Purchased a Gen V Chevy 496 big block on ebay, seemed like a good price but the heads were built substandard, and 4 months after receiving engine I found the crankshaft was defective with bolt pattern problem for flywheel. Only 2 of 6 bolts would go in, and one of the holes was .080" off! Alan at Shaw City denied this possibility, and told me to grind out flywheel holes to make fit which I refused to do. After a bunch of communication (they do get back to you) he said if I (at my expense) sent the crank back to him, he would replace it. I asked to just cut flywheel hub off and send it to save shipping and Alan said they would put that crank in another engine (which I couldn't let happen). Bearing clearances were good in engine, engine was clean, block and everything looked machined well. Different parts used than described in auction, and ultimately since I didn't fully inspect the engine I had no recourse through ebay or paypal (paypal basically said "it was described as an engine and you got an engine". Bad experience and ultimately Alan expressed that I was wrong, crankshaft was fine, and that his shop could not make mistakes or have defects. After $1500 more invested with the new crank, gaskets, and balancing (and lots of my labor) I have a useable engine. Also the shipping is ridiculous cost. I think Shaw City Engines can do good work, but they do not back their work/products.
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