As many of you know Paolo Castellano Enlisted our services to build him a supercharged Viper several years ago. The car was picked up from our shop in December of 2002. As a part of our normal packages I offered him a one year / twelve thousand mile warranty. As many of you might remember, this was the most powerful supercharged Viper on the planet at the time. Throughout the life of this engine, as many of you know, it had survived numerous thousands of miles of severe duty, which it was intended to do. At some point in time Paolo called me and explained that there was a piece of metal on the oil drain plug. After further examination this was determined to be a piece of a valve cover baffle. The rocker arm adjusters had contacted the baffles causing them to break. This was an oversight on my part and should not have been overlooked.
Once we began development of our twin turbo system Paolo indicated that he wanted to have us remove the supercharger system and install one of our turbo systems. After a few weeks went by Paolo asked that we install larger turbos on his car than what we were already installing on our current turbo systems. I indicated to him that we had just finished development of this turbo system and that to install the turbos that he wanted would require a completely new system and that I was not interested in doing this. I indicated that the next R&D project was going to be a system for SRTs. After a while went by Paolo called me and told me that he saw a turbo diesel engine on an engine stand while at a car show and that he had purchased a book on fabricating and that he and Jim Voorheese, formerly of SVSi were going to build their own turbo system. I was excited for Paolo and encouraged him to do so.
Prior to finishing this turbo system Paolo decided to do a compression test on the engine and to remove the oil pan to inspect for any sort of debris. He contacted me by telephone to explain that the compression test indicated that the engine was in good operating condition and that the inside of the engine was beautiful and there was no sign of debris or any problem whatsoever. Again I was happy to hear this as I'm sure that he was.
Paolo and Jim recently completed their fourteen month long project. They got the car running and drove it around on the streets for a while to do some drivability tuning. Once the drivability was worked out they headed over to the dyno to make some preliminary power runs. Paolo again contacted me and informed me that they had drained the oil and that everything looked good and he was thrilled with the level of power that his car was producing. Several days later Paolo called me to tell me that the car had just produced an amazing 15XX rwtq and 127X rwhp @ 21 psi. I told him that that was great and urged him to be careful. I asked him what kind of fuel he was running during these runs and he explained to me that it was a mixture of pump gas, 100 octane and some C-16.
In the week following these dyno runs Paolo posted about the car's incredible performance and bragged about how incredible it was.
The Friday evening following these dyno runs Paolo contacted me and explained that they had removed the oil pan after making these dyno runs and removed the windage tray and some bearing caps and that some of the bearings were beginning to show wear. Paolo also indicated to me that they had detonated the engine on the dyno. Paolo informed me that due to these findings they delivered the engine to Arrow Racing and that they had torn the engine down and given him a teardown report. He went on to inform me that according to Arrow, the main journals were out of alignment, out of round and that one journal was three tenths of a thousandth of an inch undersized, (.0003"). He also informed me that the top of the connecting rod had contacted the bottom of the piston and caused a small notch to wear in the underside of the piston. I informed Paolo that our machine shop line honed the block and that I did not have the tool to check that they did this correctly so I could neither confirm or deny that the engine was machined improperly. Paolo conveyed to me that it was obvious that he had reached the limits of what some of the engine parts could handle. Paolo then put Jim Voorheese on the phone to better explain to me what Arrow had discovered. I told them that I would contact Arrow on Monday and talk to them to get a better understanding of what had happened.
