Getting super excited, car will be back this month (3.4->3.7 and tuned for 100 octane and IPD), track days scheduled for early June (Mid Ohio and Grattan)! LFG!

 

Hey all, bringing this thread back to life as I’m considering going Hartech vs Raby’s build. Curious to hear what @Ratchet1025 experience has been as well as any others who’ve gone this route.

 

Hello, I am happy to share more via DM or e-mail, there is too much to detail here. A few key points from my 3.4->3.7 Slakker rebuild, with the Hartech deep sump:
1). My car was tuned for 100 octane, I do not recommend that due to the availability of the fuel. But when it has 100, it is glorious!
2). My car is 99% track driven, so Brandon was watching the oil pressure data closely and trying different oils to study the impact
3). After the rebuild, we checked and struggled with oil pressure at certain tracks and high ambient temperatures
4). Brandon was present by e-mail/text 24/7 to check data, answer questions, try things to get the best overall performance
5). We finally ended up with Amsoil SAE60 race oil, and changed to the 997 oil filler (return?) tubes. This made a huge positive improvement.
6). I would 100% go this route again, and have nothing but positive things to say about the timing, quality and communication of Slakker

 

Another happy customer here with over 9k miles on my build since last May. Sounds like a very different approach from what Ratchet1025 did but what he said seems to align with my experience. Went with the 4.1L option and retained the X51 intake manifold, UAOS and UIDS and the car RIPS. My car is mostly street driven with a healthy amount of backroad hard miles and am chomping at the bits to get back on track for some fun. Just sent Brandon my latest UOA, which I have done after every oil change and intend to continue, and the engine is wearing in nicely with the wear metals steadily trending down. With the 4.1L, there are gobs of torque. I had a dumb idler pulley fail (bearing failed) which caused me a bit of a heart attack not knowing what happened at first and Brandon was available by phone and responded to me immediately - that's to say, post-sale support has been great. I drove my car home from Oklahoma to DC after the build with 0 issues. Up to the trip, I had ongoing updates and the way the whole operation works made the turnaround time more than reasonable and pretty damn quick if you compare to others. Give Brandon a call and have a chat at the very least.

 

Thanks @plpete84 @Ratchet1025 - that definitely helps me get a solid picture. I spoke with Brandon today and he was very detailed on the phone with the steps and options.

Curious how long yours took @plpete84 and if you sent out the whole car or just the engine.

 

I shipped out the whole car. I thought about sending just the motor for a hot second but I wanted Brandon to handle everything, including the install and I really wanted to do the road trip. I shipped out the car on March 14th and flew in to pick it up on May 10th. Obviously the timeline will differ for everyone with many factors to consider but I think the major benefit that sold me on Slakker is that they basically do everything in-house, which really cuts down on time and increases quality control when everything happens under one roof. There's no waiting in queue and shipping times to get the sleeves installed and heads done. I don't know how much headwork they do but my simple clean up and decking was all done in-house. Once my time in line came up, all parts were already there and all that was needed was my car to get things moving.

If you read through my ownership thread, I posted quite a few updates with photos of the process. If you look in the 997 section there was also a thread where an owner (local to me) also did a great job documenting his track focused build.

 

Awesome, thanks! I think I'm leaning in this direction

 

Did you ever make a decision? I really like the completeness of the Slakker offering - complete engine removal, rebuild, break-in dyno, re-install and ecu tuning + 2 year warranty. I want to keep my car for a long time so when the time comes I'd like to have them do the rebuild/upgrade.

 

Yep, I decided to go with Slakker for all the reasons you mentioned. Also Brandon was great on the phone and very informative. Just put my deposit down and am figuring out shipping logistics.

 

What was the timeframe like? Will it be a few months before you can send your car? Total turnaround once he gets it?

 

Looking to get my car shipped out next week. They will be getting started on it hopefully in the 2nd week of March and then looking to get it back in May.

 

Wow - that's faster than expected. How long was the wait to send out the car? And as far as terms go, I'm guessing you put half down and then pay the other half on pickup?

 

I think I also just got lucky with timing as it sounds like they’re finishing up some projects and getting parts from Hartech at the start of the month. But yeah I’m excited especially after everything I’ve gone through with the engine failure, I’m looking forward to the build and having something that hopefully lasts me for 100k miles.

Yep half down now and half upon completion. I also asked them to add clutch and plate work given I needed to have that done anyway.

 

Sorry to hear about your engine failure. Did you end up having a cracked cylinder or a cracked head?

I think they have the most complete, turnkey process, best warranty and the greatest likelihood of producing a result that can last 100k miles. Also, the extra power will be pretty nice.

 

Thanks, it sounds like a cracked cylinder based on coolant dripping in without pressurization. But we'll find out for sure when the guys tear down the engine and peek inside. And agreed, I think the peace of mind of a full rebuild + the the extra power will be amazing. I can't wait!