First let me say that I normally don't do this. That is, post negative comments about a company, unless I have first hand facts and have made an attempt to contact the company, present the facts and ask them to make an appropriate business decision.

I have seen many posts about Motor Meister (MM) in other threads, but I had never dealt with any of their products, and thought some of the comments might be sour grapes from customers of MM not doing what they were supposed to do after receiving an engine, until now.

I am posting this to warn any and all that are thinking about doing business with them. BTW, I am not their customer, but have been asked to repair one of their engines.

The engine, what a pile of shite.

History:

Mounted in one of the nicest 914-6's I have ever seen, or been involved.

Engine completed in 2002. Car restoration completed in fall of 2005. engine time 934 miles.

Build sheet. 2.7 liter 9.8:1 comp, ge 40 cams, ported heads, electromotive, stock rods, 46 webers. etc...

Brought to me in 2006 May. Contacted me in Dec of 2005 about the problem.

Problem: pukes oil out of oil breather.
Customer repair: put longer hose on breather and run it around the engine compartment.

934 miles, engine noise customer called me, I listened to the engine and it certainly made noise, sounded as if the cylinder head surface was not sealing and it had some??? ,...... bent valves?

compression is as follows: #1, 10lbs. #2 18 lbs. #3 43lbs. 4-6 60-62 lbs. WTF?????

Leakdown: All over 70% and three over 95%, and the motor was only 934 miles old, nice job MM.

Disassembly:

Cam timing 1-3. 3.55mm (ge 40 cams) wrong
Cam Timing 4-6 7.25mm (ge 40 cams) really wrong

#1 cylinder sealing ring out of place damaging top of cylinder, damaging top of piston.
#2 cylinder (niresist ?) ring out of place damage top of cylinder
also damaging top of piston
#3 cylinder bent exhaust valve (insufficient clearance)
#4-6 all bent exhaust valves with damaged guides

exhaust valve clearance on 1-3 .060
Exhaust valve clearance on 4-6 .036 (remember the cam timing was not correct for this cam.

Cylinders, missing fins on all cylinders, different height codes (some 5's some 6's) some mahle, some not. Heights not corrected by maching, really piss poor.

Rocker arm shafts overtorqued by at least 10ft/lbs.

Cam drive gears not shimmed properly

Oil control rings on three pistons had their ends lined up so they did not seal.

Upon reassembly with new rings, new cylinders, rocker arm shaft seals, proper cam timing and proper assembly, I found the ignition timing set at (electromotive) 16 degrees initial, and 22 degrees advance, or 38 degrees total??????, but don't worry, the carbs were nice and rich, about 4 main jet sizes too rich.

This engine had been pre run and adjusted according to the customers build sheet.

This is probably the poorest assembly of any engine I have ever seen. I contacted MM, to discuss the problems with Lee Marks, even sending digital photos of the cylinder sleeves and the sealing rings not properly installed.

I asked for only one thing, two new cylinders and gaskets to repair the damage and assist the customer, no labor. It had been built in 2002. and their warranty was really over at this time. However, I wanted to give him a chance to make a wrong...... right. They offered the gaskets and the cylinders to me, to buy for 600.00. I bought the stuff from someone else.

THESE GUYS ARE POOR AT BEST, AND HAVE NO BUSINESS BUILDING ANY ENGINE IF THIS IS THEIR QUALITY. PLEASE CONSIDER THIS POST IF YOU INTEND ON DOING ANY BUSINESS WITH THEM.

I WOULD STRONGLY DISCOURAGE YOU FROM DOING SO.

Erik C. Madsen

One would consider a BAR complaint....

Hope it came with a warranty. I guess they will get tired of getting engines back all foragained up like that one, thats big coin right there!!

I've been to their shop, talked to the owner, talked to the old guy who builds the motors, and quickly decided they weren't the right people to build a motor...Erik, thanks for the real evidence!

That's exactly why I plan to build my own motors. That way if it gets jacked up in some way, I'm only dealing with a blown motor and not facing homicide charges.
Mark D.

Well Erik, this certainly seems consistent with what I'm seeing. I have what I believe is a Motor Meister built SC plant that pukes oil out the breather if I "punch it, Chewie." When my mechanic went to adjust the valves, he found the pulley (?) lacked the expected reference marks... He didn't do a leakdown, and I didn't really need one to tell me this motor is not really long for this world if left as-is.

Didn't bother moving the breather, I'll just A) learn to restrain myself, or buy that gallon sized container of Zep citrus degreaser at Home Despot. And I figure while I get the house finished I'll decide whether to learn to rebuild it myself, swap something else in, or...?