tardy007

I went with AI, I will post my experience once I get everything back

cliff929

To bad I missed this thread.
Well this is AI customers service that I got. This is an email from them where I bought a set of bare trickflow heads with a set of 2.055 and 1.60 valves. And he sent me two different lengths valves. After my machine shop guy told me to have him exchange them out So I would not have to run to different size pushrods. Well this is what he emailed my back after I asked.

Cliff; All he has to do is shim the springs .050 to ba at the
same install hght...what gives??

Ron/Phil

So with that being emailed to me I think he must of had a bad day or thought I was trying to give him a hard time I never emailed him back. As I did not want to argue with him about it. My machine shop guy said he would change them out to save me time and money from shipping back and fourth. He is a great guy

With that being said. I wont purchase any thing from AI again. I did decide to have my heads ported but AI was not even considered after that. OH WELL live and learn who really takes care of there customers. Even if they are not making alot of money. I may have went back to them if it was not for the email

I asked them to exchange them that was there reply. The valves were never taken out of the sealed bags either. So I am not going to contact them ever agian.

Gripenfelter

Both do great work from what I've seen.

I went with Lloyd because he was very accessible and replied to all of my PMs and emails within a 24hr period. He took the time to explain everything and made sure I would be happy with the end result.

Other shops replied days later with one or two line replies or didn't reply at all lol.

jkipp84

Concur, same reason for me.

Quickshotkimber

Eric Bradby ported my heads and I got a cam from Joe Overton. Probably for the same price as LE. I'll challenge any of them on the track or a dyno. There are other choices out there

jkipp84

Hey, I have a Joe O cam too! I got my set up before Bret took over LE cam duties. Wonder how it'll run

Quickshotkimber

Good for you. In some cases cheaper isn't always better When are you going to be up and running?

Zigroid

cant say anything about Ai...

but lloyd was great to me, especially since I wasnt very knowledgeable and not too sure what I wanted. the end result is some beautiful equipment. I took alot of pictures of my heads, ported intake, and a really bad cam picture if you guys want to check em out in my sig. I didnt spend a whole lot of money and i got more than what I paid for. cant wait to get my beast together. hopefully for those fbody drags at island in august!

lloyd

jkipp84

I'd have no problem with a cam from Bret, he's pretty well proven in my book!

As for when it'll be up & running... Dunno. I bought a larger house with a detached 1 car garage in the back for the Z (it has a 2 car attached). Moving there next month, should be able to get back to work on it in early July. I hope.

AiSr

We post very rarely.However, when a customer tells just part of the story it
warrants the time to responed briefly. Not only was Cliff verbally informed that the if he wanted to go with 2.055 intake Ferrea valve that matches the 1.600 Ferrea TFS exh valve it would be .050 longer. Here is his email requesting the valve after being told it would be a +100.

"I will sent the payment out Monday. Is there any way I could get 2.05 intake valves? Please let me know. Thanks Clifton Campbell"

My email reply, "Yes, we can do that but 2.055 is a .100 length. The 1.600 is a .050 length. LMK if you still want the 2.055 intake."

Not only did I email Cliff, I called him to confirm that he understood the valves were different lengths.

Cliff you were verbally informed as well as emailed that you were getting different length valves. All you had to do was pick up the phone and call once you had discovered that you misunderstood...no need for bashing like this & attempting to portray this as bad customer service. My reply you quoted above was in response to this brief email requesting an exchange with no explanation of why.

"The machine shop guy sain I needed the same lenght ex valve Is the any way I could change it out? Also maybe change both sets out for the 6000 series valves? Let me know.
Thanks
Clifton Campbell"

After dealing with the public for more than 25years I have come to realize that there are less than desirable customers for this very reason. Cliff we do not want any future business of yours and we are indeed fortunate that:

"So I am not going to contact them ever agian."

Our service is 2nd to none and the quality of our products is among the best in the business.

Ron

cliff929

Yes I was informed about the different length valves. But not what the problems it would cause because of the difference. Until I took them to the shop with the heads. I also thought they were top of the line Ferrea valves. As you talk how other people use the cheaper spring and valves. That is why I wanted to change them out since I was going to send them back anyways. I was going to pay all the shipping and the extra cash for the 6000 series valves.
I don't know much of anything about the TF heads or the valves. You did mention the length But nothing else. It does not make scense that you cant get the same length in & ex valves. But I don't know much about this that is why I go to people who know what they are doing. I don't. If I was so informed why the reply that the machine shop guy must be incompented?

