the front cover and timing chain and cam and lifters are out. my cam lobes were worn, lifters indented, he assumes rod and main bearing are worn and that metal may have gotten into the engine. Bruce tells me that the machine shop will charge a minimum of $3500 for labor plus any parts that I will need and he wants another $1500 or more to reassemble the engine and drop it back in the car and I would still owe him $1200+ for the original head gasket job and installing the trans. This is all for a COMPLETELY STOCK ENGINE. I know that those are ridiculous prices for stock engine work and what kind of mechanic does a does a complete head gasket job and then tells their customer that they need that same engine rebuilt. he should have told me that before completing the head job. and he explained that I blew the head gaskets because of a vacuum hose on the turbo, that he installed a month ago, was bad and it bursts. I told Bruce that I was not going to pay those prices to rebuild the engine so he recommended replacing the cam, lifters, cam bearing, rod bearings, main bearings, real main seal, all gaskets and completely disassembling the engine to clean it, reassemble the engine and drop it in the car and that the engine should be fine...and that is what we did. My way of thinking was that I was already in bed with Bruce and this car, I already owed $800+ for the head gasket job and $500 to r&r trans, why not let him do that...it sure beat paying over $5000 for a rebuilt stock engine(not including head work by the way) plus $800 for first head gasket job. Bruce would not give me an exact price on how much he was charging me to do this...my bill was over $3300. NO MACHINE WORK WAS DONE AT ALL. ONLY BEARINGS, CAM AND LIFTERS, GASKETS WERE REPLACED AND ENGINE CLEANED. when I went to pick the car up Bruce was installing a new ign module brand new from the parts store....the car would not start. he had the parts store bring over another module...the car would not start. we then tried a used module that he had sitting around his shop and the car started. he said that the new ones from the parts store must have been defective and that I should get a new one soon but I could keep that one. I purchased 3 more ign modules that did not work on my car. I then took the oem module(black casing) off my other car to see if it would start the car and it did. I have lots of parts for these cars at my disposal...almost any factory part you cant find...I have and more than 1. The car then drove for a short while before it started to run like crap again and had no umph to it. I took it back to Bruce and this time he said I had some bad fuel injectors. He installed 6 brand new injectors and new plugs again...about another $7-800. about 2 weeks later the car runs like crap again and eventually would not start and stay running and I was stranded at a gas station...towed the car home. I run all these tests to discover that 3 of the new fuel injectors are not firing. I personally replaced those 3 new injectors that were not working with 3 of the old injectors that Bruce took out and the car started and ran but it ran like crap still. I also installed a new fuel injector wire harness. I called Bruce and told him that 3 of the new injectors that he installed were not working and i had the car towed back to his shop. This time the gas tank and fuel filters needed to be replaced because of sediment in the tank that was clogging the filter and clogging the fuel injectors. this is the same gas tank that I paid him to drain and clean and install a new fuel pump in a few months prior. He installs a used fuel tank off of someones car in his shop, installs some more injectors and charges me for the tank and the labor for the tank and the injectors. the car then ran fine for a short while. I never put my foot into as I was scared to break something and have to take it back to Bruce and spend more money with him. The car again started to run like crap and was smoking like crazy when idling and it had no umph behind it. I thought the wastegate went bad so I stopped driving the car. after about 2 -3 weeks of not driving the car I decided to drive it to the store but the car would not start and stay running. a few days passed and I tried to start the car again and nothing...crank but no start. I said "F* it...I refuse to take this car back to Bruce for him to blame it on something else"! A couple of weeks later(9/13) I managed to get it to start and stay running long enough to get it in front of my garage where It could be pushed the rest of the way. I disassemble the top end to discover a bent pushrod and a lifter is completely dislodged from its hole. I called Bruce and his explanation was that a rocker arm must have broken. I told him that that was not the case. When the builder I found took my engine apart(11/13) he discovered that the cam lobes were completely worn down(installed by Bruce about 6 months and less than 5k miles prior) and that silicone was used as my rear main seal and there was a disconnected ground wire in the back of the engine and The turbo that I paid Bruce to have rebuilt had an excessive amount of play. I spent over $7000 with Bruce on that car and didn't get 5k miles out of the engine or the turbo. this is all an 8 month and less than 5k miles time span. and I did not receive or see any receipts for any parts purchased...not 1
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read the story
Bruce knows exactly who I am. I told him what I would be posting before I posted it
jim homick
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
'I read it on the internet so it must be true'
Chime in indeed.....its disappointing to here people have a bad experience for sure, however it happens everywhere. As well I have heard the other side too, and suffice to say they are different. Bruce has been a stand up guy to me and my friends so I will continue to recommend him without hesitation.....Rare T you sound like your from HARROW dude..
