Matteo, sorry to hear about your issues! Suggestions fwiw, if you haven’t, take this discussion with Timmins to the phone or in person if you make it back to the states. Don't know him from Adam, but like most small businessmen, sure he's a reasonable guy.

Don't know how much race car experience you have or track experience, but get ready, the $40k your out on this motor is just the start :) Running cars on track will cost you your life savings if not careful! Racing or tracking at full tilt is not for the faint hearted.

Good luck!

Like everyone here I've been following this thread from the beginning. Couple of things stand out for me regarding Timmins' response.
First, in his response he continually uses the phrases "anyone who understands and anyone who knows," all this does is expose his insecurities and lack of confindence in his own knowledge while simultaniously trying to put himself in a superior position.
Second and more important, with the now international media exposure that Teo and his car is getting, why on earth would he not take care of any problems that may have arrisen due to his poor craftsmanship? Why not just take out a couple ads in all the Porsche magazines saying "Hey, I suck."

And he does I have no tolerance for incompetence, that is what makes Matteo better than me.

Charles

this is a picture of one of the pistons...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1236093718.jpg


and this is one of the jugs


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1236093786.jpg


I have all the gear wrapped and put in boxes in my garage.

I would love to see if the p&c are fixable because they could go well with the heads, valves and induction system.

I can take more pics and send them to you if you think it is worth it...

I spoke to him the day after I went to see Bob Watson and saw the stripped engine.
In fact I sent him an email telling him I was quite unhappy, not so much because the engine had failed, but because someone had pointed out the case and a couple of things that were not done properly.

Timmins emailed back within 1 minute and wanted to talk straight away.
So we chatted and he was very understanding and upset himself about the situation.

He is not a crook or someone who does not care. He also offered some compensation, stating the last thing he wanted was for me to be unhappy.

So he asked me to send him an email with a recap of what happened and the download of the mapping from the Motec.
I did not hear anything from him for 3 months, until I sent him the last email and his last response.

I want to make clear here that this is not a war against Timmins.

I really believe it is impossible to point the finger and establish without a doubt the culprit for the failure.

Maybe one of the bearings was faulty, or the oil was bad etc.

But from my point of view this engine has been a succession of problems, from the rebuild 250 miles in to the running on 6 plugs because of a bad connector to the crazy mapping to the overtorqued nuts on the chain covers to the too small heat shield plate for the ICU to the fan assembly collapsing etc.

So after all that the engine fails and I find out he took some shortcuts and then he tells me Bob Watson and 9M do not understand anything aboout 911 motors and 911 lubrication when they tell me what is wrong with my motor beside the spun bearing, damaged rod and crank-case.

That is what leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I understand it is difficult to hear someone criticize your work. And maybe I didn't even explained it properly. But I offered for Bob or/and Colin to speak to him if he wanted (offer that he declined) to see what really happened.

What was I expecting?

Sincerely I thought that he'd offer some sort of compensation plus I had asked him if he wanted all the good parts (maybe the P&C if they are fixable, the heads, valves, stacks, air cleaners etc) at 50% of what I paid them....
I figured he's an engine builder, I waited for months to get the parts in... he should be happy.

I never expected for him to pay anything close to what it is costing me to rebuild the engine with specs similar to the old one, nor I expected him to actually come out at a loss.

Anyway I am sure he wishes (like me) he never took on this build.

I want to say one more time that maybe it was just bad luck, and I am much more upset at the way he treated me than at the quality of the work.

I totally agree with you. I have no problem with writing off the car. I have no problem with blowing up an engine. Things happen.

But you should not be defined by the things that life throws at you, but by the way you react to them.

"But you should not be defined by the things that life throws at you, but by the way you react to them."

Amen brother!

You show a lot of class Matteo. Hope other people who contemplate Timmins' shop come across this thread. Instant-g(arbage) indeed.

