Last Year one of my customers got a KA(built) from Tophat. It was supposed to have aftermarket pistons and Rods. It was installed at tophat, the engine bay was painted, the install looked great. Lets Start there...this is where the good news ends and the bull shit begins. After the car was in their hands for atleast 3-4 weeks my customer gets a call...(we live 2-3hrs from their shop)~"Car is Ready bro, we are doing the final touches, we will be there on Saturday to get things done and sqaured away"~ Alright, Great we think. So we make the trip down and arrive around 12-1oclock ATL time. Low and behold...the car isnt finished, the car is pulling timing up top and they cant figure out why. So, we make the 3 hr drive back home.

A couple weeks later they call, it isnt pulling timing and runs awesome...come on down and pick it up...so we make the 3hr drive to pick up the car...we drive it home and after a few days the clutch doesnt feel right...we adjust a few things and all is well. A couple days after that…the car is overheating…no big deal…it’s a KA…we will bleed the system and make shit right. Good Deal. A couple days after that…its still overheating. We check things over drain and bleed it again. Working well…NISMO THERMOSTAT AND KOYO WITH ELECTRIC FANS(this thing should BE FINE!!!) NOPE…the electric fans were NEVER hooked up and the Clutch Fan wasn’t tight and was knocking the piss out of the shroud which eventually sliced a hole I the intake which fucked up the MAF pickup and affected the cars AF Ratios…while sorting thru that issue we figure out that the EGR is COMPLETELY OPEN!!! We fashion a block off plate and now the car is RUNNING AMAZING.

Follow all the break in procedures, Dino oil, Dino Oil, full syn, full syn. Car is Running great. Drive the car for a couple months and then BANG…the fucking motor is making a KNOCKING SOUND…WTF IS THIS CRAP? Its like a rattle I say to myself…Timing Guide…but wait…they said they removed that. We check, its removed. So we take the car to my shop and remove the motor and drop the oil pan…and before the motor removal…what do we find under the hood…. 1/8th inch TOO long bolts holding the fuel hardlines down which resulted in a CATASTROPHIC FUEL LOSS, POST and PRE filter. Upon removal of the Oil pan…It was never cleaned it is full of DIRT, Full of Debris and CRAP. The Gasket Sealer was NEVER allowed to set and oil leaks from the pan. The drain plug was stripped from the FOERST oil change…the Valve Cover Gasket was un-set RTV over an OEM/USED/DRY ROTTED old ass VC gasket…the thermostat gasket was RTV gasketed OVER as well as UN-SET RTV which had released and jammed up the thermostat…Looking at the motor…OH, what is THIS…The ROD Caps are from different MOTORS…1,2,3,1 WTF is that? They should all be from the SAME motor and they should all be in ORDER!!! We check everything over a million times. We tighten fuel lines, double check the intake, check the maf, clean the oilpan, and look for any more poor work and inadequate shit. We fix everything that is wrong over the course of 3-6 months.

Allow me to Recap this Incident
3k for a “BUILT” KA with Install
3k Provided…
Poorly Assembled Motor
Poorly Installed Motor
Overheating Motor
Used parts where ONLY, ONLY, ONLY new Parts should be installed
Dry Rotted and Cracking VC gasket…un-set RTV
Incorrect Rod Caps
Incorrect Fuel Line Bolts/Screws
OEM RODS(AFTER Market Rods were AGREED upon and EXPRESSED)
The Accesory belts were not Tightened correctly
The alternator tensioner was stripped
EGR wasn’t Even Blocked Off

None of these problems should have EVER happened. I personally will NEVER order, Think of Ordering, or SUGGEST anyone go to TOPHAT. The work was beyond SUB-PAR and I believe that a junior high Small Business Owner could provide equal work, customer service, and would maintain the same business ethics. This Entire Situation Was a Great example of how poorly a Company Can represent themselves…I have other situations revolving around my shop that are still un-resolved and also unfinished…once they are obtained or retrieved they will probably be disassembled and re-assembled due to the obvious disregard shown for proper motor assembly. Mind you my customer is also my friend...if he would have needed the assitance of a shop and I wasnt available...he would have been COMPLETELY RAPED and would be paying for other peoples mistakes...

I am just a member of the import community and an appalled shop owner…

Have a Great Christmas Everyone

hah, this is my friend, so I believe what he says.

wow, would of never though from them.

TopHat Mike is a very upstanding business man. Im sure he will do his absolute best to resolve the problem if you were to bring this to his attention (assuming you haven't done so already).

