MABBCO Motors

Reviews

Reviews are sorted by relevance, with the most helpful and insightful feedback listed first for easy reference.

  poordude2151
2 months ago
Warning!!!!! Beware!!!! Do not use this company! They do very poor or not even do the machine work on your engine. I bought a 5.3L LS from them and it took 8 months for them to finish. They originally told me it would be 3 months to be completed. The heads had big deep scratches. The engine was all painted over where it shouldn't be painted. It had over spray all over the rockers. They used all cheap gaskets. The HV oil pump that I purchased was a China made low quality pump for the price of a name brand one!

  Michael Garvey
3 weeks ago
Placed an order a 350 Chevrolet short block for a Mercruiser stern drive with upgraded flat top pistons with an OEM grind spec marine camshaft, lifters, marine head gaskets, gasket set, oil pump.It took 1.5 months before it was delivered to a trucking terminal from which I picked it up at.It was well secured by bands and shrink wrapped packaged to a pallet.Inspected the block and found 2 of the 8 pistons had the locating orientation dots reversed, called MABBCO about this and told them that they need to remind the engine assemblers to pay closer attention when assembling the engines, this does not reflect well on their QC.Also found 1 of the block drains that had a plug in it had casting flash that had never been drilled out from GM, I drilled it out as I needed it clear so the marine drain plug could drain that part of the block.The piston bores .060 over were honed nicely, the assembly turned over easily, main and rod bolts were at spec when I tested them with a torque wrench.Ran a tap through all bolt holes and cleaned them out with either and compressed air, blew out the water passages, wiped the bores out and oiled them up.Used low time heads from my old engine that I took apart and cleaned and inspected the valves, springs, retainers, locks, 1 had a welded up and epoxied freeze damage water passage crack that was suspect, I used it along with the pushrods and rocker arms that all looked good.Assembled the engine using new head bolts, cam lube and cam break in oil and used a pre oiler to ensure oil to all parts before starting and used Rotella 10w30 and a NAPA gold oil filter.After starting I ran the engine initially at 2000 for 5 minutes then for 60 minutes varying the rpm between idle and 2500 on the water muffs, 160 deg and 35 psi at idle hot, 55 psi at 2500 rpm hot, no water or oil leaks.I then drained the oil, changed the oil filter, and cut open the filter and very little metal was in the filter.Took the boat to the lake several times dialing in the ignition timing and varying the rpm, changed the oil and filter again at 10 hours.There was more metal in the filter than I expected.Also, my suspect head was seeping water where it was repaired.I called MABBCO and ordered a set of OEM 350 heads set that had slightly larger valves than the ones that were on my old engine and some more marine head gaskets, and another gasket set and another new set of head bolts .They arrived very well packed in less than a month by FEDEX.Pulled my old heads off and inspected the cylinder bores and they all looked good, even the 2 that had the piston dots backwards.Cleaned everything up and inspected the remanufactured heads from MABBCO and found 1 rocker arm stud that was compromised on the threads, someone s QC eye should have caught and replaced the bad stud.Took the head to a machine shop and they replaced it for me in 10 minutes.Pulled all the lifters out and inspected the cam lobes and lifters, push rods, rocker arms, all had good break in patterns.Assembled everything again, ran for 5 more hours, no oil or water leaks and timing dialed in, runs smooth and quiet, 35 psi oil pressure at idle and 55 psi 3600 rpm at 160 deg smooth and quiet as it should be.Changed the oil filter with 5 more hours on, total of 15 hours on the engine and cut it open and no visible metal.I am happy with the price point and value of the 350 Chevy short block with upgraded pistons, marine gaskets, marine freeze plugs and upgraded valve size remanufactured heads that I purchased from MABBCO, the shipping packaging and customer service when ordering was excellent for me, When I need another engine or heads I will order from MABCO again.I see some poor reviews for MABBCO, but my experience has been good for a good value affordable remanufactured engine.They will upgrade the quality of parts however you want, just don t expect premium parts at a bargain price.If the 2 reversed pistons and head stud threads had not been issues, I would rate them a 5.

  LS LAW
a month ago
I had purchased a motor from them years back and it was great still running. I don't know know what happened but the 6.2 I bought from them didn't last 10,000 miles and they only sent me a email for 20 percent off. We spend to much money to go through this and will definitely be spending my money else where besides here. I will advise y'all do the same. Editing my post after breaking down the engine a rob bearing came loose which is their fault also also after looking at the carbon buildup on my pistons. I can tell the piston rings was starting to become worn and only had 8,892 miles exact on the motor. STAY AWAY I'm telling you

  Michael Hooper
3 months ago
Mabbco Motors is a great company. I bought an 350 Oldsmobile long block engine from them and it was in jam up great shape. Not a problem here !!!

