Do not take your engine to CVMS for anything. I paid $6,000 for CVMS to rebuild my Pontiac 389 motor. I installed and ran my freshly rebuilt CVMS motor June - October putting 2,437 miles on the motor during this period. Throughout this time the engine would consume 1 qt. of oil every 150-175 miles. I did contact Jim L. (owner of CVMS)and told him the motor was running great but I was concerned about the excessive oil consumption. Jim told me "to keep driving it as the rings seated".
As oil consumption was not improving Jim believed the valve stem seals were allowing oil to be sucked back into the exhaust valves (?) which was why the motor was smoking so much during deceleration. Jim told me to find a good engine builder in my area to replace the seals, which he would provide and pay for the labor (which he did). I contacted Mueller Auto in Auburn, MI to have the seals replaced on 10/14/2016. When I picked up the car Don M. told me that he didn't believe that this would correct my problem as when adjusting the valves the guide plates didn't look like they were setting at the same height. He also told me that when doing compression tests cylinders 1&5 had ~45% leak down. I contacted Jim on 10/19/2016 with this information which he didn't believe and told me to keep "driving the car" which I did.
As I continued to drive the vehicle the high oil consumption continued. I took the car back to Mueller Auto for repairs based on what they had discovered. As I was out of the USA during this time I asked that Mueller's contact me VIA e-mail. On 11/02/2016 I received an e-mail stating "Steve we have your Pontiac motor apart and it is not good the Pistons were installed backwards the valve job is terrible the camshaft is wiping out the block was shot blasted and never line honed or decked we need to replace the Pistons line hone the block and rehone it and reassemble it and do a valve job the crank needs to be reground that being said you will have about $4,200 to complete it. If you could call me that would be great. Don Mueller. I didn't expect to have to do a complete rebuild!" Some other things discovered:
Pistons installed backwards.
Rings have heavy wear from incorrect side loading. Main bearings wiping hard, #4 grooved from debris, bead blast rsidue.
Block was not line honed after bead blasting.
Heli coils in head were holding guide plates up allowing oil into oil intake runners. (I had CVMS replace the pressed in studs with 7/16" screw in studs and 5/16" guide plates).
Crank needs regrinding. It cost me another $4340 to repair the motor Jim L. had already rebuilt previously.
Jim L. knew that I was having the motor rebuilt because of his poor quality workmanship and he refuses to honor any warranty. If you want a quality engine rebuild, DO NOT contact CVMS.
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