jflave
11-09-2011, 07:32 PM
DENNIS REINHART REVIEW
Dennis Reinhart – you should be locked up!!!
Let me start by saying that anything I say here can be backed up with pictures or information from other people that I have spoken to and have said it is okay to use their names. Yes, I am a fool; but I was distracted in the past year. I have lost one of my 4 sisters to cancer, my mom (95 years old) – God bless her, she had a good life, my brother-in-law to cancer and 1 month after he passed away, his wife (my sister) found out that she had cancer. She lives just outside of Lewes, DE and I have been commuting 3x/week (2 hours each way); but now things are getting better and I have time for the car. I told Dennis Reinhart to do whatever it took to make it a 10 second car. Every time I turned around, he needed more money and it was sent to him express mail, and it was big $$$. With that being said, I’ll start the review. If anything disappears in JFlave’s update or in Larry LJ on24’s threads, you will know why. I sent my car to DR’s shop in May of 2010 with 33,000 miles on it - A great Fox Lake Built Motor, 1200 SL etc.; but it would only do 12.0 @ 116 & my 60 times were slower than when I had a stock engine. DR said it’s the tune - send it to me and I’ll make some other changes after checking it out. I got the car back on 10.6.2011 (long time) with 37,255 miles (4,000 miles more than when I sent it to DR. In August, it had just turned 35,000 miles. I had asked him about it and he said he was driving to make sure everything was ok (believable). My full size polished spare was not in the trunk. He said he took it out to go to the track a few weeks back (again, believable). The hood didn’t look right to me and he said it was out of adjustment and called someone and we drove over to another shop that was close by, but the guy wasn’t there (still believable). I asked him about the original trans with the 33,000 miles on it, the 2-step, the 1-inch spacer, my 2 SCT tuners, the original alternator w/ the 8-rib pulley that I was going to use as a spare, the 14” brake kit and the boost-a-pump that I just disconnected the power wire, but never took it out of the trunk, when I went to a return fuel system. DR said all was in the back of his shop and will be put in the trunk of my car to save on shipping costs when the car comes north and the 14” brake kit was out getting powder-coated and would be installed before the car left his shop (paid for the brakes in June 2011) (all believable). And I’m a fool? Nothing came north w/ the car and when the car arrived, the brakes weren’t on it. I recently received a transmission that is not mine. I had Tom Kasper look at it and he sees what I see – a high mileage weathered trans. My car is a garage queen and does not come out in the rain, snow or winter. The rear shaft lube kit that was put on the car was not the work of Tom Kasper. He knows his work, and that’s not it. The flow tube looked old and rusted. I then had someone else on the site check the #s that are on the trans. It’s an ’03 MM trans, but not the one that matches my VIN #. It’s not my original trans. DR also sent me an alternator that is not mine. It’s old and pitted and doesn’t have an 8-rib pulley on it and the electrical connector is broke. I have now found my custom made intake spacer – it’s on Larry’s car (LJ on24’s) who’s car was being worked on at the same time my car was there (Dennis, you stole it and sold it to Larry and I think the boost-a-pump that you sold to him was also off of my car). I talked to Larry 2x and all is good. They are his now, he paid Dennis $$ for them. Feel free to talk to Larry or he may even post. The full-size polished spare DR sent me is also not mine. Mine was clean and waxed and the tire had a plug in it, and had only about 8,000 miles on it. The one he sent me - the tire is worn on the outside like it had a bad alignment and there was no plug. The wheel itself looked bad, pitted and loaded w/ road tar, like a high mileage car. I spent some time cleaning it up, but it still looks bad. The other parts (the 2-step, the 2 tuners, the original alternator w/ the 8-rib pulley and the 14” brake kit) are still unaccounted for. Body condition – besides the 4,000 miles DR put on the car, 2,000 since I was there in the first week of August, the car came back to me w/ a hole in the passenger side of the rear bumper cover and 2 more holes that were filled in and painted over and are cracking now with the film material coming out like the hole above them. The tail pipe on the same side is pushed in approximately 1”. I paid to have the tips extended and they were perfect. Also, the bumper cover on the driver side rear is all cracked. The front of the car has several chips in the paint and the rear door on the driver’s side has been touched up (not good). The