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Author Topic:   Blackbird Industries

18Whaler posted 12-29-2007 05:30 PM ET (US)
[Seeks respondents with first-hand experiences in] dealing with Blackbird Industries in West Sunbury, Pennsylvania.
jimh posted 12-29-2007 06:12 PM ET (US)
There are some prior discussions in the archives on this topic. However, I encourage anyone with first-hand experience to contribute to this discussion. No dock talk, please. If you have been a customer of Blackbird Industries, please reply.
Sal DiMercurio posted 12-30-2007 12:05 AM ET (US)
My buddy scored a cylinder on his 1997 - 70 hp Johnson 2 stroke, with less than 400 hours on it.
He bought a 75 e-tech & the dealer was only going to give him $500 trade in for his engine, so I gave him $500 instead.
Pulled the power head off & sent it to Blackbird in Penn., from Calif., to be re-built, because 2 buddies of mine [ from back east ] had their engines re-built by Mike, with good results, plus a good report from my buddy Dunk in NJ, as we talked for over an hour on the phone about this, before doing anything.
I sent the power head, a check for $1,800 & I had the power head back in 3 weeks.
Put it back together, mounted it on a Bob's machine shop 5" setback jack plate, put on a 19p s/s prop & this engine runs absolutely flawless.
I did get rid of the vro [ fuel pump assembly ] & installed just a regular fuel pump without vro, & let me tell you, I put 180 hours on this engine in the last 14 months, with about 125 trolling hours.
This is one sweet running engine, thanks to Blackbird.
I've seen posts from people that heard second & third hand that BB did this, & BB did that, & they weren't happy, but I believe, much of their stories were either made up, or 2nd hand, with a bit added.
My experience is, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to call Mike, & have him do the work.
Yeh, it's strange that I sent my engine 3,000 miles away, but I've heard excellent things about Mike, & I trust my buddy Dunk's advice, & I wasn't disappointed.
The engine came back already broken in & ready to go, with very minimal break in time left.
I use nothing but, XD50 oil, Carbon Guard with every tank full, & Chevron fuel, & there's just no way I could ask for better performance.
Sal
ioptfm posted 01-13-2008 05:16 PM ET (US)
I have first hand experience with Blackbird and it was horrible. I will glady share the entire ordeal with anyone that would like to hear about it via email. If the moderator would like, I will send to him and he can decide if it should be posted. Face value, stay away from the junk they put out. I also have photos to back up my experience. tfmurph@bellsouth.net or ioptfm@aol.com
scottwell posted 05-02-2008 09:00 PM ET (US)
If you are considering a outboard engine or power head from Ebay Seller 1outboard also know as Blackbird Industries, stay away. This fellow will sell you a good talk, but doesn't live up to it. I personally trailered my 24' Wellcraft for him to do a powerhead replacement. He quoted me a price of $3450.00, but when he and his unskilled bunch of ragtag helpers were done, the bill was $4452.00. He said that was because my crankshaft was shot. If I would have just had the motor shipped and the crankshaft was bad, I would have lost the core deposit of $350.00, not $750.00 for a crank, the balance was Pa. Sales tax. Being that I paid him $4000.00 in cash, I hope he reported it to the IRS,because I will after dealing with this whack job.

Don't go now, there's more!!!!!! I took my boat to my marina to put it in its slip, and after just 10 hours of use, the engine would start and idle, but when shifted into gear,it would die. I thought maybe something was caught in the prop......there was alright. Old parts, pieces of a piston and rings,as well as a piston connecting rod wrist pin, which completely wiped out my prop and destroyed the exhaust chamber of the lower unit.........I had to pull the lower unit and get this stuff out, this was on a Saturday, I immediately sent Mike Demayo, owner of 1outboard also know as Blackbird Industries the following email:

