[ScumOne]

I have Power Stop Z26 rotors and pads, so will these monster or oversize calipers work with the backing plate from Scare bird?

GTO F product code is what I’d like.
MST Monster caliper kit, too.

[Scarebird]

We usually recommend soft organic pads for how most drive these vehicles.


Yes on the calipers, they were made SPECIFICALLY for GM apps

[ScumOne]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

We usually recommend soft organic pads for how most drive these vehicles.


Yes on the calipers, they were made SPECIFICALLY for GM apps

Both calipers offer 21% more pressure. Is the main difference to two and three-quarter inch piston in the monster caliper? Let me know about that and I’ll be ready to place an order later this morning. Let me know which p/n I Need to order if I missed something.

Jim Seavall a.k.a. ScumOne

[Scarebird]

yes, they are new castings using the Mopar 2-3/4" piston - a better match for GM masters.

[ScumOne]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

yes, they are new castings using the Mopar 2-3/4" piston - a better match for GM masters.

OK I placed an order with the monster caliper and the other parts of the brake kit. Let me know if I missed anything for this to replace my factory power disc brakes, ok?

[Scarebird]

Thanks, I will.

[ScumOne]

Thank you Scarebird!

[ScumOne]

Kudos to Scarebird! My monster caliper shipped about eight days earlier than originally told. Five days from order to ship pretty good when he said two weeks to begin with. Now I have a whole bunch of power stop Z 26 extreme brake parts coming in. Rotors pads rear drums and shoes plus the monster calipers, it should be a stopping force of nature! I’ll post some pictures once it’s all done. Thanks again Scarebird!

[ScumOne]

Well, the kit didn't fit my factory power disc brakes. The backing plate didn't have the proper spacers, or didn't provide for the indent needed to mount flush to the spindle.

The backing plate needed to be filed to fit the Monster calipers that were sent by Scarebird.. I tried to resolve this for two weeks, multiple emails, pictures of the spindle, plate, etc plus the casting #'s of what I had on the car.

Of many replies, a few stood out...

Your mechanic doesn't know how to measure the caliper piston (that turned out to be incorrect).

Six pictures and several emails later...
You either have power disc brake spindles or drum spindles that have been cut down.

Two more emails and more pics of the specific GM casting #'s, pictures of the power disc brake spindle front, back, center and damned near upside down and the reply was:

Our stuff doesn't work with your spindles.

I sent the kit back on my dime. Scarebird receives it and has to file on their own backing plate to make it fit their caliper, ignoring the fact that it wasn't the right plate for the spindle to begin with, and declares that this shouldn't be an issue, and implies that it's not his fault. I dunno, usually when stuff needs to be modified to work, that should be in the instructions...right?

Uh, right....

Then the refund for the wrong parts was minus the shipping because their QC didn't catch the plate filing/fitment issues, and apparently two caliper bolts were missing...my bad on that one.

So, I get a refund minus $48 from $360, plus the return shipping I paid for, two weeks of aggravation, my mechanic's time to try to figure out why all this isn't matching up, and Scarebird's repeated denials of having done anything wrong.

I imagine by the time I pay my mechanic to diagnose the shortcoming of the Scarebird MST caliper and matching plate, I'll probably have lost a little more than what I spent (over $400 I figure)...well, plus ordering a whole new Wildwood disc brake setup that I'll get in four weeks.

The shop put my factory power disc brakes/rotors/etc back on, and I can pickup the car tomorrow.

Not the experience I had hoped for, and certainly not what I paid for. Buyer beware!

Jim

[Scarebird]

Hi Jim, you did not do ANY of this work, did you?

You did not mention that we got the parts back, test fit them and they fit fine.

We did not "file down the backing plate", we spent 10 seconds on the caliper with a file and it slid in (machining burr)

Here is a pic of it test fitted:



This is how his "mechanic" measured the piston of the caliper:



Why yes, the anvils of the dial caliper are INSIDE the piston...

We did offer to build a set of brackets that would fit the disc spindle but Jim decided against it.

We refunded his money minus shipping and for parts not sent back.

Needless to say we regret ever having anything to do with this guy.

[tom s]

Jim,PM him about your dealing with ART CARR!Tom

[ScumOne]

In answer to Mark @ Scarebird's post below, here's the real story.

Originally Posted by Scarebird

[COLOR="Navy"]Hi Jim, you did not do ANY of this work, did you?

Of course I didn't. I paid for it with my credit card using my billing address, and I had you ship the parts to my mechanics's shop address who was doing a bunch of other work on the car. Did you not understand that? (Dumb ass question, of course you did, obviously. This is just an irrelevant talking point for you to deflect accountability for your screwing up.)

Originally Posted by Scarebird

You did not mention that we got the parts back, test fit them and they fit fine.

I'm happy to hear the parts you sent matched each other after some filing. However, as I have been saying to you for two weeks, they don't fit a 1969 Firebird 400 with factory power disc brake spindles. You knew this was the car you were working with on May 15th. I even emailed you to make sure that I got everything I needed and if not, let me know. You replied "I will" and that's in the posts in this thread above as well. I guess those details escaped you or weren't important enough to put down in pursuit of a sale, right Mark? Or do you have some other pithy answer as to why you shipped the wrong backing plate for installing your Monster calipers in my car? That was kind of crucial, wasn't it?