hood is not mine. If you look at the JFlave upgrade thread – post #10 – look at the hood. That picture was taken at DR’s shop and posted by DR – it looked great, straight, all lined up w/ good gaps. Now go to post #36 and #39. Where’s my hood? It’s gone – WHY??? Now go to post #42 – DR says something about getting the hood painted. Here’s a picture of the hood that came back to me. It’s not my hood. Did he really think I wouldn’t notice?? And to back this up, I took the car over to the shop that painted and installed the hood for me. Guess what? They don’t think it’s my hood either. The cow is not painted in the same color - they sprayed it. It’s a few shades off. The hood also has 2 big humps in it and doesn’t lay flat now. They also said the struts on the car now are not the same as what they used, which were off an old small foreign car that was totaled and going to the junkyard. As for the rear bumper cover, shortly before the car went to DR, I had 2 blisters on the rear cover and they sanded the complete cover and at the time it had no other damage, no fill-in material. The owner said if I need a statement, or anything from him, just ask. As I am writing this, other things are coming to mind. The lower intake was also stolen. I purchased a lower intake from DR when the engine was being built and sent it to Extrude Hone to be smoothed out and when it came back to Tom Kasper, who was installing the new engine, he opened up the holes on the top of the lower intake – 1 size over using American threads 1/4-20. Because I was using the 1” spacer, stolen by DR, he installed the 1/4-20 studs. The lower intake that is now on the car is stock with stock bolts and it is not my intake that was on the car when it went to FL. Mechanical – this is bad – but before I go on, let me say that I talked to Ron Hobart @ Fox Lake Racing several times in the last week and he has been very helpful and if I had the $$ to buy another built motor, I would have him build it for me. I also know that he is putting his reputation on the line by talking to me, let alone sending me information. So nothing is directed at Fox Lake Racing, I know its DR’s bad work and bad tune. Like I said, I got the car back on 10.6.2011 and took a quick ride, maybe 2 miles after it was warmed up. The car felt good and I posted that and it was put in the garage for about 10 days because I was very busy. I took the car out for a ride and went about 4 more miles – just got on the highway and all went wrong. It started w/ a loud screeching sound from the engine and smoke. I also experienced an oil-burning smell. I pulled over and looked under the car – it was night and I had no flashlight. I could see coolant and I could see smoke when I opened the hood. I called the tow truck and it was taken to Flanagans. They checked it in w/ 37,261 miles on it – remember I got it back w/ 37,255 – so I drove it for 6 miles total since getting it back. Here is what they found – the bolt came off the alternator pulley – it’s a brand new chrome alternator installed by DR. The pulley came forward and it cut a hole in the crossover tube – also bending the shaft of the alternator. The belt lost a rib, but stayed on. They ordered a new crossover tube and they also found the oil pressure sending unit leaking and the oil filter adaptor leaking. They found a missing bolt in one of the motor mounts and another missing bolt in the power steering pump. The blow off valve was loose and missing part of the gasket. The water hose coming down past the blow off valve was being forced into a bolt and cutting into the hose, easy fix. New hose – just reversed it – clears the bolt. Fan housing was loose and moving – they fixed it. The front end was making noise and they found a bolt loose on a sway bar link. They also found some other bolts loose that hold the front end in and that the whole underside of the car was sprayed w/ a black coating – WHY??? Look at the pictures in post #32 (JFlave upgrades) – the underside of my car is clean, so why the coating? I will get back to this momentarily. They also found the supercharger was not straight and when they took it off a bolt hole was cross-threaded and in bad shape. They also found the oil to be black with specks and/or particles in it, and it was thick - ??? - anyone ever see this before? After getting the car up and running again, another hose was leaking (minor), but coolant was leaking out of the hole in the electric water pump – so they pulled the pump and when they did, they found 2 more bolt holes in bad shape, but fixable (WTF!!). They called me and I called DR. He gave me the # of Meziere in CA and said he would pay for it, but he never did, and it was instead billed to my credit card. But, wait … it gets better. ... continued - see part 2
Dennis Reinhart – you should be locked up!!!
