Another month has gone by with no progress as we near the three year mark, which is coming up in a few more weeks. Cody stated in his last post that bearings were already ordered......well it's been a month and he told me on the phone earlier this week that he had to see if his local supplier had correct bearings in stock........oops....guess his post on June 3rd saying they were already ordered was just another lie.
-
***AVOID MARKETPLACE SCAMS!!***
Scammers are using compromised Prime member accounts to pose as a trusted seller in the marketplace. Before you enter into a deal with any seller, follow these tips to keep yourself safe. If you encounter one of these scammers, please report them immediately and we will lock their account.
Caveat Emptor!
Cody and LoveFab
- Thread starter NA1MT
- Start date
Another month, another story. Cody called me today to inform me that my crankshaft is bent. He then tried to say that it must have come to him in that condition from the start. I'm no machinist, but since I have an invoice from him for balancing of the rotating assembly how could that have been done with a bent crank?
He then had the nerve to ask me for the crank out of my spare motor.....when I offered it to him at fair market value, he said absolutely not would he pay for it. If anyone here is or has friends from other platforms that are thinking of doing business with him......I say keep your money in your pocket and run fast in the other direction.
He also said he will end up going out of business and start returning people's cars unfinished because he has no money to finish them.
He then had the nerve to ask me for the crank out of my spare motor.....when I offered it to him at fair market value, he said absolutely not would he pay for it. If anyone here is or has friends from other platforms that are thinking of doing business with him......I say keep your money in your pocket and run fast in the other direction.
He also said he will end up going out of business and start returning people's cars unfinished because he has no money to finish them.
Still no car......Happy New Year!
Well......the day has finally come. Cody arrived last night with my car after almost 4 years of it being in his possession. Anyone following this thread has read of the ups and downs, frustrations, accusations and obvious miscommunications of what I feel can be summed up by the old saying that "good intentions pave the way to hell".
I, as well as I'm sure Cody, both went into this with the best of intentions and both standing to gain in the end. Let me say that I honestly believe, even after all I have been through with him, that he truly intends to do the best he can and strives to make everyone happy. His skills as a fabricator are up there with the best of them and I feel that if he can learn from his mistakes and grow into a more proficient business owner then one day he will be running a very successful and lucrative business to take him to very high levels in the performance industry.
I also am not without fault within this transaction of ours, and definitely can say that what I walk away with will also help me to grow both as a consumer and also in my own day to day situations as a business owner in a service orientated industry. In the very end, I still disagree with some choices Cody has made in the finalizations of our deal and choose to believe that these determinations of his were made due to reasons beyond his financial control.
My initial thoughts on the completed car are "damn this thing is fast" and pretty sick to drive. Welds all look top notch and there are no mystery rattles or clunks.....well there was one, but we fixed that. I have only driven the car for about an hour though and I know that a build thread is being started next week, so I will periodically update that thread.
I would have Cody do future work with me, but would definitely have everything in writing with timelines and payment schedules based on progression so that neither of us would have doubt in the others intentions or integrity. I hope he agrees with my conclusion here and walks away on a positive note as well.
I, as well as I'm sure Cody, both went into this with the best of intentions and both standing to gain in the end. Let me say that I honestly believe, even after all I have been through with him, that he truly intends to do the best he can and strives to make everyone happy. His skills as a fabricator are up there with the best of them and I feel that if he can learn from his mistakes and grow into a more proficient business owner then one day he will be running a very successful and lucrative business to take him to very high levels in the performance industry.
I also am not without fault within this transaction of ours, and definitely can say that what I walk away with will also help me to grow both as a consumer and also in my own day to day situations as a business owner in a service orientated industry. In the very end, I still disagree with some choices Cody has made in the finalizations of our deal and choose to believe that these determinations of his were made due to reasons beyond his financial control.
My initial thoughts on the completed car are "damn this thing is fast" and pretty sick to drive. Welds all look top notch and there are no mystery rattles or clunks.....well there was one, but we fixed that. I have only driven the car for about an hour though and I know that a build thread is being started next week, so I will periodically update that thread.
I would have Cody do future work with me, but would definitely have everything in writing with timelines and payment schedules based on progression so that neither of us would have doubt in the others intentions or integrity. I hope he agrees with my conclusion here and walks away on a positive note as well.
It's been a long time since I updated this as I really just wanted to forget the entire experience. The motor ended up having to be completely torn down to bare block and reassembled as Cody had installed two of the connecting rod caps backwards.This was all photo documented but of course when questioned about it, Cody cried foul play by others. Sooooo I guess we should all believe that someone dropped my oil pan, switched around the caps, and then ran it, causing bearing failure......which they then photo documented, and then blamed on him cause they are out to get him......lol.
STAY FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS SHOP!!!!!!!!
PS......Try asking him for a certificate/proof of insurance........he didn't have any while my car was there.
STAY FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS SHOP!!!!!!!!
PS......Try asking him for a certificate/proof of insurance........he didn't have any while my car was there.
