Newsletter No 85

　17 November 2021

G'day friends

The end of the year is neigh and it is the time of the year where those with foresight do their planning.

For a lot of people it means basic maintenance and repairs, as a result of the dire economy.

Now I do not mind a question or 2, but stealing a ½ hour of my time, whilst I could spend generating income, is rude !

Covid 19

Since my last Newsletter the economy collapsed due to Government intervention.

We managed to get an essential service provider status on the 22 April 2020, but my staff only saw fit to return to work on the 5’th May
Initially sales were brisk and I attribute this to people sitting at home unable to spend their income and having time on their hands to do research.

Sadly this flattened off this year.

Somebody is spreading the ugly rumour that we have shut down shop L

Nothing could be further from the truth !

Sure things have changed as the whole business pattern has changed since 2016.

Also at 56 I have to look for a successor to this company.

We still do K&N filters and Dyno tuning + other hardcore tuning

We are concentrating on producing more and more Bolt on systems, though we can still manufacture exhaust systems.

These products have been on our selling list for up to 28 years

* * *

SS System that makes a HUGE difference

The performance that my own SS exhaust makes over the previous system is tremendous

Sadly we had a 12% price increase on all Branches and bolt on systems 1 November 2021
In order to assist my clients I will hold the old prices until my stock is depleted.

* * *

How to calculate your Cold Air Induction system

I get the same question daily: a "cold air intake" or standard replacement. You want cold air, and most factory systems do just that. The standard system is often restrictive, but not to such an extent that you should put an open filter in and shovel in hot air.

If you want to, you can measure the temperature of the air being sucked in to the engine when it is operating then measure the ambient air temperature. Convert both temperatures to degrees Absolute. It does not matter if you use Rankine or Kelvin. Just use the same units for both.

The ratio of the ingested air temperature divided by the ambient air temperature will give you a multiplier which is the potential amount that a cold air intake could improve the engine’s power.

EXAMPLE

Ingested air temp. =40°C

Ambient air temp. =20°C

Convert to degrees Kelvin by adding 273°

Ingested = 313°K

Ambient = 293°K

Ratio = 313/293 = 1.068

Therefore, on an engine normally producing a maximum of 200HP, with a cold air intake it could produce up to 200 x 1.068 = 213.6HP

I find this answer on Quora well put.

Please buy a replacement K&N for best benefits.

Leave the open units for when you want fancy looks and more sound.

Benefits of a K&N

I can only comment on K&N airfilters, as that is what I have been selling and using for over 27 years.
So if you come in with a Simota or no-name brand I do not know if it is serviceable and how.

We market K&N airfilters with “you never need another filter”.
K&N gives a million mile warranty and needs to be serviced every 40 000 km’s or even less frequently.
You can do your maths on that claim.

Will you get more power ?
On a vehicle that has a small airfilter stock a K&N will flow more air and therefore get more power. Take most street bikes that are driven hard and owners will attest to a noticeable improvement.

Better mileage ?
I have yet to hear of somebody getting worse mileage unless the engine ran leaner than it should, to start off with.
Better is arguable as the filter must pay for itself to be a worthwhile investment.
a K&N standard replacement filter costs about 100 USD.
Let us say you have to travel 1000 miles to save 1 gallon of fuel, is it worth it ?

My take on this is as follows.
Buy a K&N air-filter when your car gets its first service and you will save on filters and fuel in the long run.

Finally I want to mention that in Africa K&N’s also get used because of their very effective filtering capabilities in extremely dusty conditions. After all they were developed for the Baja desert race.
The service intervals seem up to 5 times longer than conventional paper elements. This point is important, as most blunders happen during maintenance.

The good news is that we have hardly increased the price of K&N’s in the last 3 years.
Early January 2022 I will have to review this though, when I order my next batch.

* * *

Weber

The price of Carburettors and related parts has increased in leaps and bound over the past years.

Coupled to an ever weakening exchange rate and increasing freight costs a Carburettor now costs close to 10 Grand retail !

I cannot compete against the Chinese who are retailing copies for 4 Grand or so.

I am not prepared to sell and service these copies due to the bad workmanship and varying states of “tune”, if you may call it that.

For the time being I will still sell and service original weber parts. For most Webers we keep all necessary jets, gasket, N/S, power valves etc.

So if you have a vehicle equipped with an original Weber, we can set it up for you- starting at N$ 1500, like we did on this 1400 Datsun creating this beautifully smooth green line

* * *

Year-end closure

Every year I get the same questions, starting late October “Wanneer maak julle toe vir die jaar ?”
Over the past 28 years I have found the pre-Christmas period to be very stressful, and then after Human rights day on the 10’th December it grinds to a sudden halt.

I can only assume that this year will be the same. So assume a potential shut down from 9/12 until 3 January, or more likely from 17/12 until 10 January

But times being tough, I will remain open until the work peters out.

Please do note that I work, as always, on a first-come first-serve, appointment principle.

All this being said, I wish you all a safe and relaxed Christmas

What cannot be done in 2021 can still be completed in 2022