I put in a call to Arrow Racing on Monday morning and was told that I needed to speak with Todd but that he was not available at the time so I left a message. I did not get a call back on Monday So I called again and spoke to Todd regarding this engine and he explained in detail to me about what had happened to the engine. I explained to him that the engine was far out of warranty but in spite of this, if something that I or my machine shop had done was the cause of any problem with this engine that I would be willing to make good on it. Todd then assured me that nothing that I or my machine shop had done could have caused the engine to fail. At this point I was curious as to why he used the term "fail", because at this point all I had been informed of was bearing wear. He then went on to to explain that the line bore was only out by tenths of thousandths of an inch and that he would expect it to be out due to the excessive amount of heat, power, torque and abuse that the engine had seen. He further explained that the bushings in the small end of the connecting rods had begun to flow out the sides of the rods because the engine had been detonated so severely which directly caused the excessive wrist pin to connecting rod clearance. He then explained that six out of ten pistons had collapsed and that the piston rings had seized in their respective ring grooves, again due to severe detonation. We then discussed the connecting rod bearings and both agreed that the bearings were not wrong at all and that whether to use a P series bearing or an H series bearing is purely a matter of personal preference and that the bearings that I had chosen to use were causing no problem in the engine at all.
I then contacted Paolo and informed him of what Todd had said and explained to him that it was the professional opinion of Arrow Racing that I was in no way at fault for the failure of this engine. I then explained to him that despite the fact that he was obviously at fault for this engine failure that I would possibly be willing to take the high road and help him get his engine back together. I then asked him what he thought would be fair for me to contribute to the resurrection of this engine. Paolo then informed me that he felt that I should give him six or seven thousand dollars toward his engine. I told him that considering that it is the professional opinion of a respected third party engine builder that I was not at fault for the engine failure that I felt that this was absurd. He then told me that he would call Todd at Arrow again and call me back.
I would like to point out that through this whole ordeal up to this point Paolo had been telling me that because the block needed to be line bored again that Arrow Racing did not feel that the block would be usable again and this is why Paolo wanted me to buy him a new block.
After a few hours went by I decided to call Todd back to find out what had transpired between he and Paolo in their latest conversation. He told me that he informed Paolo that the engine failure was no fault of mine and that the main journals were out of alignment, and out of round because of abuse that Paolo had put it through. I then asked Todd why Paolo kept insisting that the block could not be reused. This is where it gets interesting and I finally start to get some truth. Todd goes on to explain to me that the block most certainly could be re used but only after they weld up the deck surface and the cylinder liners because the engine had detonated so severely that it actually lifted the heads, burned through the cylinder liner, torched a hole in the deck surface, melted the head and the head gasket. WOW! I wonder why Paolo and his tuner Jim had chosen to omit the part about melting the bloc and head. Now I have a clearer picture of why Paolo wants a new block!
I called Paolo immediately after getting off of the phone with Todd and told him that in order to go any further that I would need to see pictures of the block. I then told him not to forget the ones of the melted cylinder liner and deck surface. Needless to say, Paolo was dismayed that I had learned about his meltdown. This should paint a picture of his and Jim's character for deliberately hiding this from me. Not only did they improperly tune this engine and melt it down but they then tried place blame on me and have me pay for their mistakes. I then asked Paolo why he tried to hide these facts from everyone other than to get something for nothing. Polo the told me that he did tell me that the engine had detonated and he thought that detonation meant melting through the cylinder liner, block, head gasket and cylinder head. He also told me that they dynoed the car with stock heat range spark plugs in it @ 21psi. At this point I'm realizing that there is a lack of basic mechanical understanding or I am being lied to. I then asked Paolo that in light of the fact that he had detonated the engine to death with inadequate fuel, wrong spark plugs and an improper tune which lead to melting away a portion of his block and head if he thought that bearing wear was sort of incidental!? Paolo then stated the opinion that if my machine shop had line honed the block differently that the engine would still be in good running condition to which I replied If you hadn't run the car so improperly tuned and relived the block of a few ounces of aluminum then some of the tolerances would not be out. He then brought up the past issue of the valve cover baffles again stating that it may have been the cause of wear on the crankshaft. Honestly I could not dispute this with fact, so I offered to give him another crankshaft. He then asked about the pistons. I told him that all of the pistons needed to be replaced because he had detonated the engine so severely and that to expect me to take any responsibility for his miscalculations was out of line. He then suggested that maybe I should give him someone elses block that would not be making as much power in exchange for his once the deck was welded back together. I explained to him that I simply would never consider switching engine blocks between any cars and I would not even want his block as a spare because nobody would ever want a block that had been damaged that severely just as he didn't. I also explained to him that the damage to the block was his doing and that I would not accept responsibility in part or whole for damage that he had so blatantly caused to the engine.