Let me start by saying that anything I say here can be backed up with pictures or information from other people that I have spoken to and have said it is okay to use their names. Yes, I am a fool; but I was distracted in the past year. I have lost one of my 4 sisters to cancer, my mom (95 years old) – God bless her, she had a good life, my brother-in-law to cancer and 1 month after he passed away, his wife (my sister) found out that she had cancer. She lives just outside of Lewes, DE and I have been commuting 3x/week (2 hours each way); but now things are getting better and I have time for the car. I told Dennis Reinhart to do whatever it took to make it a 10 second car. Every time I turned around, he needed more money and it was sent to him express mail, and it was big $$$. With that being said, I’ll start the review. If anything disappears in JFlave’s update or in Larry LJ on24’s threads, you will know why. I sent my car to DR’s shop in May of 2010 with 33,000 miles on it - A great Fox Lake Built Motor, 1200 SL etc.; but it would only do 12.0 @ 116 & my 60 times were slower than when I had a stock engine. DR said it’s the tune - send it to me and I’ll make some other changes after checking it out. I got the car back on 10.6.2011 (long time) with 37,255 miles (4,000 miles more than when I sent it to DR. In August, it had just turned 35,000 miles. I had asked him about it and he said he was driving to make sure everything was ok (believable). My full size polished spare was not in the trunk. He said he took it out to go to the track a few weeks back (again, believable). The hood didn’t look right to me and he said it was out of adjustment and called someone and we drove over to another shop that was close by, but the guy wasn’t there (still believable). I asked him about the original trans with the 33,000 miles on it, the 2-step, the 1-inch spacer, my 2 SCT tuners, the original alternator w/ the 8-rib pulley that I was going to use as a spare, the 14” brake kit and the boost-a-pump that I just disconnected the power wire, but never took it out of the trunk, when I went to a return fuel system. DR said all was in the back of his shop and will be put in the trunk of my car to save on shipping costs when the car comes north and the 14” brake kit was out getting powder-coated and would be installed before the car left his shop (paid for the brakes in June 2011) (all believable). And I’m a fool? Nothing came north w/ the car and when the car arrived, the brakes weren’t on it. I recently received a transmission that is not mine. I had Tom Kasper look at it and he sees what I see – a high mileage weathered trans. My car is a garage queen and does not come out in the rain, snow or winter. The rear shaft lube kit that was put on the car was not the work of Tom Kasper. He knows his work, and that’s not it. The flow tube looked old and rusted. I then had someone else on the site check the #s that are on the trans. It’s an ’03 MM trans, but not the one that matches my VIN #. It’s not my original trans. DR also sent me an alternator that is not mine. It’s old and pitted and doesn’t have an 8-rib pulley on it and the electrical connector is broke. I have now found my custom made intake spacer – it’s on Larry’s car (LJ on24’s) who’s car was being worked on at the same time my car was there (Dennis, you stole it and sold it to Larry and I think the boost-a-pump that you sold to him was also off of my car). I talked to Larry 2x and all is good. They are his now, he paid Dennis $$ for them. Feel free to talk to Larry or he may even post. The full-size polished spare DR sent me is also not mine. Mine was clean and waxed and the tire had a plug in it, and had only about 8,000 miles on it. The one he sent me - the tire is worn on the outside like it had a bad alignment and there was no plug. The wheel itself looked bad, pitted and loaded w/ road tar, like a high mileage car. I spent some time cleaning it up, but it still looks bad. The other parts (the 2-step, the 2 tuners, the original alternator w/ the 8-rib pulley and the 14” brake kit) are still unaccounted for. Body condition – besides the 4,000 miles DR put on the car, 2,000 since I was there in the first week of August, the car came back to me w/ a hole in the passenger side of the rear bumper cover and 2 more holes that were filled in and painted over and are cracking now with the film material coming out like the hole above them. The tail pipe on the same side is pushed in approximately 1”. I paid to have the tips extended and they were perfect. Also, the bumper cover on the driver side rear is all cracked. The front of the car has several chips in the paint and the rear door on the driver’s side has been touched up (not good). The hood is not mine. If