[DeTomaso] Repair Costs - New vs. Old

[Will Kooiman]

Jack,

I just read your newsletter article title, "Failure Analysis of a Home-Built
Stroker", and I really enjoyed it.

What I enjoyed most was the stroker destroying so many parts, and still only
setting the owner back $2511.  That's a lot of money, but let me put it into
perspective.

I had my Viper on the track a year ago, and it started running rough.  I
didn't know what was wrong.  It didn't pop or crunch.  There was no oil on
the ground.  I just didn't like the way it sounded.  The plugs looked okay.
So, I drove it home.  I know ­ stupid, but what's life without a little
spice?  When I got home, the catalytic converters were hot and smelled bad.
I suspected plugged cats.  I was thinking about taking it apart, but Tomball
Dodge is in town, and they are one of the premier Viper dealers in the
world.  Morgan at Tomball is excellent.  Hennessey is also in town, but they
are further away.  Morgan replaced the computer because mine was showing
codes.  Then once he had a good computer, he found a cylinder that was
running rich.  The old computer wouldn't show a code for that cylinder, but
the new computer did.  He checked the injectors, but they were okay.  He
finally pulled a head and found one keeper had split in half and the intake
valve had slightly dropped.

The damage wasn¹t bad.  If I remember correctly, there were 2 bent valves, a
cracked guide, the bad keeper, a slightly scarred retainer, and a few minor
dings in the head and piston.  Of course, I did all of the necessary repairs
including having the head checked for cracks and straightness.  It was fine.
The total bill was $4,000.

I really like the Viper, but $4,000?  Morgan helped me out with some of the
parts too.

We are currently moving to the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.  Once we get
settled, the Viper is moving on to a new home.  The proceeds will go towards
a new Porsche for my wife (hers was totaled last year).  And I'll replace my
loss with a simpler/cheaper daily driver.  #1 in my list is a 67 Mustang FB.
#2 is a 65/66 FB.  #3 is a 69 AMX.  At least with these cars when I break
something, it won't also break the bank.

--
Will