Cannibal V8 - Anyone with experience with them
 

Most likely need to replace my engine. I've been reading about Cannibal V8's redesign of some of the known weaker components in the Rover V8...

CANNiBALV8

I've read some negative things about CarCannibal...

Land Rover Discovery II Used Engine Auto Parts : Rover Body Parts

which is where I linked to Cannibal V8. Supposedly they are two separate companies.

Before I part with over $5000 for a remanufactured motor, I'd like to hear from anyone who has purchased a motor from them about your experience.

you might want to compare with this company they have sold a few on this site in the last year and they come with a 3-year 36000 warrenty;
Land Rover Engine Remanufactured 4 6 Long Block w Flanged Cylinder Liners | eBay

drowssap,

Thanks for that. Had a nice conversation with Mike from Great Plains Rovers today. He is going to work up a build sheet for me to review. Seems like a really nice guy and offers double the warranty of Cannibal V8. I might end up going with them on this...

i would go with great plains any day over cannibal. i have heard horror stories about cannibal.

there isnt much more you could ask for from GP, they use flaned liners, ARP head studs, give you a cam and and 3-year 36000 miles. what more could you ask, for other than they sell it $2k cheaper

I can't speak for their engines, but I have bought a few parts from them. Ryan and Steven have always been courteous when I've gone over and had fair prices on things.

I just spoke to both companies in the last two days and the prices quoted were within $200 of each other. What am I missing? Please expound on the horror stories, what are the problems with the CannibalV8. The reason I ask is the shop my truck is sitting at is a "partner" with them and so before I go pissing them off by possibly sending them an engine from another company, I'd just like a bit more info.
Thanks!

If your trusted indy mechanic is behind them and there is no large price difference then go with the indy plan. I'd point out the following:

1. HG installs fail early if part of gasket folded over, or heads were not checked for flatness, or machined improperly (Bubba and the belt sander). The heads have a limit as to how much material can be removed, so the machine shop might not be able to correct a problem. The spec is attached. So you might need head gaskets and some new or recycled heads. The flatness spec is .002 inch, or about 1/2 the thickness of printer paper.

2. Most Rovers are in the boneyard because of overheating, so a used engine which might be $200 will likely need HG as a minimum, and liners may still slip or need to be pinned. With the overheating you have suffered you may want to have your liners pinned anyway. Review https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...ictures-56419/ for what is involved.

3. The kind of money this will cost (replace engine) is on the order of what you could pay for a used Discovery. Hopefully you just nead a good HG job. And a new 180F thermostat, your existing stat may have or get trash in it from all the work.

4. The block pressure test is performed with the heads off, and uses shop air pressure. This is to detect cracks in the block. And avoid rebuilding a block with problems.

I'll stick with Great Plains Rover, they do all the same stuff with a 3-years 36-month guarntee and they dont have any horror stories

Search this forum...there is a link to a local news clip about Cannibal selling off people's rides who sent them in for engine work. That was a while ago though (like early 00's) and haven't heard much negativity since. I researched them, D&D Fab, Great Plains and JE Robinson for about 3 months including website reviews and several phone conversations with each. In the end I went with Great Plains (engine due 18 Apr). I'll be happy to expound if you wish on why I chose Great Plains. If you can wait, I'll be able to give you first-hand info/pics of their product and how the install went.

is this the process that only your buddy does:

Engine block is flowed with a high-temp ceramic coating and placed under above-normal operating pressure for 24 hours to cure. This process is used to remedy the block's porosity and is a common practice in today's high performance engines as it improves the block's ability to displace heat, preventing warping and cracking.

No, No; cannibal does it better right.

It sounds more like you're involved with Cannibal. You just joined the forum and have made two posts and you're already attacking a senior members opinion. You're also making misleading statements about what he said.

You've got a credibility gap my friend. Just saying.

Based on the article I read, I would NEVER get involved with CannibalV8. It IS the same company.

Car companies offer warranties longer than that. Why would it be suspicious?

Here's another link to a cannibal discussion:

http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/7-r...-cannibal.html

And another one where apparently YOU posted:

http://www.landroversonly.com/forums...-engine-59647/

itt, clowns fist fighting with other clowns

Nothing against Cannibal...my level of concern with their former business practices not withstanding, it's not enough to keep me from using them if I didn't have other alternatives. They don't hold a candle to the experience levels at D&D Fab (who actually makes some of the parts Cannibal uses in the engine rebuild) or JE Robinson. In the end, Great Plains seemed to provide the best mix of experience, quality, customer service, warranty and testimonials from others. Whether or not I did my homework will become aparent mid Apr:)

good luck with it, I love to see some pix when it comes in

*asterisk

No, it is directly out of the GPR description of what they do to every block no charge.

I guess they stole that when they stole everything else from cannibal.

