[Denver]

THE STORY

In Jan of 2007, I contracted with a local Denver Area, self advertised Pontiac Guru, to build a Pontiac 455 cubic inch engine for me. The cost was $7000. This individul had been recommended in the Denver/Longmont area by Jim Hand in his book "How to Build Max Performance Pontiac V-8's".

When I recieved the rebuilt engine, in April, 2007, and installed it I found that it was leaking oil from the rear main seal. The builder told me he had installed a rubber two piece seal of his own design. I pulled the engine out of the car (7 miles on the engin at this time.) and sent it back to him to have it repaired.

He maintained that the leak was not his fault, but that I had installed a oil filter adapter which was dirty and that it had caused the seal failure. He said he would replace the seal with a new rubber seal and fix the leak, but that he would not honor the warrenty because I had changed the oil filter adapter to accomodate my headers, which voided the warrenty.

At this same time, because the crankshaft bearing surfaces were scuffed and scratched, I also told him to grind the crankshaft 0.10 under size and install new 0.10 oversize bearings. (I now believe that he did an inadequate job of cleaning the block.) He quoted me a price of $2500 to change out the leaking seal and replace it with a new rubber seal and to grind the crank and install the new bearings. He rebuilt the engine in May of 2007.

I reinstalled the engine in Sept, 2007, and drove it approximately 8 miles (total miles on engine from previous install and this one was 15 miles) when the engine began making rattling rod noises. I shut it down and removed it from the car.

When the engine was torn down in Dec, 2007, the following problems were discovered:

First, The crankshaft had NOT been ground 0.10 under size and new 0.10 oversize bearings had NOT been installed. All the rod bearing were completly hammered out. The crankshaft was destroyed and metal particals had contaminated the entire engine.

Second, The rear seal had NOT been replaced with a new rubber seal. The rear seal had been replaced with a rope seal and large quanities of silicon sealer instead.

When confronted with these facts, the engine builder, Greg Merrick, admitted to me that he had not gound the crankshaft, installed new proper sized bearings or replaced the rear seal with the correct seal as I had paid him to do, but he assured me that was OK, because he was the engine builder and he would determine what needed to be done to the engine.

I am presently in the process of taking this matter to court for settlement. I have sorced a new 455 and am in the process of rebuilding it. I will do the work myself this time.

I am posting this message a public service to anyone considering dealing with him. Based on my experience (I am out $ 9000) I would not recommed this mans services to anyone.

CAVEAT EMPTOR, Let the Buyer Beware

Yours Truly,

Denver

[Wareagle]

Sorry to hear about that--I would be p$ssed too.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by Denver

At this same time, because the crankshaft bearing surfaces were scuffed and scratched, I also told him to grind the crankshaft 0.10 under size and install new 0.10 oversize bearings. (I now believe that he did an inadequate job of cleaning the block.) He quoted me a price of $2500 to change out the leaking seal and replace it with a new rubber seal and to grind the crank and install the new bearings. He rebuilt the engine in May of 2007.

First, The crankshaft had NOT been ground 0.10 under size and new 0.10 oversize bearings had NOT been installed. All the rod bearing were completly hammered out. The crankshaft was destroyed and metal particals had contaminated the entire engine.

Second, The rear seal had NOT been replaced with a new rubber seal. The rear seal had been replaced with a rope seal and large quanities of silicon sealer instead.

When confronted with these facts, the engine builder, Greg Merrick, admitted to me that he had not gound the crankshaft, installed new proper sized bearings or replaced the rear seal with the correct seal as I had paid him to do, but he assured me that was OK, because he was the engine builder and he would determine what needed to be done to the engine.

If he was paid and didnt go through with the grinding he should have been determined to refund you the difference for the work he didnt do.
This is another topic I stirred the pot on a while back:
Unless you have dealt with the same engine builder for years and know you can bank on his work INSPECT and ASSEMBLE the engine yourself.

[limejudge69]

OINK OINK

[1967Clone]

I saw your name was Denver, and saw the title and thought you were having issues with your internal organs.

First post aye?

[wheelspin]

Welcome to the Forums and I am sorry about your poor experience :( .