1 RARE T
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
People from Harrow have a specific sound? No I'm not but ok what-ever that means?
This guy was sold on throwing good money after bad and defend all you like, he got screwed. I'll stand by my opinion until Bruce shows up.
For the record, I've dealt with him over the years and never had a problem so no agenda here. Just going on the story as it's been presented.
This guy was sold on throwing good money after bad and defend all you like, he got screwed. I'll stand by my opinion until Bruce shows up.
For the record, I've dealt with him over the years and never had a problem so no agenda here. Just going on the story as it's been presented.
really....your a satisfied customer..funny in your firsts posts you made Bruce sound like he didnt know his business when you were able to figure out this fellows complicated problem by just hearing his first post. Why would you ever need to go to anyone when you clearly know it all..I'm done...good luck to the original poster with his car
1 RARE T
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
I took what was posted and stated an opinion. The op was looking for a shop to help him and advised after a not so great experience where he relied on a so-called expert, spent an crap-load of money and is'nt any better off. You called it rediculous that he complain and question his credibility. I was'nt there, nor were you. Again, until Bruce shows up, I stand by what I said. Maybe it's the op's fault. Anything's possible.
I've only bought parts through them, which took for-ever because they just order from larger vendors, mark them up and have them shipped to you. They never actually touch them.
Since I know it all, you can P.M. me for advice. Always here to help.
I've only bought parts through them, which took for-ever because they just order from larger vendors, mark them up and have them shipped to you. They never actually touch them.
Since I know it all, you can P.M. me for advice. Always here to help.
Bruce will never show up. That's the true and whole story from beginning to end. Jim is probably a friend of Bruce's. I wouldn't expect Jim nor Bruce to tell the truth about my experience with F*d Up Performance...it would hurt his business. Bruce doesn't even want me to come to his shop to show him this wasted cam, bent push rod and rear main seal that's more silicon than seal. He asks me to send him pictures to his email instead. I didn't see where any of you say that I did anything wrong in the story? If Bruce tells another story he's telling a LIE. I have nothing to gain by telling lies about the service that I received. I have already spent my money. where do I benefit from slamming Bruce? does that get me my money back? I have 2 more cars that I was planning to take to him. it became evident to me that you don't have to be a GN expert to do what Bruce does...everything has to be sent out for someone else to fix it...if that really happens...ive never seen the receipts. all he does it take it off and put it back on...hell I can do that! Bruce is R&R from what I see and his diagnosis showed to be weak...OR...he was intentionally screwing me. had Bruce recommended rebuilding the engine prior to completing the head gasket job and installing the trans it would have made since(not for 5k+ for a stock short block but it would have been an honorable suggestion). but you mean to tell me you didn't notice the engine needed to be rebuild until after installing a trans and head gaskets? You don't have to be experienced with cars at all to question that. Take your car to him all you want to. I feel sorry for you...you get less than half of what you pay for...and so will the people you send to him. back yard mechanics can do better than Bruce. the only reason he needs that big shop is to store all those broke cars hes ripping people off for. the parts that you waiting for he probably sold them to me! or somebody else. that might be your gas tank in my car right now lol. my intention was to share my painful experience with F*d Up Performance...that's what I did.
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and he told you the truth?
yeah
jim homick
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
wow! where to begin?
im waiting
williamsGN
'Horse sneeze' addict
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2007
If your posts were more than slams.. they may have some credit
jim homick
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
this...........
I didn't think there would be a relevant argument in support of Bruce...stead they find a reason to bash me lol. GOBD!. Im not here for credibility. My credibility is in all the money I spent with Bruce to fix my car. I came here to find reliable help with my car...I found that after my first post. if you choose to ignore the fact that Bruce may not be as good and credible as you think he is...that's your problem. he screwed me...that's my problem. Had he not screwed me I wouldn't be slamming him. you want me to recommend him so he can screw my friends too? What so you suggest? I say "Bruce screwed me but he's a really nice guy!" Come on man!
jim homick
Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
haven't slammed you at all and I haven't spoken to bruce either.
your posts tell me all I need to know. carry on............
your posts tell me all I need to know. carry on............
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