Mike,
I currently have 10 hours on the engine you installed on 3/21/2008, the engine is running great except for one major detail. Parts were left in the exhaust portion of the middle unit, which made it to the gear case, destroying the gear case and prop, which you will see in the couple of pictures I have put in the email. I am assuming that these are old pieces of the old powerhead,because the engine is running great.
Today, while boating, at a no wake speed, the engine quit and seemed like there was something caught in the prop, well there was, a piston wrist pin caught in there and two large pieces of a piston with some ring still on it. That may have been overlooked while the new powerhead was being installed.After being towed back to my slip, I removed the prop, and got one piece of the piston out and the wrist pin. the other piece was so large,that I had to remove the lower unit and fish the other piece out.
The total damage to my engine is the lower unit and my prop. Is there some way that you'll be able to cover this under the warranty? Or how will we solve this issue? Please get in touch with me asap by phone, or email. Home phone 610-xxx-xxxx, cell phone 610-xxx-xxxx and email **********@aoldotcom .
Thanks,
S

His Response via Email was:

That is a freak thing . WE dont remove the exhaust system to rrebuild a powerhead although you probaly think we should but you cant really do that cost effectively. We did remove the lowerunit to replace the water pump at that time nothing fell out they must of got stuck in the exaust cavity where you are unable to see them. You should call your insurance co or we can call them for you thats why you have insurance.

So I called him and he told me to call the insurance company, then he also said to call my homeowners and see if the would cover it......sounds like an insurance fraud job if I ever heard one.
He said he'd send me a replacement lower unit, but I'd have to send him an additional $1000.00 and he was going to deduct shipping, and didn't even mention the prop. I just wanted to let all the good people looking for an outboard engine to look elsewhere. [This author cited other links regarding Blackbird Industries. Please note that we do not collect lists of links to other resoureces. We are only interested in first-hand account of dealings with this vendor, and we do not collect lists of links to other discussions about this vendor.--jimh]
I'm filing a formal complaint with the Attorney General of Pa., I am also in the process of letting the Better Business Bureau know of his dealings, and I am considering suing him in claims court.
jimh posted 05-11-2008 04:25 PM ET (US)
To scottwellYour situation is unfortunate, however, since Blackbird Industries was tasked with rebuilding the power head, it does create a situation where there is some lack of clarity about who was responsible for the failure to tear down and inspect the mid section and gear case. Did you specifically task Blackbird with that job?
Regarding the notion that Blackbird Industries is suggesting you perpetrate a fraud against your insurance company, could you explain this further? It seems to me that your engine was damaged in the original incident, including the displacement of some of the components into the exhaust path, and it was only later that the full extent of the damage was revealed. My experience is that most insurance policies will cover latent damage which manifests itself after the initial assessment of the incident has been made. I do not believe that asking for coverage for damage which manifested itself only some time after the initial incident would constitute an attempt to defraud the insurance carrier.
After giving it some further thought, I think I understand how the components lodged in the exhaust path caused the damage to your propeller--they must have been dislodged and blown out the exhaust via the thru-hub exhaust, where they damaged the propeller. The propeller strike then caused damage to the gears.
Even if this were not considered as covered under the original incident, it seems to me that it represents a new incident which should be covered under insurance.
As far as I can tell, the power head that was rebuilt by Blackbird worked perfectly for scottwell. His problem was related to the initial damage, not to the rebuilt power head.
jimh posted 05-12-2008 11:59 PM ET (US)
PLEASE NOTE:
This discussion is intended for participation by persons with first-hand experience with Blackbird Industries.
CONTINUOUSWAVE does not track or collect information about how other websites are administered, how they treat particular vendors, or how they may accept money from vendors.
CONTINUOUSWAVE does not provide automated notification to people or entities when they are mentioned here. If anyone or any entity would like to be notified when they are mentioned in CONTINUOUSWAVE, I would be glad to provide that service to them. Please contact me to discuss the fees associated with providing that service.
CONTINUOUSWAVE has removed articles which it believes to be fraudulent or intentionally misleading. We do not routinely investigate every article or every person who participates. If we become aware of fraudulent or misleading material posted here, we remove it.
A number of articles posted to this discussion have been removed because they did not contain any first-hand information about experiences in dealing with Blackbird Industries.
jimh posted 05-13-2008 11:59 AM ET (US)
This discussion is for customers of Blackbird Industries. Please do not initiate discussions about the discussion. If you wish to initiate a discussion about the discussion, use the META-Discussion. The META-Discussion is a discussion area whose topic is the discussions themselves.

