Customer threatens us with court over machining error claims!

Well guys we get yet another Cosworth finished but now before finding something that should have been checked before. Also, we have a threatening email from an unhappy customer that we have to put straight, we explain why

[@brianwaldo2642]

As far as the court threat is concerned, it might be time to go on the offensive. Get your solicitor to draft a letter to the individual that is threatening court action and spell out the clause in the invoice that states you do not warrant non recommended machining. Don’t let this guy have his way with you and nip this in the bud ASAP.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

He caved so fast last time for a non customer that people are now queuing up to try their luck.

[@felderup]

@@G-ra-ha-m i hadn't seen the cave. barum's suckers, get yer claims in before they go bankrupt.

[@fredflintstone8048]

I love how comfortable Lee is with jumping back and forth between quoting dimensions in metric and SAE. Knowing both well and working with both in my machine shop I can follow what it's talking about. When he says 'bore point 5' he's talking metric. When he's talking about increments on the machines he's usually talking in thousandths or even ten thousandths. I can see why viewers who are not comfortable or familiar get annoyed and ask that everything be quoted in metric. Lee says no. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sumkunt0r]

Yes Fred I started my apprenticeship in July 1977. Britain changed over to the Metric system in 1977 allegedly. In the apprentice training machining shop we had english lead screws with metric dials so one turn of the handle would be 3.17 or 6.35 millimetres. That was a PITA when some of the drawings were Imperial. After the first year we were released on to the shop floor where everything was Imperial. It took for ages before everything was metric. As I am still in the industry I much prefer the metric system now. are you familiar with even older limits and fits systems based on the gnat's cock the gnats knacker and Barum Engine's Lee's favourite the prick in a bucket?

[@jamesplotkin4674]

Hi, Isaac. I'd calm down on the coil-over and wheels idea until you've got some kilometers under your belt and decide then, if a big change is in order. Many will go with tall wheels, short sidewalls and then discover the ride is crap. I was young once and spent money like I had it, but now I'm old, I appreciate $$ more than ever.

[@itsverygreen532]

The only "manufactuer approved procedure" on those blocks is "new block" ... if he wanted a new block, he should have bought a new block. You should warrant agaisnt bad workmanship, nothing else. As always, if he has an issue with smoke, he needs to get the block back to you, as per your terms, his ONLY recourse is you to inspect and correct ... if he hasn't even brought the block back, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

[@andrewbaron8713]

Lee, I worked for RR aero engines. I once asked a stress engineer about bolts. He told me thread depth should be 1 and a half times the bolts diameter. Any deeper makes no difference to the strength or the amount of force / torque you can put on that bolt. Less than 1.5 you’re likely to strip the thread. At 1.5 it all depends on bolt strength and materials you’re bolting into. If the bolts weaker it will shear if it’s stronger than the thread it will strip. If that makes sense.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

But a steel bolt into aluminium will need more.

[@TheBozzler]

1.5 times the diameter is just a thumb rule that can apply to be generally safe. But it's not always the answer.

[@IncognitoChild]

Steel into steel 👍

[@fredflintstone8048]

It's very good to point out that rubber, belts etc. have a shelf life. The minute they were manufactured they begin to age and degrade. Rubber off-gasses and become dried out and brittle over time and there's a lot of tension on a timing belt. Don't buy new old stock when it comes to rubber / plastics.. Check the manufacturing dates. Buy fresh.

[@nickbea3443]

Equally, don't buy a large stock and then come to use them years after they were bought.

[@surreallife777]

My opinion/ some advice. I'm from Vancouver Canada. I own Cosworths. Sometimes less is more. I would like to see more videos on engine combinations for the street engine combinations, for competition. For example discussions about different kinds of turbos which are better suited for the street, different methods of mapping the engine, setting up the engine in the car once the engine is finished etc.

[@stigg333]

Great video, love the look of the Cosworth with the big turbo and red pump you done a fabulous job on that. Have a good weekend.

[@jaclroberts]

Everyone who has used a milling machine has motored the workpiece into the cutter! As you say, you just hope the workpiece is recoverable after!!!! The fear is real!!!

