The Inevitable Crash & Burn of Tim Richards And SFR

[Jotronic]

So I’ve been pushed a little too far regarding Tim Richards at Speed Force Racing. I'm a nice guy, I'm an understanding guy, but this is too much.

History: I knew what I was dealing with; a fabricator with supposedly very good skills that offered a product (stage 2 header, intercooler, intercooler pipes, etc) for my 951 but with reportedly terrible business skills and delivery times. I took a gamble. To my surprise, and delight, he delivered my header in a week flat. I was shocked. The intercooler and pipes came a few weeks later and he included the pipes at no cost as a thank for you for being patient. He also sent me my Tial wastegate and when he couldn’t get my blow off valve in time for my build he refunded me quickly and told me where I could order. Done and done. He even got me a refurbed turbo head in less than a week when no one else had one and I had an emergency issue that destroyed my original head. Build commenced, went great, everything fit perfectly. That was late 2024, early 2025. Fast forward to summer 2025 and the build for a 16V 3.0 turbo was being planned. I knew I wanted another set of headers and made the order August 5th, 2025, before any other part was ordered. I ordered another set of stage 2 headers with the 321 SS upgrade and a bigger outlet pipe from the crossover to the WG.

Here we are, almost nine months later, April 23rd, 2026, and the excuses have stopped and now only radio silence. Excuses have been:

1. He broke one arm.
2. the shop flooded.
3. yet a second friend died after his first friend died right before my first header set last year.
4. his daughter has been sick.
5. he was in a car accident and I think some other excuses.

At one point, I think in February, he sent me a photo of “the headers” to show me he was working on them. What he sent was a photo of some header runners and the exhaust flanges for an 8v motor, mocked up but not spot welded yet. When I pointed that out he said “oh yeah” and he’d have to order the correct 16v flanges. I found out he sent the same photo to another 951 owner I've been in contact with to show him he's working on his setup too. BUSTED! Then, he had to order the correct flange for my Xona Rotor turbo. He said the turbo flange was the last part he needed and once it came in it would take an hour to finish the headers. That was three weeks ago. I asked him why he didn’t have these readty to go since he got paid for the build up front, and he told me he doesn’t order the parts needed until he’s about to build the product. Essentially he admitted to a pyramid scheme where he’s using the money from one build to order parts for the previous build. I don’t have proof but that’s my impression.

So what will I do? My builder is also a fabricator and said he can cut off the 8v flanges and weld some new 16v flanges onto my existing headers and get the right flange for my Xona Rotor turbo as well and just reuse what I have. I had planned on selling them to help fund the build, but it is what it is.

Today I initiated a dispute with my bank and submitted the proof of payment via the original receipt along with copies of my conversations. I encourage anyone else that has something on order with Tim, just go ahead and do the same. He's extremely backed up, with one guy I know waiting over a year for his headers.

I have no ill will toward Tim as I feel he’s overwhelmed by terrible decision making skills but he doesn’t have the respect to keep clients informed about what’s going on. Maybe there is something wrong with him, I don't know. I’ve spoken with two other clients that are also waiting on product from Tim, including one engine builder that has an order for several sets of headers. Once I found that out, I decided there was no way I would get my headers in time for my build with so many other clients in front of me. More radio silence since Monday, so today is go day. All the parts for my build are either at the shop or en route, and I have to plan on shipping my car to the shop for the engine swap along with the 01E swap. Perhaps the admins should consider this post as a sticky to warn others away from Tim and Speed Force Racing till he gets his act together.

I really hate to write this. I defended the guy when others were warning me against ordering from him, or when others were talking about ordering. My good will has bitten me in the ass.

[Tom]

I’m sorry for your headaches. For what it’s worth, public records show a commercial unlawful detainer (business eviction-type) case filed in late January naming Tim Richards and Speed Force Racing as defendants. No details are available -- just sharing for context.

