To clarify, beware of Gary Bulpin of Dave's Fiero Farm in Pant City.

The particulars can be read in this thread: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/083023.html

here's an individual post of note: https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F...HTML/083023.html#p16

Gary not only ripped me off on some basic work, he botched a header install and then tried to take me to the cleaners by attempting to sell me a complete upper end rebuild (new heads) or a replacement motor that he had on hand. People need to be aware of their ethics and beware.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-21-2010).]

Did this involve a broken manifold bolt?

quote Originally posted by darkhorizon: Did this involve a broken manifold bolt?

Dave did inform me that a few bolts were broken during disassembly. They were replaced by studs on the installation. The problem being, the gasket was never lined up properly and only covered half the port so to speak. I picked up the car and on the way home I could plainly hear it leaking so the phone calls started. After a few days, I finally get ahold of him and arrange to bring the car back to make it right. He tells me the leak is not due to the header install, it's a cracked head. Now he wants $2500 to rebuild the upper half of the motor or he can replace it with another used motor that he happened to have for $2000. I balked and picked up the car. It was put on a lift and the a/c compressor removed, lo and behold the gasket was never put on properly. Add to that, the new a/c clutch that Gary said that he put on there looked like it had been on the car for years and did not look new.

So basically, I paid Gary for a header install to fix a cracked exhaust manifold. He does the install, tells me that a new a/c clutch will fix the compressor noise (which it didn't..... and I was skeptical about to begin with). The headers leaked, I took it back and he tries to nail me for $2500 because he says a cracked head was causing the exhaust leak. Now I find the head is not cracked, it doesn't need an upper end rebuild, he botched the header install. Add to that the old ratty a/c clutch that doesn't look like it was replaced, it certainly appears as though Gary though I was an easy mark to make some extra cash.

Now Gary denies half of this to one of his buddies in the Suncoast Fieros Club so it's degraded to a "my word aginst his".

Well Gary, the truth hurts and maybe next time you'll think twice about trying to make a fast buck on someone who you think is unsuspecting. I understand fully that people make mistakes, but there were just far too many things that do not add up on your end of this whole ordeal and don't make sense. I did not pull this story out of my butt, I deal with honest and truthful communication as living up to my own conscience is more important to my sanity and my way of life. When you tell the truth, you only have to remember it once....... when you lie, you have to remember every detail to every person, who you told what...... and eventually you will fail.

Some worthy reading Gary:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscience



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84 2.5
87 328 GTB replica
87 Coutach replica

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-21-2010).]

So according to your last post in my club thread, you NEVER actually paid them $2500, you paid them $400.
He recommended/suggested swapping out the engine, which is probably where the $2500 came in, but you
took the car back and it wasn't done. So you're complaining about work that wasn't done, only suggested.
Also, if you would've called Gary and told him about the gasket, he would've replaced without additional charge.
So you just want to cause trouble and moan and complain about things that didn't happen. You didn't bring
the car back for Gary to make it right, you just started complaining on the forum and are trying to ruin his
business because you are just a mean, whiny little punk.

quote Originally posted by larini74: So according to your last post in my club thread, you NEVER actually paid them $2500, you paid them $400. He recommended/suggested swapping out the engine, which is probably where the $2500 came in, but you took the car back and it wasn't done. So you're complaining about work that wasn't done, only suggested. Also, if you would've called Gary and told him about the gasket, he would've replaced without additional charge. So you just want to cause trouble and moan and complain about things that didn't happen. You didn't bring the car back for Gary to make it right, you just started complaining on the forum and are trying to ruin his business because you are just a mean, whiny little punk.

He clearly stated that he took it back and the dude told him the work was fine but he had a cracked head.

Gary charged a fair price for work completed, but he did a piss-poor job and then lied and tried to sell an even bigger job in order to charge for new heads when in fact all he had to do was fix the job he butchered the first time... Seems pretty straight forward to me.

Come on Joe, just pay the man. What's 2500 bucks amongst Fiero Friends?

quote Originally posted by larini74: So according to your last post in my club thread, you NEVER actually paid them $2500, you paid them $400. He recommended/suggested swapping out the engine, which is probably where the $2500 came in, but you took the car back and it wasn't done. So you're complaining about work that wasn't done, only suggested. Also, if you would've called Gary and told him about the gasket, he would've replaced without additional charge. So you just want to cause trouble and moan and complain about things that didn't happen. You didn't bring the car back for Gary to make it right, you just started complaining on the forum and are trying to ruin his business because you are just a mean, whiny little punk.

