Ok, I really didn't want to get in on this, but my name is being dragged through the mud on a bunch of misinformation and half told stories. First off, I would like to let the admins know I am not here to advertise, I am only here because of what is being said about me in this thread.
As far as my reputation goes, I'm not going to bother spelling it out, feel free to search FIST Racing and look us up for yourselves, I pride myself on our reputation, and have been in business a very long time. I'm not saying we've never made a mistake, but when we have, we owned it, and took care of the customer, because that is what is the most important thing to me. I feel that's one of the reasons we have been in business for so long. We sponsor the local Houston forum and have for some time, htown-dsm.com so there is a lot of info about us on there, but feel free to google us, if nothing more than so you know what kind of people we are. I wouldn't have been in business for this long if I were shady or did bad work, the DSM community would have eaten me alive by now as they always do with bad shops.
This is a case of I tried to be nice and help this guy out, and it bit me in the tail. Gsx_tc is a very nice guy,his knowledge is lacking on the mechanics side of things, so I think he is just having a hard time telling the story.
There is a lot to this story that just doesn't need to be put out on the internet as it might hurt someone's feelings, but here is the abridged version:
gsx_tc took more than 5 years to pay for this engine, and then it sat at the shop while he went off to the Marines, All that was paid for was a shortblock, and a head. When I finally made him pick it up, he picked up a short block with a head bolted to it. The rest needed to be completed. Yes I was moving shops, but at that point I was frustrated with the whole situation and wasn't about to go through the whole ordeal again. That engine was picked up by a group of back yard mechanics that are known for very bad work and ripping people off. gsx_tc had already been screwed over by them a couple of times, and they screwed him over again during this entire ordeal. Ask him how they scammed him out of his turbo and sold him an ebay 35r telling him it was real. I really don't understand how he still calls them friends. These guys picked up the motor, put everything else together and installed it. Once they installed it they couldn't get any of his cross members to fit and told him it was fine to drive around like that because he didn't rally race.
The crank wasn't turned, it was polished, gsx_tc just doesn't know the difference, I guess he thought it was the same thing. He completely either misunderstood what I told him, or just didn't listen to me all the way. After that engine left the shop, I have never seen it again. I only know what gsx_tc and other have told me. I got a phone call from gsx_tc and he told me that tons of oil was coming out the front case. He didn't know where it was coming from. Again, I don't know either, I haven't seen it. I told him I needed more information to tech help him over the phone. He had driven it like that to somewhere he could store it. A few weeks later, him and a group of friends went to check it out again. They started it, and oil just poured out. He wasn't really sure where it was coming from, it looked like maybe it was the front seal area, and the timing belt was torn up. At that point he wanted to bring it to me and have it finished by an event date, I was backed up and couldn't take it in. He brought it to a different friends house who replaced the front main seal, noticed that the timing plate was all bent up and folded over and that looked like it had caused the belt to get torn up. He told me that it looked like a bolt had gotten dropped in there or something because everything was beat up. He replaced it all and started it, shortly after that oil started coming out again. He pulled the pan to find bearing damage. To this date I have not seen that engine since all this has happened, so I am having to rely on what other have told me. What I do know is this, something happened that tore everything up on the timing belt side, and gsx_tc drove the car while it was pouring oil out as he was trying to get back to somewhere to leave the car, he drove it to a point where there was little to no oil left. Damage occurred. At this point that is all I know, and while I do feel for him, in this case I do not feel responsible for what happened. If I did, I would be helping him out on it, without hesitation.
Mike(gsx_tc) I apologize if this came across harsh, but I've let you stumble through writing these threads ever since this happened, and while most people in Houston know the whole story, this is getting national and I will not let a partial half told story tarnish my reputation.
Mike at F.I.S.T. Racing
As far as my reputation goes, I'm not going to bother spelling it out, feel free to search FIST Racing and look us up for yourselves, I pride myself on our reputation, and have been in business a very long time. I'm not saying we've never made a mistake, but when we have, we owned it, and took care of the customer, because that is what is the most important thing to me. I feel that's one of the reasons we have been in business for so long. We sponsor the local Houston forum and have for some time, htown-dsm.com so there is a lot of info about us on there, but feel free to google us, if nothing more than so you know what kind of people we are. I wouldn't have been in business for this long if I were shady or did bad work, the DSM community would have eaten me alive by now as they always do with bad shops.
This is a case of I tried to be nice and help this guy out, and it bit me in the tail. Gsx_tc is a very nice guy,his knowledge is lacking on the mechanics side of things, so I think he is just having a hard time telling the story.
There is a lot to this story that just doesn't need to be put out on the internet as it might hurt someone's feelings, but here is the abridged version:
gsx_tc took more than 5 years to pay for this engine, and then it sat at the shop while he went off to the Marines, All that was paid for was a shortblock, and a head. When I finally made him pick it up, he picked up a short block with a head bolted to it. The rest needed to be completed. Yes I was moving shops, but at that point I was frustrated with the whole situation and wasn't about to go through the whole ordeal again. That engine was picked up by a group of back yard mechanics that are known for very bad work and ripping people off. gsx_tc had already been screwed over by them a couple of times, and they screwed him over again during this entire ordeal. Ask him how they scammed him out of his turbo and sold him an ebay 35r telling him it was real. I really don't understand how he still calls them friends. These guys picked up the motor, put everything else together and installed it. Once they installed it they couldn't get any of his cross members to fit and told him it was fine to drive around like that because he didn't rally race.
The crank wasn't turned, it was polished, gsx_tc just doesn't know the difference, I guess he thought it was the same thing. He completely either misunderstood what I told him, or just didn't listen to me all the way. After that engine left the shop, I have never seen it again. I only know what gsx_tc and other have told me. I got a phone call from gsx_tc and he told me that tons of oil was coming out the front case. He didn't know where it was coming from. Again, I don't know either, I haven't seen it. I told him I needed more information to tech help him over the phone. He had driven it like that to somewhere he could store it. A few weeks later, him and a group of friends went to check it out again. They started it, and oil just poured out. He wasn't really sure where it was coming from, it looked like maybe it was the front seal area, and the timing belt was torn up. At that point he wanted to bring it to me and have it finished by an event date, I was backed up and couldn't take it in. He brought it to a different friends house who replaced the front main seal, noticed that the timing plate was all bent up and folded over and that looked like it had caused the belt to get torn up. He told me that it looked like a bolt had gotten dropped in there or something because everything was beat up. He replaced it all and started it, shortly after that oil started coming out again. He pulled the pan to find bearing damage. To this date I have not seen that engine since all this has happened, so I am having to rely on what other have told me. What I do know is this, something happened that tore everything up on the timing belt side, and gsx_tc drove the car while it was pouring oil out as he was trying to get back to somewhere to leave the car, he drove it to a point where there was little to no oil left. Damage occurred. At this point that is all I know, and while I do feel for him, in this case I do not feel responsible for what happened. If I did, I would be helping him out on it, without hesitation.
Mike(gsx_tc) I apologize if this came across harsh, but I've let you stumble through writing these threads ever since this happened, and while most people in Houston know the whole story, this is getting national and I will not let a partial half told story tarnish my reputation.
Mike at F.I.S.T. Racing
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