The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 10)

So I was out driving today to get a coffee.  I see two Porsches and then that reminded me of all the other nice cars I see around here in Florida.  That in turn reminds me of my car and the big disappointment and resentment I have toward Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

I took my car to be fixed by this corrupt lying person and I didn't get it back until 2 years later.  It was supposed to be done in less than 3.5 months, per his assurances.

I am living in Florida now and I could be driving my car.  But no, it is still not done.  Because the new mechanic has to fix Colletti Motorsports's mistakes.  And since the new mechanic is very professional, and his services are sought after all over the country, he is extremely busy.  So combine being busy with having to fix another guy's mistakes and you have an even bigger delay in getting your car back.  But this all falls back to the original problem, which is Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.  And not only do I have to have the entire engine rebuilt from the original bad work, I have to pay again to have it rebuilt.  Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti will not pay for it.  So unprofessional.

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 9)

Next Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti goes on to talk about the transmission in my Buick Grand National. He says the transmission is no good and I knew about it.

"We called Olds and he says, "I knew something was wrong with it but I forgot to tell you.""

This is just another one of his lies and twisting of the truth. I did not know the transmission was bad. The transmission that was in it, was almost new but it was having trouble in Reverse. But it still did move in Reverse. After Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti told me the transmission was acting up, I did remember that. I told him that I did remember that Reverse was not working properly but it seemed ok in Drive and the rest of the gears. I am not a transmission expert, but sometimes one gear can go out in an automatic transmission and the rest are fine. I believed that Reverse may have been bad, but Drive was ok, and that was ok with me at that moment in time. But it did make sense to put in a new transmission that worked properly since I was spending so much money to have the motor done right, which it wasn't thanks to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

On a side note, don't buy a TCI transmission. I had two TCI transmissions in my car and both went bad in less than 1000 miles.

I do not remember how Lonnie Diers was suggested to me for getting a transmission, but I decided to go with him and get it done myself, since at this point, I did not trust Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti. So I take the car down myself and get a new transmission put in. All seems fine, then later is starts leaking transmission fluid. I ended up having to take it back down again and found out it just needed a retainer on a particular seal. Lonnie explained to me that the retainer is not needed in almost every case. This just happened to be a rare example of when the retainer was needed.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti likes to use this incident of an example of delays but it only delayed the work by maybe two weeks at the most. And I strongly believe, if I would have let Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti deal with the transmission, it would have taken him at least a month and I would have gotten an inferior product, based on the experiences I was having with him. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had his own guy that he suggested. I am glad I did not go with Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's choice.

Once my car got to KDK Performance and Kevin finally had a chance to look at it, I was told that the transmission cooler, that Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") had installed, was not working as it should. The fan was not running because the power had not been hooked up. Another example of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's shoddy work. I just hope he did not ruin the transmission from his ineptness like he did the motor. It seems to be ok, luckily.

Here are two incidences of Lonnie Diers work showing up in GM High Tech Performance Magazine.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/events/0901gmhtp_2008_buick_gs_nationals_in_beach_bend_raceway_park/photo_11.html

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/features/0307gmht_1987_buick_regal_street_sleeper/

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 8)

Colletti Motorsports: Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

"The crankshaft had to be machined .030" under. This was a "performance" engine (of sorts) originally from the factory. It had been used harshly and repeatedly. Little besides the block, heads, and crankshaft could be reused."

Having the crankshaft machined is pretty normal though. I think, but I cannot remember for sure, Millet's Automotive machined the crankshaft as well as the block. But since I do not remember for sure, I cannot speak of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's account on this one, because I simply do not recall and I do not lie, unlike Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti.

Next he says the engine had been used harshly and repeatedly. It was not used anymore harshly or repeatedly than any other performance car on the street today. My car sits in the garage most of the time idol. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti wants to lead people to believe I am out street racing or track racing or whatever. This is just more of his unprofessional behavior.

And as car enthusiasts know as well, typically all that we use from rebuild to rebuild is the block, heads, and crankshaft. And a lot of times the connecting rods and push rods, depending on the situation. I will not go into detail on that because there is no need to. Car lovers and hobbyists know what is going on here. This is just another attempt of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti using his unprofessional and unethical behavior to try to make himself look better for the BBB.

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 7)

Colletti Motorsports: Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

"The engine was completely disassembled. When we sent the block out to a reputable machine shop, we were told that the block was so worn that the cylinders would have to be "bored out" 60 thousandths over (the maximum an engine can usually be enlarged). Of course, this also meant trying to find .060" "over" forged pistons. Because this was such an unusual requirement, they had to be made; such are not ordinarily carried in stock. 

Next he says he sent my block to be bored out. As I have said previously in another post, Millet's Automotive had already done that back in 1999. If the "reputable machine" told him this, then they aren't reputable at all or Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti just wanted to use the piston excuse as a way of explaining why it took him 7 months to have the engine rebuilt and installed. He probably assumed I didn't know that the block had already been bored out. This guy is just highly unprofessional and/or lacking the intelligence to figure out logistics efficiently and/or just a pure "snake."