Originally Posted by Scarebird

We did not "file down the backing plate", we spent 10 seconds on the caliper with a file and it slid in (machining burr).

Ok, I'm doing this on the fly from my iPhone, answering in a small window and supplying you pics on the fly while I have other things to do. The bottom line is that what fits to each other in your shop after modifications, filing or whatever else doesn't do me a bit of good when my mechanic calls and says "Jim, this kit must be made for a drum brake car doing a conversion to disc." You patently denied this via email. Of course, I told him you said that I got the right parts, which you have now admitted is wrong in an email earlier this week. By the way, who cares about your test fit in the shop or the caliper piston measurement at this point? You'd already sent the wrong kit, and I believe you knew it and are trying to mitigate damage or deflect your incompetence in handling the order. Perhaps you answer to your boss and he's tired of you screwing up orders, I really can't say. But telling me after you've admitted shipping the wrong kit that you have a lawyer that loves to litigate this stuff, and that I better be "factual" in my posts...well, that just tells me you've got experience with this exact situation at least once before.

Originally Posted by Scarebird

We did offer to build a set of brackets that would fit the disc spindle but Jim decided against it.

Ok, this is rich! You should just phrase it like this... "Hey Jim, we knowingly sent you the wrong backing plates to mount the calipers. In spite of the time you've lost getting the car finished, the fact that your mechanic is charging you to make our incorrect kit fit (although it's impossible to make it fit without fabricating other parts) and that we are totally sure we've done no wrong...if you send back the incorrect backing plates we sent (on your dime), we'll only charge you $30 for building your the proper plates, even though it is our mistake. You cool with that, Jimbo?"

And he wonders why I declined that offer. What a loon!

Originally Posted by Scarebird

We refunded his money minus shipping and for parts not sent back. Needless to say we regret ever having anything to do with this guy.

Yeah, this is another "WTF?" post trying to deflect responsibility.. You screw up the order right off the bat, you make me take multiple pictures of everything to send to you to examine, then admit I received the wrong plates to mount the calipers. You sent drum brake kits, not a factory power disc brake setup, which it seems you don't make except on a custom basis. Then you tell me you "Our stuff won't work with your spindles..." and then you act like you're doing me a favor with the statement of "We did offer to build a set of brackets that would fit the disc spindle but Jim decided against it." LOL

Well gee, you got a lot of this stuff wrong, Marcus. Your plates you sent me didn't fit your own calipers without filing them when you got them back. You then want me to pay to send back your incorrect plates, and for a measly $30 more you'd "build" the set I really needed. The car has already waited for 13 days for Scarebird to deal with this problem they created, all the while claiming my mechanic was wrong, etc. etc.

I loved how there were 3-4 days or "radio silence" twice in the last two weeks. "Hey, we're closed now, we'll be back in the shop on Wednesday. Email us then..." Great, thanks for your concern, sir. I'll just sit here and wait for you to deal with this when you're good and ready. Sheesh!

Summary of this mess:
Scarebird sent the wrong parts to fit my car.
Scarebird wants to charge me to get the right ones.
Scarebird wants me to pay the shipping back to them for the wrong parts they sent me, and that I already paid for to get shipped to me initially.
Scarebird expects me to pay my mechanic for attempting to install their incorrect parts they insisted were the right ones (and then later admitted they weren't.)
Scarebird expects that I should take this all lying down and they act like they did me a favor of not charging me a 20% restocking fee for the parts I ordered wrong, except they're the ones who told me which parts to order. See where this is going?

These guys have more issues than LIFE magazine. If you enjoy this type of tripe, great. I've got better things to do than troubleshoot the inadequacies of my parts vendor's parts and their "We're doing you a favor, Jim!" attitude.

I've got a solution for you (or is it an offer?) Mark @ Scarebird. It's cost me way more than what it should have to deal with this. I get the bill for the Firebird on Friday. I'm going to have my mechanic give me the separate charges involved in screwing with your incorrect parts. Then I'm going to total up his hourly total to deal with your crap, the original $360.01, the Fedex return shipping fees to Scarebird for the parts I returned.

I'm not going to pay the PayPal fees for your screwup. I'm not going to pay the shipping cost back to you for your screwup, either. I'm just going to make on offer to you next Monday once I total up all the costs I've paid, and I'll give you a total to offset what you've refunded already plus my actual costs for parts that didn't work.

If I could put a price on your "Holier than thou!" attitude for a fee, I would, but I doubt PayPal would let me do that. They will, however, reimburse me for "Item received not as described.", which would be the original cost, the shipping you made me pay to return the wrong parts, etc. Please let me know how much the two missing caliper bolts are so I can make out the offer for the right amount. I'm not trying to get over on you for two bolts, OK? But I'm not going to take this kind of crap from any vendor when they're trying to cover their ass, and screw mine.

So, you decide how you want things to go from here. Give Art Carr a call, ask him how he did when his people screwed up and tried to cover it up. Maybe you'll realize how futile this really is. His # is: 800-278-2277.

Your call. I'm going to have a beer. You've got my email, my phone #, PayPal address, Visa #, etc. I'll be back in touch next week to you with a final amount this has cost me, and I'll total up the difference between your "refund of $312.00" and, the cost of two caliper bolts and what the difference is that I'm out of pocket.

If our positions were reversed, I'm sure you'd be asking the same thing of me. And I imagine a number of people would be doing the same if this was their issue with Scarebird.

Jim

[ZeGermanHam]