Once I got home last night I began to read some of the posts on this message board and it was painfully clear that Paolo had given several; others the same half of the story that the tried to give me and that the finger was being pointed at me for this engine failing. I call Paolo and explained to him that if he continued to let me take the fall for his mistakes that I would air the whole truth out. This morning after returning from a test drive I was given the message that Paolo had called and said that if I went on this forum and told the whole story that we would have a major problem. Several minutes later I receive a phone call from another customer informing me of Paolo's "The truth about Jason Heffner" post. Well, I guess we have a major problem now.
I think, and hope that you will agree that I was being more than fair in offering Paolo a new crankshaft considering that he was clearly negligent in using stock heat range spark plugs, an unknown octane level, too much boost and too much ignition timing. Well, I now retract my offer. For some reason I just don't feel like being nice this morning.
For the past week Paolo has deceived members of this board by making people that his car has been running flawlessly when in reality he blew it up on the dyno over week ago, lied to everyone regarding what exactly failed on his engine, told half truths to have others believe that this engine failure was not his fault, attempted to deceitfully acquire money from myself to repair damage that he has caused and still to this point refuses to accept responsibility for his own actions. Those who have done business with him in the past are well aware that none of this is out of character for him.
Paolo, you and your associates were negligent in several aspects. You and your associates directly caused your engine to fail. This has been verified by a respectable third party machine shop and several others. The fact that your engine is in the state that it is in is a true testament to a lack of knowledge in the areas of properly tuning an engine at this level. Should you choose to maintain your "I can do no wrong" mentality it will be a long bumpy road for you and anyone who would do business with you.
I would also like to point out that after reading the Arrow Racing teardown report that several items such as wrist pin lengths and bearing use are matters of personal preference and not a matter of right or wrong.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Very well written, clear post. What I don't get, Jason, is why you're even remotely involved with the situation?
Several years ago, when you built his motor you:
Quote:
...offered him a one year / twelve thousand mile warranty...[/i]
Typically, when the warranty is up on a product that I purchase, it means that I'm on my own with the product after it expires.
Quote:
I then explained to him that despite the fact that he was obviously at fault for this engine failure that I would possibly be willing to take the high road and help him get his engine back together.
It's clear to me that you really are not obligated to anything with this deal; the fact you offered to help Paolo out with rebuilding his motor is, to me, only out of the goodness of your heart. I can't imagine calling up DC and demanding them to fix my car after it's out of warranty and because I overrevved the motor and broke it. The conversation would go a little like this:
"Hi, DC customer service speaking" "Yeah, I just damaged the motor of my Viper"
"Are you still under warranty?" "No, it's been out for a year".
"Well, we recommend you send your motor to Arrow; they charge $X,XXX dollars to rebuild it. I can get you the number ..." "No, I don't think you understand me, I want you to pay for it!"
"Sir, it's out of warranty and not our responsibility!" "Well, YOU origninally put the car together, didn't you?!"
*Click*
Jason, good on you for offering to put a crank in a motor that you're not responsible for and trying to help out. Whatever damage is/was incurred to it after those 12 mos were up is out of your hands. I just can't believe you were even dragged into this.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clint Sever
Very well written, clear post. What I don't get, Jason, is why you're even remotely involved with the situation?
Several years ago, when you built his motor you:
Typically, when the warranty is up on a product that I purchase, it means that I'm on my own with the product after it expires.