The engine did need larger pistons, but as I have said previously, Millet's Automotive bored out the engine, got pistons, and rebuilt the entire engine in 3 weeks. If Millet's Automotive could get the pistons, why couldn't Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti? Well, because I am sure he has a dedicated supplier that he gets "kickbacks" and incentives from. He is more worried about getting his "cut" or family vacations from his supplier, than he is taking care of his customers.

And this next statement he said is just purely laughable. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti says getting the engine bored out is "such an unusual requirement." Anyone reading this right now that is a car enthusiast is laughing as well. 

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 6)

Colletti Motorsports: Further analysis of Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement.

"However, it was a long road to get this 20+ year-old car to that level."

As you can see from the sentence, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti calls my car 20+ years old, and says it was a long road to get to the goal. My car is old, but as I have said before, it is an extremely well taken care of car. It is in as good of condition as many newer cars on the road today. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti was trying to coax readers into believing my car was old and broken down and he had such a difficult task.  I just shake my head when I read that. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is just so unprofessional and unethical, it sickens me.  The first time snow ever has touched my vehicle, since I have owned it, was in Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's possession. The steel rims, I had on it at the time, had very tiny rust spots I kept at bay with regular cleaning.   Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had my vehicle so long (and had it outside), that the rust spots tripled or quadrupled in size. An intelligent professional mechanic would have recognized this and took steps to prevent it or correct it, especially when you are paying top dollar for a place that claims they "treat you and your car like family." It makes a person wonder if he just sat his children outside for long periods of time without feeding them or interacting with them.

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 5)

Here is another lie Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti told the BBB.

"We ultimately achieved 340.86 HP and 405 ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheels (that is, AFTER the power has been transmitted through an automatic transmission and the remainder of the powertrain) as measured by a dynamometer. This means we achieved the goal."

This is an outright lie. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had dyno-ed my car and sent me a horsepower chart showing 285HP was the maximum they achieved. [Remember, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti had assured me that he could get around 500HP. And from a previous post, I showed a quote from GM High Tech Performance magazine that 400-500 HP is not too difficult in the hands someone that knows these cars.] In an email I sent him, I told him the 285 horsepower seemed low. His reply was basically that a Grand National mechanic can tune it but he can't. This means he never should have accepted the job in the first place, and to me, it shows he was just greedy for money.

Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti said he had reached the horsepower goal. He used the excuse that he reached the goal at the flywheel instead of the rear wheels (which is still a lie anyway from the dyno chart). When I came to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti, I told him I wanted around 500HP and he said he could do it. He knew it was Rear Wheel Horsepower that I was talking about. Everyone that is a car enthusiast knows what I am talking about as well. When we talk of horsepower ratings, it is at the rear wheel and not the flywheel. When we speak of flywheel horsepower, we will specifically state that, otherwise it is implied it is Rear Wheel Horsepower. Even cars sold today have horsepower ratings at the rear wheel and not the flywheel. Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti is not only unprofessional, he is unethical.

The highly unprofessional Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti (part 4)

The next quote from Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti's BBB statement:

"On November 9, 2010, the car arrives, barely running and knocking. We tell John he needs his motor rebuilt he gives his OK. He wanted us to build a "race-style" motor. This included, among other things, forged pistons, performance camshaft, biggerinjectors, and other modifications. It is very important to note that this is a V-6 engine, not a V-8."

It is also very important to note I had already talked to Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti before November 9, 2010, and he had told me he could successfully rebuild the engine, have it completed on time, and give me the 500HP I was wanting to get out of it. None of these promises ended up being fulfilled.

They also say, I wanted a "race-style motor." I am not sure what exactly what they mean by this, but Buick Grand Nationals are known for being fast and being daily drivers. This is one feature that makes them unique among other cars. This was not supposed to be a race car. If they did not know this, it is just more ongoing unprofessional behavior them.

Moreover, they say it is very important to know that my car was a V-6 and not a V-8, insinuating it is hard to get high horsepower out of a V-6. For them to say this just proves how unqualified they were to work on my car. Here is a quote from GM High Tech Performance Magazine: "Anybody who is familiar with these cars knows that 400-500 horsepower is not too difficult." Once again, this shows how unqualified Colletti Motorsports (the "ripper off-ers") was to work on my car. Another thing the magazine says, is that Grand Nationals will often "blow" up shortly after an unqualified and inexperienced mechanic works on them. I have not found that quote yet, but I will surely reference it when I do. Steve (the "ripper-offer") Colletti, was not able to understand the engineering behind a motor designed in the 1980's.

Yet even with this quote from GM High Tech Performance Magazine, Steve (the "ripper off-er") Colletti still continues to claim he did a good job, denies his work went bad and still continues to deny me reimbursement.   ...Extremely unprofessional...