I have 8 TT 40's. Two of them have been returned to ACE for problems when they were newer. The first had a rear bearing failure. It was retooled to remove crankcase damage, the bearing replaced and the piston and sleeve replaced. You could see mill marks inside the case where they removed scoring from the bearing damage. So some machinist spent a lot of time on that engine. The engine was returned, no charge, in about three weeks. More than fair, in my opinion, considering I was running it at 16,900 RPM on a 9x6 APC.

The second had ingested the coil spring from the carb when the retainer screw fell out. That engine was replaced with a brand new one, also no charge. So my experience with ACE has been first class!

I would suggest to you that you call them on the phone, because I don't believe they ignore their customers. Remember, You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

As for the back plate screw, if it's a lower one, you might be able to drill on through, thread the additional length with a tap and use a longer screw. Also as noted in a post above, if you use a rear mount you need to replace the back plate screws with longer ones.

Stan