Los Angeles, California 1992. It was another hot and beautiful day in The City. My Girl's odometer would never see the low side of 100K again and she was playing a lazy tune through her dual exhaust. She was a special girl to me and she liked to go out and show her heels to the other hotties on the street. I liked that about her. No follower. She was always ahead of the pack. I decided to do something really special to show her how much she meant to me on those many evenings we cruised together. No small bobble would do. No, only the best would do for my baby. What happened next was beyond my experience, beyond anything I'd ever imagined possible... but it happened to us. Oh yes. And it could happen to you.

I've been a member of the Pontiac Oakland Club International (POCI) since 1990. I saw Bruce's advertisement in the Smoke Signals magazine for engine rebuild services and I'd seen his articles as contributing editor in High Performance Pontiac, so I believed he would be a good candidate to rebuild my completely original number matching 1970 GTO engine. I knew nothing else about Bruce. And rather than take my engine 4 blocks away to Westside Performance in West L.A. I decided to call Bruce, the Pontiac expert. I phoned Bruce, told him of my plans. He said he could rebuild the engine for $2700 which was less than what Westside wanted for the same job so I agreed to hire Bruce. I pulled the engine and Bruce came to Los Angeles to pick it up and discuss the details for the rebuild. He talked about the precision machine work that he demands of the machine shop he uses, how skilled he is at getting the specs just right for all of the parts and he tried to talk me into really going all out with performance modifications. He was very keen on the new performance equipment available for my engine. I kept to my stock requirements while reducing the compression to 9.5 maximum but conceded that the cam could be improved over the stock 066 N cam. He was disappointed but went along with my wishes. It seemed like he lost interest in my project when he was no longer venturing into new territory with extensive performance mods. He suggested a very hot aftermarket cam but I wanted a Ram air 3 or 4 cam. He though the ram air 3 was wimpy and pushed for a wilder cam for me and I chose to go with the ram air 4 because I feared anything more than the hottest stock cam would be problematic. Reducing the compression would cost an extra $300 for machining work. He didn't go into any more detail. He was the expert so I let it go at that. (Always ask for explanations!) After our discussion, the total price was $3000, still less than Westside but not looking as good as it sounded on the phone. I gave him a $1500 cash deposit and told him I wanted all of the old parts back from the rebuild. He agreed. I really appreciated the pick-up and delivery service that he included in the deal, too. One strange thing was a comment he made when I asked a friend to take a picture of Bruce and I standing in front of the engine hanging on the hoist. He said,"Are you getting evidence?" I was surprised by the comment. I simply was documenting the work that was going into the restoration of my GTO as many classic car enthusiasts do and including Bruce as one of the key people in the process. These pictures document the extent of the restoration, and look good in a photo album and it was an exciting moment for me, and so on. It hadn't occurred to me that I might want photo evidence to take legal action against Bruce.

(left to right) My great friend Jim, myself, and Bruce.

This was Flashing Red Light #1...

Bruce called me to tell me that my original number matching block was cracked and unusable. I was disappointed because I wanted to keep it original to increase the value of the car and for car show purposes. Now I had just another GTO. He offered to sell me a 1968 service replacement block for only $50, the typical cost for a standard 400 block. Fair enough. He said he could have my numbers stamped on the block and then I would again have a "numbers matching engine". I didn't like the sound of this at all. I said, "No don't do that." Because I hate cheating, stealing and fraud. Eventually cheats are found out and, in my opinion, a person really owns nothing in this world except one's reputation and I value mine. (Really, it only takes a minute to see that the 1968 block part number doesn't match the 1970 car. Anyone with any experience will spot a cheat. How stupid am I? Stupid enough to hire a man who is ready to commit fraud- but I'm not stupid enough to go along with it) I accepted the 1968 block if the numbers were not changed. So now we were back in business again. But this was the second major Red Light flashing in my face to STOP!!

