Joined
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401 Posts
First experience with Chris is a camshaft in my 532 bbf. Claimed the camshaft I was running was junk. I did the swap and peak power was down and average power was up. I wasn't happy so we had a little chat. He told me we needed more valve area in the head to achieve my goals. So try #2. We do a bunch of head work and pick up 35 cfm intake head flow with a larger valve and port work. Order new camshaft and Chris has a good deal on some PAC valve springs for me. Customer ordered them and never paid for them so he will discount them for me. I get them in a regular unmarked cardboard box with no ID. I ask him what they are and he sends me a part # for a tripple spring and its a double spring that he sent. I let him know and never hear back about it. So i test them and they dont mach up to anything in the cataloge. Now they are useless to me because i cant replace one if it breaks. I install camshaft and engine has almost 60 hp over a previous best. All is great at this point. The cam is wiped out (went soft)after a season and he sees fit to charge me full price for a new one.
Next project. A 350 Oldsmobile. New cam and lifters from Straub. He has just what I need. Engine has less power than before. O,well , Chris sais it's not the camshafts fault. Customer doesn't have a pile of money to spend on the project so I eat the cost and tell him we need to do some induction work when he can afford it.
Well I thought we could give it 1 more go. A 6.0 LQ4 in a 2500 Silverado. I will give Chris the benefit of the doubt. Something was out of the ordinary with the other projects. Customer tows a heavy camper and wants a little more grunt. I talk to Chris and Yep, I got just what you need. A "drop in" no tuning required camshaft will pick it up 50 hp and 40 ft lbs. Sell the customer on it, great let's get it done. Order cam, lifters, head bolts, oil pump, timing chain and gears and gaskets from Chris. Tear the engine apart and find substantial wear everywhere. Do a little price checking and find its cheaper to get a new gm crate engine than fix everything. So we get one of them coming and ask Chris if he will accept the parts I don't need, I am just going to install the new cam and the new chain and gears. Nope, can't take anything back. Well we finish the project and put the vehicle back in service. Check engine lights shortly after. All kinds of codes, it's not happy. So here we go. New mass airflow sensor and O2 sensors and adjustable fuel psi regulator and now it's somewhat better. Tell the customer to haul his camper to the lake and try it. Comes back next week dissatisfied. Pulled better stock than now. So now what? I have a dissatisfied customer that spent a lot of money and is watching his truck in the shop more than he is driving it. I spend the money and custom tune the thing so it actually runs correctly. Now I have a happy customer but I just lost thousands of dollars on another job. Call Chris for some support and " I'll get back to you on that" . Never heard back.
Meanwhile during all of this the 611" Thor project is in process for my brother. He has a pulling truck as well. Was considering a new Sonny's engine but Straub said he could build a engine to out power one of them with a lot less money. Those things are way overpriced with inflated power numbers. My brother buys a cheap engine to pull for a year while Straub builds the new power plant. Gonna have Jager rods and Bryant crankshaft and all the best technology. Turn the thing as hard as you want. 6 months later the phone rings. What kind of rods do you want? Next thing you know it has a Scatt crankshaft in it. Price goes up every time you talk to him and he sells you every part you can think of. Tells us what ignition he would like in the truck so we purchase it. Next we need a ignition that only he has. We sent him a fully functional fuel system and he takes pieces of it and orders new stuff for $2500 to update it. Wrecks the thing on the dyno due to the fuel system. Chris has $45,000 parts supplied and cash for this build and is over a year behind delivery date on the project. Next thing you know, I ask a question in the N/A section about some cylinder heads and Chris humiliates me over a couple thousand dollars I owe him on a different project. I bring out a few facts and the thread is deleted. I however did promptly pay the bill though. Guess that's all that matters.
Any large projects you do with Straub , MAKE SURE IT IS DOCUMENTED.
Next project. A 350 Oldsmobile. New cam and lifters from Straub. He has just what I need. Engine has less power than before. O,well , Chris sais it's not the camshafts fault. Customer doesn't have a pile of money to spend on the project so I eat the cost and tell him we need to do some induction work when he can afford it.
Well I thought we could give it 1 more go. A 6.0 LQ4 in a 2500 Silverado. I will give Chris the benefit of the doubt. Something was out of the ordinary with the other projects. Customer tows a heavy camper and wants a little more grunt. I talk to Chris and Yep, I got just what you need. A "drop in" no tuning required camshaft will pick it up 50 hp and 40 ft lbs. Sell the customer on it, great let's get it done. Order cam, lifters, head bolts, oil pump, timing chain and gears and gaskets from Chris. Tear the engine apart and find substantial wear everywhere. Do a little price checking and find its cheaper to get a new gm crate engine than fix everything. So we get one of them coming and ask Chris if he will accept the parts I don't need, I am just going to install the new cam and the new chain and gears. Nope, can't take anything back. Well we finish the project and put the vehicle back in service. Check engine lights shortly after. All kinds of codes, it's not happy. So here we go. New mass airflow sensor and O2 sensors and adjustable fuel psi regulator and now it's somewhat better. Tell the customer to haul his camper to the lake and try it. Comes back next week dissatisfied. Pulled better stock than now. So now what? I have a dissatisfied customer that spent a lot of money and is watching his truck in the shop more than he is driving it. I spend the money and custom tune the thing so it actually runs correctly. Now I have a happy customer but I just lost thousands of dollars on another job. Call Chris for some support and " I'll get back to you on that" . Never heard back.
Meanwhile during all of this the 611" Thor project is in process for my brother. He has a pulling truck as well. Was considering a new Sonny's engine but Straub said he could build a engine to out power one of them with a lot less money. Those things are way overpriced with inflated power numbers. My brother buys a cheap engine to pull for a year while Straub builds the new power plant. Gonna have Jager rods and Bryant crankshaft and all the best technology. Turn the thing as hard as you want. 6 months later the phone rings. What kind of rods do you want? Next thing you know it has a Scatt crankshaft in it. Price goes up every time you talk to him and he sells you every part you can think of. Tells us what ignition he would like in the truck so we purchase it. Next we need a ignition that only he has. We sent him a fully functional fuel system and he takes pieces of it and orders new stuff for $2500 to update it. Wrecks the thing on the dyno due to the fuel system. Chris has $45,000 parts supplied and cash for this build and is over a year behind delivery date on the project. Next thing you know, I ask a question in the N/A section about some cylinder heads and Chris humiliates me over a couple thousand dollars I owe him on a different project. I bring out a few facts and the thread is deleted. I however did promptly pay the bill though. Guess that's all that matters.
Any large projects you do with Straub , MAKE SURE IT IS DOCUMENTED.
