Chuck Tator for President 2012!!!

[jwbond]

Hey all,

I haven't posted on here in a while. I've been too busy with life AND I have been without my old pal Sneaky Pete since June!

Fred Beans Dodge in Doylestown, PA sucks!
I always brought my 96' GTS to the local viper tech, a big mistake (if anyone is near Doylestown, PA then stay away from Fred Beans Dodge). I had a problem with an oil pump, which they claimed was the gauge, not the pump. After several hundred miles of low oil pressure, the engine was pretty beat up (even though it only had 11K on the clock). In addition, they ripped a gasket and decided to caulk it rather than replace it. It was around June when I was driving and the caulked gasket gave way, oil blasted all over road, leaving my engine bone dry.

Flemington Dodge in NJ sucks!
At that point, I decided to bring the car to the 2nd closest viper tech, Flemington Dodge in NJ. They did some investigatory work and told me what I stated above. They told me I pretty much needed a complete rebuild. Right when I heard that, I knew I would be shipping it to the wizard!


Tator's Dodge Rules!
Let me start off by saying Chuck has been excellent to work with! He is professional, honest, and fair. Qualities that any mechanic with true morals should strive for. I was even more comforted by knowing that no one knows every part of a GTS better than Chuck. This goes a long way for me, as I have a great love for my viper, but do not have the knowledge to work on it for the life of me (Tator DVD on order!).

Chuck agreed the car needed a lot of work and said he never saw an engine disassembled as much as mine. All parts were not labeled and pretty much just thrown together. In other words, Flemington Dodge's techs either didn't know what they hell they were doing OR were trying to run up the hours for their unnecessary disassembly work. So this was a true challenge of build, testing how well they knew every part of the engine.

Chuck not only offered me the option to go back to stock, but also gave me options to go supercharged or with higher compression. I decided to go with the latter:

-C.P. pistons
-Vec2
-Port
-1,7 rockers

I still have yet to have the pleasure of meeting Chuck, but have talked to him on the phone several times. Over the years of visiting the VCA, I have read about how great he is to work with. Let me say, he has exceeded my high expectations.


I'll have the pleasure of meeting Chuck sometime this week when I pick up Pete (weather permitting).


Let this be a reminder/warning that many viper techs aren't worth a grain of salt. Let this also be another one of many endorsements of the great Chuck Tator!

[dave6666]

I'll let Chuck be prez if I can be Chief of Beverages

[VENOMAHOLIC]

The one time I needed help, Chuck was more than supportive.

[RevHeat]

I concur, if everone was like Chuck, the world would be perfect.

[jwbond]

I should also mention that Chuck told me things about my car that I would have never known otherwise. As it turns out, there were drill holes for a meth/water supercharger setup. When I bought the car, Bernie @ BJ motors told me it was in pristine condition, previously owned by an 80 year old. I recall asking him specifically "What is different compared to when it came off of the showroom when new?". He said nothing, other than the aging of parts (e.g. seals perhaps a bit dryer than new). I'm not calling Bernie a liar, but it would seem that he didn't research this vehicle as well as he implied, which is specifically why I purchased through him rather than a less expensive private seller.


Dave, you can be the Chief of Beverages, but I get to be the Car Czar! First order of business will be to force Dodge to continue the Viper and begin R&D on the next generation!!!

[plumcrazy]

no surprise about chuck

who is going to tune this car now ?


i AM surprised to hear that about BJ Motors...... i hope to hear a reason for this. i send people to him often and always hear good things. id like to hear what bernie has to say about that.

[jwbond]

Chuck had Sean do the initial tune, but we have to break in the engine prior to doing another tune. I'm a bit of a computer nerd, so I may take a stab at it myself, but ultimately I will likely have Sean do the final tune.


I too was surprised to hear about the car previously having a water/meth setup. Bernie was nice to deal with and had a good rep, which is why I chose to use him. Like I said, I am in no way calling him a liar, but it was disappointing to find out nonetheless. It doesn't matter to me now since it was completely rebuilt, but I thought I'd share.

[plumcrazy]

having sean do the tune is a good idea. best bet is sean tuning it in person if at all possible.

good luck and keep us posted.

[jwbond]

Looks like Sean is in FL, too far from PA. I have a new born so I won't be able to make that drive for years to come!

Chuck said I can bring it back to him once the engine is broken in and he can run the engine through the paces, send sean the results, rinse wash and repeat. I can't imagine bringing it to FL making too much of a difference, if any.

[Viper Wizard]

You are very welcome jwbond and I'm glad I could help get "Pete" back on the road!

