S&R Performance
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4,331
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From: Tallahassee, FL
S&R Performance
Hey guys-
Just wanted to put this out there... If anyone in the Tampa area needs work done on their s2k, I HEAVILY recommend S&R Performance.
I purchased a Laskey Racing motor off of a fellow forum member back in January. It never ran right from day 1. I am 99% sure it had a blown headgasket when I purchased it.
I replaced the headgasket myself, and followed ALL of the instructions to the "T". After my work was done, it was still mixing oil/coolant. I take it to a local speed shop (mistake), and they pull the pan and show me the copper bearing shavings... They hauled the motor and I took it to S&R Performance. The thing about it was, the shop LOST A TON of the hardware for the motor (starter bolts, oil pan bolts, etc. etc. etc.). I delivered the motor to S&R Performance for a complete rebuild. Here is what they found....
There was not anything wrong with the work I did (I described the sequence of putting the head back, torquing procedure, everything to Mase as well as Taylor (S&R) and they both confirmed). The problem was that the machine shop up here in Tallahassee is a COMPLETE PIECE OF CRAP. They told me the head was 100% straight when I took it down for them to check. When S&R took it to their machine shop (there was all of 20 miles on the motor since I did the HG, and NO overheating... I shut it down as soon as I got an oil pressure warning light, and there were no coolant temps above 200* on my serial gauge during this time), and the head was warped .006 (maximum allowed to machine without replacement). That explained the oil/coolant mixing... warped head = leaky HG (after my work, compression was good on all cylinders immediately after the swap, apparently just not holding fluid).
They had the motor completely rebuilt and back to me within about 2 weeks (took that long, as a few of the bearings they ordered were out of tolerance/spec from Honda, so they needed to order more), and I was not even on their schedule! damn impressive if you consider all the miscellaneous crap that the old shop lost!
I have since put close to 500 miles on it, and I was still a little uneasy with pushing it after such major work... So I brought it back to Bobby and the crew for them to give me the thumbs-up (and to confirm that I was just paranoid). Within 3 hours of me dropping it off, Bobby calls me and says everything looks OK, with the exception of my TCT (defective part... it was replaced during the rebuild along with the guide) and a really gunked up Idle Air Control Valve (explains the "WRX (high/fluctuating idle)" I was experiencing).
They drove it for a day and said everything looks strong now. They are going to dyno it and do a little adjusting to the suspension over the next week or so prior to me picking it up.
Cliffs-Notes: S&R Performance IS FREAKY FAST, AND FREAKY GOOD, at what they do! Jeff and Bobby are both stand-up guys who will tell you straight-up how it is... Its nice to deal with a shop that does not either 1) tell you what you want to hear ALL THE TIME or 2) recommend services that are not needed. They do what is needed, and they do it FAST / right the first time.
S&R Performance now has all of my business (until I get up to NYC area, at which point it will be Evans Tuning).
I will post the dyno chart in here once it gets tuned...
to S&R Performance!
John
PS - Jeff: Feel free to post the dyno sheet in this thread if its done before I come to pick it up...
Just wanted to put this out there... If anyone in the Tampa area needs work done on their s2k, I HEAVILY recommend S&R Performance.
I purchased a Laskey Racing motor off of a fellow forum member back in January. It never ran right from day 1. I am 99% sure it had a blown headgasket when I purchased it.
I replaced the headgasket myself, and followed ALL of the instructions to the "T". After my work was done, it was still mixing oil/coolant. I take it to a local speed shop (mistake), and they pull the pan and show me the copper bearing shavings... They hauled the motor and I took it to S&R Performance. The thing about it was, the shop LOST A TON of the hardware for the motor (starter bolts, oil pan bolts, etc. etc. etc.). I delivered the motor to S&R Performance for a complete rebuild. Here is what they found....