Well Im not sure how to take this. If this is true I find it strange I have never heard from this engine owner. I guess that would be the FOERST person I would contact if I spent that kind of money on a engine. The next strange thing is that this person actually signed up on this forum a few days ago just to post this slander and left no info on his profile. Strange??
Not all crate motors have rods, see web page. $3k motor does not.
Rods are remanufactured, that means I can use mis-matched caps because entire rod is re-bored on crank side. See web description on engine. We do not use electric fans and mechanical so did we forget to wire electric fans or leave bolts off of manual fan. We always use new gaskets on our pretty powder coated valve covers.
The point is this guy might be sort of telling the truth. But since I havent actually heard from the owner of this engine , I dont know. We are not perfect!!! No one is. Its how you handle the problems when they come and it sounds like I wasn't given the chance. I have built close to 40 KA crate engines and had 3 blow up. 2 I rebuilt for free and 1 I gave a full refund. PS -They have no warranty but it was the right thing to do.
Thanks for listening to my side.
Mike, Owner, THP

Good response. I agree that the accused should be the FOERST person to hear about a problem. Shit happens. It's how you handle the shit that makes the difference.

there is 1 thing about any kind of service you cant please everyone there will always be 1 person who thinks you service is terrible then you have the people who love you for what you do so i dont think this will steer anybody away from top hat they have too much cred

Why persue a rebuild when no warranty is expressed in the FOERST place. Especially when its your only mode of transportation.(in saying that, a full time student doesnt have time to drive to Atlanta when a Car SHOULD be done and isnt, past experience proving that) I am bringing the problem to light more or less. The person in question refused to bring the problem to light...as he isnt one to even approach a situation that seems to have no resolve. If you wanted to explain the problems with assembly that would be welcomed. Problems occur but no one should ever do a few of the things that happened with my Customers car. I could also dive into the problems with other situations surrounding my customers. however I dont have the expressed permission to voice my concerns with his problems. I do appreciate the prompt response to the problems I have had.

The motor was assembled for a gold S13.

I am glad the problem with the rods has been explained and is better understood. However, I have no answers for the debris ridden oil pan, the incorrect screws on the hardlines attached to the intake manifold(fuel lines) and the valve cover gasket WAS NOT NEW, there is NO way it was NEW. I have had 2-3 year old gaskets that looked better.(it is also strange that RTV was used on the Valve Cover Gasket also, a few dabs of honda bond ussually does the trick, however I only use hondabond on oil pan gaskets...) There was electric fans deliverd with the chasis and it was agreed that they would be installed. The mech. fan wasnt completely re-installed and the electric fans were just SITTING in the engine bay. All of these problems showed themselves after the fan shroud was removed. I am speaking NO half truths or semi-truths. I am about as genuine as they come.

If my customer would not have recieved a run around in the beginning and thought that his car would be fixed in a timely and correct manner I am certain he would have contacted you with his initial problem, and then continuous problems that occured along the way. The most I can ask, and also that I will convey to him, would be an appology...

To answer the comment about who I am...if anything I am protected some of the individuals I know on this site...several of which are my customers and friends, and if they care to express who I am...they are entitled to that.

As a proclaimed shop owner you should know there are 2 sides to every coin.You jump on this forum to slam not only my shops ability with the reman rods situation but my honesty by saying it was suppose to have after market rods that your customer/friend paid for. Now you might be back tracking alittle??
Im really not into this whole internet arguement thing. Im not trying to start bad blood with anyone either. This is however a prime example of how you didnt know all parts,were not told all parts and are making a few assumptions which lead to you slamming my shop which is not a good habit. The next guy on the web who has alot of assumptions,half truths and lack of knowledge might be slamming your shop!
Gold s13??? I dont really care. Do you know how many glold s13s have been through this place?? If your customer needs an appoligy from me then you have him call me. Im a stand up guy who does the right thing but I cant say I feel the right thing is for me to give YOU an appoligy on this forum.
By the way,for the future, how do too long of bolts mess up fuel lines?? Not being a smart ass but I might need to know for future referrence. We use a laptop to see Fuel/Air so if that was a problem when it left we should have saw it.
Thanks, Mike
Owner, Top Hat Performance
Special Thanks Drift Mechanics for allowing me to reply.

TOPHATPERFORMANCE wrote:As a proclaimed shop owner you should know there are 2 sides to every coin.You jump on this forum to slam not only my shops ability with the reman rods situation but my honesty by saying it was suppose to have after market rods that your customer/friend paid for. Now you might be back tracking alittle??
Im really not into this whole internet arguement thing. Im not trying to start bad blood with anyone either. This is however a prime example of how you didnt know all parts,were not told all parts and are making a few assumptions which lead to you slamming my shop which is not a good habit. The next guy on the web who has alot of assumptions,half truths and lack of knowledge might be slamming your shop!
Gold s13??? I dont really care. Do you know how many glold s13s have been through this place?? If your customer needs an appoligy from me then you have him call me. Im a stand up guy who does the right thing but I cant say I feel the right thing is for me to give YOU an appoligy on this forum.
By the way,for the future, how do too long of bolts mess up fuel lines?? Not being a smart ass but I might need to know for future referrence. We use a laptop to see Fuel/Air so if that was a problem when it left we should have saw it.
Thanks, Mike
Owner, Top Hat Performance
Special Thanks Drift Mechanics for allowing me to reply.

PWNed!!!! Very well said. Dude should just call up the shop and get pissed there and then if something is wron post instead of what sounds like a bunch of bullshit.

*****************not my place to state anything**************

i agree , I too work for a company that has a forum that can be helpful and hurtful at the sametime. Going on a forum and totally rippin a guy and his shop apart will get you no where call them you got the # [/quote]

I think ninjas are pretty cool.

Im going to see 300 the night it comes out.