BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
I just spent 6 wks with a bad seller and need to vent and warn others. "richperformance", aka Ricardo Varona of Miami, sells many Mopar parts, including MP. Item MOPAR DODGE PLYMOUTH CHRYSLER 340-6 SIX PACK PUSHRODS is still listed, though he may not actually have any.
He first demanded $10 shipping, which I had already paid. After several illiterate e-mails weeks apart, I filed a dispute before Paypal's limit. He then shipped regular ball-ball pushrods, not the "ball-cup, for adjustable rockers" listed. This e-mail shows his attitude:
"I'm a PHD in mechanical engineering. That doesn't mean squat to me. I've tried to fix your problem. I have your money, you have the wrong parts, who is at a loss? I'll follow Paypal's outcome."
Paypal is crediting me back, though not the $11 return shipping. I just wish they would kick these deadbeats off ebay. On the bright side, I have bought ~100 items on ebay in the last 6 months, including the 65 Dart I started with, and Rico is the first problem seller.
I peruse For Sales on FABO and got a beautiful set of Cragars from GTXexperience. That was easy, drove to SF, paid cash, and drove them home. No >$200 shipping.
I need pushrods because I bought a hydraulic cam & lifters, since solids are rare and I don't care to adjust valves. I found Summit has them for only $38 (cheaper than Rico). I am hoping SUM-G6420 will work. They list 7.234"L, close to the 340 TA book value of 7.25"L. My stock pushrods are 7.344"L (7.5"L end-end), so Summit's are 0.11 shorter. I measure the hyd lifters are 0.20" taller, but the gap & preload will drop that by 0.05". The smaller cam base circle drops another 0.015", so I can back off the adjusters the remaining 0.025" (near limit) and hope the valves don't recede faster than the valve-train wears. Someday I'll pull the heads and install hardened seats (compression is OK). Isn't valve-train design complicated?
He first demanded $10 shipping, which I had already paid. After several illiterate e-mails weeks apart, I filed a dispute before Paypal's limit. He then shipped regular ball-ball pushrods, not the "ball-cup, for adjustable rockers" listed. This e-mail shows his attitude:
"I'm a PHD in mechanical engineering. That doesn't mean squat to me. I've tried to fix your problem. I have your money, you have the wrong parts, who is at a loss? I'll follow Paypal's outcome."
Paypal is crediting me back, though not the $11 return shipping. I just wish they would kick these deadbeats off ebay. On the bright side, I have bought ~100 items on ebay in the last 6 months, including the 65 Dart I started with, and Rico is the first problem seller.
I peruse For Sales on FABO and got a beautiful set of Cragars from GTXexperience. That was easy, drove to SF, paid cash, and drove them home. No >$200 shipping.
I need pushrods because I bought a hydraulic cam & lifters, since solids are rare and I don't care to adjust valves. I found Summit has them for only $38 (cheaper than Rico). I am hoping SUM-G6420 will work. They list 7.234"L, close to the 340 TA book value of 7.25"L. My stock pushrods are 7.344"L (7.5"L end-end), so Summit's are 0.11 shorter. I measure the hyd lifters are 0.20" taller, but the gap & preload will drop that by 0.05". The smaller cam base circle drops another 0.015", so I can back off the adjusters the remaining 0.025" (near limit) and hope the valves don't recede faster than the valve-train wears. Someday I'll pull the heads and install hardened seats (compression is OK). Isn't valve-train design complicated?