Agh, my god. This is so terrible and reminds me of my Honda swap Lotus Exige project. That experience is the reason I am a semi competent wrencher now. I try not to let anyone work on my cars unless I know beyond a shadow of a doubt they can do the job without screwing me over. I'm glad you were finally able to get your property back and put this behind you. No more love for LoveFab on this forum.
i've had an interesting dilemma with him as well but no where like this. sorry to hear and glad your car is up and running
What a shitty experience to the O.P. I am so glad I live close to Driving Ambition. Shad's an awesome mechanic and overall just a good person to deal with. Never met Cody though. But how the hell do you install main caps backwards anyhow???? I imagine the machine shop did that?
Uh, I know of an engine built by DA that spun rod bearings during break-in. Everyone has mishaps sometimes.
The OP said it was rod caps installed incorrectly.
IIRC, the OEM main caps have an arrow on them that faces to the TB side of the engine. They're also numbered. That would be pretty hard to mess up.
OEM rod caps are similar. There is a nub at the bottom of the cap that orients the cap direction. Another important feature is Honda engraved each rod/cap as a set, so you should be able to bolt them together and make sure the engravings match on each side of the rod/cap. That would also be pretty hard to screw up.
Mistakes happen in general, and there is a higher propensity for mistakes when people are under time pressure and stress.
Not making excuses, just saying almost every "pro" engine builder on this site has had blown engines just after a rebuild.
Agreed. But several years in excuses? No thanks.... Nothing is for sure, nothing is certain, nothing lasts forever. Cost of building motors I assume. I am curious as to why you pulled the plug on your motor build/turbo build? PM me.
You're right - It's all about customer service when things go wrong. Even if a shop has had some engine builds gone wrong in the past, I would have little hesitation using them on future builds if I know they've taken care of their previous customers.
My built motor has run fantastic the past few years. At this time, I just don't have the manpower/money it would take to continue refining the FI setup. That's probably a reason you don't see similar setups in the OEM world (Audi has a production engine and GM has one in development for their little 4cylinders that I know of - that's about it), and most certainly not well-running ones in the aftermarket.
My built motor has run fantastic the past few years. At this time, I just don't have the manpower/money it would take to continue refining the FI setup. That's probably a reason you don't see similar setups in the OEM world (Audi has a production engine and GM has one in development for their little 4cylinders that I know of - that's about it), and most certainly not well-running ones in the aftermarket.
- Joined
- 13 December 2011
- Messages
- 1,934
So you have had severe engine failure now three times with the shop? That is completely ridiculous and anybody that builds and engine incorrectly three times should not consider themselves an expert in this field and should definitely go back to school LMAO. What a headache
I was under the impression that the shop was closed, and Cody is focused on his fabrication and welding projects, skills for which he's received much accolades.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Cody closed his larger shop he moved into and moved back to the smaller one where he began. He's alive and well doing other car stuff along with getting investors to build his hyper car project. For those who have had project delays that's probably the reason now. Building a car from scratch like he did takes time and money.
To the op and everyone who's gone through a bad business fall out with people like Cody. What would you guys have done differently and what are some advice you can give us so we can better prepare ourselves in protection of our investment in the future. 4years and $16k + is a lot of headaches and maybe this thread would be able to help the next guy not have the same problems.
Statistically speaking, you're more likely to get screwed if you don't live within easy access of the shop doing the work. Obviously, you don't want to continuously drop by for updates or bother the shop, but letting them know you're local and checking up on them occasionally goes a long way to keeping them focused on your work.
That didn't help me though. Satterfield machine shop in Columbia SC was recommended, nearby, and seemed to make progress on my block and heads. Only later during reassembly myself did I realize their shoddy workmanship. It resulted in having to have the heads rebuilt by another small local machine shop when I moved to Oregon (got lucky I guess), and the block going through extensive machining by Dan Benson to fix the SC guys "work."
You'd think the people that have weathered this economy and are still in business after many years would be competent but that's not always the case.
i paid Cody for a couple of titanium bars on March 22. before payment, i inquired the availability. initially, i was told that they will be shipped in the following week, and then it became he needs 3-4 weeks to produce them. after 3-4 weeks, he promised me to ship them by the end of the following week. finally, i called him on Monday and was promised to have a tracking number by Wednesday. as of now, i still didn't get a tracking number nor any response. i don't know if he has another excuse. it's very frustrating to deal with this person.
Such a shame because the chassis bracing LoveFab produces seems to be some of the best out there for this platform.
i can wait and it is not a problem. but he needs to deliver, not just charge me. by the way, i didn't even negotiate a penny but paid the bill upfront.
Any updates?
I am shocked anybody would send this guy a penny after reading this nightmare thread....wow
I've had experienced with vendors and shops where I took that attitude. It's fine to wait until that wait time turns into months and then into a year or more.
Hope you get the products you paid for. Fingers crossed for you.
he won't respond me until i comment his facebook project. now, it becomes he will go to FedEx and update tracking number tomorrow. hopefully, i get what i paid for. otherwise, i must contact credit card company before dispute period is expired and out of my control.
Keep us updated. Those titanium bars looked amazing, but all these horror stories kept me from pulling the trigger on them.
