First of all I want to say I’m very sorry about your frustration with the motor. I’ve been through it. Several times. In fact after dumping about 20,000 into my car it was wrecked by a dumbass less than 2 months after getting it back on the road. I was gutted. But we move on and do the best we can. Just know that my goal from the start has never been to blame or point fingers, but to ensure you are happy with the product.
In addition to Richards response I wanted to chime in with some details I was around for. Ron contacted me when his motor was in our shop the second time. I listened to his situation and assured him that if we found anything wrong with the engine we would fix it free of charge. Since this would be the first time since I’ve worked for Richard that a motor was DOA I told Mr. Mooney that it was extremely important that I be there for the startup the second time in his car. As Richard mentions, a lot can go wrong without proper experience and training with these cars. Personally, if someone brings me a car that has had an engine failure; I clean or replace everything related to the oiling system. Including oil coolers, filters, lines etc. I prime the motor before starting it even if it had just run on the engine stand. I prime the fuel system. I check the coil pack and module. I make damn sure that every sensor, wire etc is perfect so that I know when that key is turned the motor will fire up and doesn’t spend its first few minutes of life being cranked. All this I mentioned to Ron and more crucially I made it clear: I do not care who’s fault it is that the engine is making noise, my goal is to make sure the problem is fixed and that the customer is happy with the result. To that end I offered to install the motor or at least help with the install at his preferred shop since at this point Ron was upset and did not want to bring his car to us. Ron stated that it would be a waste of my time and that his guy was a premier Mustang builder. I stated that while that is probably the case, for my peace of mind and Richards I insisted that I be there for when it was started in the car for the first time. I told Ron that no matter when it was, no matter what time of day, when he was ready to fire up the engine I would hop in my car and drive straight down there no matter what I was doing.
Fast forward to a week or so later. We had found nothing wrong with the engine. All the tolerances were exactly as they had been when the engine had left the first time. No damage was found. The only issue was that Ron’s engine installer had left the rear of the intake manifold unsealed. We had wasted a day and would waste one more setting the engine up on a runstand to ensure it made no aberrant noises. I then left for a rare 3 day break to spend time with my family. It was during this time that Ron had picked up his motor. I was upset upon my return to learn that Ron had ducked out of paying for the wasted effort. However, I wanted to understand his reason for doing so. I made several attempts to call Mr. Mooney for the next few days but was greeted by his voicemail only. I learned that this was the same result that Richard and one other employee would get when attempting to reach his cell phone. This is a classic sign that your number has been blocked so I made an attempt to call him from my wifes phone. The phone rang 5 times before forwarding to his voicemail. It was at this point that I texted him telling him that I was dissapointed with this behavior. I figured that was that. We had wasted our time and more importantly I would not get the chance to ensure that Mr. Mooney ended up with a satisfactory result from our business together.
Now here we are. I am writing this instead of spending valuable time with my family. I am writing this instead of doing what I love. In the interest of transparency I believe Mr. Mooney should know that neither I nor Richard collect a paycheck from our work at the garage. Though you accuse Richard of being greedy he and I invest every cent we make back into the company in hopes of making it into a hub and a community for those who share our interest in these cars. I say this because Mr. Mooney has taken it upon himself to harass us with multiple online complaints, threats, late night texts punctuated with “sleep well” after a menacing threat. We made our offer: we will fix whatever is wrong. If it is our fault we will do so at our own cost. This is much much more than any other engine builder has ever offered me or anyone that I know. There is nothing more that we can offer. What else can we do? You ignored my offer to install the motor the second time. You ignored my request to be there at startup. How can I warranty an engine if I’m not allowed to see it in person to know that it is actually faulty? Am I to trust your word after all of your harassment?
This job has not been easy. After the fire that destroyed much of the shop several years ago we have been doing our very best to get the shop back to shape while still completing customer cars in a reasonable time frame. I have made mistakes along the way for sure. But I will always do my very best to correct those mistakes. Dealing with Mr. Mooneys constant harassment has very nearly drained me of what energy I have at the end of every day. Yet he does not allow me the ability to solve this problem. I work an average of 15 hours a day on weekdays and all of my saturdays too. In the very few moments I have to spend with my family I get to deal with this nonsense instead. To that end, This will be only reply to you. The offer still stands, but your threats and insults will continue to be ignored. For the sake of my family and my sanity.
To conclude this nightmare I would like to say that despite all of what has transpired, my personal offer to come to you and diagnose your issue as well repair and warranty anything that may be our doing still stands. In addition, if you can prove to me via an independent, well respected and mutually agreed upon party that the engine noise is our fault; I will personally repay you every cent you have spent at our shop and will cover the outstanding tear down bill that you chose to duck out on. This is not something that Richard wants me to do but it is my feeling that it is the right thing.
Finally, for everyone watching, you should all know that I have known Richard for almost 3 years now. In that time I’ve met hundreds of his friends, colleagues and customers. Not a one does not have a story of Richard going the extra mile for them. There’s not a single one of them that Richard would not give the shirt off his back to. He has told me time and time again that the way he has succeeded in life is to share in everything he learns. He is gracious, compassionate, and generous to a fault. I am grateful to call him my friend and my mentor. Do not be too quick to judge him on the rantings of an angry person. He would never do the same to you.
