citcapp

There are plenty of people here that are in the "real world" with great engine builds producing 500+ hp. I happen to have a couple myself. I won't brag about my builds and the money spent. You can find my build sheets in my posts. I did a lot of price comparison and read a lot of threads here and on ROP and other sites plus talked to some real Olds expedience engine builders in our local scene and came to my on conclusions about Mondello as should everyone. The warning 's posted here do have real merit. I have personal experience on a street performance engine build and custom car build (66 442) that went totally sideways (friend of mine) that is well into the 30k range of being rebuilt here locally including a total engine rebuild that failed within 500 miles. Sad story. I'll try to get Ned to do a write up of everything that went wrong on the 100K+ car build from Mondello. He is pretty embarrassed about the who thing because he could not spend the time and money flying from Seattle and back often enough to check on the build. He is a very trusting guy who got screwed beyond belief.

coppercutlass

468 on steroids he might have spent 10k but i bet his engine will last longer. he would have spent less if he didn't get ripped of by mondildo . So you can run along and praise lynn and try to throw fuel in the fire. But when your crap breaks down due to junk parts like cheap generic lifters i'll bet you will run with your tail between your legs and you wont talk so tough. You can have credentials all you want but if you use junnk parts your stuff wont last. He had lifters fail. smaller cc heads, brocken rocker arms, bad head gaskets, what makes you think your special and you got the "good" stuff. Go pound sand. Your mouth will catch up to you one day.

Mike77

Easy boy's.
Let everyone have their opinion without the mud slinging. Remember we all have one thing in common. Oldsmobiles.
We can agree to disagree but please be civil. Everyone and I mean everyone see the world completely different from anyone else.

Mike

468_on_steroids

I already said I only buy my cams & thrush kits from Mondello. Why u bringing lifters back into it??? I'm not guy that threw junk lifters or rockers into a build, or the guy that threw $100,000 at a company that he couldn't monitor and assure himself of it's production quality. Sounds like people allow them selves into these situations and wonder why things don't work out for them.

I deal with Mondello, M&J Proformance, Fusick, Dick Miller, Rocket racing. They all have their forte's and short comings.

coppercutlass

No if you follwed steve's story he had good dealing's with mondello in the past well before his current engine if i remembered right. He got the shaft on this build. So you buy those two items from mondello and you can say he is a good guy. You are buying things he probably drop ships to you. I think engle grinds their cams. All the cams i have ordered from comp or howards have been dropped shipped.

coppercutlass

Sounds like people allow them selves into these situations and wonder why things don't work out for them.

I deal with Mondello, M&J Proformance, Fusick, Dick Miller, Rocket racing. They all have their forte's and short comings.[/QUOTE]

So you mean to tell me you have allowed your self to be in a bad situtation enough to find out he short comings of the companies you listed. You must not deal with them anymore then since you say if you allow yourself it's your fault. Steve put his warning made it clear you are just trying to put the blame on him. Im not fighting his fight but im just calling out your reasoning .

Rickman48

SOS - you can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink!!

Unless they complain they got ripped-off - can't say they haven't been warned!
Enough said, IMO.

Intragration

Steve was providing valuable and much-appreciated information on his personal experiences with a company that has shown a pattern of poor business practices. You counter by downplaying his documented experience and then insulting the site by calling it a name? Seriously? I don't know exactly what you were hoping to accomplish, but I don't think you succeeded.

ralsy

This has degenerated into school yard, tit for tat arguing (mines bigger than yours). Come on guys grow up!

Mike77

Ralsy, that what I was thinking.
Are you on the Sunshine Coast as in Sechelt BC?

MDchanic

Wow.

Some subjects just seem to bring 'em out of the woodwork.

Thanks, Steve. You've made a valuable contribution to the forum.

- Eric

ralsy

Sunshine coast, Queensland. Perfect one day, better the next.

bdub217

10k for 492hp no thank you~!!!!!!!!!!!! i'd estimate (me doing the labor, it's not rocket science) you can build a nice 800hp motor with 5k not using cheap bullshit parts either, i'd only go with quality vs. cheap and "will do" it'll pay off in the end. wont have to nickel and dime when **** falls apart b/c it was made with no respect or dignity towards what it's meant to be used for. ........these aren't mcdonald's toys we're riding around in.

ah64pilot

ROFLMFAOWSMUAPMPATWCOTSROOMN

That means rolling on floor laughing my f-ing a-- off while sh-tting my underwear and pissing my pants all the while choking on the snot running out of my nose...you have no clue do you dude?

