Its been a while... Mike DEZ the BOLT on Jockey!

[My2003Mach1]

Hi everyone..
Its been a while since i have been around. I know i kinda fell off the face of the earth since last summer while preparing for mustang week last year.

I feel compelled to share with you my experience with Mike Dez and his company....

I was getting my car tuned at Dez racing last July when Mike Dez blew my engine on the dyno..( have all the runs on video)

I'd like to think that Mike is still a great tuner.. however i think his problem is hes doing too much at the same time and his customer service and attention to detail went to shit.

My Mach 1 was hitting 700+ numbers, but every time i left Dez,something was always not exactly how it should be. I always seem to have to go back for adjustments and weird shit that never happens to any of my friends cars...

On this day in July just as always, though i schedule an appointment for 9am. my stang never got in on time, and is always flip flopping with others on the dyno... and me spending the whole day standing and waiting FFS i live in west bumble f#@K Connecticut! get me in and get me out .. (this never happens)

While my stang was on the dyno, Mike Dez was making adjustments and getting it set up.. a few short pulls with minimal timing and boost the 1st numbers were in the 700's.. with each pull I see the numbers droping 100 HP at a time..

3 heads looking at the dyno computer screen.. one (me) that doesn't know shit.. and two others (professional mind you) couldn't figure it out that they were blowing the engine!
3 runs on the dyno later.. after dropping 300 rwhp.. Dez starts it up and I can hear the crank slapping one of the detached connecting rods...

My stang wasn't the only one that week they were in over their heads with..

So dummy me allows them to pull the engine and see whats wrong..

After learning what i didn't know then, any hand job could tell from the sounds of the banging noise coming from the bottom end (oil pan) that the main bearings and oil pump were toast and pulling the engine and dissembling it into itty bitty pieces was totally unnecessary (and to add a very expensive price)

I got a price for them to build me a new boss big bore bottom end at a staggering number....

I couldn't afford it at the time so i went back up to Mass with an empty rented car trailer alone to pick up my mustang..

I got there and to my surprise my parts are ALL OVER their shop and the engine parts all stacked up in dirty boxes on top of each other. Nuts bolts all thrown into a box ( where the f#@k does these go).. Piston rings looked like someone took a 1970's slinky and cut it up into itty bitty pieces at the bottom of a box.

I'm left to go walking around their shop looking for all my parts. Looking for missing parts that to this very day were never found.

There were car parts ON MY MACH 1 Seats!!! stuffed in the trunk!!! let me stop there before i get uppity...

What sucks is from what i felt, i was a loyal customer and a well paying customer .. and this is the way i was treated along with my property..

I suppose that the best medicine for that shop is that " BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST!"
If you have a bolt on modded car take it there... if you have anything but please DO NOT!
They will f#@k it up .. i"m not the only one .. there's others on this site so (feel free to speak up so others know that Mike Dez is nothing more than a bolt on jockey)

The Good news is i will have my Mach 1 back up and ready to cruise by spring.

I went with a Boss Big Bore, stroker! ( 5.3 to you rice puppies) and strapping my F1-A to its back for a little "catch me if your can" :burnout:

I'll be trying out Pete at Performance Tune.. After talking with him today I feel comfortable giving him a shot to clean out my tunes that the bolt on jockey charged me so much for and get my Mach 1 safe tuned while in the break in mode.

I'll be headed to Mustang week this year as i have my room booked already, along with other shows that i hope to see all you local guys at again this year.
I met some really kool guys last year....and i hope to see them again soon...

Thanks for reading

Jon (Torrington, CT)

 

[f2hatch]

I hate to say I told you so but.... I am glad in the end the Mach will be back out Jon. I have heard good things about Pete I think You'll be in good hands.

 

[snakebitten13]

Dez

Sorry to hear about your horror story. I too have had a similar experience with Dez. Ive also have a few friends who have has problems with him, one piticular friend a motor blow due to Dez no pluging in an injector. Dez later tried to blame the mistake on a customer. Bottom line is the guy is a hack and it should be known. We recently took apart a rear end he built, you dont even want to see the damage.