Strange; my machine shop says they have been doing this the aluminum blocks for over 10-years, so I guess they must have stolen it from Cannibal first.

You say you are here because "I felt bad for the newbie that would read your crap and feel its gospel" if your here to help with your 30-years of LR experience why is it your only posts here and on other sights are in defense of cannibal.

Where is all that experience & wisdom you want to share?

I think I have to agree with the other poster I think you’re a little too involved with cannibal.

Also if you haven’t noticed the original poster already made his decision and it wasn’t cannibal. So you can go back to lurking, until you see another possible engine sale.

I was wondering when another one of these threads would come along.

I've really tried to just lay out broad strokes here so folks can make up their own minds, but you called me out, so...D&D makes the hot cams Cannibal used on the 4.6 rebuild, as well as other parts for other engines that don't really concern me. The entire reason I called D&D in the first place was because Cannibal could not answer some of my tech questions about the engine and referred me to Mark at D&D (you should read his bio!)

Kuddo's to your 30 years experience but your intel needs a little work.

I, for one, will really miss you. :(

" he is arrogant as it gets - not my style."

LOL

D&D's quote was $200 more than what Cannibal wanted. I suppose whether or not that's a big difference on a $6K purchase is subjective.

Thank God someone else caught that...

Let's see if we can salvage something useful here. Your point about the warranty is valid although typical. Most warranty paperwork will include such clauses. Their intent is not to supply warranties for someone going to mod the engine further, race it, etc as with just about any other company. So a better question might be, has anyone heard dissatisfied customer service stories? I spent the same amount of time looking for this on other companies and Great Plains really came out on top or tied with Robinson (only $4-6K less). Please look for a future engine swap post from me as if I have any negative experiences, I will certainly post them.

Well, this has certainly turned out to be comical. I love it when people on the internet puff up their chests and get all self-righteous... Cracks me up...

I made my decision about who I would go with based off of what I've read on many forums, coupled with the feeling I got when I spoke to the vendors.

I've ordered my engine and am awaiting it's arrival.

I'm certain that I will post my impressions of the install and performance in a separate thread once it arrives.

Fortunately, I'm not in a pinch, as I have other vehicles to drive/ride, so it will be a while before the installation/impression thread arrives here.

I am not tied to any one of these companies, having never purchased anything from either. I'm simply a former Industrial Technology teacher, turned high school principal, who is working on a doctorate degree, so I don't have the time to perform a rebuild at the moment, or I would do it myself.

I do consider myself to be more mechanically inclined than your basic back yard mechanic having had collegiate training in Machine Tool Technology, Automotive Technology, Plastic Injection Molding, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, CNC Programming, Welding, Woodworking, Construction, Drafting, etc.

I would consider myself a Jack of All Trades, and a Master of One (a little Whodini reference from the 80's - Five Minutes of Funk)...

I have full access to a vocational school shop and all the tools to make this a relatively painless process, and I actually enjoy getting back in the shop. I have two ASE Certified instructors there to provide assistance when/if necessary.

I will say this, read the warranty on any product, you will find that the manufacturer of that product's lawyers have provided many possible loopholes through which the company can get out of replacing the product if they choose to. Ultimately it is the reputation of that company's actual actions on fulfilling that written warranty and standing behind their product that establishes my impression.

After all... Actions speak louder than words, even written ones!

Time will tell...

You can all return to your respective corners and wait for the bell that signals the start of the next round!

Ooooooh, nice jab.

Oh, heavens, I forgot it takes X amount of years to have any clue what you're doing!

I bow to your aged wisdom! :D

I caught it, but it's useless to point out stuff like that to a clown that can't spell.

Brand new member, first time post. I'm Mike from Great Plains Rovers. Sold a motor to a member who mentioned the forum so I got on to check it out and wanted to add my two cents.

Cannibal - good guys who do good work.
D&D - never met him but heard he knows his stuff.
gprTech - doesn't work for me.
3 year warranty - believe in what I'm selling and will stand behind it.
"sounded salesy on the phone" - first I've heard that one but I'll work on it.

The only negative I know of other than the "salesy" observation of my company is that we've struggled with timing. I agree and I'm working on it. Trying to get some motors built and on the shelf to cut down the turnaround time.

Have a good weekend and happy Rovering!
Mike

Welcome to the forum, and it's big of you to defend your competition.

Whatever this thread may say, GPR has very good reputation from all I've read.

GPR is my initials. :-)

Mike thanks for chiming in here. What would you say are the differences between your build and Cannibals? Top hat and cam suppliers?
Also, Is it true that you came from Cannibal before forming GPR?
thanks

David

re: is senior-member code for "i post frequently, therefore I am.." ????