There was not anything wrong with the work I did (I described the sequence of putting the head back, torquing procedure, everything to Mase as well as Taylor (S&R) and they both confirmed). The problem was that the machine shop up here in Tallahassee is a COMPLETE PIECE OF CRAP. They told me the head was 100% straight when I took it down for them to check. When S&R took it to their machine shop (there was all of 20 miles on the motor since I did the HG, and NO overheating... I shut it down as soon as I got an oil pressure warning light, and there were no coolant temps above 200* on my serial gauge during this time), and the head was warped .006 (maximum allowed to machine without replacement). That explained the oil/coolant mixing... warped head = leaky HG (after my work, compression was good on all cylinders immediately after the swap, apparently just not holding fluid).
They had the motor completely rebuilt and back to me within about 2 weeks (took that long, as a few of the bearings they ordered were out of tolerance/spec from Honda, so they needed to order more), and I was not even on their schedule! damn impressive if you consider all the miscellaneous crap that the old shop lost!
I have since put close to 500 miles on it, and I was still a little uneasy with pushing it after such major work... So I brought it back to Bobby and the crew for them to give me the thumbs-up (and to confirm that I was just paranoid). Within 3 hours of me dropping it off, Bobby calls me and says everything looks OK, with the exception of my TCT (defective part... it was replaced during the rebuild along with the guide) and a really gunked up Idle Air Control Valve (explains the "WRX (high/fluctuating idle)" I was experiencing).
They drove it for a day and said everything looks strong now. They are going to dyno it and do a little adjusting to the suspension over the next week or so prior to me picking it up.
Cliffs-Notes: S&R Performance IS FREAKY FAST, AND FREAKY GOOD, at what they do! Jeff and Bobby are both stand-up guys who will tell you straight-up how it is... Its nice to deal with a shop that does not either 1) tell you what you want to hear ALL THE TIME or 2) recommend services that are not needed. They do what is needed, and they do it FAST / right the first time.
S&R Performance now has all of my business (until I get up to NYC area, at which point it will be Evans Tuning).
I will post the dyno chart in here once it gets tuned...
to S&R Performance!John
PS - Jeff: Feel free to post the dyno sheet in this thread if its done before I come to pick it up...
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4,331
Likes: 0
From: Tallahassee, FL
Jeff-
Yup. Heard that from Bobby today. They are going to pull it and see where its leaking. That thing is not 6 months old! If its in one of the end tanks, I think it can be repaired. If not, I may be contacting GT Motoring for a replacement (unless it looks like impact/trauma damage).
Its weird, because it sat in my garage for 2 days with no puddles before the body shop, and there were no puddles on the body shop floor when I picked it up (it was on a lift, and the brace/cradle that is under the radiator seemed dry... I remember sticking my finger in the hole that is on the bottom of the brace, on the driver's side, and it was dry).
I am wondering if it might have picked up a rock or something while on the trailer ride down. The bumper as well as the FMIC were both removed for the trip, so the radiator was exposed the whole way down...
I decided to post up, as almost no one posts good experiences... Only the bad ones seem to pop up.
The fact that Jeff posted that in this thread is an example of how they do not mince words... They tell you how it is.
I will be MOST happy when she is back in my hands, and pulling like a freight train!
John
Yup. Heard that from Bobby today. They are going to pull it and see where its leaking. That thing is not 6 months old! If its in one of the end tanks, I think it can be repaired. If not, I may be contacting GT Motoring for a replacement (unless it looks like impact/trauma damage).
Its weird, because it sat in my garage for 2 days with no puddles before the body shop, and there were no puddles on the body shop floor when I picked it up (it was on a lift, and the brace/cradle that is under the radiator seemed dry... I remember sticking my finger in the hole that is on the bottom of the brace, on the driver's side, and it was dry).
I am wondering if it might have picked up a rock or something while on the trailer ride down. The bumper as well as the FMIC were both removed for the trip, so the radiator was exposed the whole way down...
I decided to post up, as almost no one posts good experiences... Only the bad ones seem to pop up.
The fact that Jeff posted that in this thread is an example of how they do not mince words... They tell you how it is.
I will be MOST happy when she is back in my hands, and pulling like a freight train!
John
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Originally Posted by Onehots2k,Jun 28 2009, 10:15 AM
I sent a guy with his 12second BMW 135i over there to get some work done. He said they were GREAT!
In this economy we can use all the work we can get.
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