Newsletter 38
20 September 2006
It has become the time of year again
where a healthy amount of work comes my way. Either re-tuning previously
botched jobs or helping somebody in need.
But WHY do people
never cancel their appointments ?
If I can’t
plan, how am I supposed to run my shop ?
Also why
can’t people just be honest and tell it like it is ?
Quite often we are given jobs, where
I wonder if we were not to serve as a scapegoat.
Look at the
pictures of some foreign object wandering through the motor, talking out 6
valves in the process.
Enough of
this and let’s get to the point. This Newsletter is going out due to the
frequent emails I get going something like “I would like to know if you do similar upgrades as SAC:
Stage One – ”.
SAC, van
der Linde, Nick’s Racing, Roger Taylor etc. are all just trade names like
Checkers, Gucci, Oom Piet se Biltong shop etc.
What we
produce and how we produce it is up to the proprietor/management.
Firstly compare apples with apples.
Some
produce for the masses while others do handcrafted individual creations.
Some are
Bargain priced while others only cater for the connoisseur.
It goes
without saying that some shops are better than others while some are really hot
on certain models while producing so-so results on others. Looking at the wiring at the left, I doubt it being a
strong point. Seeing that it was on a shiny 4500 Cruiser makes you think.
There are many
different ways to come to a similar result, choose who you are comfortable with
and what makes sense.
It is up to
the Customer to first define his or her need. No, do not listen to the
advertising boffin who only wants to sell, sell and then sell some more.
Then start
shopping around and compare prices and quality.
When you
have found what you’re looking for make contact and try to find out how au fait
the person is with your vehicle.
Once you
choose your supplier, stick by him.
If you are
unhappy, tell him and if he runs a quality shop he should sort it out for you.
Let’s face it we all cook with water.
We all have
our Business principles and associated morals, so maybe it is worth you finding
out what they are before doing business with that particular shop.
To
elaborate on one point made above, please do compare different products !
A branch is
not a branch like all others. Clearancing can be a problem (who won’t forget
the Nissan v6 Headers that you needed to remove to get at the oil-filter).
The photo
of the left showed the downpipes being to close to the oil-pressure sending
unit.
Apart from
the fit also look at quality and reliability.
A cheaper
item can cost a lot in the long run, so do not be afraid to ask questions
regarding these salient points.
Unless the salesperson
was not honest or withheld information, it is only you who can be held
responsible for choosing incorrectly.
Therefore I
have set up a comprehensive Website
for my prospective customers, where I try and define my objectives.
If you
contact me I’d tell you what I’d do to your vehicle if it were mine.
Since I am quality
conscious (who wants a breakdown alone in an Angolan desert) I try to make my
work as good and if possible better than the factory.
Since I am
not Mr. Madeofmonney, I look at value for Money and that is how my Stages of modifications are
comprised.
Thanks for your feedback:
Hi Nick
Could you do
the under-mention for a Mazda Drifter 2.5 Diesel Turbo with 12, 000 km on the
clock and what do you quote!
The current
power is standard 80 kW and 257 Nm!
What will it
be after the upgrade?
1. Free flow
exhaust
2. Diesel
pump calibration & optimization
Can I rate this newspaper!
This is my first one and I am really
impressed!
**** out of *****
I do not like touching Diesels.
If I make a mistake on a Petrol Engine,
the result is immediate and spectacular, also I am responsible.
On diesels the mistake can be costly in
the long run, overfueling causes ringwash and advancing the timing will retain
too much heat in your engine.
On this Car I would recommend:
K&N filter as the increase in Air
availability can only benefit you.
Larger intercooler 5000 N$ incl
installation. This improves performance while increasing reliability.
A larger exhaust helps a little bit and
for the Calibration and Injector rebuild talk to Erhard 061-217297
Thanks for the compliment.
* * *
Sweet and short…
Do you race the Hyundai? (Or someone else, you just
tune it?) I’ve seen it at your premises more than often and the car really
looks cool and of racing material. My guess is you only use it for rally…?
Great newsletter, keep the good work up!
I believe that neither the Team-owner nor crew chief (myself) should EVER race their car.
It gets far to emotional that way.
Actually I should be the engine builder becoming the chief Whisky pourer at the track, but sadly my job seems to be to hold the can (as they say in the movies).
We have a professional racing for us and I quite like that set-up.
It looks like that car was used by Hyundai Motorsport for Road racing, then converted to Rallying and finally butchered for oval-track use.
If I tell you all the mistakes that have been made on this car, you'd either cry or call me a liar.
So now it only gets used for organised road racing.
I would test it in Namibia, if we still had road-racing.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
* * *
Hi, how much will power increase in flow onley.Is
it worth wile and must you port aswell?
Generally I prefer doing the cam with the head as that
makes the most sense.
Gasflowing is another name for Porting.
or rather Gasflowing means testing the
CFM of Air flowing through the head at a given valve lift before & after
porting (similar to Dynotuning and also a good way to baffle the customer)
* * *
Hi Nick
I have a
1995 Mercedes
The car is
very much standard, but is a bit expensive of fuel consumption giving me 5.8
KM/L.
If I reach a
steep hill it is very lazy. I also experienced a problem with the temp. gauge
as it sometimes move
from normal
to high and once I drive a long stretch it started to normalize.
I use to
drive gravel roads once every 3-4 months.
It also has
a button near the gears where you could shift it from E to S.
If I put it
in S all I experience is more pertrol consumption. I think it is having a sports suspension.
Can I also
do a dynotest on my car. If it is a
very hot day in town driving my car sometimes became a nightmare cause it
operates so slow. I think a can do with
a bit more torque. Last weekend I
clocked it 210 km/h and there is still powerunder my feet but have realized
that my tempt.gauge moved up a little bit.
What could
be wrong? Is it wiring harness or air intake or what?
Thanks
Herbert
NB! You have a lovely site. Just upload more photos of
parts and cars that you have tuned.
Dear Herbert
Thankfully I do not do fault finding.
Seriously, you have some problem that an
Expert should look at. I would suggest either Orion or Eros.
Tell them I referred you.
When I Dynotune a Vehicle, I expect it
to be in a "factory tuned state" and then improve on that.
Faultfinding takes time and sometimes specialized
equipment. Both I do not have, as I have a lot of people wanting their fuel
consumption reduced and the 2'nd I find unnecessary for a "speed
shop".
The 320 AT should be sporty vehicle, so
I am sure it needs some factory adjustment.
Once it is back to normal we can do a
few things to it such as a K&N, Exhaust, UNICHIP etc.
Has your vehicle always done that or did
you buy a lemon ?
If you don't come right, talk to me
Thanks for your kind comments
Nick
Everyday is a victory
when you think positive."