LS Swap Fraud - Need New Shop

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FJ404345 said:
But he stole the engine and the transmission
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Yes sir. Having been able to get in the shop and confirm the engine and transmission are gone, I can claim robbery. There is proof I can give the police that I did not have before. But he is already in jail for a confirmed 60-year sentence and has to pay $498K+ in restitution to 72 victims. What is the dollar amount of damaged for a used engine and transmission? <4,000$? What are the chances he will pay? NONE IMHO. I will count my blessings, lick my wounds, and press on. I can earn more money; I can't get the time back spent suing or prosecuting him. Thank you all for your well wishes and concern.
 
jpoole said:
Hate to hear about this and hope the situation, injustice, etc. don't linger in your mind any longer than it has to.




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...
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Should have called the owner and checked up on your truck, let him sweat a little.
 
White Stripe said:
Well if it makes you feel any better, an ls3 is not the best 80 series LS swap motor for a landcruiser anyway. Its a car engine, not a truck engine. It will work, but most people use the ls3 only if its a California carb swap as it is a erod motor. Glad you got the cruiser back.
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I'm not an LS expert and was looking for decent power/torque without modification and lowering the weight, so an aluminum block made sense in my penult brain. I did not want the newer generation engines with cylinder deactivation and additional sensors. The LS3 seemed to be powerful enough and simple enough for most mechanics to work on and have parts available. I understand a 6.0 iron block could be made to make same power with modifications but is 60 lbs. heavier. If I wanted to boost an engine, then iron block would make sense, but I am not. I am open to learning and suggestions.
 
Civil but not criminal because he didnt perform the work on the truck? What does removing the old driveline count as?
 
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Shumi90 said:
I'm not an LS expert and was looking for decent power/torque without modification and lowering the weight, so an aluminum block made sense in my penult brain. I did not want the newer generation engines with cylinder deactivation and additional sensors. The LS3 seemed to be powerful enough and simple enough for most mechanics to work on and have parts available. I understand a 6.0 iron block could be made to make same power with modifications but is 60 lbs. heavier. If I wanted to boost an engine, then iron block would make sense, but I am not. I am open to learning and suggestions.
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The ls3 is a good engine and simple to work on, and will work in a landcruiser. However the cam, intake, and compression are more tilted for a car/horsepower. The 6.0 intake, compression, and camshaft is more tilted toward torque/truck use. Its as simple as the ls3, but usually far cheaper than a ls3. A more modern aftermarket cam can get you some more hp while retaining or even improving the low end torque. When choosing an engine I try to look at the overall power curve, the peak numbers, as well as the rpms the power comes in at.
 
These are interview questions for your new shop.

Anyone you would want to deal with should know enough about swaps to walk you through the selection process and talk about all the +/- for various engines with regards to displacement, iron vs aluminum, dBC vs dbw, transmissions, deleting cylinder deactivation, gen 3, 4 and 5 engines, etc.
 
Shumi90 said:
I'm not an LS expert and was looking for decent power/torque without modification and lowering the weight, so an aluminum block made sense in my penult brain. I did not want the newer generation engines with cylinder deactivation and additional sensors. The LS3 seemed to be powerful enough and simple enough for most mechanics to work on and have parts available. I understand a 6.0 iron block could be made to make same power with modifications but is 60 lbs. heavier. If I wanted to boost an engine, then iron block would make sense, but I am not. I am open to learning and suggestions.
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L96, only available in 3/4 and 1 ton GM trucks and vans until 2020. I think the L96 was available in the marine market as well. Marine market is extremely demanding.

It is an iron block and does NOT have cylinder deactivation (AFM). It is a gen IV motor. It tells you something that GM didn't put an aluminum V8 in its HD vehicles...that I know of... Durability and reliability over HP...

The L96 block is about 100 lbs heavier than an aluminum block, but still lighter than a 1FZ-FE block.

I am not sure what additional sensors you are talking about...Sensors are not a problem area, and if they are, they are dirt cheap on a GM engine.

To me, the L96 makes the most sense for a motor swap into an 80 series, unless you got a L8T handy...😁

Bonus: my L96 came with 821 Heads, which I think are LS3 heads.