Bottom line, stay away from Dez racing, the place is a crap hole. Why would anyone bring there pride and joy to a dump.

 

[notchstang92]

Hey guys you can't say that about Dez on here, I got a PM once from a guy on here bitching because I stated 100% facts about an experience w/ Dez. He lost my business long before he had a chance to ruin my car. Give it time for all the Dez nutswingers to start jumping to his defense and calling you a liar or accusing you of something that made Dez do that. I wouldn't be suprised to see a Moderator delete posts or lock the thread quick.

Pete @ Performance Dyno will take care of you. His tunes are the best around by far which is why everyone goes to him. Pete will also do his best to work with your schedule. You will be happy with the tune you get from him.

 

[Ct.TOPGUN]

Sorry you got that kind of treatment. I have seen some work out of that shop and let's just say I was not impressed. I don't know much about Pete. Hear mostly good things. If you are interested I would stop in Total Induction Tuning Solutions for a visit and talk. Paul will take good care of you. They are located in South Windsor, Ct.


Jim

 

[PhLoBuS]

I have never been to Dez so I can't say anything good nor bad about that tuner. Pete @ Performance Dyno is a great guy. I have had my Lightning tuned there multiple times. I recommended my friends to Pete (2 03 Cobras) and they think hes a great guy.

Pete has more than taken care of me. He has done multiple additional pulls because he thought he could get more out of my Lightning. He warned me when he tuned my truck with the Kenne Bell that the motor was at its limits. I knew it was, but I was planning on going built anyways. It did blow after a 12.6 run at the track on street tires with the stock block.

All in all sorry for your more than terrible experience at Dez. Pete is an honest guy and will take care of you. I haven't been to Petes new shop but I heard its nice.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

Why bring this up now, 7 months after the fact ? :shrug:

 

[einzatgroupen]

You'll love the tune you get from Pete. He's the man!!

 

[My2003Mach1]

Why bring this up now, 7 months after the fact ? :shrug:

For the simple fact that from July 2010 (when this happened) till now.. I was VERY upset and didn't want to LASH out and mouth off out of frustration and anger.
Next, I know a few of my friends on here have wondered wtf I've been,being I truly disappeared after making plans with them to spend time attending some shows together. (i.e. Mustang week, local car shows and cruises) I just didn't answer my phone because i was SICK to my stomach over this whole experience and after having spent $13k a year before having my engine "BUILT" so this wouldn't happen (unless i was beating the shit out of it) i just didn't know which direction i was going to go in.. rebuild or part out and buy new...

So to you, DEZ fans, and Moderators.. I'm not trying to start ANYTHING with anyone.. I'm stating FACTS about my whereabouts, my personal and factual experiences with MIKE DEZ's shop and I'm offering FYI for those SVT members on the site to just be aware so something like this doesn't happen to them. I wish i LISTENED to some that have told me ..

Thanks F2Hatch for looking out for me and sorry i didn't listen....

Hope no ones offended, and if ANYONE knows me or my car.. they know my stang isn't a bolt on goody bag and that I didn't beat the shit out of it or even drive it like that just to bring it to a shop to blame them.

 

[GOTSVT?]

I have never been to Dez so I can't say anything good nor bad about that tuner. Pete @ Performance Dyno is a great guy. I have had my Lightning tuned there multiple times. I recommended my friends to Pete (2 03 Cobras) and they think hes a great guy.

Pete has more than taken care of me. He has done multiple additional pulls because he thought he could get more out of my Lightning. He warned me when he tuned my truck with the Kenne Bell that the motor was at its limits. I knew it was, but I was planning on going built anyways. It did blow after a 12.6 run at the track on street tires with the stock block.

All in all sorry for your more than terrible experience at Dez. Pete is an honest guy and will take care of you. I haven't been to Petes new shop but I heard its nice.

