I gave them my 440 engine for machine work with a list of everything I wanted checked/repaired. It needed to be bored for oversized pistons, so I told them to tell me what size pistons I would need to order since I had specific ones picked out for my build. 2 wks later they tell me my engine was ready and that they just ordered stock compression oversized pistons. I said that's not what I wanted, I wanted a specific compression ratio. They said ok, and ordered 2 diff. sets to get the correct compression pistons. When I got the engine back, the deck surface was not resurfaced. They said it looked 'fine' and didn't need to be resurfaced, even though it had impressions of the original headgaskets. I asked what brand bearings and rings they used and did not get a specific answer. When I went to install the lifters, most of them would not slide into their bores because they were not cleaned or dressed well enough and had buildup. I had to carefully clean the lifter bores without getting debris inside the engine. The initial fire up and cam break in went good, except for a considerable rear main seal oil leak that started about 10 min. into break-in. I drained the break-in oil and found it looked like silver paint. I filled it with fresh oil, changed the filter and ran it again. The engine had good oil psi, didn't make any abnormal noise but continued to leak. I changed the oil again after about an hour of run-time, and the oil that came out still looked like silver paint. I removed the oil pan and replaced the rear main seal. I removed a main bearing cap while the pan was down and the bearing did NOT look like it only had 1.5 hours on it. I reinstalled the oil pan, changed the filter and filled it with new oil. I drove the car around the neighborhood for about 10 miles and my oil leak was back, and I was starting to hear some internal noise from the engine. I listened with a stethoscope and heard the noise from the crankshaft area. I also noticed the crankshaft walking in and out while running. I then checked for crankshaft thrust play with a prybar, it was excessive. I took another oil sample, it still looked like silver paint. I spoke with John at Markham, he told me to remove the engine and he would take care of it. I removed the engine and cylinder heads and found the #8 cylinder had deep grooves and scratch marks on the top and opposite bottom of the cylinder. I removed the #8 piston and found the piston was gouged badly near the ring lands corresponding with the scratch marks in the cylinder. The cam and lifters looked perfect when removed and were not damaged during the break-in process. When I dropped off the engine, John was confused about the marks in the cylinder and piston. I provided dated oil samples from each oil change I did to show him what the oil looked like. I showed him pictures I took of the main bearings when I had the oil pan off and he said they look 'fine'...I disagree. I called about a month later, he did not have any update for me. 6 wks after that, he still didn't have any answers for me. I was frustrated and told him I was going to pick up the engine and have it repaired somewhere else. When I showed up the next day to pick it up, he said to me 'You know your engine is all apart, don't you?' I told him I did not because I had not heard ANY updates from you. I asked what he found wrong with it and he didn't know what was wrong with it. As I was loading up the parts, I noticed all of the bearings were gone. I asked where they were and no one could find them...I was told they were thrown away. Now the engine is at a much more professional shop, I am waiting on the estimate for what exactly the problem is and how much it will cost to fix. I would NOT recommend Markham Machine Shop to anyone. I am told they used to be a good, reputable shop but I can say from experience they are no longer. read more

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