Gregg Merrick is highly regarded on this Forum, a frequent poster, and often recommended for quality engine builds. I suggest that you send him a link to this thread (after it attracts more negative posts), which might result in a favorable pre-trial settlement.

Good luck w/ your court case and w/ your new build.

Les

[67 Lamnas]

Originally Posted by wheelspin

Welcome to the Forums and I am sorry about your poor experience :( .

Gregg Merrick is highly regarded on this Forum, a frequent poster, and often recommended for quality engine builds. I suggest that you send him a link to this thread (after it attracts more negative posts), which might result in a favorable pre-trial settlement.

Good luck w/ your court case and w/ your new build.

Les

It sounds like Gregg Merrick will NO LONGER be very highly regarded on this forum.

[mzbk2l]

He's gonna be on the "borker list."

[67blackcherry]

What a bummer! Somewhat similar thing happened to my Firebird, it runs like a neutered dog/no balls/ and needs to be rebuilt AGAIN, but I didn't have the catastrophic engine failure you did. Drag that fool into court, and like someone else mentioned, AFTER he's been served with the summons approach him with a settlement amount. Lastly, it has been my experience that paying the $50 or so to have the Sheriff's Dept serve the court summons is worth it's weight in GOLD, that shows you mean BUSINESS!
My brother lives in Longmont, PM me if you want his email/phone#. He's a gear head, races Karts, and he may know a good machine shop for you, if you want.
Good luck, keep us posted!!!

[gtofreek]

That really sucks! This is kind of why I started building my own engines and fixing my own cars 27 years ago. I had some bad experiences at some shops that I thought knew what they were doing. I started thinking about it like this. Hell, I can mess it up myself, why pay someone to do it. So I started fixing everything that went wrong, myself. If I didn't know how to fix it, then I asked several knowledgable people and used common sense to decifer the answers. I started digging in with both hands and fixing whatever went wrong and believe me, when you do it yourself, your much more conscience of whats going on and I no longer had issues with car repairs. Now I fix everything myself for the most part. Even things around the house because I simply don't trust many in the repair business anymore.

Take your time, ask as many questions as you need to to get the answers you need, and do it yourself. It's much more satisfying in the end. If you have mechanical abilities, it won't be a big deal. There are plenty of people here that will help you out on that build.

[fasteddy]

Greg Merrick is not at all as this Denver guy has portrayed. He has built many engines for me and others with nothing but great results. Like most problems in a deal, there are 2 sides to every story. I would suggest that people search this forum for other opinions about Greg before you take the word of 1 guy.

[johnta1]

Now, Now, fasteddy.
When has 2 sides ever been used on this forum?

:)

You'll be a cheerleader next.
:D

[fasteddy]

Unfortunately that is true John. I just know Greg well and appreciate him as a friend. I can attest as to what kind of character this guy has. How many people do you know that would do this:

Gave us 1000 dollars when our grandson was displaced by a divorce to our temp custody-no strings-just gave the money

Found out that my wife had MS and was sensitive to heat--purchased an entire new furnace and air conditioning system and installed it in our home, with my help(wasn't much), free of charge. Again, no strings attached.

Helped me put my engine together and in the car in 2 and a half days-no charge-no strings attached.

These are only a few examples of Gregs character I have experienced.

[mrrat1]

I think there is something wrong when a persons first post is a complaint. Seems a little much to believe..........especially with his rep........Dave K.

[440GP69]

I like OINK! Merrick is doing good things, this little rant has not convinced me and i hope not others that he is as described above and i would use his services without a doubt!, hey you can't make everyone happy!

[74gto]

I sold Greg some parts a year or so ago for his wifes' Ventura. I shipped them to him without receiving payment. He and I spoke a few times on the phone in between. He sure seemed like a good old boy, even gave me a few tips to use on my pontiac. A week later I get payment in the mail for the parts and shipping, and he threw in some extra money for my packing job (one piece was a dash pad). I had heard about him at least a decade ago, and had followed his website. Everybody is human and makes mistakes. From what I know of Greg, I don't think it was intentional. JOHN