[1nicenova]

Anyone ever bought an engine from them? Or heard anything good or bad about them? I bought a complete pump gas 582 of theres through Competition Products. Was already built to someone elses specs as a pump gas 10.1 comp. street motor, but the prices was right for a compete carb to pan crate motor so I went ahead & bought it. I just reluctantly shipped it back to them as every intake valve was hitting the eyebrows of the valve pockets in the pistons. Luckily only 1 valve was bent. I discovered this when I took the heads off to have a local guy do some porting & shave them down to bring compression up a little. Looks like a case of the pockets not being sized for a 2.300 intake valve. But after running a center punch down through the guide & marking the piston then measuring of that mark there is plenty of clearance. Looks more like the piston is rocking in the bore. Has a 4.375 stroke with a 6.385 rod & custom Manley flattops. I wondering if it is to short of a rod. Piston to wall clearance looks good at .005 on all but one cylinder #7 at .012. Which is weird because that one just barely hit. They are offering to repair it & cover the shipping & do any upgrades that I want at minimal cost if it is something that they caused. I cant see how it could of been anything I did. If the valves hit the tops of the pistons then it could have been from soft springs or an over rev but they are hitting the radius of the pockets. I did hear from them friday & they said they are going to take care of it, but I wasn't able to speak with the owner to find out what they are going to do yet. Will find out more tomorrow.
Any suggestions? I'm thinking I should either go to a 4.250 stroke & keep the 6.385 rods & make it a 565 or have them change to a 6.535 rod. for a better rod to stroke ratio & a more stable piston.

 

[casimirblue]

If you are talking about the guys in Jacksonville; I bought a balanced forged rotating assembly from them... However they shipped me a cast crank... They did however correct the problem. Just time and hassle. Makes you wonder though..

I have since heard some unflattering things but its just heresay.

 

[fabio]

sounds like some new hire built your engine without supervision. A basic thing like that should have been checked by them. Makes you wonder if clearances are ok and things were torqued properly. Hope it all works out but sounds like a headache. They had a website, but now it seems like they just deal through cometition products.

 

[Tom Mobley]

>> "Piston to wall clearance looks good at .005 on all but one cylinder #7 at .012." Are you serious? That is not even close to acceptable. Is the bore larger or the piston smaller?

Does seem like the Manley pistons would have been OK with the 2.3 valves though.

Make them fix the .012 deal, that's crazy. How would they excuse that?

 

[cstraub]

Wheeler, run away!!!!!!!!! They cost me a 100K a year account because of assembled engine issues.

 

[1nicenova]

>> "Piston to wall clearance looks good at .005 on all but one cylinder #7 at .012." Are you serious? That is not even close to acceptable. Is the bore larger or the piston smaller?

Does seem like the Manley pistons would have been OK with the 2.3 valves though.

Make them fix the .012 deal, that's crazy. How would they excuse that?

The bore was larger. But what is weird is that cylinder was the best looking one as to the valves hittting. Was barely touched.

The engine is in their hands now. Will hopefully find out today what they are going to do about it.
Picture links of pistons if the pictures aren't showing in post.

http://www.cardomain.com/member_pag...images/4/web/796000-796999/796921_36_full.jpg

http://www.cardomain.com/member_pag...images/4/web/796000-796999/796921_37_full.jpg

 

[Rmchevelle]

More crate motor horror stories. :sad:

 

[chevy111]

I wanted to revive this thread because of all the issues I had with wheeler. I like other Chevelle enthusiasts want to avoid being screwed. Type in yahoo reviews for wheeler and you will see multiple people having issues with this company.

 

[nastynate]

I had a 421 from them this year and the block hab to be a blem because the distributr would not drop in with out forcing it in.. Cam plug was allowing cam to go in almost past the journal because it was installed properly and they charged me for the block repairs, wanted 800.00 but we settled at 400.00 and i get my old block back that was blemished since it was already paid for.. Go figure.. Never again, I do it myself and deal with the hassle of running around getting things done.

 

[chevy111]

I bought a 383 long block from them and had problems from the start. First it was about 5 weeks late. They told me they didn't have straight plug heads is why it was late. He told me I could go with angle plug if I wanted to get it together soon or wait till they get castings for straight plug which might take another month. I checked my headers and they said they fit angle plug so I said yes. I get the engine and all looks good until I install it. I go to bolt my headers on and a no go. Plugs were hitting the headers. Well for about 3 weeks I ordered and returned 5 sets of headers that all didn't fit. The only thing that would was a set of long tubes that were heavily modified just so I could run it. Well I run it and it runs like crap, is spitting oil through the breather and the top end is all clickety clackety sounding. So I end up calling them and tell them I'm returning the heads. He begins to tell me I'm going to be charged a restocking fee. I said bs I'm not paying that. So he says return them and they will work something out. I return them and weeks go by and no return on my card. I call these idiots literally 50 times in 3 weeks and keep getting told call back this day and time or I will call you this day or time and no call from them. Finally after 3 weeks im pissed and ask to talk to the owner Pete Wheeler. That scumbag gets on the phone and tells me he's tired of me and he saw some reviews I left online. He told me he would just send the heads back if I don't remove the comments. I was floored of how much of a di*k he was. So I remove my comments and 2hrs later the money is on my card. No apologies no refund for the labor to install the heads and basically screwed out of $300. I put some Edelbrock heads on and all issues vanished. Runs fine but I do have a rear main seal leak. It's small so I'm not bothering to pull it to fix it. I cant tell you how much stress and all the crap I dealt with. I thought at one point I would never see my money and was going to eat close to 1100 bucks on the heads because I just could not get an answer on the refund.

 

[cream]

i just bought i forged crank from them hopefully everything will be aight , but hey will no soon

 

[Ben Lurkin]

Goes to prove only a rich man can afford a cheap engine and/or parts (since you end up paying 2x).

 

[chevy111]

I hear you. Last time I try to save a buck when it comes to an engine or anything else for my car for that matter.

 

[Sinister]

Another reason to not buy a crate motor. If you aren't going to build it yourself, buy a complete engine from Mike Lewis or Vortecpro and get cstraub to design a custom cam.

 

[aukai]

another reason to not buy a crate motor. If you aren't going to build it yourself, buy a complete engine from mike lewis or vortecpro and get cstraub to design a custom cam.

Amen....

 

[Aaron]

I live in the Jacksonville area....I have heard some of this hearsay....but also have seen some of this first hand.

Seem like Wheeler has a bigger background in circle track racing...lot of racers in this area....use there stuff and like it....not as much of this hearsay.

Can say it for there street crates....lots of this type of complaint.

 

[chevy111]

I have never put a bottom end together so I figured I would pick one up and install everything else. The guy told me they wouldn't charge to put a set of heads on so I went ahead and bought a pair and had them installed. Then they tried to charge me to install the heads. They actually charged my card which was another fight to get returned to my card. The heads ended up being junk.