[@michaelkelly8861]

Lee,from your comments regarding the hard spots in the ford blocks, is this due to the casting technique employed at the time. Presumably they were sand casted with pourers and risers in uniform positions and thicknesses would be fairly std throughout. I imagine that ford themselves would have cast these so possibly check with them. I'm sure that problems with machining would have become evident at some time during their initial manufacture.

[@keithward233]

Many years ago I read a book about the history of Cosworth . Keith Duckworth talked about they got a foundry and they had a worrying number of problems. They turned around by hiring a Professor who knew all about sand who cracked the job . Interesting book and quite funny in places too. They listed many engines they were involved in and a number of blank pages where the engines they couldn't name would go. Oh and a certain V6 he offered to take to the lake district in discussion with the MF . Oh do you have a workshop there ? No I have a boat there which needs an anchor 😅

[@richardhewitt.easyvanlife.6957]

BMW must think it’s odd they are selling a lot of oil jets.

[@jamesplotkin4674]

There's an elderly German fellow by the name of Ulrich on speed-dial awaiting another order from some chap in England ;-)

[@user-gl5kj1fm5x]

re drilling studs and staying on centre - you can make up a hardened centring bush threaded on the outside per the block pilot hole down the middle put that in the block and the run down with a carbide drill or end mill same id as the hole

[@ianwheat1577]

Old stock would have to be very very very old for a timing belt to deteriorate in a box

[@stevemull2002]

On the head with the oil gallery blocked, is worth showing what comes out? as ive built engines, (for myself mainly) and the crap that comes out is quite unbelievable, ive had large swarf, shredded rags, and all probably from manufacture

[@JOMaMa..]

The rag debris is post manufacturing engine repair

[@deancrawford2577]

I remember many years back the machine shop I worked for had a BMW N42 block in that was damaged so they resleeved it with cast iron reborer Sleeves, I told them from the start it would not work, the sleeves they chose didn't allow enough aluminium between the sleeves, and the fact that they used excessive heat on the block and then dropped the liquid nitrogen cooled sleeves in didn't help block strength......... They then bored it to size, skimmed the deck, assembled it and it ran for a few hours then it came back blown gasket, I watched them do this four times expecting a different result..... Eventually the owner of the company had to buy the car from the customer or go to court..........

[@TheMadManPlace]

The longer the threaded hole goes into the material the less chance you have of the threads being pulled out as there are more threads to transfer the force trying to pull the stud out of the material. A thread into a hole in cast iron or aluminium given the same depth of thread will "pull" a long time BEFORE a thread in a hole in say steel. Broken studs however are just a little bit different. A stud (or bolt) is only as strong as its minimum diameter measures from the base of the thread on the one side to the base of the thread on the other side across the diameter of the stud or bolt. Drilling and tapping the holes in a cast iron block and using studs with a longer thread IS NOT going to get the stud to "last longer" BUT it will give the block a better chance of surviving and not "stripping out" or "pulling a stud". Cast iron and normal cast aluminium does not have much tensile strength BUT the studs last longer the higher the tensile strength is of the material that they are made from AND WHAT HEAT TREATMENT THEY ARE GIVEN. Now the subject of heat treatment is another whole kettle of bananas all on its own. There is a pretty fine line between making a stud (or bolt) as strong as you can as far as tensile (or pulling) strength is concerned but that makes it harder and making the stud too hard so that it becomes brittle and easily snaps off under load is definitely not a good idea. And leave that sort of figuring out to the people that know - it will just give normal people like you and I a bout of epic migraines that will kill many of your brain cells. NEXT: I don't know what the laws are there in the UK but it looks like you are getting more and more "frivolous" and "chancing their arm" type of legal threats coming your way. You need to see if your lawyer would be able to claim your costs from the idiot taking you to court - if at all possible with a penalty claim for attempting to bring your business name into disrepute. Then take those judgements, make a copy, highlight the penalty finding in bright pink, frame them and hang them in your office/boardroom for all to see. It is NOT a threat, it is an example of the likely outcome should bullshit claims be made against you. Most of these claims are made by polukas who KNOW that they are taking a chance and when they see that on failure they will have to pay THEIR legal costs, YOUR legal costs AND A 10,000 pound penalty they "might" see the error of their ways.

