LS Swap Fraud - Need New Shop

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S

Shumi90

Joined
Nov 4, 2021
Threads
4
Messages
29
Location
houston tx
Happy New Year!!!.....Well....Errr....So... my '96 LC went into a local 'specialty LS swap' shop in late October for an LS3 and 4L80E engine/transmission swap. OEM engine removed, Marks 4x4 adaptor received and everything is moving forward. Holidays come and go, and I can't get in touch with the owner. Surprise!!! The owner was arrested in Dec and sentenced today to 60 years for fraud. Yea - 60 Years for Fraud and theft. FAFO in TX, I guess. Apparently, he ran 2 other shops and took peoples rides and engines. $2MM worth. None of the reviews of the shop I was dealing with had any of this, which is why he kept switching shop locations apparently.

Now I need to get my truck back without the engine and transmission (they are long gone), collect the remaining parts and find another shop. It goes without saying that $16K payment is long gone too. Here is the kicker, since the owner has not performed the work because he was arrested, the police stated that this remains a civil case and not a criminal case. They are trying to figure out how I can recover my vehicle since they don't have a criminal warrant at this location to execute. Fun... if I can't get in to retrieve the truck, the police will have to open a civil complaint and find a judge to issue a civil warrant for the police to open the shop forcefully. In the meantime, I need help finding a reasonable and REPUTABLE shop preferably close to Houston TX where I can tow my vehicle and parts to complete the job once I get my truck back.
Any suggestions or previous experience with a shop that can take this on?
Thank you...and hoping your 2026 starts off better than mine.
Cheers

1000021256.webp
 
Oh man, I feel your pain! I had a similar situation about 24 years ago...a "premier" VW tuner and turbo installer had my car for almost 2 years...they would pull parts from one car to put on another when they knew that the owner was coming in for an "update"...I think they had 4 cars running on the same parts with none completed. The owner of the shop, under my extreme pressure, bought the car for less than what I had in it by far, but at least the title was out of my name at that point...he got his due and OD'd and died on nose candy a year or two later before he ever ended up in jail.

At this point, I'm always very hesitant to trust anyone with my stuff and try to do as much as possible in my own garage. That said, a full on swap is a big project...I wish you positive thoughts for a new year!!! 👍 :wrench:
 
Is the vehicle insured for theft?
 
Everything you just described about LE needing warrants to get your own vehicle out of there tells me you shouldn't engage another shop until the truck (*body) is sitting in your own driveway. Only then can you get another shop involved to plan for the work.

I also assume you're going to need another $16k deposit (*or so...), along with any number of other engine swap parts that you could be collecting now for the eventual date that you get a call from LE that your truck is sitting somewhere it doesn't belong, and to come and get it.

Buy me a beer and I'll tell you the story about stealing my own car from a repair shop's walled, fenced, and security gated storage yard...
 
Shumi90 said:
Happy New Year!!!.....Well....Errr....So... my '96 LC went into a local 'specialty LS swap' shop in late October for an LS3 and 4L80E engine/transmission swap. OEM engine removed, Marks 4x4 adaptor received and everything is moving forward. Holidays come and go, and I can't get in touch with the owner. Surprise!!! The owner was arrested in Dec and sentenced today to 60 years for fraud. Yea - 60 Years for Fraud and theft. FAFO in TX, I guess. Apparently, he ran 2 other shops and took peoples rides and engines. $2MM worth. None of the reviews of the shop I was dealing with had any of this, which is why he kept switching shop locations apparently.

Now I need to get my truck back without the engine and transmission (they are long gone), collect the remaining parts and find another shop. It goes without saying that $16K payment is long gone too. Here is the kicker, since the owner has not performed the work because he was arrested, the police stated that this remains a civil case and not a criminal case. They are trying to figure out how I can recover my vehicle since they don't have a criminal warrant at this location to execute. Fun... if I can't get in to retrieve the truck, the police will have to open a civil complaint and find a judge to issue a civil warrant for the police to open the shop forcefully. In the meantime, I need help finding a reasonable and REPUTABLE shop preferably close to Houston TX where I can tow my vehicle and parts to complete the job once I get my truck back.
Any suggestions or previous experience with a shop that can take this on?
Thank you...and hoping your 2026 starts off better than mine.
Cheers

View attachment 4062853
Click to expand...
Ooof... Please don't take this as legal advice, because I'm definitely not qualified... but...

If it were me, the rig were in my name, and I knew where it was, I'd be extremely tempted to go repo it myself, depending on the current conditions at its location. Admittedly, I might be a little more comfortable with that sort of thing than some. I would be sure to have the title ON me.
 
Make sure that you get ALL the parts.

T case
Drive shafts
Cross member
Rad support parts
Hood latch
Vertical support for hood latch
Lower valance
Grill parts
AC condenser ( or new)
Radiator ( or new)
Radiator mounts upper and lower
Battery
Battery tray
AC hoses
 
Hate to hear about this and hope the situation, injustice, etc. don't linger in your mind any longer than it has to.

