Have any of you guys heard of them? they sell rebuilt B16A1’s for $4000 w/ new oil and water pumps, gaskets, main and rod bearings as well as a new clutch and ecu. Does anyone know what kind of quality these guys put out? Not to many Honda engine builders here in Kansas City (that i trust, anyway). Check out their site (importbuilders.com). If anyone has dealt with them before, your feedback would be highly valued! I think that this company is onto something regardless. The B-series is starting to gain the support like that of the Chevy 350ci., which is great.
Re: Import Builders
Originally posted by JDMDA9
Have any of you guys heard of them? they sell rebuilt B16A1’s for $4000 w/ new oil and water pumps, gaskets, main and rod bearings as well as a new clutch and ecu… I think that this company is onto something regardless. The B-series is starting to gain the support like that of the Chevy 350ci., which is great.
Well… First of all… 4000 bucks is expensive for what you just listed. Very expensive. I’ve never heard of this company… but that price is pretty outrageous.
My next point… I dont know if you are new to the import scene… but b-series builders have been around for years now… and it seems to me like this “import builders” company is just swinging of the nuts of companies from before, and charging tons of $ to boot. Oh well.
Fullerton?
If this is the import co. from fullerton calif… I would use caution. I don’t like to talk bad about folks,but If this is the same shop, then I have been there in person and while thier web page looks great, the shop looks like a rat trap (hows that for not talking bad). I did not see any diagnostic equip. no enigne building facil. nothing but a dyno and piles of trash.
Schu
i hear alot about import builders over on clubSi. they all seem to like import builders for the most part, except the prices.
NOT NEW
I’m not new to the import scene at all, just to pricing machine work. Import Builders struck me as being different because it’s all mail ordered crate motors, sort of like Ford and Chevy V-8’s you can order out of magazines. Also, i really need to find an alternative to the piss poor shops in my area. The import scene here in Kansas is 400 yrs behind the coasts. Stickers and street glows are the mod of choice out here, and apparently they add 40-100 HP! I really need some insight into a good rebuilder, regardless of location.
IdntGlwIglisten, who do you recommend? Just looking for a basic rebuild with stock rods and ITR pistons in a B16A1.
Ok…here is the breif history of Import Builders as I understand it:
In the late 1990s Atomic Performance was started by Chales Madrid and some other guy…I don’t remember his name. It was a small shop doing motor swaps and turbo installs and basic installs. They were located off of the 605 in Irwindale. Around 2000, I think ,they guy I can’t remember the name of left the company and Jeff (don’t remeber his last name)entered the company. Jeff bought the dyno for te company, shortly after the company became strapped for cash. Jeff and Endyn/Larry/T.O.O. began a relationship between the 2 companies (if you can call Endyn a company). Atomic promoted Endyn “products” and all was well for a while. Atomic had a car and agreed to use an Endyn engine, the plan was that Atomic would trailer their car to Texas and Endyn would have an engine for it ready for a race that was happening. Well Atomic gets there and there is no engine, Endyn/Larry pulled some funny business. Since Jeff was the one that made the relationship between Atomic and Endyn, and since JEff was raving all the time about how good Endyn was, Jeff was held responsible and nearly forced out of the company. Atomic (Charles Madrid) had invested quite a bit of money in Endyn and got no return. After this happened the Atomic and Endyn relatonship went to hell in a hand basket. Atomic blew the lid off of all of Endyn lies (Endyn is run out of Larry’s house, no engine dynos etc etc) and Endyn spread some junk about Atomic. Recently Charles Madrid’s share of the company was bought out by Jeff and Jeff renamed it “Import Builders”. I don’t agree with how Charles’s departure happened, maybe he wanted out…I don’t know…but Jeff is the one that put the company in the situation and Charles had to pay for it…that’s business I guess…
Import Builders does all the same stuff Atomic did, building motors, motor swaps, custom turbo installs. The still have the in house dyno, but there is no wide band O2 (the last I heard) so their tuning is hit and miss at best. Atomic is who installed my custom turbo setup. They did ok work, but since Jeff took the operation over I won’t go back. Charles would do anything to make a customer happy, Jeff on the other hand won’t. In fact I’d go so far to say he’s an ass. Yes the shop is a hole in the wall, and not as clean as a dealership garage, but that’s how most import tuner shops are. In fact I’ve yet to see a clean one (but I hear Area 51, which is where Charles Madrid is now, is pretty clean).
Import Builders isn’t doing anything special. If you can get a good deal on the motor you want then go for it. But keep your eye on them and make sure they do what you pay them to do.
truth
That sound’s like the story I heard about import builders. I have never had anything done by them except and pull or three so I don’t know what this guy is supposed to know. How ever I do KNOW what a reputable shop should look like. At the very least, I mean very least a shop should have is a clean room for build up. I don’t care if they have to farm out machine work but with out a clean room foreget it. Nothing clean about this shoppe, but if he can get you a deal then… I could drive by again and see if he’s upgraded anything for you, let me know. But the last time I saw the shoppe, it was loaded with junk, though he must have had 30 engines sitting around in various states of dissassembly
Peace
ScHU
Thanks
I appreciate your input, guys. Now i know where NOT to get a motor from. Might as well just assemble one myself, just outsource the boring/decking to a shop. It really is hard to trust anyone these days, because it seems most engine dealers are just in it for a quick buck. Thanks for your help.
Re: truth
Originally posted by Schu
That sound’s like the story I heard about import builders. I have never had anything done by them except and pull or three so I don’t know what this guy is supposed to know. How ever I do KNOW what a reputable shop should look like. At the very least, I mean very least a shop should have is a clean room for build up. I don’t care if they have to farm out machine work but with out a clean room foreget it. Nothing clean about this shoppe, but if he can get you a deal then… I could drive by again and see if he’s upgraded anything for you, let me know. But the last time I saw the shoppe, it was loaded with junk, though he must have had 30 engines sitting around in various states of dissassembly
Peace
ScHU
Since Jeff took it over they did build a room in the back for engine assymbly…it looked cleaner than the rest of the place at least…this was as of a few months ago.
Re: Thanks
Originally posted by JDMDA9
I appreciate your input, guys. Now i know where NOT to get a motor from. Might as well just assemble one myself, just outsource the boring/decking to a shop. It really is hard to trust anyone these days, because it seems most engine dealers are just in it for a quick buck. Thanks for your help.
Welcome to the world call reality. And, it doesn’t just end at engine dealers or the automotive industry in general. I would say 99% of the businesses out there is cashing in quick on anything. Quantity has improved, but Quality has decreased.
Regards,
Oz