  Dan Hughes
3 weeks ago
I have purchased a long block and an engine rebuild kit from them. Both times was a good experience. I worked with Todd and Patsy, both were exceptional at customer service. I work as a project manager in the HVAC field, from my everyday experience I am fully aware of supply chain issues, especially with anything related to steel. So I understand they are at the mercy of their suppliers as well. When they told me the lead time on the motor I was not surprised, but they were very up front about it. I will use them again.

  Joseph Panoc
8 months ago
I bought a 4.0l keep short block. First it took 3 months to arrive. After installing it the rear main seal was pouring oil out and 2 freeze plugs were leaking coolant. I removed the motor to find one half of the rear main seal was installed backwards. Amateur hour doesn t end there. The freeze plugs weren t jammed in all the way. After putting about 4000 miles on it, #6piston came apart suddenly. Don t buy anything from these jokers. Can t even believe they are still in business. Not my choice to even give them 1 star.Service: Motor building

  Chuck Proctor
a month ago
Bought a marine engine rebuild kit in the middle of January. It took them over a month to ship the kit. They kept saying they were waiting for a camshaft. When they finally shipped it I opened the kit to find a no name camshaft. It didn t have any numbers on the box at all. The front cover was incorrect and it was missing the gasket set. It s been a week after filling out their warranty claim form and still haven t heard from them. I m getting really frustrated and have half the notion to bring them to court if this isn t resolved very soon. This is some of the worst service I ve received from a company. I will never buy from them again ..don t waste your money go with someone else.

  64dartgt273
3 months ago
I ordered a 369 short block. The guys at MABBCO were able to customize my order and they duly told me the wait time involved. The motor came very very well packed and clean. The short block was nicely painted and I confirmed that the torque specs were correct. assembly lube was used in the right places. The cam appeared to e degreed in and advanced a few degrees. I have not installed or run it yet but all seems in order.

  Sarah Gaskill
5 months ago
SCAM ALERT This company will take your money!!! Bought a long block with water crossovers. VERY SPECIFIC about that when ordering. Was told it would likely take some time to find what I was needing. One week later, a motor shows up. The block was painted BLACK so it was almost impossible to inspect. Upon install, I quickly ran into multiple problems and concerns. I emailed(the only way to contact service) and was consistently ignored. Once I did get a response I got a passive aggressive email telling me to return the motor. The motor was already installed and come to find out it had EXHAUST CROSSOVERS!!! After almost 2 years of back and forth, because remember you have to go through the email. Phone calls I was told there was no one I could speak too, so I must email. I reluctantly sent the block back to just get a refund of the block. I had to pay the return freight out of pocket, which I was NOT refunded and I was charged a 20% restocking fee. Which tells me that they'll be selling it to some other poor consumer. Further inspection showed that even had I got the block running, it would have self destructed within a few miles. This has been the absolute WORST EXPERIENCE I have ever had. I HIGHLY SUGGEST LOOKING AT THEIR REVIEWS. The "good" reviews are very few and I actually believe are fake accounts made by the company. F rating on BBB, Yelp and Google reviews are consistently Do your research, unfortunately I didn't do enough.

  J Phillip Zweifel
9 months ago
Bought a 350 SBC 4 bolt main short block from MABBCO. Block didn t even last 5,000 miles before the crankshaft broke. Block went in a 65 GMC C15 as a daily driver. When the block was picked up in person at MABBCO the guy was ranting about how many cameras he has to watch the employees and was even proud of having cameras in the bathrooms. Would never recommend MABBCO for any product or service as the warranty will not cover the issue that will arise from their poor quality control (rather lack of). Instead of peeping in on the bathrooms, MABBCO needs to ensure quality control of products that leave the shop. Edit: adding a picture of the broken crank. Definitely do not recommend this company for anything!

  greg chrisman
3 months ago
After a year and a half and spending as much as this engine cost. Had to buy new from a real engine building company. Cam bearings destroyed and never left driveway deep piston scratches. Lifter failure on day one with all proper procedures taken. After taking motor apart you could see hammer marks in piston ears. A super disappointing hack company. Bought during Covid but no excuse. NEVER BUY HERE. I ve been involved in motors all my life. Horrible

  Elizabeth Liles
3 months ago
Ordered a 2.9 rebuilt short block for an 87 Bronco 2! It was perfect. Delivery was speedy and easy and MABBOC communicated so well throughout the whole process. 10/10 recommend!