LongDuck said:
Buy me a beer and I'll tell you the story about stealing my own car from a repair shop's walled, fenced, and security gated storage yard.
Click to expand...
Marvelicious said:
I'd be extremely tempted to go repo it myself, depending on the current conditions at its location.
Click to expand...

It's been long ago enough ago that the statute of limitations have surely expired so... I may have removed one of my own vehicles from a shop yard late one night without shop owner assistance. Luckily the yard was flat so it was easy to roll the dead cars around and there was an unused gate in the fence that was easy to unbolt/open. Had to move 5 or 6 cars out of the way to get mine through the make-shift gate and then push it onto the tow dolly. I put the gate back together, rolled all of the cars back into position and would love to have heard what was said when they realized my rig was gone. Without going into to many boring details I owned the rig, had the title and neither me or the previous owner of the vehicle owed the shop a cent, etc. Other approaches had been tried but the vehicle wasn't worth enough $$ to justify legal costs and more time. There's a chance everyone involved was glad for the situation to just resolve itself, hopefully at least...

Anyway, it seems like you need to be careful of any advice or encouragement that you receive online, especially with the sentencing in Texas...
 
CrabCake said:
Oh man, I feel your pain! I had a similar situation about 24 years ago...a "premier" VW tuner and turbo installer had my car for almost 2 years...they would pull parts from one car to put on another when they knew that the owner was coming in for an "update"...I think they had 4 cars running on the same parts with none completed. The owner of the shop, under my extreme pressure, bought the car for less than what I had in it by far, but at least the title was out of my name at that point...he got his due and OD'd and died on nose candy a year or two later before he ever ended up in jail.

At this point, I'm always very hesitant to trust anyone with my stuff and try to do as much as possible in my own garage. That said, a full on swap is a big project...I wish you positive thoughts for a new year!!! 👍 :wrench:
Click to expand...
Thank you @CrabCake. I wish I had the time, skill, and place to do it myself. Unfortunately, I will need another shop or a scrap yard now.
 
ace10 said:
Is the vehicle insured for theft?
Click to expand...
It is insured. But he did not steal the truck. I took it to him for work. This makes it a civil case for breach of contract. The cost to bring a suit and the fact that he is not getting out makes recovery of any monetary compensation inconceivable. Even if I get a judgement, collection will mute.
 
LongDuck said:
Everything you just described about LE needing warrants to get your own vehicle out of there tells me you shouldn't engage another shop until the truck (*body) is sitting in your own driveway. Only then can you get another shop involved to plan for the work.

I also assume you're going to need another $16k deposit (*or so...), along with any number of other engine swap parts that you could be collecting now for the eventual date that you get a call from LE that your truck is sitting somewhere it doesn't belong, and to come and get it.

Buy me a beer and I'll tell you the story about stealing my own car from a repair shop's walled, fenced, and security gated storage yard...
Click to expand...
@ Long Duck - I believe you are right. I will probably need to collect everything I can and re-asses. All the parts minus the engine and transmission may be locked up in the shop. So, I have to get access inside first and see what is left. This may be a right-off. How much more do I sink into this truck or just start another build? What platform should that be then? If I can collect all the parts, continuing on this one should be the cheapest. Money spent so far is a water under the bridge as painful as it is to accept.
 
Marvelicious said:
Ooof... Please don't take this as legal advice, because I'm definitely not qualified... but...

If it were me, the rig were in my name, and I knew where it was, I'd be extremely tempted to go repo it myself, depending on the current conditions at its location. Admittedly, I might be a little more comfortable with that sort of thing than some. I would be sure to have the title ON me.
Click to expand...
Ooof is right. I am tempted to do much worse than what you describe...but that won't change the situation and only be momentarily gratifying just to cause more problems later. The LE actually jokingly suggested I break in and take it; however, he then warned me not to do that. I will give him a couple of days to make a legal suggestion.
 
NCFJ said:
Make sure that you get ALL the parts.

T case
Drive shafts
Cross member
Rad support parts
Hood latch
Vertical support for hood latch
Lower valance
Grill parts
AC condenser ( or new)
Radiator ( or new)
Radiator mounts upper and lower
Battery
Battery tray
AC hoses
Click to expand...
@NCFJ - Thank you for that list. This is very helpful. Need to add front bumper, winch, lights, dual battery system, etc. This makes it even more daunting to proceed with the build if any of those parts are scattered, scrapped, and all fasteners missing...on and on. Is this a write-off and just start with a more modern build or buy another LC80 (maybe already built)? FUDGE!!!!
 
White Stripe said:
I would just buy another 80 with a bad headgasket or something and have it shipped to proffitts for the swap. Sounds like getting you 80 back will be a hassle. Very unfortunate situation. BTW I would recommend a 408 swap rather a LS3.
Click to expand...
Most unfortunate indeed also not many shops want to mess with anything even close to this ordeal. That said you could get in line at my little shop im a far distance from you @Shumi90 feel free to message me.
 
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