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Author	Topic: Blackbird Industries
18Whaler	posted 12-29-2007 05:30 PM ET (US) [Seeks respondents with first-hand experiences in] dealing with Blackbird Industries in West Sunbury, Pennsylvania.
jimh	posted 12-29-2007 06:12 PM ET (US) There are some prior discussions in the archives on this topic. However, I encourage anyone with first-hand experience to contribute to this discussion. No dock talk, please. If you have been a customer of Blackbird Industries, please reply.
Sal DiMercurio	posted 12-30-2007 12:05 AM ET (US) My buddy scored a cylinder on his 1997 - 70 hp Johnson 2 stroke, with less than 400 hours on it. He bought a 75 e-tech & the dealer was only going to give him $500 trade in for his engine, so I gave him $500 instead. Pulled the power head off & sent it to Blackbird in Penn., from Calif., to be re-built, because 2 buddies of mine [ from back east ] had their engines re-built by Mike, with good results, plus a good report from my buddy Dunk in NJ, as we talked for over an hour on the phone about this, before doing anything. I sent the power head, a check for $1,800 & I had the power head back in 3 weeks. Put it back together, mounted it on a Bob's machine shop 5" setback jack plate, put on a 19p s/s prop & this engine runs absolutely flawless. I did get rid of the vro [ fuel pump assembly ] & installed just a regular fuel pump without vro, & let me tell you, I put 180 hours on this engine in the last 14 months, with about 125 trolling hours. This is one sweet running engine, thanks to Blackbird. I've seen posts from people that heard second & third hand that BB did this, & BB did that, & they weren't happy, but I believe, much of their stories were either made up, or 2nd hand, with a bit added. My experience is, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to call Mike, & have him do the work. Yeh, it's strange that I sent my engine 3,000 miles away, but I've heard excellent things about Mike, & I trust my buddy Dunk's advice, & I wasn't disappointed. The engine came back already broken in & ready to go, with very minimal break in time left. I use nothing but, XD50 oil, Carbon Guard with every tank full, & Chevron fuel, & there's just no way I could ask for better performance. Sal
ioptfm	posted 01-13-2008 05:16 PM ET (US) I have first hand experience with Blackbird and it was horrible. I will glady share the entire ordeal with anyone that would like to hear about it via email. If the moderator would like, I will send to him and he can decide if it should be posted. Face value, stay away from the junk they put out. I also have photos to back up my experience. tfmurph@bellsouth.net or ioptfm@aol.com
scottwell	posted 05-02-2008 09:00 PM ET (US) If you are considering a outboard engine or power head from Ebay Seller 1outboard also know as Blackbird Industries, stay away. This fellow will sell you a good talk, but doesn't live up to it. I personally trailered my 24' Wellcraft for him to do a powerhead replacement. He quoted me a price of $3450.00, but when he and his unskilled bunch of ragtag helpers were done, the bill was $4452.00. He said that was because my crankshaft was shot. If I would have just had the motor shipped and the crankshaft was bad, I would have lost the core deposit of $350.00, not $750.00 for a crank, the balance was Pa. Sales tax. Being that I paid him $4000.00 in cash, I hope he reported it to the IRS,because I will after dealing with this whack job. Don't go now, there's more!!!!!! I took my boat to my marina to put it in its slip, and after just 10 hours of use, the engine would start and idle, but when shifted into gear,it would die. I thought maybe something was caught in the prop......there was alright. Old parts, pieces of a piston and rings,as well as a piston connecting rod wrist pin, which completely wiped out my prop and destroyed the exhaust chamber of the lower unit.........I had to pull the lower unit and get this stuff out, this was on a Saturday, I immediately sent Mike Demayo, owner of 1outboard also know as Blackbird Industries the following email: Mike, I currently have 10 hours on the engine you installed on 3/21/2008, the engine is running great except for one major detail. Parts were left in the exhaust portion of the middle unit, which made it to the gear case, destroying the gear case and prop, which you will see in the couple of pictures I have put in the email. I am assuming that these are old pieces of the old powerhead,because the engine is running great. Today, while boating, at a no wake speed, the engine quit and seemed like there was something caught in the prop, well there was, a piston wrist pin caught in there and two large pieces of a piston with some ring still on it. That may have been overlooked while the new powerhead was being installed.After being towed back to my slip, I removed the prop, and got one piece of the piston out and the