A senior member on here is one with 100 plus posts, there is no fee for membership, or examination required. All are welcome as long as postings ae reasonably clean (people do view this on work PCs, so gotta be careful on other's behalf). We have owners, DIY owners, some pro techs that keep diagnostic skills sharp, and even some business owners. Free "plugs" are the norm, but if a spammer just blabs about something skanky or questionable on his web site they get deleted. Any company is welcome, and we encourage them to provide in depth education for us mere mortals about specific points. More along the "we use this product or method because it does a better job with whatever"; as opposed to "that guy is a drug sniffing thief who wil steal parts off your truck". And not posts that always point to your product source in China with no contribution of vehicle facts to spread some of your knowledge. Or just offering DVDs of old TV shows.

The pro engine shops are for that level of owner who wants the Rover as a part of his family life and is willing to pay top dollar. A guy that just bought a $1500 D1 might not be joining that club. The cost of an engine job makes a used LR3 look attractive.

The number of posts does not make you an expert. It does after a point show a devotion the breed and spare time whittled away when you could be working on things around the house. I've posted over 12,000 times. Certainly does not mean I know 100 times more than someone who has posted 120 times. We have all sorts of owners on here, doctors, lawyers, engineers, any background. And multiple countries. We are all afflicted with Rover Rash, and the only known cure is another Rover.

It is said that a wise man learns from his mistakes. And a brilliant man learns from the mistakes of others. Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. The forum provides a fun way to share knowledge, hopefully prevent problems or point out alternate solutions, and have a little fun.

Soap box now open for the next person with rhino hide ready to step up. Of course, being Rover owners, we enjoy mud slinging.

Well said. I always enjoy reading your posts Savannah. They get the information across and always have some spunk that keeps wanting to read. I am genuinely entertained by your writing.

It is also important to mention that price of a dealer HG job vs DIY swap out of a top hat re-man block is a more appealing number. In other words, an older engine, looking at HG and more, vs just change out the easy parts and the whole motor. You end up with a "new" engine vs "head gasket, now what will be next". Not for everyone, but certainly worth a look. Especially if you like the truck and have sunk funds into bumper, winch, tires, roof rack; and don't want to start over with another one.

The only thing I know about their build is what I read on their site yesterday. You mention different suppliers for cam and sleeves, I don't recall who they use but I use Crower for my cam and lifters and I get my sleeves from Turner Engineering. Other than that, I don't know the differences off hand.

I did not work for Cannibal but a good friend of mine did and he came to work with me a couple of years ago. I had a european salvage yard (Oklahoma European) that did mainly Rovers and Jags but we had benz/bmw/volvo/whatever else we could pick up as well. My partner in the salvage yard has been working on Rovers for 25-30 years and I have been for the last 15 years so we were very familiar with them and were infected with the "rover rash" mentioned in earlier post. We took the combined knowledge the three of us had and added my builders to the mix who are 3rd generation machinists who had built all of our engines (rover/jag/etc...) for us for the last 20+ years and that's how we came up with the build. I formed Great Plains Rovers to solely focus on building engines and not run the salvage yard anymore.

That's the back story, hope that sheds some light.

Take care,
Mike

Mike thanks for the response. Sounds like you all do a nice build as well. I like your warranty for sure.
David

Recently, I've not heard of anyone unhappy with their top hat block. Perhaps a better question is, anyone have anything they didn't like about their AB/GPR/D&D/JER rebuilt engine???

I'll go first...my GPR block didn't come with the oil pan and PS pump studs pre-installed. A small thing that can take the customer a lot of time/effort, but is very easy for a shop with the right tool. Pretty minor, and when I brought it to Mike's attention, he said future engines will include the studs, so looks like that's a done deal. Other than that, I really got nothin so far.

Someone really needs to just buy a copy of each of these engines for a blind comparo.

Volunteers???

If someone has $28k to spare lemme know..I could use that.

If they want to sponsor me, I'd do it...but I get to keep the engines;)

Well I spoke to Steve at Cannibal yesterday and I am very impressed on his knowledge of these motors. He spent quite a bit of time with me on the build. I am excited to see what this motor will be like. He seals the motor prior to assembly (his process)and uses Erson products for the Cam and lifters (these are custom to a Cannibal spec not standard spec). He custom grinds the Crankshaft as well. The Top Hats are custom made as well. He wants my front cover - they rebuild it with new gear sets and anything else if needed and this will be installed before completion by them and warranteed. My build will receive media blasted valve covers. My motor is in line to be built and well be ready in the next couple of weeks. I have ordered a new waterpump as well. I can't wait to see it getting installed in a few weeks as my Trek is scheduled for engine removal next week. All of this is being done by The Shop in Atlanta. They have done about 10 of these motors and have the Cannibal break-in procedure for these set in stone. I think my confidence level is rising on the fact that this motor will not leave me like a pissed off girlfriend in heat! :D