  Doug Young
a year ago
I purchased a long block 7.4 mercruiser Todd was excellent. He answered all my questions and made sure I ordered everything I needed and all the right parts. I received the engine about 4 weeks earlier than I thought. It was dropped off right where they said. The engine fit right in and fired right up. I have twin 454 s. I plan on buying the other one next season.Service: Motor building

  David Project Klooge D
5 months ago
Mabbco was super friendly, and super helpful. I was after an AMC 360 short block. Not exactly something you can just pick up anywhere. They told me it could take up to 12 weeks to get the short block to me. Well, they got me the short block exactly on time. It had been bored .030 over, and was in great shape when I got it. I had very little cleaning to do. It's been shoe-horned into a 1980 Jeep CJ7, and runs like a champ! Thank you, Mabbco!Service: Motor building

  Mark Lachin
6 years ago
Just want to start off by saying I m very happy with my purchase from Mabbco motors. Needed to buy a complete marine long block 4.3L and they had the best price around. Turnaround time was a little bit over two weeks and I got my long block in very good shape and started swapping everything over. Primed the oil system like they recommended put it in the boat and it fired right up! Does not leak or burn any oil. Oil pressure is perfect, compression is perfect across the board. I took it out for a test run on the water yesterday, and it ran like a dream! Great engine at a great value!

  Sean E
3 years ago
Had to revise my last review (it was originally positive). Now I'm negative on Maabco - I wish I would have read the other reviews before purchasing from these guys. Here's why: if your motor has a problem, then you are up the creek. Although "warranted", Maabco wants you to take the motor out of your car, ship it back to Texas (at your own expense) and they will decide if they will make the needed fixes.In my case, Maabco sent me a motor with defective valve guides. I installed and fired up the motor and it was clear that one of the cylinders did not have compression. A local machine shop took the head off and said this was an easily avoidable but disastrous mistake - the engine builder did not leave enough clearance in the valve guide. This caused the rod to seize and bend.I asked Maabco to simply CALL ME on the phone multiple times to resolve. They hid behind email and provided potential solutions that were very costly and not realistic for my situation. Really, you want me to ship the motor back to you after I installed it in my car and mated it to my transmission? That would take hours upon hours. I ended up having to pay 1,500 to other vendors just to get my motor running. SAD!

  Jeff Hobbs
6 months ago
Engine drove 40 miles and oil pressure dropped so I shut it down. Purchased another new oil pump turns out the #1 piston rod bearing got on top of the other. I purchased this small block so that shouldn t have happened. Ruined crank cam lifters rods pistons. I called to see if I could get another crank and they said 750 for the 400 and shipping on top of that. I haven t ever had such subpar products as this.Service: Motor building

  Christopher Burris
4 years ago
Horrible shady work. Filthy assembly practices. Ordered a short block and recieved exactly what I paid for. A cheap improperly assembled engine. They did not hot tank the engine ever. Machining debris in oil passages scuffed pistons all the bearings had to be replaced new rings honing debris everywhere. Ring gap was to large different size bearings on every other journal camshaft was dry no assembly lube used. One of the lobes on camshaft was chipped. They painted over the old gasket for the front cover. List goes on and on. Cost me the same amount I bought engine for to have it redone. It would of shredded itself if I would of started it. No way did they send a useable short block. Main cap bolts They did however send me a rebuildable core. BUT THATS ABOUT IT. They told me today to send it back to them at my expense. I already paid shipping. I think it should be on them not me. Or just pay me for the rebuild.

  Alex
5 months ago
Was going to buy here but not after reading recent reviews. usually I ignore them (customers do make mistakes after all) but they were all consistently saying the same thing: mabbco provides inconsistent, unreliable work with poor customer support and long waits. I'll pass.

  Kevin Gadberry
6 months ago
They installed a refurbished camshaft that was trash (3 lobes honed down to almost a circle instead of a tear drop). After about 4 months the heads were making a load clacking noise due to the cam that they put in. It cost me $2K to have it replaced. READ THE REVIEWS - they offer a decent price but VERY shotty work.Service: Motor buildingService: Motor building

  Adam Cornelius
a year ago
I wish I could give this company negative stars let me start off by saying my salesman Todd was amazing to deal with and should be running the company his boss Brandon on the other hand couldn t even be bothered to give me a phone call after 2 months of dealing with a damaged engine rebuild kit with a damaged cam shaft after 2 months of calling and being sent multiple warranty forms I finally got the shipper involved and started a claim for the damaged items the shipper then notified me that they covered the claim and that I should contact mabbco to have the items replaced after contacting mabbco again I was told that there was no record of any claim or refunds after all of the above issues I then decided to let them go and just replace the cam myself then when I started to build my engine I found that the included gasket kit is a cheap un branded kit and none of the gaskets were even close to fitting the bottom line is these people have no problem taking your money and then throwing your expensive engine rebuild parts in a massive box with no padding or packaging and then refusing to replace any of the parts that were damaged beyond use because of their negligence then they will wear you out with waiting games and lost warranty formsService: Engine repair

