[screamingchief]

Here's how I see this,I'll try to take this one item @ a time.

The rear main seal deal first,you told him exactly what you wanted to use,and he did'nt listen to that,and in spite of your specific directive,he went ahead and used something that you expressly told him not to use.

I would'nt have paid him a dime for that fiasco.

That's all on him IMO,as a matter of fact,I would'nt have even taken delivery till the rope seal was put in the motor,I would not have even put a second of run time on the engine with those other seals in them,not because there is anything inherently wrong with them or such,but just because they're not what was explictly requested by you,the customer,the one paying for the work.

Now the "freshen".

IMO that might easily include new rings,bearings,gaskets,definitely a hone job to go with the new rings,maybe a basic valve clean-up,and a light head surfacing,but any serious machine work beyond that and you absolutely should have been contacted and advised of the need and costs before any work was done.

I dont feel the line bore should have been consider part of the "freshen",if they discovered a problem during the inspection and diagnosis of the thrust bearing issue,absofrickinlutely you should have been contacted and told of such,advised of the costs involved,and then asked for approval/authorization for said work before it was actually done.

If they missed that main problem on the initial build,ask me they should be willing to eat at least some of that cost,as that should have been checked out on the first build.

Kinda the same deal on the valve guides,I dont see them needing service that quickly,so I'd be real suspicious about that deal too.

Deck surfacing,again this is not always the most commonly needed machine process,if it was indeed necessary,they should have brought it to your attention like the other items.

Further I dont quite understand why they replaced the retainers,lash caps,head bolts,or rocker studs,all those seem to me to be relatively durable items that rarely need service unless some issues were found,and again they should call and advise you,and get authorization to replace,that is SOP for a "good" shop/builder IMHO.

I dunno,I would likely be looking for another machine shop/builder myself.

But there are always at least three sides to every story,,,and we've only heard your side thus far...