What I failed to recall at the time I learned of the cracked block was that Westside performance just 4 blocks away had a totally rebuilt 428 4 bolt short block sitting in the display window for $3000. If I had thought it through I would have realized that my number matching car no longer existed. Had I been smart I would have canceled my job with Bruce, paid for his time and services rendered, picked up my parts and bought the 428 sitting just 4 blocks away! Instead I made a snap decision. I would recall this moment many times in the years to come.

After this much time I was beginning to wonder what was going on with my engine rebuild. When I called Bruce I said I needed my engine and he said he would get on it right away. Fine.

I called to be sure that Bruce was in fact working on my engine. He told me he had just fired the engine and the head gasket had not sealed and the block filled with water and he would have to tear the whole thing down, clean it up and reassemble it again. I asked what happened and he replied that the copper head gaskets he installed had not sealed. COPPER HEAD GASKETS?! On a totally stock engine with 9.5 compression?! Everyone I spoke to about this says it is unbelievable that he would use copper gaskets on a stock engine and that they cost far too much to even consider in my case. So it seems either he was lying to buy some time or he made a foolish choice. Either way it really made me wonder how big a mistake I had made to hire Bruce to rebuild my engine. And I wondered about the damage that occurred when it supposedly filled with water! Flashing RED LIGHT #3. This time I was freaked out.

Bruce called me and said,"Can you hear that?" It was my engine running on his break-in stand. Great. Finally the engine arrived after 3 and a half months. Bruce rolled in with the engine but no old parts. I was not happy about this and stated that he agreed to give me all of the old parts. And he said, "What do I need them for? They're no good?" So I had to demand that he return my parts. Finally he agreed to return with the parts so he could collect his money and get out of there. So I hoisted my engine out of his truck and as I looked for a way to set it down so as not to put the weight on the bottom of the pan he told me to just sit it on the ground on the oil pan. "It's plenty strong- I do it all the time." I was concerned about warping the pan and breaking the oil pan seal, but he assured me it was fine so I set it on the pan because I didn't have an engine stand and isn't he the expert Pontiac builder? (If you don't like what you hear, do as you think is best with your own property. Don't listen to advice you think is unsound- or get another opinion before you act.) As it happens I believe setting the engine on the pan warped the pan and sheared the pan gasket seal and contributed to the oil pan leaks.

It may be difficult to tell but the engine as delivered was painted RED and the intake manifold was BLACK. Not stock colors... and difficult to cover without many layers of paint! What was he thinking about?? (don't ask me!)

Bruce returned with the old parts- the block, timing chain, oil pump and pump shaft. No cam, no pistons, no bearings... I said I wanted my cam, which he still had -but didn't bring, and he said I should come out to Riverside and get it since he didn't know when he would be back my way again. At this point he had been paid, I held no leverage. We said good bye.

I went back to work and installed the engine, tranny, exhaust, everything, and fired the engine. The first thing I noticed was the loud exhaust leak at the center port of the intake manifold. Exhaust was coming right out of an open heat riser crossover passage on the right side. Then I saw the oil dripping out of the timing cover seal at the harmonic dampener. Next was the pan seal leaking, the water pump seal leaking, the main seal leaking. Every single seal and gasket was leaking.

I called Bruce and told him of the problems I was experiencing with his rebuild and his response was simply,"What do you want me to do about it?" Obviously I was on my own, no help from Bruce. My only choice would be to pull the engine and drop it in his lap 90 miles away. I considered doing just that but I decided that had been my first mistake! It just didn't make sense to let him do anything more, and so I chose to just take care of everything myself. "Live and Burn" as I often say.