you look at the JFlave upgrade thread – post #10 – look at the hood. That picture was taken at DR’s shop and posted by DR – it looked great, straight, all lined up w/ good gaps. Now go to post #36 and #39. Where’s my hood? It’s gone – WHY??? Now go to post #42 – DR says something about getting the hood painted. Here’s a picture of the hood that came back to me. It’s not my hood. Did he really think I wouldn’t notice?? And to back this up, I took the car over to the shop that painted and installed the hood for me. Guess what? They don’t think it’s my hood either. The cow is not painted in the same color - they sprayed it. It’s a few shades off. The hood also has 2 big humps in it and doesn’t lay flat now. They also said the struts on the car now are not the same as what they used, which were off an old small foreign car that was totaled and going to the junkyard. As for the rear bumper cover, shortly before the car went to DR, I had 2 blisters on the rear cover and they sanded the complete cover and at the time it had no other damage, no fill-in material. The owner said if I need a statement, or anything from him, just ask. As I am writing this, other things are coming to mind. The lower intake was also stolen. I purchased a lower intake from DR when the engine was being built and sent it to Extrude Hone to be smoothed out and when it came back to Tom Kasper, who was installing the new engine, he opened up the holes on the top of the lower intake – 1 size over using American threads 1/4-20. Because I was using the 1” spacer, stolen by DR, he installed the 1/4-20 studs. The lower intake that is now on the car is stock with stock bolts and it is not my intake that was on the car when it went to FL. Mechanical – this is bad – but before I go on, let me say that I talked to Ron Hobart @ Fox Lake Racing several times in the last week and he has been very helpful and if I had the $$ to buy another built motor, I would have him build it for me. I also know that he is putting his reputation on the line by talking to me, let alone sending me information. So nothing is directed at Fox Lake Racing, I know its DR’s bad work and bad tune. Like I said, I got the car back on 10.6.2011 and took a quick ride, maybe 2 miles after it was warmed up. The car felt good and I posted that and it was put in the garage for about 10 days because I was very busy. I took the car out for a ride and went about 4 more miles – just got on the highway and all went wrong. It started w/ a loud screeching sound from the engine and smoke. I also experienced an oil-burning smell. I pulled over and looked under the car – it was night and I had no flashlight. I could see coolant and I could see smoke when I opened the hood. I called the tow truck and it was taken to Flanagans. They checked it in w/ 37,261 miles on it – remember I got it back w/ 37,255 – so I drove it for 6 miles total since getting it back. Here is what they found – the bolt came off the alternator pulley – it’s a brand new chrome alternator installed by DR. The pulley came forward and it cut a hole in the crossover tube – also bending the shaft of the alternator. The belt lost a rib, but stayed on. They ordered a new crossover tube and they also found the oil pressure sending unit leaking and the oil filter adaptor leaking. They found a missing bolt in one of the motor mounts and another missing bolt in the power steering pump. The blow off valve was loose and missing part of the gasket. The water hose coming down past the blow off valve was being forced into a bolt and cutting into the hose, easy fix. New hose – just reversed it – clears the bolt. Fan housing was loose and moving – they fixed it. The front end was making noise and they found a bolt loose on a sway bar link. They also found some other bolts loose that hold the front end in and that the whole underside of the car was sprayed w/ a black coating – WHY??? Look at the pictures in post #32 (JFlave upgrades) – the underside of my car is clean, so why the coating? I will get back to this momentarily. They also found the supercharger was not straight and when they took it off a bolt hole was cross-threaded and in bad shape. They also found the oil to be black with specks and/or particles in it, and it was thick - ??? - anyone ever see this before? After getting the car up and running again, another hose was leaking (minor), but coolant was leaking out of the hole in the electric water pump – so they pulled the pump and when they did, they found 2 more bolt holes in bad shape, but fixable (WTF!!). They called me and I called DR. He gave me the # of Meziere in CA and said he would pay for it, but he never did, and it was instead billed to my credit card. But, wait … it gets better. ... continued - see part 2