The problem is that this shit will NEVER completely come off this cover without a shitload of work that I'm not willing to put into it. It's not complete trash, but its not anything like what I expected. Once again Vlad is right and I feel like I should have fucking known better, based on everything I've read.

I always feel like I need to give someone a chance before I completely write them off. BEGi has been in the Miata business for a long time and I always try to support vendors who support development for the platform. I buy shit from 949 and TSE all the time even though I get screwed on CA sales tax because I try to support businesses that support my hobby. That's literally the only reason I sent it to BEGi.

I don't even feel like filing a paypal dispute or calling and complaining.

Don't file a Paypal dispute. DO call and complain. That's ridiculous.

Definitely call and complain. At first I saw the images and assumed you took it to some local bro's shop in your town, but this work is from BEGI? Surely they are smart enough to know not to powdercoat the threads and cam sensor provision, even if you had not have left a nice note for them.

That's messed up, I've never been on the BEGI hate train (lots of begi parts on my car I'm happy with), but that's ghetto.

That said, I'd still clean it up and run it, just not what i expect from a legit miata specialty shop at all.

The problem is that there is a good chance your cam sensor won't seat properly, and you're gonna damage your oil filler cap or flake that crap off into your engine when it eventually crumbles and cause all sorts of issues.

that's what the problem is.

it takes an IQ of 2 to make those two mistakes.

Yeah, I agree. I just don't heave time to deal with this kind of crap right now.

Agreed on all points. This looks like the VHT Wrinkle Black I did a couple years ago when I didn't use enough heat. Its just absolutely not what I was expecting and it looks nothing like what's on their website. Camera difference notwithstanding.

I've never been on the BEGi hate train either. I've done business with the 3 times now and never had any real complaints (until now obviously.) They ported the housing on my GT2560R and while its not as aggressive as some I've seen, it was still quality work. They did a 2.5" dia 5" long section of aluminum tube with a 3/8" NPT bung welded into it about 2 years ago. The welds were "meh" and I had to take a tap to the threads to get my GM IAT actually into the airflow, but it wasn't something that I would complain about and it wasn't important enough to worry about.

Also, just to clarify: They didn't powdercoat the threads for the cam sensor, or even the hole for the cam sensor, they powdercoated the FACE that the cam sensor locates on, the face that determines the distance between the nubs on the cam pulley and the face of the sensor itself. Mazda bothered to machine this face flat and parallel into the face of the valve cover, probably because, you know, its important?

You are absolutely right, this is not what I expect from a Miata specialty shop.

Both those reasons are EXACTLY why I asked that the threads & sealing surface not be coated, and the boss where the cam sensor mounts to not be coated. I politely requested these 2 things specifically in the inquiry emails I sent to Stephanie while I was working out the details and included the handwritten instructions.

I'm more disappointed than anything else. I'll send them an email with pics and follow up with a phone call tomorrow morning. I'm not going to have time to get into it with them today before business hours are over in Texas.

That's seriously one of the worst powdercoating jobs i've ever seen, and i'm not even convinced that it IS powdercoat.

Like... that's holy shit bad.

And there's no way in HELL i'd even bolt that to a head as is. It needs to be completely stripped and cleaned again. I did better work than that when i was 18 years old cleaning by hand and hanging parts under a damn infrared heat lamp.

Do you have another valve cover? If you have to put your car back together NOW then you can always strip it and install it and worry about it later, you have photo proof.

I just cringe when I see the photos. What a crappy job they did.

Yep, not arguing any of those points. I agree 100%

I do have another valve cover, but that's not the point. This one was grabbed from the classifieds here some months ago specifically for this purpose.

Ok, to be absolutely fair I never dealt directly with Corky, but that right there is some funny as shit. :bowrofl:

The only thing I can figure is they subcontract this stuff out and do absolutely no in-house QC before it goes out the door. If they are doing it in-house, they need to reevaluate their process.

Pics sent with email indicating my displeasure and I will follow it up with a phone call tomorrow, right now I need to get back to work. I'm going to give them them like, one chance to make this right. I have no patience for this kind of crap.

Not to beat a dead horse but I shit you not my rattle can wrinkle black vc looks better than that

Begi is taking the cover back and swapping with a non coated on, plus refund. Done and done (well, once I get the clean one back.) Turning out better than I expected.

Well, I guess it's good to know they at least came through with some reasonable support after a problem. Sounds like it was about the best they could do for you, considering.

My powder coater would flip his shit if one of his employees handed off something like that to a customer.

If you want it done perfect, my guy does it super cheap. Plus he doesn't charge me for sandblasting.

I am sad that you were passed off such garbage work. Makes me a-scared to order my reroute spacer from them which should be unscrewupable...

Your thread tags are hilarious. So confidence, very success!

Yep. The results suck, but support (thus far) has been fine. The admitted it sucked and offered to replace it. I'll be sure to updated the situation if there are issues working out the replacement. This is going in the mail before noon today. I'm really hoping the replacement gets here before I leave for vacation.

I know, I have no idea what they were thinking. If I'd have been contacted and told "Hey, this came back from the coater and its shit. We can replace it and refund you or we can find another cover and try again, what would you like to do?" I would have been a lot more impressed. I'd rather have that than "yeah, we didn't think you'd like it either" and then waste my time.

I found a local guy who does coating that I want to check out. He has some decent looking stuff posted on his website, plus I can go look him in the face and explain exactly what I want. I have a feeling he's going to be ÜBER EXPENSIVE based on all the exotics on his site. I've got Mazda money, not Ferrari money. Depending on how that turns out, I'll shoot you a PM :bigtu:

Just make sure it actually has the recess cut into the face for the thermostat and you should be fine. Also, be aware there can be clearance issues with the top of the bell housing on some cars, depending on the casting of the transmission case. Oh, and make sure the threads are cut deep enough that the sensors seal properly and actually end up in the flow of coolant ... :giggle:

I tend to take myself too seriously and I end up frustrated and angry all the time. Gotta poke some fun while I can. Miata r srs bsns :rofl:

You know what's really really quiet? A DW200 is really really quiet.

I installed it last Thursday and its kinda scary how stealth this thing is. I also think my car is now running a consistent full point richer than it was with the Walbro 190HP. I'll do a bit of VEAL tomorrow at lunch and see if it pulls a bunch of fuel out of the table.

That is good to know. I think I have a stock pump in my car with how high the duty cycle seems to be.

I'll have to check out pricing on them.

DW pumps are full-on win.

Except the DW300 that I installed last week into a subaru that was a complete and utter POS and literally died after 2 starts.

Had good results with my dw200 in the miata though, worked like a boss.

Thats good to know. I sound deadened the shit out of my 190hp and I can still hear that annoying whine at idle.