Cliff; All he has to do is shim the springs .050 to ba at the
same install hght...what gives??

Ron/Phil

At least that is the way I took it. This was a very simple thing to deal with. Why could I not just swap them out?

Well we both know the truth. I did not give you a hard time. Your email to me made me just drop the whole thing and just take a bigger loss.

I am not putting down your work or anything. Just had an experience. That I did not like.

If I knew more about this kind of stuff this would not of happened. I was not aware untill I was told. But not by you.

Because of this I sold the valves that I paid 160.00 for 100.00 to make every thing like it should.

AiSr

If you say so, this was the reason for the phone call you received in addition to the email.

On percieved quality differences, you purchased a TFS bare casting and the valves Ferrea specifically makes for them, and they ARE a quality piece. How are we to know you wanted to ship the TFS Ferrea valve back to us to upgrade if YOU cut off communication with us? You purchased NOTHING we produce, you requested what TFS themselves sell to go with the TFS casting you purchased. We cannot provide you with components you do not ask for.

If you haven't noticed, you received exactly what you asked for.

We were trying to help you by pointing out the simple solution and expected you to get back to us. You mentioned nothing about geometry etc. and again, we cannot help you if you do not ask for help. No one ever called your local machinist incompetent or anything else, and I'd suggest you think twice about claiming we did anything you know we haven't. YOU made the mistake by not heeding the multiple warnings you were given, and then YOU chose to not ask for help or even go so far as to share any issue with us.

You caused this, and we would never have issue with you posting any experience with us if you werent lying about what you were told to try to save face. You said it yourself, you have no idea what you were getting yourself into. Admitting that, it amazes me that you can actually be surprised it doesnt match the TFS component when you request a component that is ANYTHING other than what TFS specifies, and were warned TWICE that it would be a different length.



That information is completely correct, and pushrod length should always be checked. You'll also notice that we never claimed or insinuated that your machinist was incompetent. The last two words and question marks should also be a clue that it was an interrogative statement. Again, YOU chose to cut off communication with us.

Honestly, if your reading comprehension skills are on par with your grammatical abilities, I will concede the possibility that the email could have been taken as a, "whatever, not my problem" note.

Again, we cannot help with a situation you exclude us from. You ordered parts only from us and were informed twice that the intake valve was .050" longer. If you do not realize that we aren't psychic, then I am sorry, you are going to have a difficult time dealing with anyone.

No, you didn't, you did much worse. You attempt to debase our integrity over something that 1. isn't really a problem, 2. is something YOU ALONE created, and 3. you didn't bring to our attention. Whats even more underhanded is that you villanize us without even giving us the opportunity to do you wrong! Funnier still, you do this after you get nothing less than what you asked for. Many other companies wouldn't even bother telling you once that the lengths would be different and may require a different pushrod, much less going out of their way to do it TWICE on something that makes them no money - a parts sale.

This is it for us, we will not waste any more time defending our company against your mistake. Go tell the world that you're unhappy with us because we provided exactly what you requested and got it out to you immediately. I highly suggest however that in future bashings you not lie to try to make yourself or our company look like anything other than what they are.



Amazing.

I apologize for wasting space, and should reiterate - Anyone with ANYTHING from us needing ANY help should know that we are always available to you via email, phone or fax. If you have any issue DO NOT keep it from us!!! We do not have an attitude or act infallible, it's you guys who keep us going and above all we want you guys to be satisfied.

Back to my grinder,

-Phil

FastZinTennessee

I've PM'ed Lloyd a few times, and he has always been super helpful and gotten back to me very quickly. Even when I ask him questions not pertaining to how he makes a living! I asked him countless questions about what to do when I was doing a homeport job on my heads. My homeport numbers came back ok, but I realized something- sometimes if you have the extra money laying around, just leave it to the pros. For my next project I will undoubtedly want more power than I have now, and when that time comes I'll be having Lloyd do some heads for me

97 RedSS

Lloyd here as well

Cody

slverbullet

i really hate threads like this...

both guys do immaculate work. there should be no one vs. the other. take your time and talk to these guys and see who will do the best job for your given situation. they both have great customer service. they both are excellent people to deal with. and they both will take the time to help you get your setup exactly how you want it.

take your time to write them or call them before making a thread like this. i'm sure once you get to know them and what they can do for your specific wants, it will be a lot easier to decide who you want to go with.