Another Clifford Rant! :(

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Anonymous

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Hey Guys,

Well I had originally said Clifford had cleaned its act up but I take those words back. Within the last 2 months I have had the following problems:

1) They sent the wrong carb adaptor so I needed to send back the old adaptor at MY cost. I then look at my credit card bill and they charged me shipping to send the right adaptor!

2) The gasket they provide with the valve cover is crap! I put the cover on and drove around the block only to come back and find that oil had leaked down the side of the block and onto the intake. All valve cover bolts were torqued properly and I used a good amount of RTV sealent.

3) About one month ago I started noticing a white milky-like substance on my oil dipstick. I searched but could not find the problem. Everything worked ok and I am planning on doing a rebuild this summer so I figured i'd let it slide and keep an eye on it. Well today I tried to pull off my breather cap (to add oil) and this time it wouldnt come off! I yanked a little harder and the oil filler neck came off! I looked at the glue and it was the white milky substance! Looks like the glue cliffy applied to my cover started falling apart after one month! The glue was inside the neck, inside my breather cap and on the oil dipstick...so I am assuming it is going through the engine also! I plan on pulling the cover this weekend to add a new gasket and was wondering what you would recommend to attach the neck? I plan on cleaning off all of the old glue and applying some type of other sealent. When I do the rebuild i'm most likely going to add the chrome valve cover like AzCoupes and Mustangaroos.

Sorry to complain but I thought i'd write this up incase potential buyers are looking into Clifford parts.

Mike
 
MIke, better check that white milky stuff, that's also what your oil looks like when you have a cracked block and water is getting into your oil :shock: :? :cry:
 
How would I go at checking for a cracked block? My plan was to buy a '68 200 block from a friend and build it up while still driving my car. Then when the car is assembled, i'll pull the old engine and drop the rebuilt one in.

Mike
 
8)

Main way that I know of.

There is a ultraviolet dye you can add to the cooling system then you put on special goggles and go around engine compartment with a uv light and the dye glows in the uv light. You can see where you have a leak. Also if it is cracked and water is getting into the oil the dye should show up in the oil.

Also a local radiator shop has a process where they siphon a small sample of radiator fluid, add a chemical and the color it changes to shows whether it detects the prescence of carbon monoxide. Also take radiator cap off and start car and watch radiator. if you can see the fluid look for air bubbles. Also I would change the oil and then keep checking it.

Also is this a new or high mileage motor? if your head gasket is not sealing properly it could allow water to seep into the oil passages.
 
TrojanMike67,

Your comments are inconsistant:

You said "1) They sent the wrong carb adaptor so I needed to send back the old adaptor at MY cost. I then look at my credit card bill and they charged me shipping to send the right adaptor! "

In April you said ..."Well Clifford came through again! I called them up on Wed. night and explained that I had ordered the wrong spacer for my Weber carb . This morning while i'm pulling out my dashpad, a FedEx truck rolled up"...

If the error was yours, I don't think it was out of line for them to bill you for shipping.


You said "2) The gasket they provide with the valve cover is crap! I put the cover on and drove around the block only to come back and find that oil had leaked down the side of the block and onto the intake. All valve cover bolts were torqued properly and I used a good amount of RTV sealent"

What can I say, there are a number of possibilities here.


You said "3) About one month ago I started noticing a white milky-like substance on my oil dipstick. I searched but could not find the problem. Everything worked ok and I am planning on doing a rebuild this summer so I figured i'd let it slide and keep an eye on it. Well today I tried to pull off my breather cap (to add oil) and this time it wouldnt come off! I yanked a little harder and the oil filler neck came off! I looked at the glue and it was the white milky substance! Looks like the glue cliffy applied to my cover started falling apart after one month! The glue was inside the neck, inside my breather cap and on the oil dipstick...so I am assuming it is going through the engine also! I plan on pulling the cover this weekend to add a new gasket and was wondering what you would recommend to attach the neck? I plan on cleaning off all of the old glue and applying some type of other sealent. When I do the rebuild i'm most likely going to add the chrome valve cover like AzCoupes and Mustangaroos".

Two issues - Why would Cliffy apply glue to the cover? I can assure you that there is a STRONG probability that you have water in your oil. Could be cracked block, or contamination from outside source. How did you detail your engine for the Knotts show. In any event, if I were Cliffy I would take strong exception to the suggestion that they contributed to your oil contamination with the glue they used to install the oil filler neck. One should be careful about this kind of comment.

Best of luck with your project - Steve
 
STEVE has a good point on the "glue"... But I do agree with MIKE as far as some probs. with Clifford. They sent me the wrong carb adapter and the wrong linkage, and (thus) a useless air cleaner that was pretty expensive (very aggravating) but I don't know how they would have handled the return. I couldn't get anyone on the phone who knew what they were talking about or what a Weber 32/36 (Holley 5200) looked like, so me and a machine shop buddy worked up the adapter and rigged up the linkage with other parts to work.
I also had a problem with my bill (person on phone said it would be one price, then they charged me quite a bit more on paper)

However, as far as the quality (BARISHIMAN) of the headers, they are phenominal! I have NO complaints about my headers (non coated dual outlet for a 200 cid).