I'm stunned to say the least. I'm so sorry about what transpired. I've followed this thread with a great amount respect for your creativity and your elegant prose. I'm heartbroken about these results and I'm humbled by your amazing attitude. I am at a loss for what to say. Just know you have my best wishes for your future success.
Mark

Matteo,
This sucks. Put it behind you as a life lesson......
Live in philly....I could arrange a visit....... ;)

Wow! Just.... Wow.
I came onto this thread late, at about page 53 and I am sorry to hear that it wasn't a happy ever after story.
Sounds like the new motor will be phenomenal!
Best of luck with the build..

Wow!!!

You displayed a large degree of reserve in your dealing with the motor!

Can't wait to hear that all is well and the journey has reached a point of enjoyment!

you deserve it!!!

Cheers

I'm truly sorry to hear about the constant troubles you have had with the engine.

It was great to actually meet you in person in the 'unveiling', and was totally impressed with your humbleness. I am quite certain that you will have the 'ultimate 911' that you are seeking. My hat's off to you, my friend!

teo, you have handled this with amazing class.

cannot wait to see a special on your new engine in the same kickass car!

Teo, get the P&C repaired and sell the entire top end as a set you should have no problem recovering a good size chunk of your loss on the matched pieces.

Mark

thank you for your praise of my "elegant prose".... I have re-read some of the posts and I realized I should re-read them carefully before hitting the "post Message" button...

You are too nice :)

Yes, I thought about that.

But before I sell anything I want to make sure it is all good. Charles (LN Engineering) words were encouraging.

The heads, valve gear and induction are all good. But the P&C are the key. And then if someone wants a big motor.... ;)

Yeah he is a real stand up guy sounds like, you are in good hands now and its nice how the community came together to shore up one of our own, in all likelyhood this will cost timmins much more than if he had been a stand up guy also and just gave you all your money back for his part of it and accepted some blame in this. We all wish people would be that way but seldom are, you on the other hand have been an inspiration to us all on how we should act in the face of adversity and for that I am grateful.

Matteo, I'm sure it's easily fixable. I've seen worse pistons. I concur, once fixed, the cylidners should be totally reuseable and to whoever they go to, they would carry the same warranty, so they are just as good as new.

Pm me and I'll take care of it. The cylinders at the very least. I'm sorry for all the rest of the fiasco, as is everyone else who has followed your story since the beginning.

Kudos to you!

Matteo,
Sorry to hear about all the trouble you have had to go through with this. I have only had dealings with Timmins once and was not happy.

I haven't heard one good thing about his work why is this coming out now! If this had come up back then it would have saved Teo a lot of heartache, just a question?

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/911-forum/204596-new-porsche-finally-here.html

Post #1, point 2. That was my dealings with him.
He did email me a month or so later and offer to sell me the same car at a higher price.

It just doesn't get any better when this characters name comes up does it?

You send him a car for a PPI and he buys it out from under you. :rolleyes:

I think that his name should enter the Porsche lexicon as a verb. Usage: "bend over, you're about to be timminsed".

absolutely PERFECT there Jim !!! LOL LOL LOL
Bob

Can't wait until it's fixed again, we had a ball last year around Brands hatch GP circuit in the wet! Nearly died, but great fun :)

And with that post, Mr Navarro has just moved to the top of everyone who reads this thread's list for P&C work.

Even though he isn't at fault, he's in there trying to make it right. To me, that is the mark of somebody with the right attitude, and those are the people I want to do business with.

+1,000,000

Charles @ LN Engineering is the finest kind... always willing to help you out OR he will get back to you if he can't speak specifically about something... he'll check it out!!
Thanks for helping out Charles!!
Bob

Buying new pistons and cylinders = about $5500, gasket set = about $450, doing business with someone that appreciates your business = PRICELESS!

I hate to appear to be a damp squib with all the "righteous brother" posts you're getting but have you given any thought to doing something about your driving?

????? 7 posts? well veiled humor, one hopes....

Where you coming from? You a friend of Timmins?

Odd question? What does his driving have to do with this? The "righteous brother" comment? Have you taken a moment and read the entire thread? When one takes the time to share in detail his expereince of a build such as this, many apppreciate it and will show support.