[@Ben-Dixey]

Does a torque plate have to be used when boring the liners in that Honda engine ? If so did you use one? Haven't seen you use a torque plate on any engine boring.

[@paulnolan1352]

Cheers Lee. Make it clear to these people you do not warranty anything out of normal use and be specific where you think the likely problem areas will be.

[@bobmizen1]

Great video as always Lee and Isaac. Perhaps you should start another channel of machining, you could call it ‘WHO WANTS TO MILL AND BE ON AIR’ 😅. Keep up the great work, Bob M. South Wales

[@julianpritchard2558]

😂😂😂😂

[@trendytuft]

Love your channel, great banter between you and Issac, a little bit of David Brent humour in there, keep up the good work!!

[@stuartlew1229]

heads up mate with the impresa ... lightened flywheel ... less rotating mass quicker acceleration

[@terencehawkes3933]

If the Honda bores distorted the cause could be overheating, not necessarily something you did. In addition, you put a disclaimer on your bill. So I doubt he has a case.

[@cm-oo1td]

I can't believe you mentioned the word cheap when on about Isaac's Subaru

[@nevsmate8663]

another excellent video... first thing that should be done with that Subaru is 'christening' all the furniture!😎🚬

[@IsaacBarum]

😂😂 my friends want me to smash a bottle of champagne on it as they call it ‘a boat’ 😅🍾

[@ataxpayer723]

I love the tech talk: "It doesn't feel too lippy"

[@clivewiddall3430]

He’s seen you pay out with that other guy and thought I will have some of that.

[@andyteitge6079]

Gak? Technical term, I'm guessing. 😅

[@tonywoodford9164]

Your statement regarding terms conditions and warranty need to go on the initial job quote so they have a chance to refuse or accept the contract. If they go ahead with the work they have accepted the terms on the quote. Adding it to invoice when jobs allready done is not binding

[@daledavies2334]

As regards the Rover V8, look up NASCAR takeout con rods. Most have one race on them. 6" to 6.2" length. Biggest problem is big end is for Toyota or Honda bearings with a rod journal diameter of somewhere in the 1.89" diameter range. The gudgeon pins are normally 0.866" or 0.787". There are aftermarket Chev 305 pistons with the requierd compression height pistons with 3.736" bore. Kind of pushing it a bit but Yanks have used 305 pistons in the Buick blocks.

[@flydieselair]

The orange cylinder head on the mill, looks like a big block Chevrolet. could be, 366,396, 400, 427 or a 454 CID. Could be something else, but who knows.

[@Sonny_McMacsson]

If you want super-accurate and straight holes, you need a drill guide plate and a gun drill (which needs through-coolant).

[@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq]

Regarding the hard areas in the casting that stops getting a straight drilled hole, try ,'spark erosion', like some German firms do.

[@lelandlewis7207]

Weird to see a big block Chevy on the resurfaced. Looks like an oval port, closed chamber, probably a 427 or possibly a 454. Cylinders distorting is unusual unless there are external factors affecting them.

[@ralfie8801]

That’s a Big Block Chevy head you’re looking at there. Most likely a 454 CI, but could be a 396 or a 427 also.

[@IsaacBarum]

I asked John later today after filming this, I was amazed that they fit that in a car 😂

[@SnakeTheJake27]

A race version of a chevy big block 900 plus horsepower ,and it will go in a car

[@ataxpayer723]

Re the latest court threat. Fortunately this issue should be fully covered by your latest Terms & Conditions. You can now write back to the complainant and advise him to refer to your original estimate and to the para on your invoice that explains your Terms & Conditions. Did this customer SIGN the original estimate before you did the work, thereby agreeing to your Terms & Conditions? .

[@ScottJDF]

Can’t wait to see the Subaru I would 100% manual convert it I don’t think your get the true driving experience otherwise And just get a set of lowering springs keep your wheels if you fall in love then go and spend doe on it NICE JOB BOYS GREAT WEEK 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@daledavies2334]

Look up Blue Print Engines. They have a 3.6l 4 cylinder engine they are developing based on a diesel block. They can set it up for either the Chev LS head or a Ford Cleveland head. 350 HP and 500 lbft of torque. That could be a beast in a Seven kit car.