This!
Glad you got it back together

 

[SKEETER_SVT01]

Actually, i was there when u picked up the car. All I seen you do after we helped you load your car on the dyno is bitch about having to pay for them to pull the motor out. You didnt like that after you told them to go ahead and build you one but once it was out you changed your mind to go a cheaper route. All your parts where not everywhere. All of your important items were in the same spot as I watched you take them to your truck. After we again helped you, you stayed in the "office area" talking to Mike and Brian the whole time. You didnt want to pay for a new motor after the fact yours was taken out.

Not going to say anything else because this is not a high school thing but next time you need to remember that stuff isn't always free and 2 sides to every story.

And to the others, i'm not bashing you and not a nuthugger but yeah u had bad experiences whiles others have good ones. keep the comments to yourselves. Simple as don't go there. It makes me laugh when i see one person then many other people bring up stuff about anyone really. You didnt bring it up then so dont bring it up now. Esp when this event happened last august.

 

[bigmoose]

I agree with you OP, dez is a hack and his shop is a disorganized dump. I brought my old mystichrome there. Same as you i waited hours to get on the dyno even though i had a so called appointment.

I didn't have any reliability issues but the drivability was absolutely crap. I watched over his shoulder as he modified the tune, just adjusted A/F and timing and called it done. anyone can say maybe the car had a problem, but after i had it retuned elsewhere the car was a dream to drive.

he seems to know alot about racing and older mustangs but i wouldn't bring an FI mod motor car to him.

 

[NASTY5.0]

Sorry to hear about all this man. Al had told me about this last summer and its unfortunate for sure. Its the perfect example of why I build my own shit. You can't trust people. I wish you luck on your current build and don't forget about me when you see me, we still have unfinished business hehe.

 

[snakebitten13]

Actually, i was there when u picked up the car. All I seen you do after we helped you load your car on the dyno is bitch about having to pay for them to pull the motor out. You didnt like that after you told them to go ahead and build you one but once it was out you changed your mind to go a cheaper route. All your parts where not everywhere. All of your important items were in the same spot as I watched you take them to your truck. After we again helped you, you stayed in the "office area" talking to Mike and Brian the whole time. You didnt want to pay for a new motor after the fact yours was taken out.

Not going to say anything else because this is not a high school thing but next time you need to remember that stuff isn't always free and 2 sides to every story.

And to the others, i'm not bashing you and not a nuthugger but yeah u had bad experiences whiles others have good ones. keep the comments to yourselves. Simple as don't go there. It makes me laugh when i see one person then many other people bring up stuff about anyone really. You didnt bring it up then so dont bring it up now. Esp when this event happened last august.

Hey man, not trying to start stuff with you. But as far as can remember this is a public forum. If a person wants to state a bad experience they had with a tuner, it is there right to do so.

A friend of mine builds ALL the rear ends for factory 5 racing. He is a perfectionist whos gone through numerous Ford schools etc. We recently had a customer come in with a Dez built rear end. It was setup completely wrong, bolts were not tight, most of the bolts backed out. It created what could have been a very dangerous situatiuon on public roads. If I wanted to be a real prick I would post pics. But I will let Dez sink his own ship. Either way i think a forum is a great way for people in this hobby to relay issues or give credit. While I would not let Dez work on my lawn mower after seeing numerous mistakes come out of his shop, there are many people here that praise him. You need to take the good with the bad. Unfortually this is a bad thread about first hand experices with Dez racing. Im sure the good out weigh the bad on SVT perf. If the OP or anyone else wants to share information good or bad about Dez they should be allowed to. Im sorry I cant agree with your statement of

"keep the comments to yourselves"

 

[notchstang92]

Actually, i was there when u picked up the car. All I seen you do after we helped you load your car on the dyno is bitch about having to pay for them to pull the motor out. You didnt like that after you told them to go ahead and build you one but once it was out you changed your mind to go a cheaper route. All your parts where not everywhere. All of your important items were in the same spot as I watched you take them to your truck. After we again helped you, you stayed in the "office area" talking to Mike and Brian the whole time. You didnt want to pay for a new motor after the fact yours was taken out.

Not going to say anything else because this is not a high school thing but next time you need to remember that stuff isn't always free and 2 sides to every story.