1768411168700.webp
 
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White Stripe said:
The ls3 is a good engine and simple to work on, and will work in a landcruiser. However the cam, intake, and compression are more tilted for a car/horsepower. The 6.0 intake, compression, and camshaft is more tilted toward torque/truck use. Its as simple as the ls3, but usually far cheaper than a ls3. A more modern aftermarket cam can get you some more hp while retaining or even improving the low end torque. When choosing an engine I try to look at the overall power curve, the peak numbers, as well as the rpms the power comes in at.
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Have you driven an LS3 in a Land Cruiser? We just did one here last month. It is way faster than any other LS swapped Land Cruiser I have swapped or driven.
They have absolutely no issue with low RPM power at all.
 
another option is a newer Gen V LT swap. @torfab makes a pretty much bolt in kit

I'm finishing up my parts collection before I do mine but there have been quite a few documented swaps now. If you still had your LS no reason to change plans but as you're back to square one its a pretty good option.
 
lt1fire said:
Civil but not criminal because he didnt perform the work on the truck? What does removing the old driveline count as?
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You are right - Selling/giving/disposing of the old engine and transmission without permission could be classified as criminal if I pressed charges. He could argue I told him he can have it since the whole point of the job was to replace both. However, he is already in jail for 60 years (probably less with appeal and good behavior) and ordered to pay $498K in restitution to the other victims, which he does not have. What am I to gain from pressing charges? Loss of more of my time? I don't think it is worth it to me.
 
Shumi90 said:
You are right - Selling/giving/disposing of the old engine and transmission without permission could be classified as criminal if I pressed charges. He could argue I told him he can have it since the whole point of the job was to replace both. However, he is already in jail for 60 years (probably less with appeal and good behavior) and ordered to pay $498K in restitution to the other victims, which he does not have. What am I to gain from pressing charges? Loss of more of my time? I don't think it is worth it to me.
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Lick you wounds and move on unless you just have more money to waist and even more free time.
 
Shumi90 said:
I did confirm the owner was sentenced to 60 years, which blows my mind that he would get that much when I hear murderers have gotten less.
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I feel like there must have been A LOT of counts to get sentenced like that. A real miscalculation: if you want to get away with theft on that scale, you want to get into finance, not auto repair!
 
A fab shop I work with was landlord to another shop like this in San Antonio, TX.
This guy didn't pay his bills for years and would rob Peter to pay Paul and shuffled parts from one vehicle to the next.

The Fab Shop got fed up, changed all the locks, got Law Enforcement involved, then did their best to get all the vehicles and parts back to the correct owners and didn't tie them up in court. Every person that had a vehicle with them ended up losing deposits, parts, and other things.

The guy might have done great restoration work as well as swaps and engines, but he absolutely sucked at running a business.

Fortunately, the Fab Shop's beef was with the owner, not the customers and tried to be fair and above board on all of it.

I will not ship my vehicle off to a shop unless they are very well vetted and I physically check on the vehicle weekly on progress. The issue of "it will take two years for this build" is nuts and should never be started unless everything is in place. Otherwise, nothing ever happens and parts get lost.
 
Shumi90 said:
Friends, Partners in Crime, and Support Team...We have an update:

The shop's neighbor that originally gave me the scoop on what happened to the shop my LC was in, called me all upset for having 'involved' him with the police. The police simply called him to get the phone numbers he had of the landlord and the mechanic that still had access to the shop. I appreciate that he was not involved and did not want to get involved but we smoothed things out. The Police could not share the number of the landlord not mechanic with me, however they did go and talk to the landlord. Since the lease was still current and paid up the landlord said he had no grounds to open the shop. Not sure that is legally correct. As landlord he has a right to inspect the property, but he may be right that he cannot allow police to enter without a warrant. I called the leasing number at the front and left a VM with no results. And the neighbor did not want to give me the mechanics number - told me to get it from the police. I appealed him by quoting Edmund Burke. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"

The next afternoon he called me and told me that one of the mechanics was in the shop and they would help me get my stuff out of there. So, I quickly went there and grabbed everything we could find and called a tow truck before the landlord or anyone else showed up. So... She is back in my possession. Engine and transmission are definitely gone, and the LS was no were to be seen. I did get most of the pieces (transfer case, Marks 4x4 adaptor, hood, radiator, AC condenser, drive shaft, battery boxes, ARB front bumper with winch and lights, grill, shroud, front braces, lights, etc. The only thing I could not find is the transmission support bracket and probably some small items. I'll have to source those. Everything inside was as I left it. Fridge, ARB drawer system, air compressor, stereo w/ reversing camera, RTT, etc. all there.

Now I just need catch my breath and make a deal with another shop. Thank you for all your suggestions and support. It would have been more fun with the van crew in the memes, but it's done.
You guys can probably appreciate the license plate.

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Man, i did not see this post coming! Great result
 
I haven’t used them but Land Cruiser of Houston seems to have a decent reputation. LC of Houston LLC – LC of Houston provides full-service builds, restorations, upgrades, modernizations, paint and body, and service for Landcruisers old and new! All brands of 4×4 vehicles are welcome as well! - https://landcruiserofhouston.com/

I’ve been thinking about a v8 swap in my 91 and have had some prelim email discussions with them. Would need to go in and see their shop and do an extensive interview before taking next step.
 
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