Top End Performance AKA TEP

[Zero]

I settled with TEP's insurance company today for my car fire.  While it took much more time than I would have liked, I believe that we were able to settle amicably and to everyone's satisfaction.  

 

At the end, Steve was pretty helpful in obtaining the settlement.

 

Thanks for everyone's support!

 

-Vince

[Kellydahman]

Posted on behalf of Brian Arnone (brianpaul98@hotmail.com):

 

Well, I guess we all start out pretty much the same way when it comes to these cars as we do in life... "STUPID"!!!!!!  After a year of dealing with Top End, it hasn't been all bad but "IF" I only knew then what I know now, what a smart man I would be. Richer too... I never knew about all the other people and  places that sell stuff for these cars. HELL, I never even used e-Bay!!!! Do you know the guy (helix99) that sells the OVC / downpipes etc. on e-Bay??? He is in California too and has the same fondness for top end that you "and I" do. Try not to feel too sorry for me but I bought a complete package deal from Steve consisting of a complete performance

street engine with new AMC head (SS valves, street ported, perf cam), lightened

flywheel / clutch combo, new ported exhaust manifold (that I needed to finish porting), downpipe, 19C turbo / OVC pipe / BOV / HPB controller kit (which I just sold on e-Bay and bought the two stage), Haltech F10 that I am having a muther of a time programming the fuel maps into. Steve said his laptop crashed last year so he lost all his fuel maps but he knows a guy that has some really good fuel maps and was going to send them to me. I haven't seen anything yet.

 

I have done a ton of other mods to this car and I'm always in the process of doing more but don't get much help from those guys. Usually they tell me to just look in the manual or I get a quick explaination that doesn't really help much. Anyway, I just got the engine in and running two weekends ago FOR THE SECOND TIME!!!! Yes, second time. The first time was last year and to be honest it ran beautiful but had very VERY high oil pressure. I live in Delaware and when the weather started to

get colder I had a problem with the oil filter popping the gasket. I called them immediately and was told to use a factory filter so I switched the filter and it was better, for a week, then popped it again, on my way to work, when I didn't know it. My engine siezed and I had pull it out again and send it back. Steve said it was pretty much my fault because I knew it was doing that and I kept driving the car. WELL IT WAS MY ONLY CAR so I needed to drive something. It cost me $350.00 to get it back to them and get it fixed.

 

I have it back in again but it's the same as before with super high oil pressure. Oil pressure is a good thing but not when it seperates the oil filter at the seam!!!!! You know the flat spot on the top of the filter where you hold it when you screw it on? It wasn't there anymore, just a perfectly smooth rounded top. I'm getting some K&N filters soon along with synthetic oil after it breaks in and I hope that will remedy the

problem.

 

When I think about everything I bought off of them, I now know of something better that I WOULD HAVE used. Well, live and learn.

 

Brian

[Starquest_DJ]

TEP is a good overall place to buy your parts. If you are looking to save money, and finding a way to get the same parts for a cheaper price, then TEP is not your choice. When it comes to service, for the most part they are reliable. I have had quick turnarounds with all my purchases from them. Sometimes the reassurance and quality part is worth the extra money.

[BuzzKill]

Moved from separate topic:

I bought a high volume pump from TEP. Received within a week. Once intalled I had over 80psi of oil pressure cold and about 65 after idling for ten minutes. I know alot of people dont like them, but the pump is worth the money in my opinion.

[87cquest]

Another successful transaction from TEP...

 

Bought pistons, rings, gasket set, bse kit w/timing components...  I called them up, he was very friendly, answered all my questions and knocked the prices of some of my parts down, and gave me a pretty good deal on shipping.  Stuff came 6 days later.

 

~Carlos

[Nannybomb]

I picked up the Hard pipe/ Turboxs BOV kit from Top End. The turnaround was very fast, and it's a very high quality product.  The powder coating on these pipes is beautiful. Very pleased, and I would buy from them in future.

[jonesh242]

I have been experiencing problems w/ my Marnel head that was originally built by TEP from the previous owner of the car several months prior to me purchasing it.  

 

It turns out that TEP installed several different brands of valves in the head and two of the valve seals backed out and started to leak.  There is no excuse for "crap" workmanship like that.

 

I can't help but think that they did this intentionally as I have seen/heard of this problem on several other SoCal quests...not to mention, non of the valves even looked close in dimension and shape.  

 

TEP's shoddy workmanship cost me over $600 to have my Marnel head completely rebuilt with the right valvles and springs.  Not Good!!      

[Kr0nus]

OK here's a little of my story.  I won't tell the whole story because it would be a freaking novel.  Before I start I'll let you know that I have spent over $5000 at TEP and had a lot of work done.  We will start with when I started to have coolant problems.  Recently I had some cooling problems and I decided to get a new water pump, thermostat and rod my radiator.  Well I took the water pump off only to find there was NO GASKET ON IT!  I was wondering where I was leaking coolant from and I have found it.  It made my engine pretty filthy and because of the metal on metal I got dirt and tiny rocks in my radiator.  Thanx TEP.  My TB is another issue.  They rebuilt my TB for $64 for the seals....These seals are made of crappy paper and now that the bottom gasket is toast I have coolant entering my TB.  This causes my car to overheat because my fans wont turn on with air in the radiator which my TB is causing because it is leaking.  Thanks again TEP!  O and did I mention my "fan relay kit"?  it cost me $50 for the kit and $80 for labor.  You know what the kit was?  2 freaking relays that cost less than $10 a piece and some wires.  The only thing it does is make all my fans turn on at once...for $130 thanx for sticking it where it hurts TEP.  If you want to hear more I'd be glad to share with you.  