A bit of a ditto on the response to the righteous brother comment. I think Matteo understands that he is not entitled to full replacement of his engine, especially considering that he did track the car. What he and others are upset about is some poor decisions made by Timmins around the use of a welded crankcase and potentially other choices that negatively affected the engine....and then very little willingness to 'fess up and shoulder some of the cost of the poor decisions.

Mike, no problem with your comment. Phil, always fair to challenge, but in this case it comes across as being a bit of a dickhead when I suspect you actually had a legitimate question albeit buried in some poor choices of language.

Dennis

I think Mike was quoting Phil Blacklock's message above...

To be clear, I was agreeing with Mike and being critical of Phil's "righteous" comment...sorry for not being clear enough....

Dennis

To offer an aside from Matteo's inexplicably calm and composed demeanor,

Phil: WTF is wrong with Matteo's driving? What makes you think someone who spends about 2 years and ungodly sums of money on a sports purpose car that is designed and built from the ground up to suit his tastes and driving skill is a jackass behind the wheel?

If this was a 997 GT3RS or hot rodded GT2 I could understand a pocketbook jockey biting off more than they could chew due to their income to talent ratio - but its not.

Matteo knows the car inside and out, has obsessed about EVERY last bolt and nut and its designated purpose then put the tool (911) to use and found a weak link let go due to poor craftsmenship and inaccurate representation of presented goods (motor).

I think not that his driving had anything to do with this so much as he was expecting the package which he commissioned to be built to live up to its designed task but it let him down. Hence failure on the track - if it's gonna break under normal use, it'll break quickly on the track every time.

Guys don't go build an aircooled hot rod like this if they can't drive them - ask me - I know. Just like anything this was a project designed by someone with the mature funding to have the 'experts' build it because he was busy living his life and could get it done quicker than if he had been turning wrenches himself. Zuffenhaus is a top shelf shop and they'll be doing work on my car next month - that in and of itself speaks volumes as to the level of quality he was expecting from Timmins. Hindsight is 20/20 but Matteo isn't the kind of guy that dropped the car off with a picture of what he wanted saying "make it happen". He was involved to a fault, understanding, patient and kind to a fault for that matter.

Matteo is a lot like myself in the area that he's willing to give a shop/vendor a chance to help them out (Timmins) by allowing them to take part in these projects, even though there might be minor or even somewhat unforeseeable substantial issues, as long as the end product is delivered as promised which he thought it was (Excellence review, shipping it to UK etc). He knew the risks and admitted to them and isn't seeking to be made whole.

He gives them a chance instead of taken the beaten path all the time, like was done before the massive availability and endless connections that the internet now offers.

Not everyone is a Schumi behind the wheel of our projects, but don't think for an instant that just because we didn't turn wrenches on them that we don't think clearly before we commit to our actions on the road or track. Matteo wouldn't have pushed the motor clearly if he had known the exact condition of its case and internal issues - he would have made sure it was all 100% good-to-go prior to putting it through its paces. Why would he you might ask? Because the very LAST thing people who commit and endure these massive projects is to get behind the wheel only to have something go wrong and will do everything it takes to get it right so long as the issues are known up front.

So in my humble opinion - an apology is required for your ignorant and blatantly asinine comment.

Dennis,
I was quoting Phil's original comment and was responding to that. Sorry for the confusing, I went back and "wrapped" the quote to be clear, so I hope the D-head comment wasn't attended toward me. ;)

Reaper930...+1 well stated!

I have asked myself that very question several times. Have I neglected the engine? Maybe I didn't understand properly how to check the oil level...

You see when it happened I never thought of blaming the engine builder. I was at the race track, I was certainly not cruising...

Massa's engine gave up 3 laps from the end of the race, Ferrari spend a little bit more on making sure everything is perfect in their engine than me... stuff happens.

When you take your car to the track you have to accept that. I may be able to drive the car home. Someone may spin in front of me or miss a brake zone or whatever. You need to be prepared to write the whole car off.

As I said I don;t know what caused the engine to spin the bearing.

I just recapped what happened in the last 16 months.

You draw your own conclusions.