Soooooo- I replaced the intake manifold gaskets- Bruce had used one gasket for the 65-66 style heat crossover passage and one gasket for the 67-77 style passage. The earlier style doesn't cover the entire passage and resulted in a direct vent into the air. Nice work, Bruce. I pulled off the harmonic balancer and fixed the gouge in the end of the crank with a repair sleeve and a new timing cover seal and fixed the front cover oil leak. Thanks, Bruce. I replaced the timing cover gasket that was leaking water and oil with a new gasket. No problem, Bruce, really. The head gaskets failed so I replaced them. I had to scrape off the copper spray seal Bruce added to the block and heads. (I suppose this was done to help seal the heads!? Gee Bruce- Why do gasket manufacturers state very clearly in all of their instructions that no gasket sealer is needed because the gaskets are already coated with a special sealer that seals after the heads are torqued? I wonder. But obviously Bruce knows how to do things better than the gasket makers.) The rear main seal and the oil pan seal leaks I thought I could live with except the oil immediately destroyed my brand new Centerforce clutch disc. Bruce, did I thank you? So I did... (A year later, after only normal everyday driving the pressure plate broke!!?!! Yes it broke inside. Maybe it was the oil on the disc that caused it but I believe that when the flywheel and pressure plate were balanced, the 5/8" hole that had been drilled into the pressure plate cover weakened the structure of the cover and resulted in the internal parts shattering. I still can't believe that anyone would actually drill a large hole into the cover to balance the unit. Unreal. So I replaced it with a stock unit since the bad old main seal was still leaking... Why spend a lot of money on a piece you're going to ruin in a day? I had spent all my money just to get the thing back on the road and I couldn't afford to completely go through the engine again, which is what I really should have done. I was lucky (or smart) to fix all the problems I could, and I was extra careful with the way I drove which was fortunate because of what I discovered during my recent re-rebuild. And despite all the problems I drove my goat for 8 frustrating years with the main seal leak and chattering clutch. Anyway, I kept putting money aside so I could once again rebuild my engine but this time do it myself and do it better. What follows is what I found May of 2001 when I torn the engine down and began my first rebuild.

If you look at the inside of the head of the pistons Bruce provided for my engine you can see two 1/2" wide holes drilled into the piston head. (What is it with this guy and his drilling into parts!?!) This drilling creates two thin spots in the piston head that makes them extremely succeptable to burn through! (My current and future engine shop pros say that metal should only be removed from the bottom of the piston skirt to balance the pistons.) If I had been careless about my ignition timing I could have had detonation (pinging) during uphill climbs or any other time and burned a hole right through the top of the pistons where a large amount of material had been removed. This kind of machine work, meant to balance the weight of the pistons, is unforgivable. It's down right irresponsible and probably criminal. At least I believe it is. Oh yeah- They aren't even pistons for a Pontiac engine...

(8-24-01)

It turns out that the $300 machine work to lower the compression paid to modify .030 over Olds 455 cast pistons. The Olds pistons have a dish on top which lowers compression but they are .005 larger, requiring the cylinders be bored .035 over instead of .030, and the area under the piston pin has to be milled out to allow the use of Pontiac rods. When the inside of the pistons were milled, the shop couldn't remove exactly the same amount from each, resulting in out of balance pistons. To correct this, holes were drilled into the underside of the piston heads to remove additional material from 7 of the heaviest pistons. This drilling creates a very thin, weak piston head in two spots on each piston. I'm fortunate to get as far as I did without burning a hole in one or more pistons. This kind of modification does work but it is unnecessary and silly. Why not buy the right Pontiac piston which reduces the compression? I just bought a set of Federal Mogal pistons #411NP for $150 that accomplish the same thing as all that silly modification. (approx. 9.0 CR with 72cc heads) And no weak spots!

Remember the Ram Air 4 cam Bruce installed in my engine? He gave me an authentic cam spec card for a Crane Ram Air 4 Blueprint cam, but the cam in the engine is NOT a Crane cam. It has the numbers CR068 and the date and nothing more. According to the guys at Crane, all Crane Cams spell out "CRANE". They have no clue who made my cam. Neither does Crower. I am sending the cam out to have it spec checked to find out just what the heck the specs really are. I just want to know. I won't speculate though some people think it may be a Ram Air 3 style cam. Very possible. Either way, I didn't get what I was told I would get and Bruce never said anything about it. It's no wonder that when I advanced the timing to +15 degrees the engine knocked and wouldn't shut off. I put it back to +6 degrees and scratched my head...