Lee,

sounds to me like your nose is up Gary's ass. Take some time and read........ I took it back and he said his work was fine. He got several chances and at some point, I called it quits and am doing the simple fix myself. Stop calling me a whining ass when you don't know **** from the first person perspective.

Evidently you forgot about the PM I sent you trying to get Dave's phone number back in November. Remember? I saved it. It said I was getting frustrated because Gary wasn't returning my calls and I was to the point of wanting to get my car back. You were kind enough to give me Dave's number, don't ruin my impression of you with your words of disrespect.

to set the record straight yet again, it took days for gary to get back with me with prices to fix the job when the car was brought back to him the 2nd time. Gary wanted to replace the head. Then he says he doesn't like to replace one head, both should be done. Then there's the water pump, yada yada yada and wanted $2500 for the job. I told him i wasn't going to do that, I was having my buick GN restored at the body shop and it would be a big bill. Gary mentioned he still had his own 2.8 that was pulled out of his countach project when he put in the 4.9.... he would get back to me on how much. Again, days later he hits me with a $2000 price for that one. I had suspicions and now I just wanted the car back. It took several more days to finally contact Gary again and did so about the same time I got Dave's phone number from Lee and a few other Suncoast members. I was going to pick up the car and deal with it later. Fast forward to putting it on a lift, discovering the botched header job and the feeling of relief that I didn't allow myself any further crap for Gary.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-21-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Joe 1320: Thank you! Someone that can read a simple post.

FWIW, I read it the same way Tommy did. Got no clue where that other stuff came from.

quote Originally posted by Raydar: FWIW, I read it the same way Tommy did. Got no clue where that other stuff came from.

Thanks to you as well. The situation was simple to read....... but evidently on their end, it's damage control time and things aren't pretty.

quote Originally posted by Joe 1320: Interesting you should mention that trust. I picked mine up after getting the headers installed and getting a new a/c clutch. On the trip home I could tell the exhaust was still leaking, so it went back to the shop the following weekend again. Gary had the car for maybe a week and told me that the head was cracked and that was the reason for the exhaust leak. Since he didn't recommend doing one head, by the time everything was added up the bill was going to be $2500. He said he had a motor that was pulled from another replica that he could install for $2000 to help me out. I decided I just couldn't spend that kind of dough at the moment, I had other projects consuming a bit of resources as well as something didn't quite sit right. A local mechanic who I've been getting to know put the car up on his lift so we could get a good look. he pulled off the a/c compressor (which certainly appears to not have a new compressor clutch based on the photo below). I would welcome dissenting opinions, but it sure looks like it wasn't replaced to me. Thanks for taking care of me on that new clutch Gary. Sorry for the size of the pics, but if you reduce the page font zoom 50%, they show in better detail. Now that the compressor was out of the way, one can easily see the reason for the exhaust leak. Check out how the bottom of the gasket goes almost to the middle of the header tube in the pics. In the blurry photo, note how the top of the gasket "ear" is sitting above the stud in the upper left side. Now to set the record straight, Gary did tell me that several bolts broke off in the head and were helicoiled and I supplied all the hardware and headers. Gary said the cradle had to be dropped for access. I cannot imagine how one could install a gasket that poorly with the cradle being dropped for access. So it was a cracked head Gary? Again, thanks for taking care of me. Gary, I'm reasonably sure that due to bolts breaking, you felt you were losing money by the amount of extra work due to things not going right. Attempting to sell me an upper end rebuild with new heads or help me out with another used motor (60K miles) to replace my 18,500 mile original motor to make up for things is hardly the right thing to do. The same goes for the a/c compressor clutch. So Gary, thanks for making it sound not quite right. For the cost of a new header gasket, I saved $2500. yep, great people. Jim, it sounds like you got lucky while I was getting the shaft. My advice is BEWARE OF GARY BULPIN AT DAVE'S FIERO FARM.

