Just need to vent.

I bought 4 matched, reconditioned connecting rods from RIMCO. I picked them because they were 30% less than anyone else I could find. Big Mistake.

The box arrived torn open on one end. Obviously, I should complain about the shipping company however the rods were loosely surrounded by crumpled newspaper. I assume the rods moved around enough to case the box to open.

Luckily, the rods were still in the box. They looked okay but I weighed them and while 3 were within 3g of each the 4th one was 15g heavier than the heaviest of the other 3.

I worked on the heaviest one and got 5g out of it but still have 10g to go. In the meantime, I drop them off at the local machine shop to get new studs pressed in and they call and tell me that the large end on 3 of them are out of spec.

At this point, it's been over 10 days since I ordered them and I need to get the rods so I tell the machine shop (which as already installed the studs) to hone them so I can get moving on the engine build.

I had sent RIMCO an email the day the box arrived to show them the condition of the box... however they never responded. I send them another email today and follow it up with a phone call. I get the standard response that there is nothing that they can do unless I return all the parts (another 4 days standard shipping) for them to evaluate. I try to explain that I did not have the capability to check their work so that there was no way for me to know that they were out of spec until I took them and paid another shop to work on them to install the studs.

Considering the shoddy packaging, mismatched weights and poor machining, I offered to send them my original rods and requested some sort of refund for the ones that I had to have reworked. I thought this was reasonable, they would have rods that they could rework and resell but still provide me at least some partial refund. They said no, claiming their company policy that they have to get back the original rods. They offered to accept my rods and rework them, but I would have no confidence in the quality of their work so they would be useless to be and I would not be able to resell knowing that.

It's easy to say that I should have sent them back and if I had time I would have. In hindsight, I should have just had my original reconditioned locally. I thought I was saving time and money but I was wrong.

That is all.

Thanks, the warning is worth the telling.

I hate dealing with the unknowns. Definitely makes you want to go local with a contact person.
Thanks for the warning. Sorry about the frustrations...sucks...

They totally F up my case...this is after I spent $ on line bore and boring for 103s, supposedly balancing rods etc etc. I was advise to go to FAT in Orange County per Ollie's a well know shop that does a lot of work for Porsche Motorsports. I took it as a lost and NEVER looked back...they are a Big Piece of S!
I also found out that original owner has sold and no longer there...thus I'm sure they are going down hill fast!
Ps..ya I have to start with another case..line bore and all!
Go to Fat

Rimco used to be top notch, a legend in the industry. After the original owner got out, I have started hearing horror stories.

I have not seen a thread related to rimco in a long while.

in the past, many have used them with good results.

good to know that things have changed for the worse.

FAT
http://fatperformance.com/home/

Not to be a jerk, but if you got the rods and they were not as described, you should have stopped there. It's not surprising they would want them back to do their own investigation. I'm also not surprised they wouldn't want your rods back. Maybe they had a couple of sets on the shelf and someone grabbed 3 from one set and 1 from another by mistake?

If I get something and it's not right, I tell the vendor right then. If I modify it, I figure I own it.

Fat Rocks

I think FAT used to send heads to RIMCO. Am I wrong?

Problem is that you cannot tell with the naked eye that something is not right with rods.
So you end up learning from another shop that your stuff is F!ed Up and by then you have already paid for the local machine shop.

Funny MANY years ago I lived about a mile from Rimco and they line bored my Ghia and did some other work for me. They were the best in the biz back in the 80-90s.

They do their own- I asked Greg the owner of FAT that.

Before I was a less than accurate person, I would get my work done at one shop, then bring them to another shop to be checked.

I now check everything myself which saves money.

Having a machine shop measure things for you is worth the money.

I'm very familiar with part inspection having run a machine shop for a number of years. Any shop would be happy to inspect parts before doing anything to them. If I don't have the tools to measure/check something, I have someone else do it and everything stops if things are not as advertised.

You can't expect to return something after you have modified it.

This was my experience with Rimco over 2 yr's ago. It all began when they relocated, their longtime front man left and they went down hill. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=119106&hl=

I agree.. in an ideal world I would have had them checked for free by a machine shop and sent back. Frankly, I was out of time and patience. I ate the cost of buying them, shipping them and having them reworked. Bad packaging, bad product and not willing to try to come to a workable solution - fuck em.

If you want to deal with them good luck... I am entitled to my opinion.

I've been sending my stuff to Jorge at EMW , it can be alittle expensive in shipping ( eastcoast to westcoast ) for peace of mind it is worth it , hope this helps Bill D.

http://www.europeanmotorworks.com/vw/machine-shop.html

bummer man.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?aut...blogid=409&
Just scroll down a bit, see what I went though with the last set of heads I had done by Rimco

Rimco lost my business after a 20 year relationship.

They didn't do much for us, basically just cylinder shims and random things.

When Todd left, the place went to hell in a hand basket...

I have always had great results from RimCo. my last deal was about ten years ago and I am sorry to hear that they have gone downhill. so where do you go now for case rebuilding?
Randy