My Experience with Motor & Trans Build by Nick Micale

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Man, if this is all true, finding reputable TR mechanics is getting that much more difficult. I hope things work out and/or all parties learn from this and move on.

Huge learning experience. I'm not so sure our motors need such a "specialist". With the benefit of this forum, folks can advise what parts should be installed. If I could go back in time, I'd have bought the parts myself, and taken them all to my local Speed Shop and have him assemble the motor.

Again, I shipped it to Nick because I not only wanted a reputable engine builder (he claimed to have built ~600 TR motors in his lifetime; that was good enough for me!!!), but I wanted someone who knew the TR in and out so they could tune it just right and have it set up perfectly for me. Note the "tune as needed" on the invoice.

I have moved on, and am now doing what I've done in the past - doing it all myself. Thank God for this forum and the invaluable advice and guidance I've been given. I'm making progress on resolving the severe cutting out, hesitation and power loss that I soon discovered after getting it back. The stock style fuel pump, the plug wires haphazardly placed (touching), plugs gapped at 0.038 (now at 0.025), the TPS maxing at 3.98 were contributing issues. All of those were things Nick should've done. But again, those are just the tuning issues (besides the fuel pump).

You are correct. Our cars are 30 years old. I think we are more and more on our own and reliant on this forum to support each other. That's the main reason I value the Feedback section...so I can support/ionform others so they don't get burned like I did. I'm no Saint, but I value the Golden Rule, and would want a heads up to beware of anyone whose experience was like mine. I don't care what it is I buy...if it's a $10 part on Amazon - I read the reviews.
 
Waiting for nick to chime in...

Looks like you need the correct oil drain tube.

Oh I did that before running the car again, many months ago. See pic.

I'd be very surprised if Nick responds to this post. But obviously, he's welcome to, and fair enough.
 

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The more I think about it, I'd bet I actually have a forged crank (which is great!). I just reviewed the invoice and noticed the flexplate (aftermarket). If I remember correctly, Nick told me that it was required with the forged crank. Does that make sense? turboclam's mention of the flexplate sparked that memory.
 
Can only say great things about Nick and the work he did for me over the years. Like most have already said, he did it with no money down, crunched time lines and even waited a few weeks for payment after I picked up parts and a transmission.

With that said where is your CL add you had up a while back? Your description of the car never mentioned anything you are saying in this post. Only the opposite and actually praised Nick and the build....If what you are claiming to be true then it sounds like you were trying to do the same to a potential buyer that you are claiming Nick did to you. My two cents....
 
Seems like your invoice reflex what you paid for minus whatever happened to the trans that they made right and the fuel pump which I can't tell either way if it was a typo or never done. The leaks should have been fixed for sure but it might not have leaked after the first test drive we don't know.

Now if the invoice showed max ported irons ($1500) and you only got port matched or bowl work then yes.

From what I see so far, a once over should have been done after a few test drives and tighten and fix leaks as needed.

Also they should have checked the tps and maybe it was set to 4.2 with them mashing the hell out of the gas. We don't know..

Yes you have had issues but. I looks like the invoice is correct so far and you still owe a balance. Just my .02

I always say, if you want things done right you have to do it yourself. Or be super anal on it while it's being done.

Sucks you have had to deal with issues that's for sure and you didn't get what you thought you were for the price. Miscommunication?



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Can only say great things about Nick and the work he did for me over the years. Like most have already said, he did it with no money down, crunched time lines and even waited a few weeks for payment after I picked up parts and a transmission.

With that said where is your CL add you had up a while back? Your description of the car never mentioned anything you are saying in this post. Only the opposite and actually praised Nick and the build....If what you are claiming to be true then it sounds like you were trying to do the same to a potential buyer that you are claiming Nick did to you. My two cents....

That CL ad (which was what...5-6 months ago now?) was only when I had discovered the smallest issues like all the oil leaks and the transmission. And he made good on the transmission, as I have stated in my original feedback comments. I discovered the fuel pump 2-3 weeks ago. I discovered the pistons and lack of port work yesterday. At the time I wrote the ad, and aside from the parts, the motor itself appears to be well built. If Nick's claim of having built "about 600" TR motors is anything close to true, then it should be.