Bruce did use ARP rod bolts and Clevite 77 bearings which are good parts. Just lucky, I guess they came in the kit... The poly-lock nuts didn't fit the stock rocker studs. The lock screws only had two threads, yes 2, holding them in place! I removed the studs and had the tips ground down a bit to allow proper locking. Thanks, Bruce. If I'd known it wasn't a Ram Air 4 cam I would have gone back to the stock locking nuts and reinstalled the oil deflectors that wouldn't fit with the poly-locks. Efficient oiling of the valvetrain IS important. This time around I'm using Comp Cams roller tip rockers installed with locking nuts so my oil deflectors will fit. (By the way, I just installed the oil deflectors with the comp cams magnum roller tip rockers and they do work together with a washer under each oil deflector base and they still clear the stock valve covers. Bruce left off the stock valve spring oil deflectors so I had them replaced to control the amount of oil that gets on the upper valve train.) I wanted a stock engine but Bruce insists on modifying parts and leaving things off instead of using parts that help assure proper lubrication. (An aside- I recently spoke to a guy in Westside Performance who was still waiting for his 455 from Bruce. It had been a year! He wasn't very worried. I guess he has a lot of money and other cars to drive. A year. Man, not me.)

Now remember that the agreement with Bruce included return of the old parts. The parts he did bring me could have come from any Pontiac engine, they were so incomplete. I got no cam or pistons. As for paperwork and receipts for the new parts or the machine shop work- nothing. Just a bogus cam spec card. So I had no idea what he had really done. As little as possible, as it turns out. Oh yeah- do you remember the leaking main seal? I wonder if Bruce used the 455 rope main seal that is included in most Pontiac engine gasket sets? He probably had one laying around from a previous engine and stuck it in instead of the correct rope seal for the 400. They are not the same. The 455 seal is thinner as I discovered today as I was rebuilding my engine. I made a mistake with the 400 seal and grabbed the 455 seal but noticed the difference and compared the two in another kit and sure enough they are very different in diameter. So I wonder if Bruce was scrimping again and stuck a 455 seal in place of the 400 seal? Could be the reason oil practically poured out the main seal- which was turned 90 degrees from the position it's supposed to be installed. So either Bruce decided it was better to install it 90 degree off center (He IS the Pontiac expert) or it spun inside the cap (He IS the Pontiac expert). Either way it siphoned the oil out the back. Thanks Bruce.

Did I mention the valve job? No? When the head gasket blew I took the #12 heads in to an econo-machine shop to have them checked out. The valve guides were very worn. Obviously no work had been done to the valve guides. I had no more money at the time so I had them knurled. (Don't waste your money on knurling the guides it only lasts 5,000 miles tops. But it was all I could afford at the time since Bruce had all my money...)

Flash forward to the year 2001. This time around I had a true quality head rebuild at Kelly's with magna-fluxing, bead blast, flashing cleaned up around the bowl, all of the guides replaced, springs pressure tested, installed height checked, 3 angle valve job and back cut on the exhaust valves (gosh these guys do nice work), 16 new Fel-pro valve seals, each valve seat pressure tested, deck very lightly surfaced and assembled. All for $344. Just a good complete head rebuild at a reasonable price. By the way- No stainless steel seats were installed. I've never had any valve recession, ever, and I never use lead additive, ever - but I don't mercilessly flog the engine either. But for normal daily driving you don't need lead in a stock Pontiac engine. All out racing could be different. Your results may vary...