To date, Pete has been the biggest jigsaw puzzle I've had to assemble from another Dealer's f**k-up! When jw called me and told me the story about Pete, I said get it out of there! I sent my transport guy to go get him and when he got there he called me to say, you would not believe how many pieces this Viper is in! It took him almost four hours to load Pete! Took us an hour to unload him here and when I say he is apart...HOLYS**T! I have never seen an engine compartment dismantled to this point just to remove the motor!! It was gutted right down to the frame rails.....engine out and half taken apart. trans out and no kidding ten boxes of parts!! When we re-assembling him a handful of modded parts did not seem to match this Viper? I called jw and quizzed him about his Viper and still had no answers to these parts? Got him back together and he runs great now!

Since I now know this Viper was a "Bernie mobile", I talked with Berie today to compare notes on Pete and we both have concluded that this so called Dealer in NJ must have a bunch of extra Viper parts because the parts for Pete that arrived here are not from Pete! If Farmington wants to step up to the plate, we welcome it but somehow I don't think they will?

jw hopefully the weather will cooperate with us this week and you can get Pete back home.


Dave your better then Chief! I will appoint you "Commander of Beverages" no Senate approval required!

[RevHeat]

jwbond - did you get the pm I sent you? Wanted to send you my 96 GTS document. I actually am having Chuck review it right now.

[jwbond]

Originally Posted by Viper Wizard

Since I now know this Viper was a "Bernie mobile", I talked with Berie today to compare notes on Pete and we both have concluded that this so called Dealer in NJ must have a bunch of extra Viper parts because the parts for Pete that arrived here are not from Pete! If Farmington wants to step up to the plate, we welcome it but somehow I don't think they will?

From my dealings with Bernie and his reputation I think that is more likely to be what happened. I didn't think of that possibility.

Bernie, I apologize for not thinking of that as a possibility. I got your voicemail earlier (sorry I missed your call, I turn my phone off on game day!). Feel free to give me a call if you want to discuss further, but I think you and Chuck figured out what actually happened. Hopefully I didn't give you too big of a heart attack.

[plumcrazy]

sounds like a reasonable reason, glad to hear it.

take flemington dodge off the list guys....lol

[ViperJon]

"When I bought the car, Bernie @ BJ motors told me it was in pristine condition, previously owned by an 80 year old. I recall asking him specifically "What is different compared to when it came off of the showroom when new?". He said nothing, other than the aging of parts (e.g. seals perhaps a bit dryer than new"

You mean a used car salesman may have misrepresented a car he sold?
Stop the presses!

[VIPER GTSR 91]

I have never met Chuck but he has helped me several times over the phone in the past. Just wished he was closer and I cant believe ALL dealers dont strive for the success and service he is known for.

[BJ MOTORS]

Michael I am glad that Chuck and I spoke, thanks for the kind words.

"You mean a used car salesman may have misrepresented a car he sold?
Stop the presses!

I guess that was aimed at me?

[FrankBarba]

Your car is in good hands up there in S. Salem.
Bernie is a stand up person & business owner. I am sure that if he
has ever lied about something it would come back to bite him in the A$$. Both of these guys have great reputations and are an asset to the Viper Community.

[dave6666]

Originally Posted by FrankBarba

...up there in S. Salem.

That's where they burned all them bitches on the stake right? Dunked 'em in water and figured if they didn't drown they wuz evil right?








































Huh?

What? Witches?










































Whats-evers....

[ViperTony]

Who doing the porting work? Is that intake and heads?

[Viper Wizard]

Originally Posted by dave6666

That's where they burned all them witches on the stake right? Dunked 'em in water and figured if they didn't drown they wuz evil right?

Or they sent them to my house!

Originally Posted by ViperTony

Who doing the porting work? Is that intake and heads?

J & B Performance, they've been doing our motors for over ten years now.

[ViperTony]

So how is this coming along? Do we have any dyno numbers yet? I'm thinking about doing similar mods except I'll be changing out the cam as well. Regarding the porting work by J&B Performance, what are the flow numbers from their head work? Did you guys also port match the intake? Anxiously awaiting your results here.

[Jersey Jeff]

I would like to add that CHERRY HILL DODGE SUCKS! They were bold enough to tell me they had a certified Viper tech, but when I went over to him to introduce myself he informed me he had never been in a Viper, was not a Viper Tech and neither was anybody else there. As soon as the warm weather gets here Chuck will be on my car.

[whitebluevipe]

i wouldn't take mine anywhere but tator's!! chuck is the best asset a viper owner could have.

[VIPERUSA]

Who's Chuck ??????????