Viper Motor in 68 Charger / X2 BUILDERS

This is a pretty long story so grab a beer of coffee and sit back.
I know there aren’t a lot of guys in this forum putting a Viper engine and transmission in a 1968 Dodge Charger, but I am posting this here in hopes of preventing others from going through what I have and am going through. I purchased my 68 from Texas Toy Box, and as I have previously posted, when I received the car it was not in the condition TTB guaranteed it would be. However, over the last 18 months I have restored and resto-rodded the car and it is now beautiful, just getting through the final paint which is looking incredible, color is 2011 Dodge Challenger “Green with Envy”.

I purchased a 2001 Gen2 viper motor through X2 BUILDERS. They are a pretty big outfit, big website and advertise and sell engines on EBAY. I purchased my motor in Late 2012. At that time I did not see any negative comments about them on the net. They guarantee the motor for 90 days but I told them I wouldn’t have the motor installed for at least a year. They assured me the motor had “Been thoroughly gone through and ran perfect” and I wouldn’t have any problems. The motor has been sitting in my garage in San Diego until I installed it into the car a month ago. I rotated the crank once a month until last weekend when I started the motor. When the motor started it sounded fine but has no oil pressure. I have called around to several Viper performance shops and mechanics and even called Mopar Performance in search of answers. They gave me a couple tests to do, and if they didn’t work my only option would be to strip the engine down and find the problem. First thing I did was remove the oil filter housing from the timing cover to see if the oil pressure relief valves were in place. Low and behold, no pressure relief valves, there’s my problem. The oil is coming out of the pump and being recirculated back into the oil pick up and not the oil filter. I come to find out from X2 BUILDERS that they piece engines together from other engines to make a running package, then they sell it. So they basically have unexperienced mechanics stripping parts from one motor and putting them on another, without new gaskets, and sell them. The casting number on the timing cover does not match the date on my motor, so it’s obvious the original cover on my motor was probably damaged in an accident and replaced with a cover where the oil pressure relief valves had been removed.

I have even emailed X2 BUILDERS and told them I will fix the motor at my expense if they will send me out another oil pan for the motor. I have to modify the pan to fit into my Charger and I want to keep one spare in case my modifications don’t provide enough oil to the motor.

This was a guaranteed perfect motor. All my emails have been with Shannon, who I guess is the office person out there. She has been very nice and responsive and I’m sure only communicates what she is told. I have emailed her in hopes of some resolution but her boss, Scott, says because I am out of the warranty period it’s all hear say. So no resolution, no oil pan, I’m the liar and tuff luck. If your project points you to do business now or in the future with X2 BUILDERS beware, liars cheats and crooks.
I am writing this in hope that somebody out there is going to do business with them and they google X2 BUILDERS they will see this post and give it second thoughts. I can provide my phone number to anyone wanting to hear the full story and the crooks I have had to deal with putting this car together.

Wow, sucky story, sorry to hear about this. What's really the bum rap is the lack of detail in building up the engine, and, no QC seemed apparent.

HOLLYWOOD1336 it's really a sad state of affairs, I hope you get it fixed with-out too much out of pocket expenses, it's been a long time between purchase & initial fire-up, no offense meant/intended, please don't take it the wrong way but, I'm not siding with them either, but it's hard for me to put "all the blame" onto the sellers too much, you can't always believe, what most of what customers claim, so many liars & crooks out there, how does he actually know what you've done with it in that period of time that has passed, too many people on the purchasing end pull some kind of scam too.... In many of these type cases... but I do feel for you, it should have been right/built correctly in the 1st place

Damn. Im painting my 68 pge. Sure would like to see a picture of yours

I always cringe when I hear very one-sided stories like this. We all believe ourselves to be honest, reputable, good people who would never lie, cheat, or steal. The problem is we are not everyone, and I doubt that we are even the majority of everyone. Every company that does business has to deal with liars, thieves, crooks, rip-off artists, con men, and a host of other nefarious characters on a daily basis. As a result, businesses have to adopt policies that protect their interests from cheats and criminals, and sadly those policies often impact those of us who don't lie, cheat, or steal.

You may know you're an honest guy, and this office girl might think you're an honest guy, but look at things from the perspective of someone who's *** is held accountable for everything that goes wrong. He's hearing problems about an engine with a 90-day warranty well over a year after it was bought. That's a huge red flag in the industry as you've had a year to mess things up. The 90-day warranty is used to insure their work. If it doesn't work when installed, then they know it's their bad. If it works fine for 90 days and then dies, it's a problem with the engine and not theirs. Now, you know the engine hasn't been used, but how is the decision maker supposed to know that? This guy has probably heard dozens or maybe hundreds of stories like yours that weren't true, so how is he supposed to know your story is a true one? That's what makes these decisions so hard. Now factor in the precedent that is set if he says "sure, we made a mistake, send him the pan". There are guys who play the game of "hey, now I have another problem, and I need you to send me more stuff or refund part of my payment!" What happens then? If they accept one problem as genuine, they have to accept all of them, which opens a wide door for thieves.

How is this manager supposed to know you don't want a new oil pan because you dropped the engine while lifting it and damaged the old one? You know what the truth is, but he only knows what the customer tells him, and many customers will lie in a heartbeat. This is why managers like this have no choice but to adopt a no exceptions policy. It sucks, but I don't see it as their fault. It's the fault of the crooks they do business with.

I agree with everyones comments. I bought the engine knowing there was a 90 day guarantee and that I knew it wasn't going to be in the car before then. However, I mentioned this to the office manager and she assured me the motor was perfect. She also said that when I did get the motor in and there was any issues to let her know.
I had a friend of mine there when I lifted the motor off the truck when it was delivered and also when I initially started it. He has been there during the build and has helped out whenever I needed him. He is also pretty well known amongst the nostalgic drag community out here as he does a lot of rebuilds on old Hemi's. He has also been my sounding board for the whole engine swap.
The V10 motor I got from them sounds really great apart from there being no oil pressure. Upon removal of the timing cover it is apparent why there is no oil pressure because of the lack of the relief valves. I will fix it on my own, and O will fab my own oil pan, it's no rocket science. My warning is more pointed at, if you buy a motor from this guy make sure you start it right away, so that if there are any problems you can be right on it.
One other thing, if anyone is planning on doing a V10 Gen 2 swap into their Mopar, the computer is a whole other issue.

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Hemi Rebel, my work email is [email protected], send me your email and I will share some photos.

I have been researching X2 for a while now, and unfortunately this kind of situation is all too common with them. I have been looking for a Gen 3 engine for a couple months now and the only people who have any is X2. I am glad I ran across your post, there is no way I am going to gamble my money with them.

Tincup said:

I have been researching X2 for a while now, and unfortunately this kind of situation is all too common with them. I have been looking for a Gen 3 engine for a couple months now and the only people who have any is X2. I am glad I ran across your post, there is no way I am going to gamble my money with them.

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Have you checked with Don Scarf Auto in Wisconsin?

http://www.donscharfautomotive.net/

Yes I have, they do not have an G3's in stock.