Sorry this is long.....I have first hand experience with A&C Performance (read below):
I live in San Diego and have had A&C Performance work on 2 vipers for me.
The first viper was a 2005 vert that after I bought it from a private party in 2008 I called around and spoke with Todd at A&C to discuss upgrades I could do. My goal was more throttle response and better sound. The car had a Paxton and corsa track on it when I bought it but stock headers. The decision was made and Todd and Mike installed American Racing Headers with high flow cats for me. Installation was solid, they put the heat shields over the headers to make it look factory which I thought was nice. Delivered as promised and at a fair price at the time. Sound was great the first time I heard it but over time it killed me. It was actually just too loud. My ear drums would ring after long drives but I don't blame anybody for that it was just my opinion and the old ladies I would scare half to death when I drove by them.
For my 2nd Viper, I purchased a Twin Turbo 2006 FE Coupe from the original owner in New York. The car was georgeous as it arrived at my home in July 2008. It had about 8600 miles on the odometer. This car had the $50k 1000 hp stroker twin turbo package done by RSI. The build was done by RSI when they were in their Houston shop in early 2006.
When I received the car I wanted the car checked out locally by someone who knows Vipers to ensure we had no leaks and to have a safety check done. I called A&C being that they are close and have had one experience with them before. I had the car flat bedded up to him. After he got the car and he had time to look it over he mentioned to me that with my set up I really should consider an AEM Engine Managment control system. At the time it had a VEC. I decided shortly thereafter to have him do the upgrade since I planned on keeping this car for awhile and I loved the idea of what the AEM offered, not to mention the power upgrades and driveability I would like experience when its all done. Todd ordered the AEM and special wiring harness from one of the best AEM guys in the business according to some, John Reed, and set up for John Reed to fly out to his shop and tune it since Todd doesn't do this tuning himself.
During the tune the car produced some big numbers and things reportedly had gone well. Then at the final stages of the tune while John was cleaning up the throttle response the oil pressure dropped like an Anchor. He immediately caught it and shut it down. I got a call from Todd as it happened, you can hear the disappointment in the tone of his voice, and he said he pulled the pan on the car and noticed small metal shavings in the oil. Not good!
After my blood pressure came down I asked him, where do we go from here? Todd, said the motor really needed to come out of the car and gone through to see if the metal shavings went through the motor and to understand the root of the problem. Metal shavings and oil are a no - no. Not to mention to clean it all out and replace parts as needed. After I threw up a few times and was so upset I left the ball in his court and told him to do what he thought was best. He pulled the motor from the car as to not damage any of the beautiful powdercoated intakes, valve covers, etc that were there from the original build.
Once it was out he pulled the timing cover that houses the oil pump and said the oil pump disintergrated into pieces and he wasnt sure why but obviously that is why oil pressure dropped. He said nothing devastating was damaged in the motor and very minor shavings were in the oil. He believed it was bearing material. But couldn't tell until the engine was gone through. Good news it was caught quickly by John when he noticed the oil pressure drop.
The recommendation was to have everything mic'd and checked to see what were dealing with since the motor was built by RSI a couple years ago. Todd recommended an engine builder in San Diego that is very detail oriented, the name he goes by is Driver. After he dropped the motor off with Driver and the disassembly began I wanted to know what happened and to check out my motor. So Todd, Driver, and I met up at his shop and he showed me everything. The motor was down to the short block, all parts were lined up on and organized in his shop. It was good to know the guy working on my motor was organized like me. It gave me a good feeling to know I am dealing with someone who really is passionate about what he does.
A few things were evident once the motor was disassembled but also some question marks too. The oil pump obviously was history, but why. The timing cover had both dowels in it so was there not enough tolerance? Did the oil pump just fail because they are known to fail which is what we have heard from a few people? The timing chain was a bit loose too how does that impact everything.
The recommendation was to replace the timing cover with oil pump with the new updated version, lifters, oil cooler, oil cooler lines, put in an upgraded cloyes adjustable timing chain, rod bearings, main bearings, oil pump pick up, valve seals, and ring set for my pistons. Then brush hone the cylinders and thoroughly wash the motor and the parts that go back in it.
The thought was since the motor is apart and down to the block and the engine has 8600 miles on it to freshen it before its put back together. I went with their recommendations.
If there is any good news from this....the motor had great parts in it. The machining work was great. Before its all done, I will have a notebook of every spec on this motor regarding every part for future reference.
I should have the car back in about 3 weeks and hope to say great things about the outcome, including how Todd and Mike deliver me the final product.
I will also be happy to share with everyone the hp/tq results once we are installed.