Alternative CMCV delete plate brand to avoid

Posting this as I'm still currently dealing with this.

Rapid Precision Machining and Fab in Pompano Beach, Fl, and its owner, Adam Louramore, try to sell a CNC-made CMCV delete plate for the 4.6L 3V engines. They look almost identical to the Steeda billet plates, with one small exception: they do not fit the OEM gasket.

In speaking with the owner, he stated that he uses a generic bulk string, cuts to a specific length, and superglues the ends together to make a "gasket." I've seen that level of hackery done in an emergency in the back woods - not on a legitimate car, especially one meant for daily driving. CA is not meant for the temps it would see in that spot on a car, nor the vibration.

I received some plates, noticed the gasket issue, returned them to be done with OE gaskets. I never received the items, the owner is silent, and I have no refund. I went out and bought others. Sadly, both eBay and Paypal can't pull their heads out of their butts regarding this, and are find with theft. Seriously. They don't care, as I've been fighting this for months on end. Supposed resolution deadlines come and go.

My point for making this is to *AVOID* this "business" and its owner, who is a thief. Save yourself the headache of losing money for nothing, and the product would require a custom-fit gasket that nobody makes (except with superglue, apparently).

If I see any resolution, I'll update, but this is tedious and I have no future plans to buy anything from eBay or use Paypal/Venmo again. The single time I've needed protection in about twenty years, it's been as useless and incompetent as the plates the thief business owner is trying to hock online. Run. Run fast.

Googling his name shows he worked at Steeda as a machinist. He hasnt been active on social media since last year. Something may have happened to him.

It's easy enough to convert your original CMCV assembly into delete plates. This would allow you to retain the OEM gaskets and save a bunch of $$$.

https://www.angelfire.com/my/fan/Mustang2006GT/CMDP.html

I have a '10 and was switching it out to the earlier type with aluminum plates. The Steeda CMCV delete plugs for the later all-plastic intakes are bad at sealing, and with time, will leak. Not a great solution, and Steeda stopped selling them. It's been regular maintenance to ensure they seal, but I'm not in the mood to keep doing it, hence the plates. I had already modified the original intake runners, removing the butterflies. The all-plastic manifolds have no viable option for modification, hence the switch to the earlier plastic/aluminum plenum/CMCV plates.

I've seen the original plates have the butterflies pulled, and JB weld (steel-filled epoxy) filling the holes. It isn't an ideal solution, and on par with the Steeda plugs from what I've seen. Trying to find a welder to either weld them shut, or fill in with some high temp solder.

I have a pair of plates and an old intake now. The hope is to keep it stock should I ever put the car back to stock or take out the tune. Error codes happen putting the factory tune to the car, even with the CMCV motor still attached and hooked up, just doing nothing other than rotating the stumped shafts (later went this method due to the Steeda plugs leaking).

My point in this thread is to alert others so they can avoid the potential for headaches and hours of wasted time across months, not getting a part, or their money.

Of note, called the guy today as he'd given me his phone number a while back. He wound up calling me a "jerkoff" when I'd asked about the refund, laughed at me for the amount of money, and hung up. I called them a thief and mapped out the legal action I was setting up. Later has been texting me, trying to act apologetic, as I called Paypal yet again. I've been doing this with them for a while. Finally got a person who spent 10 minutes reading all the info, sided with me, closed the case, and I have the refund.

The seller was still sending texts and an eBay message after the fact. I said goodbye and won't respond.

Point of all this: avoid the seller unless you like spending 4 months tying up money and having to work to get it back.

As for the CMCV plates, I'll eventually find or make a pair from OE, and should've done that, though I was trying to save time. So much for that. Is what it is, and I'm moving on. Enough energy has been wasted on this whole ordeal, but I hope someone reads this and avoids the headache.

jewc75 said:

Googling his name shows he worked at Steeda as a machinist. He hasnt been active on social media since last year. Something may have happened to him.

Click to expand...

His plates are identical to the Steeda parts, minus the OE gasket groove. Makes me think they're early Steeda prototypes or copies.

A-788 Splash Zone epoxy is what Reher Morrison uses to reshape intake ports. I'm sure it would be the best choice for your induction.

I have installed N20 bungs in several intakes that have been filled with this epoxy, and surprisingly it held up to the heat of welding. I was sure that it would not.

As for the plates being machined for an o-ring groove rather than the OE gasket, I haven't seen the gasket, but I'm sure it is a much more complicated toolpath with substantially increased engineering and programming. Most companies wouldn't bother because the price doesn't justify the expense. Nobody would write a one-off program for that. Programming an o-ring groove is much easier.

With that being said, when I program an o-ring groove, even an irregular shape, I do my best to use a standard off-the-shelf o-ring however, It is not always possible to do that. I have done many without issues.

Custom o-rings are common. What you refer to as "generic bulk string" is o-ring cord stock (https://www.mcmaster.com/9696K31/). If you purchase custom o-rings from an o-ring supplier, this is what you will get. There is nothing wrong with that, especially in a static face-seal application. Viton fluoroelastomer (what I would use) has a temperature rating up to 400-degrees F and works just fine in the OE seals.

The epoxy would need to be long term resistant to the typical heat range and chemicals. I will look at the datasets that I can find.

The O ring path these plates used was identical to the OE path, only shallower. Had it been roughly 0.1" deeper, the OE gasket would have functioned normally.

I can't comment on why or why not the offer to retool for OE gasket was made, but the seller did not at all deliver on this offer or claim. The insinuation was that it was "no big deal" and would take a week to finished. Two months later, no items.

Regarding the cord stock, that is supposition, because the seller only gave the base dimension, and never any material stated, nor specific type of CA glue adhesive. O rings supposedly shipped with the plates. The reality was also different than the claim.

I've resolved the issue already and the car is finished, so one less problem. Still, I would avoid the seller. Empty promises and name calling.