[@andyprosser5230]

Re the drilling for long studs drifting off could you put a thin wall sleeve on the drill to act as a centreing guide.

[@IncognitoChild]

New, perished, old stock cam belts! That's a bit of an eye-opener😮 Is there any obvious way of telling how old a belt is, Lee ? It always makes me laugh how somebody can make a claim against you for not adhering to the manufacturers spec and then tune it to 400 bhp🙄

[@paulhoogeveen7353]

Court threats over machining outside manufacturers recommendations yet no come back on non manufacturer approved "tune"!!!😂😂😂

[@bobuncle8704]

The Cosie with the 8 injectors, do they have the ecu for all 8? Are they running that kind of hp?

[@bumcy2010]

Just thought of something I would like you to show us fellas how you resize conrods if you have time on one of your videos Cheers A

[@TheBlibo]

Hi its a pity that Joe public don't understand that just because a modification is popular and is fine most of the time it is a deviation from standard practice and unless it is a manufacturers approved modification the warranty is null and void and in some cases the modification would have to be carried out by the manufacturer or approved dealer or agent. I wander how much warranty there is on a top fuel engine😂

[@stevefairbanks835]

Don’t go cheap on the scooby coilovers. You’ll regret it. Quality pays.

[@TheBlibo]

Hi So what happens to the balance factor when knife edging a crank supposing the same amount of material is removed from each counterbalance? Dose this not have to be taken I to account?

[@jorren1000]

If my oppliger build engine ever fails on the bottem end it will get a smith&jones one.

[@ouroborosirvington]

The best thing about balancing your karmic resonance is you can do it at home. Use your left hand and a tub of vaseline.

[@2manycarsjeff]

You don’t want anything clagged right up with gack

[@fatwalletboy2]

How about getting isaac an impreza driving experience session for his birthday ??

[@michaelthompson6885]

Dont go fisting your exhaust mate!!!! Wise words Lee.

[@tangoengineering]

Get the wheels powder coated Black

[@yarrdayarrdayarrda]

You keep mentioning these 4 cylinder engines producing 600 HP, what kind of boost and what kind of fuel (petrol) do they run to make those numbers? That's pretty serious HP/C.I.

[@stuartadair4057]

Brilliant as always

[@keithgreen9009]

Nice to get the engine rebuilt for your beautiful car , but their no need for all that dino 🦕 crap ... just enjoy your car

[@wilburt6131]

I wonder why your business seems to get so many threats to sue. Is this amount of legal trouble normal for other similar businesses?

[@JOMaMa..]

They build race engines

[@howardgamble5623]

Subaru announced the Legacy production ends 2025. So it can only go up in value.

[@IsaacBarum]

Let’s hope so! 🤞🏻

[@Alcyone94]

Is there ever a month goes by without someone threatening your business with court action or a major complaint?

[@tracer1127]

This business seems to have flipped what is supposed to be positive advertising for their business into the most negative advertising I’ve ever seen. Every other business on KZbin seems to go over and above to show positive reasons for doing business with them not the other way round.

[@mikehipperson]

Another W⚓ trying it on? Probably a mate of the MGB owner who told him how easy it was to get a free engine rebuild and extra cash! Tell John he should have gone to Specsavers!

[@dalejones3862]

Take no sh** Lee and don't back down

[@dallas6847]

😎😎😎😎👍👍👍👍

[@jamesdungan6198]

Came back for another look, sadly same old boring bat shit if not worse

[@tracer1127]

Very funny, really made me laugh 😂😂

[@user-gs2ur9lp2b]

You need to think carefully about putting disclaimers on invoices. If the invoice is provided to the customer as a receipt for payment then the customer will say the disclaimer is made known too late. If you go to Tesco and buy some chicken, and the receipt given at the till says we take no responsibility for food poisoning it’s fairly obvious the disclaimer is ineffective. On the other hand, if Tesco makes customers aware of the disclaimer as they enter the shop then Tesco have a stronger argument because the customer was warned. Did you provide the customer with a pro-forma invoice before the work was done?

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

Exactly, it's the same as non disclosure statements on emails, not worth the paper they aren't written on. You can't apply conditions after the event.

[@blow0me]

With so many videos around the same sorts of topics.....they'd scare any customers away.