[OGFrenchHorn]

TEP is the best! I drive from Riverside to get my parts(3hr drive, traffic sux). The last time I whent I bought a water pump, OVC pipe w/blow off valve, and a hi pro. street clutch. They didn't have the clutch at their location. When i told them I came all the way from Riverside they hooked me up. Not only did they ship the clutch for free they didn't charge me sales tax. They impressed me with their cutomer service and I look forward to the next time I do busines with them! ;D

[PK_89Quest]

I was looking at dealing with these guys. Is there any "RECENT" feedback on the company, quality, etc.

 

Thanks.

[SQF]

When Marc and I were organizing the Brooklands Starquest book we needed to have 500 books pre-ordered. Steve at TEP agreed to buy 100 books at the discount price we were getting them for. Once the books came in I put the total cost of all the books on my credit card. All of the members who pre-ordered books paid for theirs. I contacted Steve through Email, on the phone and snailmail and he NEVER returned my calls, emails or letter. I ended up footing the cost for 100 books.

[Tman]

When Marc and I were organizing the Brooklands Starquest book we needed to have 500 books pre-ordered. Steve at TEP agreed to buy 100 books at the discount price we were getting them for. Once the books came in I put the total cost of all the books on my credit card. All of the members who pre-ordered books paid for theirs. I contacted Steve through Email, on the phone and snailmail and he NEVER returned my calls, emails or letter. I ended up footing the cost for 100 books.

 

 

 

 

dude thats soo beyond messed up that would make me wanna knock on someones door

[Chad]

I've had both good and bad experiances with them.

 

The Good:

 

usualy fast shipping in in-stock items, and even with drop ship items they got for me, it was quick and easy.

 

Good pricing on many items that may or may not be SQ specific. I often shop their prices on universal items and they seem competitive in many things, not so on others, but no place is perfect

 

The offer good variety, and some packages are well thought out.

 

When I had problems with a defective part, they did replace it after it even after it was installed.

 

The bad:

 

I purchased some repalcement injectors, they never came so after 2 weeks, I asked about them. TEP Said they "got lost" in the mail. I've shipped many items to over 300 unique places over the last 10 years, I've never had anything get lost. After that first call it took another week figure it out, and then 3 to ship them again. Took 6 weeks total. My car was out of service this whole time.

 

I sent in a set of rods for their race prep, one was out or round and had been spun apparently by a previosu owner (I truly didn't know). They didnt' catch this and rebuilt it anyway. My machine shop did catch it when I took it in for a weight match, this is something that should have been part of the race prep (check and reblance). I had to have a spare rod done by my local shop to replace the bad one.

 

I recived a defective oil pump, it had the back half from a block pickup type, and the front half from a pump pickup. this lead to the pump drawing air instead of oil because it had 2 pickup passages, which caused bearing damage when I started the motor. They did replace it (see above, and the damaged bearings) but I had to fight tooth and nail, and was treated very poorly, like I was an idiot. They weren't going to replace it untill he say it himself cause he was sure I was crazy. I never got an appoligy either. this all took several weeks to sort out.

 

My opinion:

 

buy stock items or retail stuff : yes

buy custom items or items that they have worked on or had done : no

[DSM RSM 89conquest]

I just ordered abunch of stuff from those guys. I have experienced both sides of the coin with them, they know alot, but nobody is trying to make friends either, that is clear. Hey nobody is perfect and we all have bad days. Just be specific and to the point when u call. Unfortunately we only have a handfull of resources for these cars and they are one of them. I will post my future experiences with these guys, as I will be doing alot of business with them soon. Anyway, I guess that is a good reason to do as much of the work as possible. If u want to make sure its done right, you gotta turn the wrench. No one really cares about your car but you. Maybe if they know their reputation is at stake they will be more careful. From reading this thread, the opinion stated above pretty much sums it up, custom items are a dice roll with these guys.

[Chad]

so i bought what i thought was a full exhaust from a website called racetep.com. also known as top end performance. well when i reciever the system which i gave 500 dollars for, there was only the downpipe, and b pipe. there was also the s wire o2 sensor i ordered and the spark plugs i ordered, thats all they got right. there was no pipes to connect to the 3 inch muffler they sent me. so for 500 dollars i got a o2 sensor, 8 spark plugs, a down pipe and the b pipe, and a few bolts the connect the two pipes but was missing the springs. however this story gets better. i contacted them and tried to return the items, well there is a 20% restocking fee, and non refundable shipping. so that adds up to 44 dollars they have for shipping, and another 44 dollars for me to ship it back. so we are at 88 dollars in the trash so far because they messed up. then after you tack on their 20% thats another 60 bucks. thats a total of 148 dollars they have basically stolen from me. they will not assist you in any way on returning the parts. any how i just thought i would post this as a heads up not to purchase from them, they will screw you over. they are very frustrating to deal with and when i called and spoke to steve. the owner he got very hateful with me and hung up the phone. all over a refund they didnt want to happen. so if you purchase from them. just be careful.

[Mech]

I'm never going to buy from TEP AGAIN. Anybody who reads this, my advice is to STAY AWAY FROM THEM.

[vbrad511]

With as many issues as TEP has had, and as many people they've screwed, it may do them justice if somebody were to forward this thread to them so they see how many folks spread the bad word about them.

[Nick7]

I called him for a list of parts. He didn't have one part in. He had the part the next day early and called me so I can place an order. Now that is what u call good Business. And on top of that He does very good machine work. I recommend him over anyone! Thanks Dad for the help...