I've decided I'm going to speak up and share an embarrassing experience to try and prevent others from getting burned. I've already found WAY too many people with horror stories on this person. I'll tell you up front - I'm not a very active member because my car build has stopped while I save up my money. While in the service, I saved up to buy a new 572 Hemi for my car. And last spring, I saw an engine on eBay by Jim at Gosselin Motors, aka Gozzy Motors out of Northbridge, MA. On eBay he goes by:
Gozzymopar
Of course, he insisted that I complete the transaction off eBay and pay via check. After he provided the quote, I agreed and sent the money. Seemed like a fair deal based on the build out.
My "new" 572 finally arrived after lengthy delays. Week after week "it was shipped, but no one knows where it's at." Naturally, it arrived with some of the wrong parts. Ooops. Mistakes happen right? Initially, I wanted to give a person a chance to correct their mistakes and "make it right." However, what I'm seeing is a trend toward bad behavior. I started to go back and forth about the parts issues, but as it turns out – it didn’t matter anyway. The engine would never make it to the dyno. I popped the valve covers to find metal shavings all over and burred rocker shafts from forcing them into warped stands. Why warped? The "new" rocker stands were welded! Sides, top, bottom…all over. And the valves were rubbing the stands (ZERO clearance throughout stroke). One thing after another. This is JUST the beginning - and this is basic stuff. I reported the issue, and although he claims they weren’t welded, he did finally send me some new stands. Guess what – they’re welded too! Maybe to add insult to injury? Since that point, I already read WAY too many posts about swapped internals, so it's going to be torn down this month to verify components/tolerances/damage.
Bottom line - definitely don't trust the motor out of the box or going to the dyno. In fact, I was surprised that Jim was unhappy to find out I was putting the engine on the dyno - even just to do cam break-in and tune the fuel injection. It's sad to hear the trend and feedback from other buyers. It's all too common for this shady character. If you ask Jim for references, you'll get raised eyebrows (which should be a red flag right there). And if you contact some of the "buyers" from him on eBay - beware! My impression is that some of those are fraudster straw buyers...not actual purchasers.
As mentioned, I’ll be returning home soon and the motor is going to be torn down and inspected - I'm afraid of what else we'll find (or not find), but I'll soon find out. If I find out the build order/contract and receipts provided don't match the components inside, we'll have much bigger problems...and at a minimum, that's not going to go well.
As for the missing parts - they kept getting "lost in the mail." Naturally, sent without tracking or insurance via USPS. That's convenient, considering I sent prepaid shipping labels with the returned parts. Moreover, I sure wasn't treated like a paying customer - even when I sent the FULL amount via check...10 months ago (from the date of my engine tear down with zero hours). I've been more than patient and understanding.