So is your car fixed now? God my headers are a pain in the ass. I have to install new gaskets again, but its pretty easy fix and easy to diagnose a bad gasket.

quote Originally posted by larini74: So according to your last post in my club thread, you NEVER actually paid them $2500, you paid them $400. He recommended/suggested swapping out the engine, which is probably where the $2500 came in, but you took the car back and it wasn't done. So you're complaining about work that wasn't done, only suggested. Also, if you would've called Gary and told him about the gasket, he would've replaced without additional charge. So you just want to cause trouble and moan and complain about things that didn't happen. You didn't bring the car back for Gary to make it right, you just started complaining on the forum and are trying to ruin his business because you are just a mean, whiny little punk.

Not to pour gas on this fire but how old are you? The guy says he had a bad experience, and explains it in full detail. I read it and had no problem comprehending what he said...

1 He paid for a job
2 There were still issues
3 He took it back
4 The mechanic said it was something other than the work he had done and tried to talk him into doing a MAJOR job
5 He refused to pay the inflated quote for work he wasn't sure it needed
6 Another mechanic looked at it and said the first mechanic didn't do the work right and that it didn't need all the other work the first guy said

What's your issue here? If you're not going to actually take the time to read what he wrote, why are you arguing about it?

[This message has been edited by mptighe (edited 12-21-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Jake_Dragon: So is your car fixed now? God my headers are a pain in the ass. I have to install new gaskets again, but its pretty easy fix and easy to diagnose a bad gasket.

the part that sucked is that in a Countach replica, the side intakes are quite high and it makes doing work from the top a nightmare. The bodywork extends further to the rear as well and that makes reaching the engine very tough. Compounded with the fact that from underneath, the a/c compressor blocks the view of the passenger side half of the manifold. Without the compressor in the way, finding the leak took about 20 seconds where as from the top it just couldn't be seen or felt. I tried spraying a soap sloution, windex, etc to attempt to find the exact location of the leak and all it did was boil off quickly. In retrospect, the leak was on the bottom side of the port and wasn't going to be found from the top no matter what. Since I'm working 70 hours a week and burning up the roads with traveling for my day job, only short periods of time can be spent at any given session and the car is slowly going back together. might have it buttoned up by Christmas, but not sure about charging the a/c in this cold weather. probably will have to wait for temps to get high enough. Fortunately the guy that owns the shop is letting me use his bay and mess with some things just for the novelty and diversion at night. I'm making up to him in other ways by setting him up with a LT-1 motor and 4L60e trans for his Monte Carlo SS. That and the Countach sure gets people to stop by his shop to gawk.

Bottom line...... I'm with you brother. Headers suck on the front side. On a replica they suck on all sides.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-21-2010).]

This is my last entry on this subject. I have knonw Gary for almost 8 years. I know his work ethic and his reputation.
He has worked on many Fieros in Florida and out of state. When he tells me that after you picked up your car that
you didn't contact him again or bring the car back, then I will tend to believe him more than you.
Yes, he is my friend, and as a friend I will defend his reputation to the Nth degree; but if he was someone who ripped
people off, and took advantage of them, I wouldn't be anywhere near him. I value truth and loyalty, having served in
the military for over 12 years.
That's all I have to say about this anymore.

quote Originally posted by larini74: This is my last entry on this subject. I have knonw Gary for almost 8 years. I know his work ethic and his reputation. He has worked on many Fieros in Florida and out of state. When he tells me that after you picked up your car that you didn't contact him again or bring the car back, then I will tend to believe him more than you. Yes, he is my friend, and as a friend I will defend his reputation to the Nth degree; but if he was someone who ripped people off, and took advantage of them, I wouldn't be anywhere near him. I value truth and loyalty, having served in the military for over 12 years. That's all I have to say about this anymore.

Now there is a surprise. Tell me, why would I contact him and bring it back a THIRD time? He already said it wasn't due to his install.

Perhaps in your view, I should have spent hours putting my car back together after discovering his botched job, only to drive it 2 hours away to let him take it apart again and have another attempt? It's a royal PITA to drive two cars a few hours away (one way), leave the car for maybe another two weeks, drive another couple hours each with another person to pick up the car again?

Sorry.... but that's just plain nuts. Are you really listening to yourself?

