After some process of elimination, it looks like Acorn's bot Start is the culprit. It is messing up the recipe for robot frames. I have several other mods loaded and all is fine but if I enable this mod, the recipe for the frames gets messed up. I'll be glad to provide you screen shots (don't seem to be able to attach them here) as well as my save game if you like.

No big deal once I realize this is the issue since I only need the mod loaded at startup.

I dont understand complately,
it changes the recipe if you have it enabled in settings. It should not do anything if it is disabled.

@ bjbeare

Just go to Settings > Mod Settings

Look for "Unlock cheaper frames?" and simply untick it

I think "Unlock cheaper frames" should be disabled by default as it breaks existing 2.0 saves that were using this mod which had the default recipe for flying robot frames.

i might change it, but the mod is intended for quick start :)