i have been scammed out of a 350 4 bolt main.

hey guys. i dont know if yall remember i bought 2 350s
off this man for 75 bucks. 1 of them didnt have heads and
the block was cracked, so it went into the garbage.
the other was fine. i took the oilpan cover off to find that
it was a 4 bolt main, i took it to the local performance
shot to have it cleaned up and new freeze plugs put in it.
the man had it a couple of days. now when i took it to him
( block only ) the cylinders were perfect, needed cleaned up.
he called me says that the number 1 cyclinder was scratched
bad and he is going to bore the motor 30 over and it should
clean everything up. he called a few days later and said that
as he was boring the cylinders out he run into a rust pocket
and now the block needs thrown away cause its no good.
i didnt beleive him, i went to get the block back and he told
that he was closed and i couldnt see my block. i know
that 4 bolt mains are scarce, he told me that before,
and he also told me these guys who build race cars
will pay top dallar for a 4 bolt main. now i beleive that
that man has sold my block and is trying to say that it
was ruined. i told him not to bore it and he said he bored
it anyway. so i think he is full of it. is there anything i can
do?

i think that's theft. i'd get the guy you bought it from for a witness that the block was yours, then call the police

im going first thing in the morning with the
man that i got it off of and try and pick it up.
he offered me a 350 block thats in his shop
already been cleaned up, new cam bearings
and freeze plugs. and i told him i wanted my
4 bolt main back. if he dont hand over the
block, he better hand over the cash that
he got out of it. i was told that he may have
gotten 1,000 to 1,500 out of it if he did sell it.

for just a block??? a cast iron used 350 block?? i doubt he got anywhere near that. now if you get a new bowtie 4 bolt block it may cost that much. although it does sound like something is odd, if you told him not to bore it out, and he did than hes responceable for the block being ruined by that process, then magicly the block is gone, in that instance, he owes you at LEAST a used 4 bolt main 350 block. because it was his choise of actions that led to it being unuseable. now you said that he offered you a prebuilt 350 block that he had, im assuming its a 2 bolt main version so you dont want it. however, i would say that unless you are building a numbers matching car, offer to take the 2 bolt block, if he modifies it to aftermarket splayed 4 bolt mains, which are better for performance, are not that expencive from his end, and will not effect your goals, unless like i said, youre looking for numbers matching.

Definately call the cops if he wont let you see your old engine block. You might be able to charge him with theft or something. If he is trying to offer you something else I would only take a 2 bolt block that was modified for 4 bolt splayed caps like 89iroc said. Stock GM 4 bolt blocks are somewhat over rated but the splayed cap 4 bolt blocks are the best you can get.

I agree with the two previous guys. Get him to turned the already worked 350 into a 4bolt main, and if he refuses to do that then Id get the law involved. Either way you need to make sure you get SOMETHING out of it, and If he agrees to turn the other into a 4 bolt, Id get another machine shop to check it because he may have messed something up just outta spite. As far as the 1k-1500 for the 4 bolt main block, thats HIGHLY inaccurate unless there is something surperspecial about it. Hell I have 2 4 bolt main 350s in my garage..

Rob

what has me thinking this, is the man is a professional,
he has cleaned up a lot of 305s for me without a
problem, plus he himself has been on the hunt for a
4 bolt main. thats why he has that 350 already
cleaned up in his garage. he bought it thinking it
was a 4 bolt main and when hew got it home
he found out it wasnt and he cleaned it up and
threw it back together and has been trying to
sell it. he wants 600 for the whole motor.
has new pistons and cam. all it needs is a
carbarator and alternator. but if he can show
me that the block is messed up i will take the
other block. but if it does turn out that he sold
it and told be a big one, thinking i wont go
back to his shop to get it if it was a bad block.
he will either give me the complete 350 that
he has or im calling the cops.

if the cops dont do anything sew the shop, take em for damages too :)

i went to the shop and his wife said that he was gone,
and i asked her if i could pick up the block or at least see
it and she said that she couldnt let anyone in the shop
until he gets back. so now i will have to go back friday
to see it if he still has it, if not he's in deep shit.

just go there and take a couple friends, a moterhome, some food, and camp out until he gets back. either you will see him or they will call the cops on you, in witch case they will save you the trouble and then there will be some kind of police report that you will have to use in court.

Screw him man just call the cops and get them to show up there. Dont let him dick you around like that you shouldnt have to wait for anything. Call the cops and they could probably go there with you tommorow. Besides if you get the cops involved its not that big of deal to get them to back down.

im going to lay it to him good, ive got the man
i bought it off of, and a sherrif that knows the
man i bought it from. and if the motor is gone
hes going to jail.

good luck w/ that. let us know how it goes for ya

yea forreal.... thats bs.... and to think the machinest has my 4bolt.........

Have you heard anything yet as to your block?

i don't see what the big deal is about 4 bolt blocks.
you can make the same amount of power out of a 2 bolt block. hell if the guy could make that kind of money off of a 4 bolt block i have 3 he can buy.
besides if they went for 1k he would be buying up 2 bolt blocks and making them 4 bolts all he has to get is new main caps and drill the block ive seen it done.

the big deal is that he sold it and told me that
the block was wore out.

ok, i think its update time tacoma. the last time you really said what has gone on was a couple days ago, so i would just like an update as to hwo everything is going. did you go back down there and actualy get to see the guy? did you call the cops? stuff like that. i really hate when people try to screw other people out of stuff so im really interested in your situation.

i went to his shop this morning and he said that
he was closed. his shop is no more than
10 feet from the side of his house. id
say that he has sold it. or planning on using it
hisself. he has done work for me several times
and he had never done nothing like this, but those
other times i took in 305s. he has cabbaged it and
i will pay him a visit monday. he said he was only
open on mon. wed. and fri. so i will take some friends with me. he was a pure prick this morning
my sherrif buddy will take care of him. if we have
to get a search warrant to search the shop.

Thats right just call the cops they will probably scare him more than some hired goons. If no, break out the hired goons.

yeah, schetchy dude.