So nice try, but no, I wasn't coming close "doing the same thing as Nick". I'm nowhere close to Nick in that regard. I'll be changing my signature momentarily, now that you've reminded me that's something I need to do. And be assured if/when I sell the car, it will be described 100% accurately. The last thing I would ever do is claim forged pistons and ported heads since I now know it doesn't have them. Sigh...
 
Seems like your invoice reflex what you paid for minus whatever happened to the trans that they made right and the fuel pump which I can't tell either way if it was a typo or never done. The leaks should have been fixed for sure but it might not have leaked after the first test drive we don't know.

Now if the invoice showed max ported irons ($1500) and you only got port matched or bowl work then yes.

From what I see so far, a once over should have been done after a few test drives and tighten and fix leaks as needed.

Also they should have checked the tps and maybe it was set to 4.2 with them mashing the hell out of the gas. We don't know..

Yes you have had issues but. I looks like the invoice is correct so far and you still owe a balance. Just my .02

I always say, if you want things done right you have to do it yourself. Or be super anal on it while it's being done.

Sucks you have had to deal with issues that's for sure and you didn't get what you thought you were for the price. Miscommunication?



Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk


Are you serious ??

all I can say is ... NUTSWINGER !
 
Are you serious ??

all I can say is ... NUTSWINGER !
Name calling already....

I have nothing to gain from any of this. This is just my opinion and what I have seen and read so far. So you disagree that's fine as everyone has their opinions.





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Seems like your invoice reflex what you paid for minus whatever happened to the trans that they made right and the fuel pump which I can't tell either way if it was a typo or never done. The leaks should have been fixed for sure but it might not have leaked after the first test drive we don't know.

Now if the invoice showed max ported irons ($1500) and you only got port matched or bowl work then yes.

From what I see so far, a once over should have been done after a few test drives and tighten and fix leaks as needed.

Also they should have checked the tps and maybe it was set to 4.2 with them mashing the hell out of the gas. We don't know..

Yes you have had issues but. I looks like the invoice is correct so far and you still owe a balance. Just my .02

I always say, if you want things done right you have to do it yourself. Or be super anal on it while it's being done.

Sucks you have had to deal with issues that's for sure and you didn't get what you thought you were for the price. Miscommunication?

Well, the way you break it down, it sounds like my issues are/were relatively minor. Let me make this clear: It's been a nightmare since I got car back, and that's only speaking of the issues with the transmission and the myriad of leaks, and the countless hours I've spent trying to resolve the fact the car doesn't run - are you ready? - the way it's supposed to. This is a race car, and you, and I and most importantly...Nick knows that. It always ran great at partial throttle, but I know (and I'm not anything close to a TR guru) that our cars reveal their issues at WOT. Almost every TR I've ever had that had engine troubles had them at WOT. If the story was anything like you've simplified it, I wouldn't have written the great detail I have. And in hindsight...my story was brief! Again...uncountable hours, back under the car. And as you know, I am still remembering issues (like the oil return line).

But the uncountable hours under the car, are far from the only reason I'm not paying him the balance. They're a contributor, for sure. But if I were to pay over $10K, it would have to be justified by mainly - having the internals and all the work I so very much wanted inside the motor, along with having a car returned to me that had everything running/tuned just right.

There is every indication I got a basic rebuild ($1,500), no forged pistons, no port work, probably the forged crank ($700), the trans ($1,800), the R&R ($750; that's what I paid in the past, that's minus the tune), the $800 FMIC, the balancer and flexplate ($420), crank pulley ($159), exhaust, $400, hotwire kit, $100, and misc (we'll say $300). So far that totals $6,929. I've paid him $8,313. But you have to also add the...$150 I think I paid for the r&r of the trans, and I forget...$200 I paid to ship the old trans back to him. So that's $8,663. And again, that doesn't count the uncountable hours I've spent resolving issues he should have. I'm not going to reduce the fact he didn't put in the $250 fuel pump and just say I don't owe him $250. My time banging my head trying to figure out the problem, when he and I had 10-15 communications (phone and email) based on the assumption that the DW pump was installed...is worth much more than $250 off what I owe him from the invoice. I've spent probably 25 hours between working on the car, and on this forum trying to resolve it. What's 25 hours worth to him? I'll tell you, it's worth something to me. And it's more than $0.