Also MIKE, I'd check to make sure you didn't get any water from an outside source first (a Lot easier and cheaper then a cracked block)
 
Mike,

SOrry to hear the problems.

1) one thing with Valve cover gaskets, did it fit nice and tight before install? I messed up one gasket because the gasket was just slightly different then my valve cover. It was a standard NAPA gasket. I had to do some trimming to fix the second one so it would fit right.

2) I do think Clifford should have paid for return shipping and shipment of the CORRECT part at their expense. When you bought the adaptor, you made a contract with them for a certain part and you agreed to pay a certain price. They did not live up to their obligation and it is THEIR responsibility to meet it, not yours. You should not have had to pay for the return shipping OR the shipment of the new part. Any good company that cares about their image and reputation would have done so with no problems.

I think Cliffy still thinks they are the only ones on the market with this stuff. At least AzCoupe is giving them some competition and giving us options.

Slade
 
Steve a couple of things. When I was there Clifford used to supply glue for the valve covers. Never did they supply RTV Sealant as that never worked. They supplied a 3M Contact cement and that is what you should have used. You should have put a coat on the calve cover and a coat on the gasket side that faces the valve cover, nothing on the head side. Let that dry until real tacky and the put some more on those areas. Either put the valve cover on and torque it down ann let it sit over night (you are not in a rush are you?) or put the cover on the ground with some weight on it. These processes allow the gasket to be "crammed" up against the cover and let the cement fully harden. You should also make sure that thr mating surface of the gasket to the head is clean of all old gasket material etc. The best is to wipe it with Acetone as it will celan and dry leaving no residue.

As far as the breather neck goes....... If they are still using that old style with the tube (I changed the pattern so that the cover would no longer use the tube but use a regular breather and oil cap oh well) it is not glued in, we used to pound it in so there should be no glue there.

And lastly sorry for the parts mess up, but that happens everywhere. If it was there fault, then yes they should have not charged you for the shipping, but if you ordered the wrong one I can not fault them with charging you.
 
1) As far as the wrong part, I guess I was half at fault and Cliffy was half at fault. When I ordered, the guy on the phone told me there were two spacers available. He asked me what size the bore was for the intake. I explained that my carb was currently on my car and that I couldnt go check. He asked me what year my car was and I told him 67. He then told me that the 67 used a certain size so I ordered it. The problem could have been avoided if I went and yanked my carb, but he explained that the spacer I was ordering would fit my car. I feel that if I was completely at fault, I would pay for the shipping. I was trusting that the guy on the other line knew more than me and made the right decision.
* On a side note, when I recieved the air cleaner for the weber carb from cliffy, it had a big dent in the center. I called clifford and they told me to send it back and they'd send me a new one. I paid for shipping to send it back and didnt even ask for a refund. If I was a real picky person, I would have made them pay for shipping on the damaged part they sent me :(.

2) I used the cement they supplied first. I made sure everything lined up and i let it dry for a couple hours. That is when I took it around the block for a spin. It leaked so I pulled the gasket, cleaned it off and used the rtv sealent. I'm going to try the fel-pro this weekend and see how it turns out.

3) The milky white substance started appearing after the valve cover was added. I have had my car for 2 years and check all of the fluids at least once a week. I never noticed the milky substance when I had done oil changes before I added the cover. It might be a coincidence that it started happening right around the time that I added the cover but i'm still a little skeptical.

When I received the cover the neck was glued on with a sealent. I'll go snap some pictures tommorow of the glue substance that is still attached to the valve cover neck hole and get some pictures of the actual neck.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, I just wanted to let everyone know my experiences. If I offended anyone in any way....im sorry! :)

Mike
 
go to your local auto parts store and ask them for the kit they have to check and see if you got a blown head gasket it works the same way if you have a crtacked block it is a tube you put over your radiator filler whole and ull some of the water out of the ratiator into the tube nad add 6 drops of the blue stuff they give with it if it turns green it is cracked or a blown head gasket if it stays blue it is good
 
That reasuring that the headers are at least the one product from Clifford that's not getting ranted on. I would buy AZCoupe's header, but after looking over pics of Pacemaker vs. Clifford, I think Clifford is in my favor of less modifying my A/C bracket.


Andrew
 
I like the headers. They bolted right on and look great! The pacemakers are really nice though too. Might want to give a look into them. AzCoupe is a great guy and i'd recommend buying from him.

Mike
 
barishiman":2ahc1nhe said:
That reasuring that the headers are at least the one product from Clifford that's not getting ranted on.
Click to expand...

Good thing you don't have a 60 - 63 Falcon or I'd show you some jig issues that were never resolved. :evil:
 
[Falcon62 wrote]Good thing you don't have a 60 - 63 Falcon or I'd show you some jig issues that were never resolved.


:?: I have a 63' fordor Falcon with a clifford single outlet header i've been runnin with for two years and was wondering what you mean

Secondly on the creamy white stuff, my 200 PCV valve crapped out twice so i yanked it and capped it off, then i installed a road down draft tube to convert from a closed crankcase system to an open one, ain't the greastest for the envirement but beats that white junk from screwing up my investment
red_car.jpg
 
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