[DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, good news
Thomas Tornblom
Thomas.Tornblom at hax.se
Thu Jun 4 14:19:40 EDT 2009
As for engine break in, this guy makes a lot of sense:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
The new golf we've just bought has had the engine and transmission
broken in on a dyno, for the equivalent of 1200 km driving, including
two oil changes. There are no break in instructions, just drive it normally.
Thomas
P. Rimov skrev:
> Well, good thing. This was starting to sound like a bad episode of
> Overhaulin and you were going to get you car back OverFoosed or you were
> going to find it in pieces. Just a thought, If you know where your car is
> and you know where the mechanic is and you know where the engine builder is
> maybe you can rally the troops together this weekend to descend upon the
> location, repair the seals and get your car home repaired and correctly put
> back together. Replacing the main seals shouldn't take any time at all
> compared to removing and installing the engine. It will take longer for the
> sealant to cure than to replace the seals. Not to introduce any additional
> concerns about the mechanic but based on what he has gone through with his
> daughter he may not be a 100% to perform the necessary work so having the
> Northwest community descend upon his facility and perform the work in a
> timely and accurate manor may be the best approach.
>
>
> In so far as the magic 500 miles break in. You just need to drive the car
> with the new engine for a couple of days before heading out under different
> driving conditions, hills, curves, stop and go traffic, heavy breaking in
> different RPM and you should be good to go. You just don't want to spin it
> to 6500rpm or drive down the highway at a constant speed and RPM until
> things are set and on your first leg of your journey just change gears every
> so often and do a quick oil change along the way and you should be good to
> go.
>
> Even with Pandora's box there was some good in it " at the very bottom of
> her box, there lay hope"
>
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christopher Kimball" <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
> To: "Pantera List Serve" <detomaso at realbig.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 10:54 PM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, good news
>
>
>> Hey everyone,
>>
>> First, I want to thank all of you who sent me the very helpful emails. I
>> appreciate the suggestions and the moral support, which is amazing.
>>
>> Let me tell you the latest: Since the general consensus from almost all
>> of you was for me to contact the police, I called the engine builder this
>> morning and told him that despite the fact he and I had a good
>> relationship, which I didn't want to damage, I felt it was time for me to
>> file a police report. The insurance company representative told me this
>> morning on the phone the same thing, by the way. I said I'd give him
>> until Monday before I filed.
>>
>> He said he had continued to leave numerous messages on the mechanic's
>> voice mail, and also had a friend that was planning on driving to a
>> possible location of the mechanic's new shop--a building the mechanic had
>> mentioned he was interested in some time back.
>>
>> Apparently before the friend even left to go searching, the mechanic
>> finally called the engine builder back. What happened was about two weeks
>> ago the mechanic's daughter was involved in a horrific boating accident
>> (crushed part of her face, back injuries, etc.) and has been in hospital
>> for the last two weeks. That's why the mechanic essentially "disappeared"
>> during that time.
>>
>> The engine builder told me the transmission was out of the car (as it was
>> two weeks ago) and that he was going over this evening to look at the
>> motor with the mechanic and they were going to try to get the repaired car
>> back to me before the weekend. He said it's the only car in the shop at
>> the moment.
>>
>> As far as getting the car back before Saturday; I'll believe it when I see
>> it, and even then I'll have a very limited time to drive the remaining 300
>> miles to break in the engine and ensure everything is OK for the Reno
>> trip, but at least we know where the car is now.
>>
>> Some of you mentioned my stress level, and over the last few weeks I've
>> tried to remain calm and pragmatic about this whole thing. In fact, my
>> office staff commented more than once that they would be livid if they
>> were me, and were amazed I wasn't freaking out.
>>
>> I guess I had them fooled--over the last couple of weeks I've had several
>> migraine headaches, gotten very little sleep and have been extremely
>> distracted.
>>
>> As I said before, however, the support of everyone in the Pantera
>> community is overwhelming, and that kind of "burden sharing" really helps
>> during frustrating times like this.