wrist pin. the other piece was so large,that I had to remove the lower unit and fish the other piece out. The total damage to my engine is the lower unit and my prop. Is there some way that you'll be able to cover this under the warranty? Or how will we solve this issue? Please get in touch with me asap by phone, or email. Home phone 610-xxx-xxxx, cell phone 610-xxx-xxxx and email **********@aoldotcom . Thanks, S His Response via Email was: That is a freak thing . WE dont remove the exhaust system to rrebuild a powerhead although you probaly think we should but you cant really do that cost effectively. We did remove the lowerunit to replace the water pump at that time nothing fell out they must of got stuck in the exaust cavity where you are unable to see them. You should call your insurance co or we can call them for you thats why you have insurance. So I called him and he told me to call the insurance company, then he also said to call my homeowners and see if the would cover it......sounds like an insurance fraud job if I ever heard one. He said he'd send me a replacement lower unit, but I'd have to send him an additional $1000.00 and he was going to deduct shipping, and didn't even mention the prop. I just wanted to let all the good people looking for an outboard engine to look elsewhere. [This author cited other links regarding Blackbird Industries. Please note that we do not collect lists of links to other resoureces. We are only interested in first-hand account of dealings with this vendor, and we do not collect lists of links to other discussions about this vendor.--jimh] I'm filing a formal complaint with the Attorney General of Pa., I am also in the process of letting the Better Business Bureau know of his dealings, and I am considering suing him in claims court.
jimh	posted 05-11-2008 04:25 PM ET (US) To scottwellYour situation is unfortunate, however, since Blackbird Industries was tasked with rebuilding the power head, it does create a situation where there is some lack of clarity about who was responsible for the failure to tear down and inspect the mid section and gear case. Did you specifically task Blackbird with that job? Regarding the notion that Blackbird Industries is suggesting you perpetrate a fraud against your insurance company, could you explain this further? It seems to me that your engine was damaged in the original incident, including the displacement of some of the components into the exhaust path, and it was only later that the full extent of the damage was revealed. My experience is that most insurance policies will cover latent damage which manifests itself after the initial assessment of the incident has been made. I do not believe that asking for coverage for damage which manifested itself only some time after the initial incident would constitute an attempt to defraud the insurance carrier. After giving it some further thought, I think I understand how the components lodged in the exhaust path caused the damage to your propeller--they must have been dislodged and blown out the exhaust via the thru-hub exhaust, where they damaged the propeller. The propeller strike then caused damage to the gears. Even if this were not considered as covered under the original incident, it seems to me that it represents a new incident which should be covered under insurance. As far as I can tell, the power head that was rebuilt by Blackbird worked perfectly for scottwell. His problem was related to the initial damage, not to the rebuilt power head.
jimh	posted 05-12-2008 11:59 PM ET (US) PLEASE NOTE: This discussion is intended for participation by persons with first-hand experience with Blackbird Industries. CONTINUOUSWAVE does not track or collect information about how other websites are administered, how they treat particular vendors, or how they may accept money from vendors. CONTINUOUSWAVE does not provide automated notification to people or entities when they are mentioned here. If anyone or any entity would like to be notified when they are mentioned in CONTINUOUSWAVE, I would be glad to provide that service to them. Please contact me to discuss the fees associated with providing that service. CONTINUOUSWAVE has removed articles which it believes to be fraudulent or intentionally misleading. We do not routinely investigate every article or every person who participates. If we become aware of fraudulent or misleading material posted here, we remove it. A number of articles posted to this discussion have been removed because they did not contain any first-hand information about experiences in dealing with Blackbird Industries.
jimh	posted 05-13-2008 11:59 AM ET (US) This discussion is for customers of Blackbird Industries. Please do not initiate discussions about the discussion. If you wish to initiate a discussion about the discussion, use the META-Discussion. The META-Discussion is a discussion area whose topic is the discussions themselves.