You'd estimate? Do it once, then make that statement. I don't know how we find you guys but geez you sure do make life interesting. How does the glass taste by the way? Is it still strawberry or has it changed?

P.S. The only labor I paid for was the $1700 for machine work

coppercutlass

800 hp out of 5k try it and get back to me . Not being rude but that's is just impossible even with cheap stuff.

ah64pilot

I'm sorry Eric...if I had known I would never have posted it. I just don't remember being so bold and aggressive when I was a new member. I guess my parents taught me to be respectful and polite when I first met people. Maybe that's not taught anymore...hmm. But there is more than one way to get people to listen to you, I prefer the actions before words approach but some people just like to holler

chadman

LMAO at 800hp for 5k! That won't even get you a set of bolt on ready heads that are capable of 800hp. More like 18-25k depending on how long you want it to last.

380 Racer

^^^x2^^^

MDchanic

This made me happy.

- Eric

stevengerard

the key issue to this thread is be careful with Mondello in CA. I used them in the early 90s and tried again years back and won't anymore because of the same issues.

Yes, I have heard from them and others that people call and pick their brains and waste their time. I get that, but with in reason you have to listen a bit and provide some customer service.

Also, we are not all engine builders. The way some of you throw around how obvious certain things are or how much horse power you can produce means nothing to me or to many others I bet. 25 years ago I rebuilt my own engines, painted my own cars. I don't have the time anymore for that and would have to relearn a lot - I hope to one day but for now driving the family in the car is more enjoyable to me than seeing it on jack stands. Does that make me less of an Olds person, I don't feel so, but for many of us we depend on the people we are buying from so you can't necessarily say shame on you. If I stopped buying from every vendor we know of because of one mistake I wouldn't have any one to buy from. They have all made errors, they are human its how they handled the errors that matter.

bdub217

ahhahaha but my boss has a 454 in his truck all pro built with quality products he's not the cheapy type and it cost him 6 grand...... its running 760hp. ima make him go get a dyno so i can post the sheet =)

ah64pilot

Glad I was able to brighten your day lol!

coppercutlass

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/arch.../t-157948.html check out think link on a budget build and how much that cost the hp levels and cost . 6k for 760 hp pshhhhhh just a little unrealistic still even if it is a chevy imo specially if you say he bought quality parts.

jesseb

Either way, Steve, thanks for pointing me to the thread. I picked up some other Olds leads off of here, always a bonus! and some insight into some folks business practices. I've ran into a couple Olds guys around here that like Lynn, but I've not had any dealings with him. Only thing I've bought from them so far has been some oil restrictors. I'm a broke ***, piecing together a Heinz 57 of a 455 to get my 71 back on the road. Interested to see how it does. Thank's again!

bdub217

where's his supercharger?

coppercutlass

Turbo's/superchargers are not cheap specially if he likes good parts. Boosted hp vs n/a will cost the same if not more. You got the turbos'intercooler, piping,boost regulators, oil lines,adding turbos/supercharger will cost $ because all the parts to build a race engine still apply to a boosted race engine but now you will need stronger forged internals to handle the boost. Otherwise boom goes your shiney new engine. So you just dug yourself a hole. Superchargers aren't cheap. 2k and up for good ones.

ah64pilot

Bump because yet again I found another guy getting screwed...if anyone else has any experiences with Mondello, good or bad please post them in this thread so others won't make the same mistake or can learn how to get good parts from them.

Stevec

Steve it's been about 2 years now that I've had my Olds. Mondello was the first name I heard about as far as getting parts etc but over the last 2 years I've heard nothing but bad things about them so it's safe to say I will never deal with them. Fusik,Inline Tube,Olds Performance Products,OPG,Dick Miller and Summit are all who I've dealt with in the past.

I really like Fusik,Olds Perfom Products and even Summit they all have great customer service. The others were also problem free.

TK-65

http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...03#post4707803

Eightupman

He was trying to get your wallet....

nonhog

760 is not 800 and 454 is not Olds so why bring it up on an Olds site?

Eightupman

Why, yes... yes I do. I also walk out of businesses if the person I'm dealing with is unknowledgeable, or rude...