But the real question is - what would it cost me to get the motor I wanted...right now? What would it cost me to have forged pistons installed? What would it cost me to have the heads pulled, have them ported and reinstalled? Could I do all that for $2,062? I seriously doubt it. So the way I see it, Nick owes me money, or to make it right.

So I'll make him the offer (I may have said this already): If he sends me the motor I wanted, with forged pistons, and ported heads, fully machined, balanced, blueprinted...that "$3,000" build like he said I'd be getting in our first conversations, pays for the r&ring of the new motor here by a local mechanic, reimburses me for the time I've spent working on it at $20/hour (probably 40 hours total at the car), reimburses me for the trans r&ring and shipping to him, takes the existing motor back (pays for that shipping), then I'll pay the $2,062 balance. That's all I want...is the motor I originally wanted, and to be reasonably reimbursed for my time...very fair. And I'll take it from there...and continue tuning it myself.
 
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Are you serious ??

all I can say is ... NUTSWINGER !

I'll stay out of this one, only to say - look at his signature (arizonagn). Whoever Boost231 is, he's in all likelihood a longtime close friend and associate of Nick. It's not surprising he'd be a smidge biased and supportive.
 
I'll stay out of this one, only to say - look at his signature (arizonagn). Whoever Boost231 is, he's in all likelihood a longtime close friend and associate of Nick. It's not surprising he'd be a smidge biased and supportive.
You said you have know nick for 15 years, I have know him just about as long. Someone created me my signature about 7 years back from some of the top vendors I have used over the 20 yrs I have owned my junk.

As for biased I'm trying to stay neutral as I can and only go by what I have seen and read. We still don't know what pistons you have for sure as we need to see the bottom of them.

Like I said I have nothing to gain on this topic.

Just my .02
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You said you have know nick for 15 years, I have know him just about as long. Someone created me my signature about 7 years back from some of the top vendors I have used over the 20 yrs I have owned my junk.

Gotcha. I assumed you were a close personal friend/associate, and apparently I was mistaken. Pardon my assumption.
 
Gotcha. I assumed you were a close personal friend/associate, and apparently I was mistaken. Pardon my assumption.
No sir, nick has built 3 motors for me over the years. From stock rebuild to full TA ALUMINUM motor. He's built me transmissions, rearends, etc etc. I use to live about 2 hours from him now I'm about 7 hours away.

Yes he is a good friend of mine but I only get to see him a few times a year

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No sir, nick has built 3 motors for me over the years. From stock rebuild to full TA ALUMINUM motor. He's built me transmissions, rearends, etc etc. I use to live about 2 hours from him now I'm about 7 hours away.

Yes he is a good friend of mine but I only get to see him a few times a year

That makes good sense to me. Firstly, I think Nick built his reputation on how he used to build motors over the past couple decades. And as I've stated a couple times now already, I'm willing to bet he was literally "banking" on me flipping the car soon after I got it back, as I told him I might do...probably the first time we spoke (about the prospect of him building my motor). I also told him how this is my 6th TR, that my pattern is to buy one, keep it for a short time, then sell it. There's little question that he scammed me. His justification for doing so, I would bet, was thinking he could get away with it, thinking I'd never discover the big things. He didn't think the 2nd gear would fail on the tranny. If the 2nd gear hadn't outright failed, I might have never known that they tranny wasn't new. He didn't think I'd buy an endoscope.

He gambled on a scam...and lost. And you think I should pay him another $2K? Sure...

Do the math, and I've already overpaid him ~$1,700. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt on "upgrade heads with new valves; $325", and that awesome $3K build...whatever that is - adds $1,825...which makes us just about even. I'll take a whopping $100 for the 40 hours I've spent under the car.
 
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