rt-man
Member
Yes, that Rick Ehrenberg, long time tech editor for your favorite Mopar magazine.
I bought a rebuilt 340 (oil pan to intake, less exhaust manifolds) from Rick in the summer of 2017. While he didn’t build it, he said he knew the engine builder who did and he’d stand behind the engine. The rebuilt motor had been sitting for a while in someone’s garage and Rick had obtained the motor. I picked it up, looked in two cylinders with a crappy borescope Rick provided (they looked okay), and took it back home for installation.
Painted, put it in over the Winter. Ran crappy when fired up. My mechanic tried several things, but engine had no power whatsoever. Eventually determined that the rings didn’t seat. Lots of blow by. Rick believes it was because we used synthetic break-in oil. Nevertheless, we had to tear down the motor to put in new rings. Upon teardown, the mechanic did a ball hone on the cylinders and saw porous rust on the bottom of some of the bores. Rather than sleeve the cylinders or bore out the rusted cylinders, my mechanic and I decided to use a 360 he had lying around (block and crank) and reuse what we could from the 340.
I sent Rick the pics of the rust. I asked Rick to reimburse me a little less than a third of what I paid for the motor to cover buying new pistons, rings and what would have been the cost to bore out the cylinders and the labor to teardown the 340. Furthermore, I told Rick I’d give him back the 340 crank, pistons, and whatever else we weren’t using from the 340. He basically told me he was too busy, kept returning to the synthetic oil break-in issue (which doesn’t create rust in the bores), and never accepted responsibility for a motor he said he’d stand behind.
I don’t expect he’ll ever do the right thing here. I bought it from him because he’s known in the Mopar community. After this, I guess being known and being a stand-up individual are two different things. Expensive lesson for me. He’s the one with the long-time reputation; I’m just some schmuck who believed what he said.
Rick Ehrenberg – buyer beware.
I bought a rebuilt 340 (oil pan to intake, less exhaust manifolds) from Rick in the summer of 2017. While he didn’t build it, he said he knew the engine builder who did and he’d stand behind the engine. The rebuilt motor had been sitting for a while in someone’s garage and Rick had obtained the motor. I picked it up, looked in two cylinders with a crappy borescope Rick provided (they looked okay), and took it back home for installation.
Painted, put it in over the Winter. Ran crappy when fired up. My mechanic tried several things, but engine had no power whatsoever. Eventually determined that the rings didn’t seat. Lots of blow by. Rick believes it was because we used synthetic break-in oil. Nevertheless, we had to tear down the motor to put in new rings. Upon teardown, the mechanic did a ball hone on the cylinders and saw porous rust on the bottom of some of the bores. Rather than sleeve the cylinders or bore out the rusted cylinders, my mechanic and I decided to use a 360 he had lying around (block and crank) and reuse what we could from the 340.
I sent Rick the pics of the rust. I asked Rick to reimburse me a little less than a third of what I paid for the motor to cover buying new pistons, rings and what would have been the cost to bore out the cylinders and the labor to teardown the 340. Furthermore, I told Rick I’d give him back the 340 crank, pistons, and whatever else we weren’t using from the 340. He basically told me he was too busy, kept returning to the synthetic oil break-in issue (which doesn’t create rust in the bores), and never accepted responsibility for a motor he said he’d stand behind.
I don’t expect he’ll ever do the right thing here. I bought it from him because he’s known in the Mopar community. After this, I guess being known and being a stand-up individual are two different things. Expensive lesson for me. He’s the one with the long-time reputation; I’m just some schmuck who believed what he said.
Rick Ehrenberg – buyer beware.
