Jeep Strokers

I debated on posting this for a while, but in the end decided I would.
I live in north central alabama, about a hour away from hesco. So when it came time to build my stroker, I wanted a good machine shop to do all the work. So I let hesco's reputation get the best of me and took my block to them.
I had already arranged to buy all my parts from Russ, so all I needed from hesco was machine work. I wanted the block cleaned, checked, bored and new cam bearings. I also needed the exact deck height to give to Rus so I could have the pistons made. I get there to drop it off and talk to the guy that will be doing all the work. I explain what I am building and what I need done. He says every block he has seen, the deck has been slightly off, so he recommends a light deck to clean it up. I said that's fine, just call me once you do with the deck height so I can have my pistons made.
I ended up taking to a couple other guys there too, and they asked where I was getting my parts from. I tell them and get very condescending replies of "why I didn't just buy the parts from them". I got a very rude, smart *** vibe from them. It's like once they heard I wasn't buying the parts from them, their whole attitude changed. I just shrugged it off.
So a week or so later, he calls me with the deck height. I write it down as he tells me and email it to Rus. He has the pistons built and drop ships them straight to hesco. They guy there wouldn't bore my block without the pistons in hand to measure. Thats fine, I had no problem with that.
So once it's done, I head down there to pick it up after work. It is a hour drive there, and I get there just a few min before closing. I pay $467. We load it up and I head on home. We were both rushed and I did not have time to inspect it before loading it up.
I leave it in the jeep overnight and unload it at work the next day. (working on it at the shop where I work) When me and a co-worker unload it, I notice right away it is still dirty. The bores are nice and shiny as well as the deck, but the rest is still nasty. I ran my finger down the side of the block and it was black. I promptly called them and the guy swears he cleaned it. I told him it still had all the grease and oil on it that it did when I dropped it off. He offered to clean it again if I brought it back. That is a hour drive there and a hour drive back, not to mention I have to take off early from work to get down there before they close. I say hell with it and decide to clean it myself.
I soak it down with some purple power and use the shops hot water pressure washer. You should have seen the crap that came out of it.
Next, after I inspected it once clean, I noticed the cam bearings they installed had been sanded on?!?!?! It looks like they took a drum sander to them. I promptly call them again and inquire about the sanded cam bearings. I get a rude a condescending reply of "well then you have never installed a camshaft before, they all have to be sanded to fit" I called BS on that. The front bearing had been sanded on so much, the edges were rounded over.
I said screw them and ordered a set of durabond cam bearings. I borrow a tool and knock out all of theirs and installed the durabonds. I test fit my custom comp cam from Rus and it fit perfectly with no sanding required!
So fast forward to current and the backordered scat rods come in. I start to assemble the short block. I get the crank in, assemble 1 piston and rod and install it. Me and Rus had speced a piston that would give me .008 out of the hole at TDC. When when I install it and get to TDC, it looks to be down in the hole a bit. I get my dial indicator and check it. I am .017 down in the hole!!! I call Rus and we go back over everything and its right. Turns out hesco does not know how to measure a block! Hesco fails again!
So now I have to have the block decked about .025 to get it to where it should be. I disassemble it and take it to a local shop I know and trust. I should have taken it to them in the first place. Hindsight is 20/20. So all in all, I am very unhappy with the quality of work and service I got from hesco. I will never buy anything from them or recommend anyone else to do so.
End rant.

Hesco were probably pissed off because you didn't buy any of their overpriced parts.

I think hesco must have fallen out of the way a bit. You don't hear their name being used that much anymore. With all the other companies that now build strokers I think they have priced them selves out of the stroker business.

Ya I was disappointed when I bought my degreeable cam set from them at a seemingly ok price till I got it and found it was a stock $50 timing set with a $20 Chevy Degree kit and the Roll pin hole drilled out to match the Chevy degree kit which I could have done myself for Much less then half the cost and time waiting for shipment...

I think Silvers spot on when he said they priced themselves out of stroker business...

I just bought a high flow thermostat housing and high flow water pump from them. Everything looks nice but man these situations of engine shops screwing people over is ridiculous! Guess I'm done buying from them. Thanks for sharing.

I purchased their Renix TPS kit and one of their bad azz water pumps with a machined impeller instead of the FlowKooler garbage.

They were super professional and the parts were well made. My product arrived quickly and when I had a question about the TPS adapter the guy knew his business. I'd buy from them again.

gonridnu wrote:I purchased their Renix TPS kit and one of their bad azz water pumps with a machined impeller instead of the FlowKooler garbage.

Except the flowkooler pumps have had a machined impeller for several years now.

I sold flowkooler's stuff for a long time. It was junk then. Maybe it's changed now but if they still have that anti-cavitation plate spot welded to the impeller I'd throw it in the garbage.

My point was that for every person that bad mouthes a vendor or machine shop, there are usually 6 that have had a positive experience and didn't bother to go on the internet and post about it.

Hesco has done me solid every time I purchased from them. And I'll buy from them again.

Their high flow dual thermo sensor port thermostat housing is way over priced for what it is and mine was warped and needed sanding/flattening to make it stop leaking. That was my only first hand experience with them. Aside from that, they have tried to make new performance parts for our beloved I6 so that wins them some big points in my book.

I will add this:
Buying a "off the shelf" part from them is one thing. I have rarely had any issues from any places I have bought parts from.
Now actually having them perform work/machine shop work on your parts is different. The quality of the work and the poor attitude/condescending remarks I received from them is Very poor. I mean, they couldn't do something as simple as clean a block, much less properly measure the deck height.

I purchased my Hesco crate stroker engine back in 2005. Twelve years later it still runs as new - never a problem of any kind. Yep, their prices are high, much higher than they were twelve years ago, but you still get what you pay for, and they remain the best in the business. The old axiom applies - You get what you pay for.

Dino (Cheromaniac) was spot-on with his statement "you can guarantee that it'll outlast your Jeep and Hesco has the customer service to back it up."