I feel very confident about all the work of Dennis, Gary, Dan and Sal at Kelly's Block Welding, a division of Pro Stock Motorsports in West L.A. (310) 827-6795. These guys are Pros. With a capital "P". And they returned every old part to me without question. More about Kelly's and the complete machine work next time.

Did I mention that Bruce used bolts with the wrong thread count or metric bolts to hold the windage tray on the main caps? (Will the sloppy work ever end?!) Yes, he jammed the wrong bolts into the holes. Thanks, Bruce.

A work in Progress, The Engine Build Up

January 1, 2002
Today I fired the engine after completing a total rebuild. I replaced every part that the last rebuilder used (what was his name?! I forget- On Purpose!) I went with Dennis' recommendations (at Kelly's Block Welding) for quality, affordable parts and followed all of his advice concerning the assembly of the engine. It fired immediately and didn't leak a single drop of fluid, anywhere. Gee, I wonder why that nameless "Pontiac Engine Expert" couldn't do it?!

I've left out all details regarding my part by part assembly since I could write an entire book on the subject. I will say that you should take lots of pictures during the tear down and take detailed notes during the rebuild and write yourself separate notes so you don't forget stuff. (Like the fact that there is no oil in the engine or water in the radiator before you fire it up) Notes about the order you installed parts and their clearances could be very handy, especially if you have any questions later or get new information about clearances or you have to take a long break from the project and you can't remember where you left off. Note taking and picture taking is a very small amount of the total time and expense you will incur during your rebuild. Just do it.

It comes as no surprise that I continue to get letters from other people who have felt the sting of doing business with Bruce. I have them all saved but can not share them with you as I can't substantiate them. But clearly mine is not an isolated incidence. Some actually asked if I'd be interested in creating a "We hate Bruce Fulper" Bulletin board. I do recommend that anyone who has been burned by Bruce should go after him to make things right. A few wrote back to say that was just what they did and got some satisfaction that way.

It is best to work with an engine builder, or any auto service business, who is operating within a short distance from you (less than 5 miles) and to stay in close contact with the builder throughout the process.
(If you want to get a sense of the business man, tell him you are putting a story album together about your project car resto for your car club and ask if you can take a few pictures of the rebuild as it proceeds. If he doesn't invite you to come by anytime... this should be a warning to you. I went to P&C Auto Body with my wife's car. The manager flipped out when I showed up later with a camera. Turns out he wasn't doing the job he'd contracted with me and was afraid I'd found out and was gathering evidence to bring suit. All I wanted was to have some pix for my album but clearly something was wrong! Later I discovered he never stripped the car or sealed the surface- but I had paid for it to be done. Rust began to come up thru the new paint a year later- the old paint still underneath. I'm so tired of dealing with ripoffs that I do the work myself whenever possible.)
I say never send an important project away to anyone unless you have excellent personal past experience with their work and they will continue to give you excellent work because they value your continued business. The only good reason to let anybody work on your car is because they have a strong sense of integrity- integrity that they will not compromise- for any reason. I don't believe Bruce has the "Sense of Integrity" that I wish to support with my business.

Keep this in mind. When you see a red light flashing before you; it means stop. Do not proceed. Pay off the guy if you must and get your car and parts returned. Then Carefully Choose Another Auto Technician. Or learn to do it yourself.

I am no expert engine rebuilder, but I did it all this time and I'm very glad I did. You can, too. I got good parts, good advice and remained patient. And when I made a mistake, as I did on several occasions during this rebuild, I stopped, went back, and fixed it right. No matter how far backwards I had to go, I got it right. I had the entire short block assembled and I tore it all back down to replace the main seal, for the third time, because I got new information and I was concerned that I may have installed it improperly. When I got down to the seal, I discovered I could have done a better job and this time I did it really right. No leaks! My peace of mind and the pride I have in my work makes it worth the extra expense, time and effort. I only have to ask myself, 'Why not do it right?' Thanks for your interest.

We travel far in life. Enjoy the road...