  Jeremy Estrella
6 months ago
Horrible customer service i had to send my never ran motor back to then 2 times for a cracked block first time they said there was nothing wrong and i had to show video proof. 2nd time after i had to pay freight shipping they fixed a crack and returned a sleeve crack waste of money

  ImDa Baron
4 years ago
I bought a head(4.0 for a Jeep Grand Cherokee) from them with a recommendation from a family member and a friend. But this was a giant mistake. I bought this right before Christmas which was my first mistake. Because they aren't actually at work around that time and won't get to your order until weeks later. It finally arrived in mid January. Installed it on my Jeep and noticed there was coolant leaking into the motor.It can't be the new head right? It was. We pulled the cover off to check the top of the head. Yep there's a crack and when it's running it's fairly large. Leaks a fair amount of coolant that actually magnafluxing the head would have discovered(they claim they do it but obviously they didn't on here).I called them and talked to one of the managers. He told me to give them a chance and fill out the warranty form which I did. They sent me a return form last week telling them to ship it back on my dime. Called them and asked if I had it right that I had to pay for shipping and if they could help me out with that. All the manager said to me when I asked him those questions was "you can send it back if you want". Keep in mind I've done nothing wrong. Their product was cracked probably before they even worked on it. It's a freeze crack that they should have detected. Don't use them.Long story short. Don't use them. Bad products and bad customer service.

  leonel cordova
8 months ago
DO NOT BUY FROM HERE! AGAIN DO NOT BUY FROM HERE!!! They offer warranty however they are a huge scam!!! I purchased a SBC and they left a drill bit i side one of the oil ports of the crank shaft! When I sent the evidence they did not honored the warranty even that was their mistake! They are so unethical! They are total trash and very bad business! I had to purchase another engine because the whole block and everything was really bad on it. I m still very upset that these thieves keep stealing money from people!Service: Motor building

  Xroads Restorations
8 months ago
DO NOT EVER USE THESE CROOKS!!!!!!We purchased a crate motor from this business with all the upgrades. Forged flat top pistons, ARP rod bolts, Molly rings, RV camshaft...... We got an engine that was filthy inside, used, stretched bolts, cast pistons, used cam and mismatched bearings. This engine was so tight that even with the heads off would not roll freely.I called and talked to the owner who identified himself as just a supervisor. I stated my concerns telling him this was going into a customers vehicle that i had told was getting a drop in engine.The Mabbco " supervisor" told me to deliver the motor to him and he would look into it, but would not cover the freight or make any promises of a refund. i told him if I shipped it to him and he found my information to be true, he should cover the freight. If not I would be happy to pay the shipping. He became irate , said a few unprofessional comments and hung up. I called back and he hung up again.I took the engine to a machine shop and had it checked. Some bearing tolerances were way under spec, others were out of spec the other way. I ended up having the block line bored and fitting it with another crank. the job is now months overdue and cost me more than I could ever expect the customer to pay. This motor would have never lasted 100 miles.PLEASE BE AWARE!Service: Motor building

  Bill Short
2 months ago
engine showed up earlier then expected, which was great. I have 3000 miles on it now, so far so good. would recommend them.

  B Duke
2 years ago
Had to wait 12 weeks for the motor, due to pandemic. I missed all of the 2020 boating season. 1st time installing a motor, wished I had taken more pictures during the disassembly process. Got the boat back together and running this year and have had no issues. I have recommended MABBCO to several friends.

  Mark Adamz
9 months ago
Ordered a new long block 4.0 March 7th here we are in July no motor no communication. It would seem they only say what they say to get money on the books and place it in a CR to accumulate interest on our money. On top of that half if not more than half of these reviews have shown shady work in terrible labor ethics in a rebuild. Do your due diligence, do not go through these Jokers. You will not receive what you ordered and you will never be told about the process or updates on the process. Terrible absolutely terrible.Service: Motor building

  Nicholas Gilbert
4 years ago
Ordered a 4.0l Jeep straight six after I was cheated by a local mechanic with my original engine. Long story short. . .I should have rebuilt the engine myself because I only got my block, crankshaft, and the old cam back. When I ordered from Mabbco on their national short block program I was sceptical because of being burned by previous mechanic. The rebuilt Engine arrived fast, and in great condition, minus the Crankshaft Main Cap Girdle, and oil filter adaptor. I now have 700 of 4000 mile before going to synthetic oil. No issues with the engine so far.

  Troy Wheeler
8 months ago
Ordered short block... relubing and then torqued to spec and the whole assembly would not rotate. Had to take the block to another shop and have the mains line bored... the only ones in line were front and back. They had incorrect berrings installed and the block was three weeks late. They blamed me for doing something to it and then wouldn't return my phone calls. Don't buy anything from this company.Service: Motor building