Some of you may know I recently finished restoring a 99 Challenger 1800. the boat had some issues but it was now a very fine running boat.
But one of the jobs I did to the boat was install all new rave valve components on the left engine. Valve, housing, bellows and pistons. All from SBT.
Well, a month and a half later, yesterday, I was idling back to the dock and the left engine suddenly stopped. Completely locked up.
Got home and pulled the rave valves out to find one broken in half and into the cylinder.
What makes me most upset is that when I got these new valves they didn't look of very good quality and had some suspicions. I should have listened to myself.
So, I write this as a warning. If you decide to use SBT parts do it only on components that, if broken, will not ruin your motor. I have to admit that the rave housing, bellow and piston looked OK. Stay away from the valves. Also, I got carb rebuild kits from them, another no-no to me. I had to take the carb apart after the rebuild and found an internal rubber gasket that had shrunk to the point I had to use the old Mikuni one again. I got a pump rebuild kit form them and looks OK but can't attest to the quality because I haven't pulled apart the pump since rebuild.
Listed, I didn't intend to bash SBT. They were nice and I am a big believer in aftermarket parts but now I have a ruined engine that was great (no rebuilds, 155 psi compression). I still would like to have the option to use aftermarket parts but SBT needs to do something about quality. For now they are out of my buy list.
Chris
But one of the jobs I did to the boat was install all new rave valve components on the left engine. Valve, housing, bellows and pistons. All from SBT.
Well, a month and a half later, yesterday, I was idling back to the dock and the left engine suddenly stopped. Completely locked up.
Got home and pulled the rave valves out to find one broken in half and into the cylinder.
What makes me most upset is that when I got these new valves they didn't look of very good quality and had some suspicions. I should have listened to myself.
So, I write this as a warning. If you decide to use SBT parts do it only on components that, if broken, will not ruin your motor. I have to admit that the rave housing, bellow and piston looked OK. Stay away from the valves. Also, I got carb rebuild kits from them, another no-no to me. I had to take the carb apart after the rebuild and found an internal rubber gasket that had shrunk to the point I had to use the old Mikuni one again. I got a pump rebuild kit form them and looks OK but can't attest to the quality because I haven't pulled apart the pump since rebuild.
Listed, I didn't intend to bash SBT. They were nice and I am a big believer in aftermarket parts but now I have a ruined engine that was great (no rebuilds, 155 psi compression). I still would like to have the option to use aftermarket parts but SBT needs to do something about quality. For now they are out of my buy list.
Chris
