TOPIC:

Oil leaks are not a problem for any engine that's put together right,well ok maybe normal for a Harley!
Why anybody would paint a gasket mating surface and expect it to seal is beyond me.

I tell you. I got a friend with an HD with 70k miles and it doesn't leak a drop. Mine leaked almost everywhere after the first ride.

Could he have used the wrong arbor / cutter? Ed

Forgot what my machinist said, bad tools or not fitted in the guide correctly. He did say he believed the head and block were done with a belt sander. This will clean off the old gasket and make it look nice, but will never make the surfaces true flat.

autotech2@tx.rr.com wrote:

Could he have used the wrong arbor / cutter? Ed

Forgot what my machinist said, bad tools or not fitted in the guide correctly. He did say he believed the head and block were done with a belt sander. This will clean off the old gasket and make it look nice, but will never make the surfaces true flat.

On Facebook guys are saying Joe is having health problems and hasn't been answering the phone.

He went in for open heart surgery a week or so ago.

Sorry to hear that.

That sucks

When i picked up my motor a month ago from Joe's workplace in Orlando, i noticed he wasn't feeling so well. Joe's work was always meticulous and reasonable that's why i decided to go with Pit Stop Performance to assemble/build the motor( made roundtrip from ft-lauderdale to Orlando twice). I did not fire up the motor yet and hope i don't get the same results mentioned in this thread, but i sure wish Joe a fast recovery with minimal impact.

Not to high jack your thread on Pitstop Performance, but:
Lately it seems to be an industry problem. We at our shop have had bad work done from nearly everywhere we send stuff out to. Seems like either the worst luck ever or a plague.
Guides not reamed, seats that are porous, rebuilt engines that Knock from piston clearance cold, low engine vacuum and no power, a particular Lotus engine that smokes like crazy under power and misses at Idle which just was rebuilt. Auto transmissions that leak from nearly every seal and gasket, and turn around time on any job seems to be really excessive.
I know a lot of the replacement parts quality is shot to hell, thats been an ongoing issue now for a very long time. But how can someone do a valve job without reaming the new guides, have seats that are porous, IN seats that have a single angle and contact none of the valve face, 50% + leakage, get sent out from a shop that has been in business 50 years??? Cost our shop another $500 to have them redone at another place, as the first shop would do nothing without returning them to there place. They already had them 6+ weeks, and the customer was getting really pissed.
Way to many button pushers these days and not enough hands on skills. Its Killing this country!!!!!!!!!!

When i picked up my motor a month ago from Joe's workplace in Orlando, i noticed he wasn't feeling so well. Joe's work was always meticulous and reasonable that's why i decided to go with Pit Stop Performance to assemble/build the motor( made roundtrip from ft-lauderdale to Orlando twice). I did not fire up the motor yet and hope i don't get the same results mentioned in this thread, but i sure wish Joe a fast recovery with minimal impact.

If it's a "J" engine pull the APE pollution covers and see if the exhaust ports have been plugged. When I first fired mine you could hear and feel the exhaust blowing out from the covers. Then ride it like 100 miles (if that) and carefully inspect everywhere for leaks. Good luck, and let me know what happens. Might want to also pull the oil filter and see if the paint sticks to the o-ring. If so, I would assume there may be paint on all the gasket surfaces.

Here's the head gasket leak:


Beginning of the case leaks:





Cam journal damage:



This is daylight past the #2 intake valve:




This is me in the middle of re-doing the top end correctly:

Boy that sucks.

" If it's a "J" engine pull the APE pollution covers and see if the exhaust ports have been plugged. When I first fired mine you could hear and feel the exhaust blowing out from the covers. Then ride it like 100 miles (if that) and carefully inspect everywhere for leaks. Good luck, and let me know what happens. Might want to also pull the oil filter and see if the paint sticks to the o-ring. If so, I would assume there may be paint on all the gasket surfaces."


It is not a "J" model.Too bad you have to redo the work on your motor, I was willing to pay an expert to put the motor back together so i do not have to do what you are doing now. I'll let you know as soon as i test the motor. Thx.