It's less effort to fix it while it's already apart from the diagnosis and it's not 8 hours round trip ( 4 hours round trip for each instance) plus the time to put it back together. I already did that twice and it's not gonna happen again. I understand that he's been your friend for 8 years, Thank you for serving our country in the military, your service is greatly appreciated. If you want to stick up for him that's your karma. If you are going to stand up for someone, perhaps you should make sure you are in the loop and can vouch from a first person perspective. If not, you run the risk of sticking your neck out based on second hand information. Our country has gone to war over incorrect second hand information. We all can be misled......... I was...... and I'm NOT an idiot. We all want to believe in someone, but it's also smart to watch your back.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-22-2010).]

Here is the thread listing the '63 VW gaskets.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/111553.html

quote Originally posted by larini74: This is my last entry on this subject. I have knonw Gary for almost 8 years. I know his work ethic and his reputation. He has worked on many Fieros in Florida and out of state. When he tells me that after you picked up your car that you didn't contact him again or bring the car back, then I will tend to believe him more than you. Yes, he is my friend, and as a friend I will defend his reputation to the Nth degree; but if he was someone who ripped people off, and took advantage of them, I wouldn't be anywhere near him. I value truth and loyalty, having served in the military for over 12 years. That's all I have to say about this anymore.

Fortunately, you speak for yourself.

Why am I not reading Dave's reply here? From Dave?

quote Originally posted by Fiero1Fan: Here is the thread listing the '63 VW gaskets. https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/111553.html

Oh man.... that's the one! Hmm..... it's not too late, maybe I should switch to that design. Shouldn't have to do it a second time with those unless something warps.

Thanks for posting that link!

I find that "cracked head" story hard to believe... I would imagine you need a hole in the exhaust port to hear a leak through cast iron.

Here's a better pic of their gasket install. The top arrow points at where the top ear of the gasket is way over the top of the port and not retained by the stud. The lower arrow shows where the bottom gasket is way above the bottom stud. Nice job there Gary. There are also places where my studs that were supplied were not used and a couple of bolts used instead. Why is that Gary? Nevermind..... I already know the answer, your work sucks.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-23-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Joe 1320: ... Nice job there...

Indeed.

No wonder it leaks.....that gasket is not even close.

If at all possible could you post some LARGER pictures, those are hard to see LOL

No comment about the work done but i'd be pissed that tehy were driving my car around on the lawn for a photo op. Not very professional.

quote Originally posted by DLCLK87GT: If at all possible could you post some LARGER pictures, those are hard to see LOL No comment about the work done but i'd be pissed that tehy were driving my car around on the lawn for a photo op. Not very professional.

The animal piss on the front wheel and the cat paw prints on the windshield were worse. Not professional is an understatement. Sorry about the large pics though, keep forgetting to downsize.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your car.

Check your PM's. I do need some assistance with getting in touch with Bob about the pace cars.

Fred

quote Originally posted by DLCLK87GT: If at all possible could you post some LARGER pictures, those are hard to see LOL

here you go. i was bored.......i hope alls good with the Lambo.

hey Joe, if you need assistance with Photos or maybe to whip stomp some child'ins....send me a PM. alls i got is time. and attitude. if they did that to my Mera.....HEADS WOULD ROLL!
compliments to your calm demenor.....i would be in jail for the holidays.
but satisifed....

Daniel
Mera X

[This message has been edited by batousai666 (edited 12-24-2010).]

quote Originally posted by RAREW66: Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your car. Check your PM's. I do need some assistance with getting in touch with Bob about the pace cars. Fred

Fred, I got your message. I'll do what I can to get Bob in touch with you. The easiest way to say it is that Bob's been kinda goofy lately, that whole split is like a tabloid story and he's not exactly been himself. He's been quite forgetful too. His new woman is a strage bird, we don't really see eye to eye on most things but I will forge ahead and help you out. BTW, congrats on the latest PPG toy. I"ll dig up the vintage photos of the PPG Pace Cars back when they were new, I can't remember if they were copied to CD or not but I'll deal with it. As soon as I have a CD, I'll mail it to you... just send me a PM with your address.


