[2manyponchos]

I shouldn't get involved in the commentary, but being from the area, I have seen some of the parts first hand. The headers fit fine on the mockup chassis/block/heads/valve covers supplied to Joe at Cartel. I do not know if the mockup components came from Ed or Lynn, but I saw the headers fit in a chassis that was a 69 Bird. I personally thought the headers were a work of art. They were tucked tightly against the heads/valve covers and looked good. I don't know the dialogue between parties and what was agreed or expected (and it is not my business), but the headers fit the components that were provided as a jig for fabrication. I work full time as an engineer for a multi-billion dollar company that currently uses Cartel for prototype machining/prototype engine builds. We have run no less than 30 complete prototype engine builds through his shop in the last 2 years, that go straight to an endurance dyno cell and pull rated power for 1000-2000 hours. My experience has been that they have good attention to detail and Joe is one of the best fabricators that I have seen during the 14 years I have been in automotive research and development. I'm just one person with an opinion I guess.

I'm having a hard time with the machine work pictures. Tony has done work for us LONG before anyone in the Pontiac world even knew of BES (late 80's/early 90's). They are a stand up group of folks from my experiences and very knowledgeable. On more than one occassion, we have taken problematic blocks/cranks/heads done by other shops (some Pontiac/some not) down to Tony and they find/resolve the issue. The issues at hand are definitely not typical of their business. Hopefully your concerns are addressed.