And from a post further down, you do the same.

But you can get a Comp Cam anywhere, so theoretically, that point is moot.

But to contribute to the point of the thread... someone also mentioned another vendor in this thread that has been black listed by some, however that poster still uses him. The OP did a good job pointing out HIS experiences, and I for one appreciate that info. Iffn I choose to purchase Chinesium, I may as well get it at the lowest price possible and expect it to last 1.6 minutes.

John

sxsleeper

I'm one of those greenhorns! I have replaced parts on my cars for years as i was raising my family. But rebuilding motors takes alot more knowledge and experience. I have bought from Mondello yrs before and have had fair experiences. In fact, Joe port and polished and rebuilt my heads and I have been happy with them. This time I went back to them again trusting that they would lead me right. I have had problems with my lifters, rockers, and vavle covers. May-be minor issues to many, but it has lead me to a great deal of fustration and dissapointment! Lynn has offered to replace parts with brand name parts, but why should a guy have to go through all of that. Just glad we caught the problems before they caused serious problems! I say, anyone who wants to buy from Mondello really needs to know what they will be getting before they buy. For those who haven't, read my thread: trouble with roller tip rockers on stock heads.
Like I have always told my kids, There's always a consequence for your decisions!

Aceshigh

Wow, so you're not just a fly by night guy pissin about the costs.

I would definitely consider your advice if I was looking to go with Mondello.
Look elsewhere people.....even the Olds Dr's legacy is outsourcing to China.....

ctsplicer

Wow,after reading this I'm glad my 64 cutlass holiday coupe came with a SBC,which I have done quite a bit of work on so far with parts from summit racing.My problem will be restoring my wifes recently purchased 64 cutlass convertible with it's original 330.Hmm maybe I should just look for a chebby engine.Just kidding.Thanks for the thread.I will be restoring the wifes car to original,so the 330 stays.I live in Ct.and can attest to Fusicks quality.I have walked in there numerous times, and it doesn't matter how much or how little you know,they treat you with respect.great people.

Aceshigh

I dunno.....I do see some similarities.



BTW 800hp on $5,000 even with an LSx isn't possible. Sorry.
I've seen almost 600hp with a hair dryer on a 5.3L for $5,000 but that engine won't last long.

Now if you're talking Oldsmobile engines, you're working with less efficient head design,
and a much much smaller aftermarket....So the costs go way up to get there.

ctsplicer

Oh **** ,that's too damn funny!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ancient Iron

When I was rebuilding the engine in my 1965 Olds Starfire 425. I was looking for new valves, I was doing it factory stock and didn't want to modify the "A" heads for later valves. My brother who is in auto parts called Mondello looking for the correct Intake valves which were only available in the 370hp Starfire engine. Mondello insisted that my engine used the 2.07 intakes!! When the originals were 1.95's and the stems were exclusive to this motor.If they are such "OLDSMOBILE SPECIALISTS" they should have known this!!!! I found the correct valves elsewhwere and they are real G.M.
Personally I don't think they know as much as they think they do. If Mondello likes dealing with people who know their **** then they should learn it before they talk ****!!!

sxsleeper

So still having issues with my Rockers! Told Lynn at Mondello what was still happening and he said he would send me a set of new rockers. Here's what he sent me:

Used rockers 003.jpg
Used rockers 005.jpg
Used rockers 006.jpg
Used rockers 008.jpg

Came in a beat up box, rockers wraped in newspapers and stuck in ziplocks! When I called Lynn and asked him "what the hay?" he said he wanted to send me a set just to get me going until the new ones came. He didn't even send any rocker pedistals to install them! Said these had been on a magazine build he was doing and they only had about 40 min. on them. I told him there must have been something wrong with the motor if it only had 40 min. on it because there was wear on the rockers already! Later I checked the newspapers they were wrapped in and they were from Casper, Wy. Magazine build in WY? Aren't they located in Cal.? The whole thing rings with untruth! Finally had to tell him I wanted Harland Sharps and gave him the part number I wanted. We'll see what I get now????

"Beware" is an understatement!

FStanley

recently a guy got a 455 rebuilt from Mondello.

got only 20psi oil pressure...

A friend's machine shop found lifters would not pass oil.

also bad crank machining

and they are the BEST???? Not anymore...