>>
>> By the way, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but my Pantera has
>> been given a nickname: "Pandora." Those of you who own, or ever have
>> owned a Pantera and know the story of Pandora's box will immediately
>> understand!
>>
>> Pandora in Reno? At this point I'd put the chances at about 50/50.
>>
>> Thanks y'all.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Christopher Kimball <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
>> To: Pantera List Serve <detomaso at realbig.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 1:47:23 PM
>> Subject: [DeTomaso] FW: weird situation with my car, need your help
>>
>>
>> I recently had a new engine built for my Pantera (dark green, #3846). It
>> leaked oil, so the engine builder said he'd have his mechanic take care of
>> it. I left the car with the engine builder, the mechanic apparently
>> picked it up from there, and I haven't seen the car since. It's been
>> three weeks.
>>
>>
>>
>> If you see anything on Ebay or Craig's list that looks suspicious
>> (including a great deal on a '72 Pantera with a new engine), please let me
>> know.
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, if you know the location of the mechanic,
>> Randy Norwood (possibly in the Buckley area of Washington State), please
>> let me know immediately.
>>
>>
>>
>> At this point, it looks as if I won't be driving my Pantera to Reno, which
>> is heartbreaking since my youngest son and I have been working on the car
>> all year, preparing for this trip.
>>
>>
>>
>> If you want the full details of this sordid story, feel free to read the
>> information below. It is a summary of what I sent my insurance company,
>> plus an update of events that have happened over the last few days.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> From: chrisvkimball at msn.com
>> To: auto at hagerty.com
>> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 19:47:35 -0700
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Hagerty,
>>
>> I recently increased
>> the agreed value on my Pantera. The main reasons for this were the frame
>> repairs and reinforcements ($4000) and the new engine ($9300) I just had
>> completed on the car.
>>
>> After driving only 200 miles on the new engine, I noticed an oil leak. It
>> appeared to be a rear, main seal problem which is really a pain.
>> Especially since it took six guys all afternoon to install the new engine,
>> and to repair the rear seal would probably require another engine pull and
>> reinstallation.
>>
>> Fortunately, the engine builder stood behind his work and told me he would
>> take care of the repair, including the engine removal and reinstallation,
>> if necessary.
>>
>> The engine builder (Dale Green of DG Machine, in Auburn, WA) doesn't have
>> facilities at his engine shop to work on cars, so he told me he had
>> mechanic he's known for 30 years (Randy Norwood I think is his name), and
>> he would pay the mechanic to do the repairs. He said the mechanics
>> shop was only a block or two from his own.
>>
>> I dropped the car off at Dale's shop on Wednesday Morning, May 13th. He
>> was going to have Randy look at it and take it back to his mechanics shop,
>> ostensibly nearby. I told Dale, and he told the mechanic, I needed the
>> car ready for the monthly Panteras Northwest club meeting on the 21st.
>> The mechanic said he'd try to have it done by then.
>>
>> I spoke to Randy the mechanic once last week on the phone (5/12), and told
>> him to please be very careful with the paint, as I had just detailed the
>> entire car in preparation for the Pantera meeting and the POCA Fun Rally
>> (after all, showing off our Panteras is one of the main objectives of our
>> club gatherings!) He assured me he'd be careful and have it repaired as
>> soon as possible, and would keep me apprised of the progress.
>>
>> I heard nothing for several days, and tried to call the mechanic Thursday
>> and Friday of that week, but he
>> never answered his phone (I believe it is a cell phone) and the message
>> informed me there was no room left for leaving messages!
>>
>> I tried again to reach Randy on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last
>> week with the same result. Dale, the engine builder, was out of town
>> until today (5/26), so after another fruitless attempt at reaching Randy
>> this morning, I called Dale and told him of the situation. I said he
>> should walk over to Randy's shop and talk to him in person.