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84 2.5
87 328 GTB replica
87 Coutach replica

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-24-2010).]

quote Originally posted by batousai666:

An exhaust leak like that should have been readily apparent even before you picked it up.
Did they not fire up the engine after the install to check??

Enquiring minds want to know
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My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 12-24-2010).]

quote Originally posted by fierosound: An exhaust leak like that should have been readily apparent even before you picked it up. Did they not fire up the engine after the install to check?? Enquiring minds want to know

When I fired it up at Dave's, it was making less noise then when I dropped it off but the original manifold had seperated from the flange at that port. It was pretty damned loud before. So when I picked it up...... between the a/c compressor rattling like it had before and all the other noise from having no sound deadening material in the cabin, added to the fact that the car was sitting on the grass outside and not in the garage, it took me about a mile driving down the road before I picked up my cell and started calling Gary. He wouldn't return any calls for days. In fact, he never returned the calls.... I had to keep calling and eventually got ahold of him in about 4 days. That's one of the bad issues in dealing with Gary. Many times he will not return calls. So was it noisy? Yeah.... just not as bad, I thought maybe the leak could be further down the pipes...... on the drive home it just got louder and louder. I had driven 2 hours to go get the car and perhaps I was a little too anxious to get my car back. By the time I drove the 2 hours and pulled into the garage, I could hear the leak plainly coming from that port. That's when I started trying to find the leak and really couldn't see crap from the topside. All of the soap solution and windex would just boil off quickly the instant the engine was fired, so when I finally got though I arranged to bring it back. I asked Gary if he drove it and how could he not hear that? He said he drove it thought it sounded great. At this point, I just couldn't believe what i was hearing. In retrospect, I believe I was being setup for the kill so to speak.

[This message has been edited by Joe 1320 (edited 12-24-2010).]

The new exhaust manifold gasket was installed, fired up and there are no leaks. Let it do a heat cycle and did a retorque. A new compressor, accumulator and orifice tube was installed as well. No rattling compressor anymore. Everything purs like it should with no exhaust or compressor noise. All is well and am certainly glad I cut my losses and left Dave's Fiero Farm, never looking back.

There's a lesson for all to keep in mind when having their fiero worked on by anyone else but yourself. You'll always need to watch your back, at any time somebody will attempt to screw you.

quote Originally posted by Joe 1320: The new exhaust manifold gasket was installed, fired up and there are no leaks. Let it do a heat cycle and did a retorque. A new compressor, accumulator and orifice tube was installed as well. No rattling compressor anymore. Everything purs like it should with no exhaust or compressor noise. All is well and am certainly glad I cut my losses and left Dave's Fiero Farm, never looking back.

Congrats! I'm happy that you finally have your car fixed.

quote There's a lesson for all to keep in mind when having their fiero worked on by anyone else but yourself. You'll always need to watch your back, at any time somebody will attempt to screw you.

Too bad it's so hard to identify those people upfront.
All we can do is pass along our own experiences. Thanks.

Nearly 6 months now of driving the Countach after being fixed correctly, it's a pleasure to drive. No exhaust noise, the headers create a nice tone to the exhaust. the only time temps rise a bit is when using the a/c on the highway. I'm putting in a new Champion 3 core radiator to help when the a/c is being used. So much for needing a new engine.... LMAO.

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84 2.5
87 328 GTB replica
87 Coutach replica

Rather than speculate why not get the car fixed at your choice of repaire post what it was and make your claim in a court.

quote Originally posted by Australian: Rather than speculate why not get the car fixed at your choice of repaire post what it was and make your claim in a court.

I'm in no way taking sides on the issue

I had to read ol Australian's post a couple of times before I understood what he meant

Let me try and translate that into Amarrykin

Just get it fixed at a shop of your choosing and give him the bill, if he doesn't pay, take it to small claims court

[This message has been edited by Pappy (edited 06-12-2011).]

quote Originally posted by Joe 1320: Nearly 6 months now of driving the Countach after being fixed correctly, it's a pleasure to drive. No exhaust noise, the headers create a nice tone to the exhaust. the only time temps rise a bit is when using the a/c on the highway. I'm putting in a new Champion 3 core radiator to help when the a/c is being used. So much for needing a new engine.... LMAO.

I would suggest against that personally... You should have no problems cooling if you have the proper airflow up there at highway speeds.