It's clear to me that you really are not obligated to anything with this deal; the fact you offered to help Paolo out with rebuilding his motor is, to me, only out of the goodness of your heart. I can't imagine calling up DC and demanding them to fix my car after it's out of warranty and because I overrevved the motor and broke it. The conversation would go a little like this:
"Hi, DC customer service speaking" "Yeah, I just damaged the motor of my Viper"
"Are you still under warranty?" "No, it's been out for a year".
"Well, we recommend you send your motor to Arrow; they charge $X,XXX dollars to rebuild it. I can get you the number ..." "No, I don't think you understand me, I want you to pay for it!"
"Sir, it's out of warranty and not our responsibility!" "Well, YOU origninally put the car together, didn't you?!"
*Click*
Jason, good on you for offering to put a crank in a motor that you're not responsible for and trying to help out. Whatever damage is/was incurred to it after those 12 mos were up is out of your hands. I just can't believe you were even dragged into this.
Ya know, I think the kid has a point!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
What ever happened to the dude (pre-PaoloTT) - that was fabricating out
of his garage on a Gen-I turbo and misc other things - like fold able
hardtop ? Tore up a lot of shit - but never got anything done. Didn't he stroke out over an INTERNET argument?
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Jason, I have read almost all the posts in regards to this matter. And you SIR have my vote!
The part that blows me away is the fact that you built him an engine 2 1/2 years ago and it worked great. He now gernades his V10 a week ago after recently installing HIS OWN TT setup and he's going after you for the failure.
I thought I only had customers like that.
Cheers Jason, you sound like a standup kind of guy.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
I don't post a lot on this board but have been following Paolo's achievements and Heffner's cars out of interest of high horse power vipers.
I would agree that for Paolo to ask for any compensation on his Engine from Heffner is Crazy!! Especially given the amount of time that has past and the fact that the warranty is up. I paid a local shop $5000 in labor alone to build my motor and am full aware that after the 90 day warranty was up, I am fully responsible for any failures in it, especially after spraying it with big shot's of N2O. Granted my car does not make no where near the power of Heffner's cars or Paolo's.
Todd from Arrow is a stand up guy and I believe very knowledgeable, he helped me greatly with my engine rebuild and was very useful in getting the correct parts.
Paolo, I think your actions are pretty damn lowe and you need to suck it up as much as it sucks and get arrow to rebuild your block and move on.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
What a waste of real world time for Heffner and Co. to deal with this unwarranted "finger pointing".
I really hope Paolo redirects his energy on the task at hand, gets his car back together, learns from this, and gets on with life/creating a product to sell.
I do tip my hat to Jason for keeping his cool here. Just another confirmation that Heffner is the tuner of choice.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Jason i'm glad to see you've respectfully responded!Paolo NEVER lies.He wasn't going to expose the broke motor untill he confirmed everything on paper with arrow and what he was doing about it,simple.
YOU STILL FUCKED UP BY NOT BEING THE PROFESSIONAL HERE,AND GIVING A FRIEND AND CUSTOMER THE TIME OF DAY TO PROVE TO YOU ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.PAOLO WASN'T GOING TO EXPOSE THIS FIRST OR AT ALL,YOU CHOSE TO BY CALLING YOUR LITTLE POST WHORES AND STARTING A WAR.REGUARDLESS, YOU THREW THE FIRST PUNCH.
I have no opinion(and don't blame you) about why the motor actually blew,not being there,seeing the damage or paperwork from arrow.I'm just saying your a shitting shit talking type of friend.I'm supprised after years of knowing you.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Well, that is one hell of an effort to set things straight. For many of us on the sidelines, I would venture to say that this makes for fascinating reading. It's only too bad when one of our top tuners gets dragged into this kind of mess. Speaks a great deal of Jason as far as I'm concerned.
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
so this happened a week ago and Paolo continued to post like his car was making wicked power. Plot, Plot, how can we get someone else to pay for this, continue to post until we figure out a good story.
That is real cheap
Re: The truth about Paolo Castellano and his engine!