>>
>> At this point, Dale told me Randy had moved his shop to another location,
>> Buckley or Black Diamond (Washington) and was no longer located close to
>> Dale's shop. Black Diamond and Buckly are about 45 minutes away. I asked
>> Dale for the name of the shop, and he said he didn't know. I asked if he
>> would be kind enough to get in touch wih Randy to find out what was going
>> on with my car. Dale said he only had the same number I did, but he would
>> certainly try to contact Randy.
>>
>> Dale assured me he's known Randy for 30 years and all would work out fine.
>>
>> Well, all I know is the annual Pantera Fun Rally is taking place June 9-16
>> in Reno, and I was planning on driving to the event with 8 other Panteras
>> from the Northwest. After putting so much time and effort into the
>> Pantera in preparation only to miss the trip would be a huge
>> disappointment for me. What's worse, however, is that I HAVE NO IDEA
>> WHERE MY PANTERA IS!!!
>>
>> I'm optimistic this will all work out, but I want to alert you to what's
>> going on for two reasons:
>>
>> 1) because as the insurer you have a vested interest in what happens to my
>> Pantera, and
>>
>> 2) I'm wondering if you can suggest an apapropriate course of action I
>> should take.
>>
>> Dale, the engine builder, and I have a good rapport and have always gotten
>> along well. I want to do everything possible to avoid souring the
>> relationship, but
>> at this point, I must confess, I'm becoming concerned.
>>
>> Dale (the engine builder) said before he left for the weekend last week
>> (Tuesday) he reached what appeared to be Randy's (the mechanic)
>> girlfriend. Dale told her to have Randy call him asap.
>>
>> When Dale got back yesterday, he had no message from Randy.
>>
>> Meanwhile, I'd been trying to reach Randy several times per day with no
>> luck and continued to get the same stupid "voice mailbox is full" message
>> every time.
>>
>>
>>
>> UPDATE FROM THIS WEEKEND:
>>
>> Sunday morning Randy's voice mailbox was no longer full and I was able to
>> leave a voice mail, which I did, imploring Randy to call me back.
>>
>> I left another message Sunday night, and another this morning (6/1). Dale
>> also left a message yesterday, telling Randy I was talking with my
>> insurance company about filing a lost vehicle report. Dale and I both
>> thought if Randy heard that he'd respond for
>> sure.
>>
>> Still nothing, so this morning I told Hagerty (the insurance company) to
>> get to work on finding my car. They are now going to start trying to
>> track down this mechanic guy.
>>
>>
>>
>> Today I again spoke to Dale (the engine builder) and he is very
>> frustrated, too, and has a friend looking for Randy's new location. I
>> told him I'm filing a police report on Monday, the day before I leave for
>> Reno.
>>
>> At this point, I am pretty much (sadly) resigned to the fact I'll be
>> driving the Magnum to Reno. After a year of preparation, to be denied the
>> experience of a lifetime for my younger son and me because of some
>> mechanic's incompetence, is very difficult to swallow.
>>
>> The way I figure it, there are several possibilities for what's going on.
>>
>> 1) The mechanic is completely lackadaisical and hardly ever checks his
>> voice mail
>>
>> 2) The mechanic has screwed up the car so badly he doesn't want to face
>> the engine
>> builder or me until he figures out how to fix what he's ruined (which may
>> be impossible if he doesn't have a clue about working on Panteras)
>>
>> 3) The mechanic is a charlatan who is selling my car piece by piece on
>> Craig's list
>>
>>
>>
>> 4) (and I hope this isn't the case) Randy has been injured or is sick and
>> in the hospital
>>
>> I think it's probably a combination of #1 and #2. I'll be very interested
>> to find out the real story when all of this is over.
>>
>> I would appreciate any help you could offer me. Thank you.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>>
>> Christopher Kimball
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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--
Real life: Thomas Törnblom Email: Thomas.Tornblom at Hax.SE
Snail mail: Banvallsvägen 14 Phone: +46 18 444 33 21
S - 754 40 Uppsala, Sweden Cellular: +46 70 261 1372
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