Freshly ported D16Z6 head arrived damaged

I started putting my D16Z6 together & my head arrived by USPS in a double bag, the container was destroyed & the head had been dropped on every corner & the distributor/cam is broken. Don't know why the porter shipped it in a plastic tub. He zipped tied the lid on but shouldn't have used a plastic tub. After looking at the pics he thinks he can salvage it. I requested a He is working on another head for me & wants this one back to remove my Supertech springs & the seals to put in the new one. When I shipped it to him, I just double wrapped it in cardboard, taped it up tight & it arrived just fine. He is a very highly respected Honda ported on all of the Honda forums. The re-assembly is going well & hopefully the new one arrives in better shape.

ouch.. that does seriously suck

I have a standard for shipping stuff, if it wont handle being dropped from 6 feet onto concrete multiple times, it isn't packed well enough!

My standard is whether it can survive being used as a football at a Jags game (FUMBLED!).

Ive worked in a parts room before, and I have seen places pack 10 pounds of steel into a bubble-wrap lined envelope. The end results were never good. And I hated doing RMAs.

The Rubbermaid containers work fine with just a hair of prep work.

I put some cardboard in the bottom, put item inside 2-3 heavy duty garbage bags, add expanding foam, use shipping tape for the lid.

Bang.

U need a new head.

z31maniac wrote: The Rubbermaid containers work fine with just a hair of prep work. I put some cardboard in the bottom, put item inside 2-3 heavy duty garbage bags, add expanding foam, use shipping tape for the lid. Bang.

I did that to ship some stuff to sweden. I am sure that the custom's people loved it

z31maniac wrote: The Rubbermaid containers work fine with just a hair of prep work. I put some cardboard in the bottom, put item inside 2-3 heavy duty garbage bags, add expanding foam, use shipping tape for the lid. Bang.

You would have been impressed on how I shipped 150lb diff.

1. 1 plastic tub w/ locking lid
2. a E36 M3 load of cardboard
3. some misc bubble wrap
4. 1 roll of duct tape.

1. you need a new head to be, in the legal parlance of your claim, "made whole".

You sent a good head and the shipper berkeleyed up. Period.

I shipped 3 freight shipments in the past year or so 2 1000cc motorcycle engines and an enormous 1980s stereo receiver. The engines had all sensors removed, polyethylene foam "corners" taped and zip-tied all over, then they were wrapped in 4-8 plies of corrugated cardboard, taped, then thoroughly stretch-wrapped. This was placed on a pallet, 2x4 cleats screwed down around it to prevent shifting, and it was finally strapped down w/ 4 (harbor freight) ratchet tie-downs.

For the receiver, I triple trash bagged it, sat it on a slab of polyethylene foam in a box that was 2" bigger side-side and front-back, 4" deeper, and foamed it in place. This box was sealed and placed in a bigger box w/ polyethylene foam on all sides. The outer box had a piece of plywood stretch wrapped on top and was palletized with 2x4 cleats and 4 tie downs.

All three arrived as shipped. The receiver was upside down an a pile of machinery in the truck when it arrived but was perfect in it's crate.

You have to assume a drop onto a corner from 6', multiple times. Imagine that a pallet jack left unsecured in a 53' trailer will ram it repeatedly for 2000 miles. Pack to resist that.

I dont believe it's the shippers fault it got dropped and berkeleyed all to hell- sounds like UPS's fault ot me.

friend of mine works for UPS.. he started packing trucks.. they have very little time to get the stuff into the truck, so stuff literally gets thrown

mad_machine wrote: friend of mine works for UPS.. he started packing trucks.. they have very little time to get the stuff into the truck, so stuff literally gets thrown

If you can throw a gigantic crate with a head in it- you're stronger than me!

mad_machine wrote: friend of mine works for UPS.. he started packing trucks.. they have very little time to get the stuff into the truck, so stuff literally gets thrown

Yup......I've seen that happen too......

I've had a few heads arrive in boxes that were frightful...

but so far nothing has happened concerning heads I've shipped. I typically will triple layer the bottom of the box with corrugated cardboard, lay the head in the center to allow me enough room to pack dense packing materials(newspaper, bent/folded/shaped pieces of corrugated cardboard to keep the head stable finally allowing for packing materials to cover the top of the head. I've found the key to a heads safe arrival is stability inside the box. The less movement... the less damage

About the headwork..... I know the seals have not been used.... but once installed... those seals may fail do to the fact that they were already installed and so MAY be distorted enough to not properly fit once re-installed.

I always wrap mine in plastic (heavy trash bag), then one layer of 1" styrofoam insulation board, then a layer or two of cardboard. Every one I've shipped has arrived damage free.

I would say hold on to the damaged one until he ships you a rebuilt replacement then return damaged one to him.

You don't want a damaged and then repaired head on your car (you shipped him a good one you deserve a good one back). If it was dropped as you say on all corners it probably needs to be checked for cracks and decked.

You don't want to re use the seals on another head. You want new seals that have not been deformed due to install / removal / reinstall. (you paid for new seals not re used ones.

I blame the shipper. Everyone knows that UPS treats things like crap. Package things accordingly

On a side note. INSURE YOUR SHIPMENTS. I stress this to everyone that sends me steering shafts to be rebuilt. I have never had one that is insured get lost or damaged.

Ones that are not insured get the crap kicked out of them. I hade one show up and it looked like the package had been submerged in a pond or something for a couple days. I have had some just go missing. I insure everything I ship for the retail value of the product plus my time to deal with a lost shipment and something for the customer as they are really the ones that are being put out. Since in most cases customers have sent me there core for rebuild so there car is down waiting on the rebuilt part to arrive. If my shipment goes missing and I have to ship another one asap (usually overnight) while things get sorted out with the shipping company.

Insuring my shipments has made all this go away.

I'll be damn if I ship my E36 M3 in cardboard, then have my reworked, mucho more expensive E36 M3 returned in berkeleying cardboard.

I crate everything. I use roof sheating... prolly 3/4" thick on sides and bottom, plywood top, furring strips for handles, all screwed together w/ drywall or deck screws. Couple layers of 1/2" sheet foam insulation on bottom and sides. Spray-in foam insulation or cardboard to fill gaps when needed. When building plan on leaving enough room for the foam insulation around the parts.

I sent cranks, heads etc. from Pa. to Fla., NY and the Midwest and returned in same crates w/ no damage. Just make sure it's known they will return in same crate. I'll gladly pay the extra shipping weight cost for crate vs. cardboard box.

Received a few kudos from the engine shops for my crates. I kinda think they wish everybody would do it that way. After the engine build the crates make good track day boxes for you name it.

This is the shipper's fault, it wasn't properly packed. Our guys have the guidelines from UPS as to what should be expected in transit, and it basically involves falling off a second-story conveyor belt.

We go as far as to have custom boxes made up for our turbo kits, and we use something like 30 square feet of bubble wrap on the turbocharger itself. Nothing arrives damaged.

package it in a wooden crate then put the crate in a cardboard box as ups will not handle wooden crates.