I bought an engine from Bowers too! He said three weeks and it wound up being eight months. I went the same route, called the Ft. Collins P.D. and was instructed to send him a letter of my intent which I did. There is a fella in his neck of the woods that is a Private Investigator. The Name of his company is Alfa Omega Investigations. The owner of Larry, treated me like a king. I got immediate action out of him with serving Bret papers. Try this guy boys, He is a proffesional.
As for Bret, I'm a business owner myself and am understanding on how a guy like him can get behind. That was why I was so patient. I was also putting my car my car together and didn't need it right away. Like you folks, I sent him a ton of money to get him working without having him pull it out of his pocket.
Well the engine arrived and THEN i allowed payment. I took it out of the box and put it right on our dyno. It made 1078 hp. Ran like a cadillac and was happy with the results. Things I did'nt like about it that still piss me off are:
1. It's got a cheapo balancer on it with a nail for a timing tab!
2. Had head bolts instead of studs.
3. Had the wrong oil pan on it.
4. Had used carbs on it. Which after I did some reserch, found out are really expensive, and cost twice as much as I requested. So I guess it's a wash. I wanted new shit because it's a show car.
5. It arrived with no carb linkage, ignition wires or fuel lines. He later sent some brand new stuff out to me.
6. He still owes me a starter and fluid dampre which I'm sure I'll never see.
7. There were NO spring buckets under the valve springs!!!! It also had crappy valve seals.
8. I paid for a 4-7 swap cam and it wasn't in there... It still made plenty of power so I'm not upset about that.
There are some other little things but WTF, at least I have the engine.
Bret is a really nice guy who builds an awsome engine. He is just a terrible business man. He needs to go get a job where he can still build great engines all day and not be liable for peoples cash. On a final note, I hope that you guys get your money back or what you paid for.