SFR-unlawful-detainer.jpg (164.9 KiB) Viewed 832 times

[Jotronic]

I’m sorry for your headaches. For what it’s worth, public records show a commercial unlawful detainer (business eviction-type) case filed in late January naming Tim Richards and Speed Force Racing as defendants. No details are available -- just sharing for context.


SFR-unlawful-detainer.jpg

Damnit.

[Jotronic]

I’m sorry for your headaches. For what it’s worth, public records show a commercial unlawful detainer (business eviction-type) case filed in late January naming Tim Richards and Speed Force Racing as defendants. No details are available -- just sharing for context.


SFR-unlawful-detainer.jpg

Tom, perhaps you should sticky this in all the transaxle sub forums so as few people as possible will get duped.

[AxlMcCln]

Tim has been a flake for many years, and there are multiple threads on the various forums about him overpromising and underdelivering. He's been a "buyer beware" seller for ~15 years, so your experience just sounds like everyone else. Sorry you got burned, but the outcome is completely predictable. And for what it's worth, I got burned by him back in 2015-2016 so I earned my "scammed by a vendor" merit badge too.

[Belgian951]

I thought about getting new 951 headers from him when mine were cracked, but all the negative reviews made me choose otherwise. Glad I didn't give him any money. I'm getting tired of all these ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ companies making money and screwing people over.

[t36]

I thought about getting new 951 headers from him when mine were cracked, but all the negative reviews made me choose otherwise. Glad I didn't give him any money. I'm getting tired of all these ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ companies making money and screwing people over.

what did you opt for instead? I believe I'm in the same situation.

[fasterfaster]

I thought about getting new 951 headers from him when mine were cracked, but all the negative reviews made me choose otherwise. Glad I didn't give him any money. I'm getting tired of all these ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ companies making money and screwing people over.

what did you opt for instead? I believe I'm in the same situation.

Really very little performance to be gained over the stock headers, so I'm assuming you wanna go aftermarket to prevent future cracks? Ian at 944store sells ceramic coated and "weld-reinforced" (no idea the details of the reinforcement) OE headers for $900, which seems fair. That said, I'm sure the Lindsay header at $1400 is a safe choice.

[Belgian951]

I thought about getting new 951 headers from him when mine were cracked, but all the negative reviews made me choose otherwise. Glad I didn't give him any money. I'm getting tired of all these ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ companies making money and screwing people over.

what did you opt for instead? I believe I'm in the same situation.

I found some good used ones. I was thinking about getting refurbished ones from 944store but they were out of stock.

[RZwetzig]

I'm sorry to hear about everybody's issues with Tim Richards and SFR.
I had a very mixed experience with Tim. He is an enigma.

My project involved from SFR:
Garrett Turbo kit, dual port wastegate, turbo blow off valve
Headers
Exhaust including muffer and output tip
Haltech Engine controller w/Start up code
Wideband controller
Engine wiring harness
LS-1 Ignition
Fuel pump
Intercooler aluminum piping, silicon adapters, clamps
Fuel injectors
Air intake including aluminum piping & air filter
Reconditioned and ported NA head since a ceramic head was not available. Tim turned this around very quickly.

Trigger wheel and sensor kit - Didn't install this as I found a much better system from 928-944 Parts in the Netherlands. great product and excellent support. Parts shipped quickly and arrived much faster than expected.
https://928-944parts.com/en/collections ... rwheel-kit
Also purchased 028-944 Cupholder which replaces the ashtray and their dash LEDs. Both work well.

Fortunately, I received every part Tim promised and that I had paid for. All the parts were expertly crafted have been installed in the car by my friend and me. We are close to starting the car again. However, it took a lot of calling over nearly 2 years to get everything we needed. At one point after not being able to reach Tim, I contacted the store next door to see if he was still in business and/or had he been seen recently.

At times when I did reach Tim or the rare time he returned a call, he was very knowledgeable and helpful, but would talk a lot and share his business woes.

While he is an excellent craftsman and likeable person, he is a very poor business manager and horrible at customer service. He should have a good business manager/customer service person run the business while he creates.

Hope y'all get your parts from SFR.