Hilltop Classics Enterprises Inc

Hilltop ClassicsCommercial StreetEscondido CA 92029 RE: Complaint ID: ***. Response to issues regarding Mr*** *** Carburetor repair that was conducted at Hilltop Classics. On December Mr*** dropped off a BXVK 1bbl Stromberg carburetor and a gasket
kit. He said the carburetor was leaking and it came off his Dodge Coronet. Within a couple days the carb was carefully disassembled and inspected and it was immediately evident that the carb did not come off a running vehicle but was either from a donor (junkyard) car or removed from a vehicle that had sat neglected for a long period of time. All the fuel passages and fuel bowels were stained and discolored there was debris, rust, and corrosion internal to the carb. Many of the operating springs and plungers were frozen internally so simply “Changing the gaskets” was not going to prevent the carb from flooding much less working properly.We had to carefully soak these components in a mild solvent in order to free them up to get them working while not damaging them, this takes time. The carb mechanic also noticed that some external linkage rods were missing from the carb that was not noted when it first came in. Our counter girl is good but not a carb expert so the customer was contacted via phone of this discovery and stated he would check the car to see if the parts were there. We reassembled the carb to specifications (the missing linkage pieces did not prevent us from doing that) and the customer was contacted that the carb was ready and did he find the missing pieces we requested. When the customer arrived he seemed to surprise about the link pieces so we made a photo copy of the page from the illustrated parts manual to assist in identifying what we were talking about and then discussed what we had found in the carb what it meant and that the rest of the fuel system in his car from the gas tank forward needs to be inspecte4d and most probably cleaned or even replaced including the fuel pump. This seemed to do nothing but anger Mr*** but he took the carb paid his bill and left.Approxa day later the carb returned with Mr*** irate that we had screwed up his carb and accused us of losing those pieces we identified as missing for his carb. He claimed that it could not be because of dirt in the carb because he always put a “rag over the hole” when he was working on it and “his mechanic had blown out the fuel lines with an air hose.” *** took the carb back for inspection but we would have to wait while ordering another overhaul kit (at our cost) and see what happened.We disassembled the carb and second time. The idle mixture screw was damaged from being forced against its seat too hard, the fuel bowel was full of a dark yellow stale smelling gas mixed with rust and what appeared to be particles of sand and decayed rubber. We overhauled the carb again.We fabricated the missing link pieces Mr*** accused us of losing (these are simple rod links with standard carb clips) at no charge, replaced the idle mixture screw (again at no charge) and the carb was complete and back to factory specifications About the 16th of Febwe had a well-known customer of ours who had a vehicle in for some electrical work that had the same engine as Mr***’s Dodge. With the customers permission we installed the *** carb with a remote fuel supply of clean filtered fuel and the carb ran flawlessly from idle to full RPM. We set the idle and mixture to proper specifications and ran the engine for about minutes to ensure there would be no problem’s. *** made a cell phone video of the carb running just to show Mr*** his carb in operation and the extra effort we put in on his behalf to make sure our work was done properly.On Feb 19th Mr*** picked up his carb stating “he hoped we found the right mechanic this time”. We explained as carefully and patiently as possible what we found yet again, what we believed his root problems were with respect to his entire fuel system starting with the gas tank and that no carb was going to last long with contaminated fuel being fed in to it. We again recommended what we believed needed to be done before he started the car with this carb. Mr*** simply became angered and convinced that the root of all his problem’s was that his carb gaskets were not installed properly and that is why the carb is always leaking. *** tried to show him the video that she took of his carb running on a car, he claimed that we didn’t show him enough of the carb and that it wasn’t his carb. He also told us there was no way we would have gone to the extra work of installing in and making it run on another car.What we gather is that Mr*** installed the carb again and that it again began to leak and spew fuel out the top of the carb as before. This is a classic case of a needle seat assembly not allowed to shut off furl to the fuel bowl due to contamination holding the valve open and causing flooding. In summary we spent an inordinate amount of time and resources and advice that Mr*** was not charged for and does not appear to appreciate in any way. I believe we tried our best to meet his needs and went above and beyond what most service shops would have done for this customer. However in Mr***’s eyes it appears it was not enough. I find it difficult to imagine what more we could have done for him, however. Thank you for your time *** ***Office managerHilltop Classics760-746-