And to the others, i'm not bashing you and not a nuthugger but yeah u had bad experiences whiles others have good ones. keep the comments to yourselves. Simple as don't go there. It makes me laugh when i see one person then many other people bring up stuff about anyone really. You didnt bring it up then so dont bring it up now. Esp when this event happened last august.

People should know what they are in for whether it be good or bad. Thats the point of this post. Its to let people what a particular person's experience is with Dez. If he was speaking about the late Mondo Bob or Performance Dyno would you still feel the same? Probably not. Its your boy's shop in the negative light and you don't like it which is understandable.

Just think if people didn't come on these sites and talk about SD Wheeler, Charles Hull, CD Performance, etc. How many more people would have gotten screwed by these guys?

 

[SCalla1384]

Sorry to hear about your awful expierience with Mike. But its kind of funny because it somewhat reminds me of my situation. Although my motor didnt blow.

I had some bolt ons, got it tuned, and it was great.

I put a supercharger on, went up to him to have it tuned. Car only made 6 psi @ 340rwhp. But he loaded it with timing. I think he said there was like 19 or 20* of timing in there. Which was awful. Id rather the car have a lot less chance of detonating with a smaller hp number, rather then 15rwhp more and a better chance to blow the motor.

On top of that, the car would stall, and stall and stall. I brought it up to hiim about 3 different times, he could never figure it out. It was pathetic.

So I put on a smaller pulley, and called Pete @ Performance Dyno. Brought it up to him, he popped the hood and said thats why its stalling. The IAC needs to go AFTER the MAF (blow through) which I didnt even think of becuase I was still learning about that stuff. And he even was shocked that Dez couldnt figure that out. My tune from Pete made SUCH a difference. Not just power wise, but drivability.

I think Mike just trys doing to many things at once. I dont know why, but he seems to have his shop buddies there all the time. And its acually really annoying. When I was getting my initial supercharger tune, I was seriously there for 8 hours. It was rediculous. Takes his time, always on the phone, talking to his shop buddies etc.....

Brian is a great mechanic, but I acually had 4.10s done about 2 years ago. About 2 months ago, my rear end was banging around. Then finally a month later it went. Brought it to Kevin over in Hanover, he said that all my ring bolts backed out. They must not of have torqued them or use thread locker.

So to be honest, I wont ever go to Dez again. For a tune, or for something I dont feel comfortable doing myself.

 

[SCalla1384]

Hey man, not trying to start stuff with you. But as far as can remember this is a public forum. If a person wants to state a bad experience they had with a tuner, it is there right to do so.

A friend of mine builds ALL the rear ends for factory 5 racing. He is a perfectionist whos gone through numerous Ford schools etc. We recently had a customer come in with a Dez built rear end. It was setup completely wrong, bolts were not tight, most of the bolts backed out. It created what could have been a very dangerous situatiuon on public roads. If I wanted to be a real prick I would post pics. But I will let Dez sink his own ship. Either way i think a forum is a great way for people in this hobby to relay issues or give credit. While I would not let Dez work on my lawn mower after seeing numerous mistakes come out of his shop, there are many people here that praise him. You need to take the good with the bad. Unfortually this is a bad thread about first hand experices with Dez racing. Im sure the good out weigh the bad on SVT perf. If the OP or anyone else wants to share information good or bad about Dez they should be allowed to. Im sorry I cant agree with your statement of

"keep the comments to yourselves"

Speaking of, that was my car. The red 03 GT with the Vortech supercharger.

 

[SKEETER_SVT01]

with the situation about the the mechanical side i understand everyone's point of view. I didnt disagree with that, the non messy shop, and waiting around for a tune. That's for each person to experience.

I was just talking generally about what happened with what he did about getting his car back. That part of the story i have issues with because i'm not a fan of half stories.

 

[99stanger]

Interesting thread....

 

[ross12]

wow. my brain is moving 100 mph now. I had work on my 03 cobra done there......after some stall issues that are now gone.....its all fine. But i'm glad I read this before I went back. *phew*