This is making me nervous. Planning to send my truck out to them soon. I think I'll call Steven tomorrow and discuss his new location and mechanic situation.

 

I notice you are in Birmingham. Might be worth your time to take your truck to The Shop in the North Atlanta Area. They have experience with these engines, will replace it for you so you don't have to worry as much about some of these claimed issues, and The Shop will honor the warranty. The guys at The Shop are 120% above standard!

 

That's a good idea. I will contact the guys at The Shop tomorrow. Going that route would you still go with Cannibal or one of the other suppliers?

 

Thank you Sgeorge. Good to hear your views. There's going to be a rotten apple in every bunch. the problem comes when there's a lot of rotten apples and nobody sees them.
Reconditioning disposables is definitely a strange brew for a new engine.
I am also curious if you did any of the up-sale they offer? The black line (or whatever it's called)? don't they offer a 5.0?

 

First thanks for the detail that lacked in the original thread.
Reconditioning old blocks is nothing new. Dusty these are not new engines...

I had mine built with the 4.6 performance build and my front cover reconditioned as well no issues. Mechanic turn over/Employee turnover is a common problem in todays world of entitlement. To find a capable/knowledgeable LR specific person is damn difficult. I can only imagine in OK area even more so. I know Steve has had some growing pains as almost every small business does but to fault him for this because of your on site visit is a little harsh IMHO. I know he recently had to find a larger facility and new employees. His biggest issue is getting motors built in a timely fashion but this can be rectified in time. Look bottomline you are not happy you may have gotten a bad apple, you may not have. You do not give any detail on this knocking or what....Steve in my opinion has always been very helpful and seems to want to be on the Plus Side of Customer Service. So you expressed your concerns some valid, some not. But what you have to understand is that every builder for Rover V8 motors is using reconditioned blocks. The internals like springs etc...should be replaced with new - I was told mine were. You just stated your concerns based on your on site visit which would have been the ideal time to discuss your issues and how to get it resolved from Steve.
I have re read your thread separate times...you seem to be most unhappy on the price - which is in line with every LR motor rebuild. Your dismay with performance upgrade which is outlined in detail on their website and by Steve per my conversations on what this entails and the use of reconditioned parts which is the common practice. You have a problem but you do not express that Steve was ever given the oppty to discuss your situation. You just throw caution up on what you saw hanging on the walls, what a mechanic said to you etc....I am sorry that you are not impressed. But I am not sure that you ever would have been based on what you state here. In my opinion and I am not on the Cannibal payroll you have not given Steve a fair chance - you have mud slung a bunch of concerns. I am very picky when it comes to spending money. Look at my garage and you will see many older bmws that I have restored / hoarded and use for shows and fun and a pcar or 2. I am probably the most **** Type A when it comes to cars, vehicles etc...for maint repair etc...I am not going to bash someone because of what I see hanging on the walls or how dirty the shop is that day, etc...I go straight to the boss to express my concerns.
I can tell you I would have had a discussion with Steve as I have on several occasions to discuss my issues my concerns - like on your list on your thread. But you have not. You had the chance face to face with him right?
You left this : "There are other minor things. but they are more knick nack" not sure what this means but your issues seems pretty minor to me. Sorry just calling it like I see it.

To you other folks that have builds on order - please call Steve and discuss your concerns. Do not let this sway your decision. I would buy another motor from him site unseen. That is how confident I am that I made the right decision. Mainly because he would stand by and support me when resolution ..given the chance.

The Shop installed my Cannibal as well and I can not say enough about their abilities. David my Mech is top notch and know LRs in and out as well as the other folks there.

 

I appreciate all opinions when it comes to product/service review. black and white to me...% of good vs bad. but it's wise to have base for an educated choice in a relatively big decision. we can't all drink the kool aid...........

 

I agree it is a big decision and the main reason I went with Cannibal is because steven would actually answer the phone and call back unlike a lot of the other people I tried to get in contact with about an engine. we probably talked for close to 2 hours prior to me making the decision to buy an engine from him. I can only go off of what he told me and how the engine looks. I wasn't there to supervise how the engine was built or what the quality of parts were used. Only time will tell if I made a wise decision on choosing them, but just like with brand new cars you can always get a lemon.

 

I actually was planning to get a cv8, as well. mainly because of location. I could have driven up and carried it home. the majority of reviews, that I read are positive in nature. well they are all negative if we are referring to deadlines/timelines.......but that didn't matter to me, I am in no hurry. in the end, I went another route for several reasons. the main one being a lack of response to a couple of inquiries. I would be very interested to hear from someone with a knocking/problematic cv8.....not about the issue, but how cannibal makes good (or not) on it.


I can't measure a man by his mistakes, but I can on how he fixes them.

 

X2
I would like to know this as well. Since I now own one, I will be interested in finding out how good his warranty is.

 

I know they made good on a 18k mile motor a year or 2 later that had a bad knock