Why I Never Opened A Workshop

[Headsex]

After reading emails from close friends of mine in regards to a certain individual I've decided to post this thread to explain a few things and WHY I never went full-time with a workshop.

A number of years ago, I had a huge passion for tuning these XR6 Turbos, they were amazing at the power levels that can be unlocked with a simple tune.

I had a huge desire to open a workshop, and make a name for myself, which I seemed to have done regardless of a workshop. I went out and paid cash for my first Dyno. I should have bought a house, but I figured I should build a business instead and fund house from the business.

At the start, I enjoyed it, I worked from home, and hired a dyno when needed and I met some great people. But things changed very quickly. I got a bad taste in my mouth, both from 2 well known workshops. Let’s call it "politics", which well, to say the least, I wish never happened regardless who was to blame. It’s a shame when "business" comes between good people. Unfortunately, this wasn't just politics with one workshop, there were two. These politics resulted in hours of conversation with the business owners turning into only saying hello to each other in passing on the street.

Then there was further bad taste add with a certain type of customers; the type who shop around, and try to get very last cent off any modifications, even if it ends up doing it all themselves.

I'm going to explain 2 situations which happened to me recently.

1st situation: A close friend of mine Jason Ghiller referred a friend of a friend to me. Jason is very well known, and very well renowned for what he does fabrication and LPG wise. This guy’s name was Adrian. (He’s not on this forum) Jason calls me up, and tells me that he has just put new injectors in the car and can I go down and alter the tune to suit the new injectors? I thought yeah, easy job.

I turn up there to his house where he’s got a car that will no longer start because after they fitted the injectors they started it and let it run for 15 minutes until the car would no longer run! First problem: fouled plugs!

But the problem goes deeper than that. I noticed the Allen key bolts that hold the manifold top onto the bottom were changed. I asked why they were changed, he said he removed the manifold that to change the injectors.

WTF? I wish I didn't ask, turns out due to the difficulty of accessing the back rear bolt, they bent the firewall panel back 4 inches to access it.

I was determined to help this guy out. His attitude at this point was very calm. But he was useless in getting me tools required to pull the spark plugs out, where I was gladly aided by his father.

Anyways, I removed the spark plugs and burnt off as much as I could with a lighter to clean up the plugs. I told him he needed new plugs, and they were going to be $XXX amount. He objected to the price, and I responded with ‘you didn't have to run the car for 15 minutes to foul the plugs now did you?’

A few days later I came back with a set of spark plugs, put them in, and the car was running like a dream until I took it for a drive. Remember, the car was previously tuned elsewhere, and all I’ve done is alter the injector scales, without touching anything else in the tune. Until it started boosting, which is when I could tell there was a rather obvious misfire issue.

Initially I told him it felt like valve springs, but I was still thinking about it whilst I'm listening to him saying ‘that’s bullsh*t, it’s impossible’ lalala. Then I said ‘I take it back, its not your valve springs, its your coils.’ He continued to judge me saying I didn't know what I was talking about, it’s impossible, it can’t be the coils, rah rah rah.

I explained to him that when you foul the plugs, the coils overheat as they are working harder to attempt to get a spark out of them. He then just said, whatever, I just want it fixed. I told him, I would come back the next day with 6 coils I've already got, to prove I DO know what I’m talking about. He didn't seem interested. And well, I thought, forget this. The guy failed the attitude test, why should I take time out of my day to help him if he’s going to show me attitude? I’m not a workshop.

Lesson learnt here. Some people shouldn't work on cars, and why should I help people like this who don't have the faith in you to fix their f*ckups?

2nd situation: One that I don't have to name. This one is quite large, so take aside 30 mins of your time.

It was supposed to be a retune and surge tank install job. But then to quote to fit a Nizpro airbox and battery kit and a Process West surge tank, all which were purchased from eBay.

As you all are aware by his posts, he attempted to fit the battery kit, and the airbox himself.

Once he had fitted the battery relocation kit, it’s not much of a surprise that it didn’t work afterwards. The engine didn’t even start. So, he’s attempted more diagnosing himself with the aid of his forum posts.

To add further issues, the airbox and battery kit did not fit with his AVO cooler piping. So, he purchased Plazmaman hot side and cold side pipes. Which mind you, aren’t made to work with a Nizpro battery relocation kit.

So the owner had dropped the car off to me with the following list of problems for me to sort out.

1) Auto running in limp mode (stuck in 3rd gear and the D flashing on the dash)

2) Speedo not working

3) Power windows not working (go figure?)

4) ICC not turning on with ignition unless you turn the power on

5) ICC heater controls not working

6) Indicators not working, not flashing, NOTHING WAS WORKING.

So anyways, I agreed to at least try to fix it. No longer was I fitting a surge tank, and doing a tune because the owner had decided that he could save some money fitting it all himself.

I thought maybe it’s simple:

First problem: the Earth lead wasn't tightened to the engine block because the bolt had bottomed out on the block, and it needed a washer to tightly fasten the negative cable lug.

Second problem: the + lead ran over the top of the radiator, to where the original battery was, but of course since this was wrong, the cable was too short, and he bolted it to the old + terminal which used to clamp onto the battery in its original location with electrical tape wrapped around it. Fail.

Third Problem: the old battery lead should have been removed from under the engine and replaced. He assured me this was done, and well he was right, he reefed the old battery cable out, breaking all the clips I needed to fasten the new Nizpro battery cable in to place. So, I thought, if this was done correctly, and he a good solid earth, his electrical problems would go away. How wrong I was!

A number of days f*cking around, I found these problems:

A total of 7 fuses were incorrectly placed, in the blank holes, instead of the correct holes. Also the wrong rating fuses in the wrong holes.

This fixed 90% of the electrical issues above, but the speedo still didn't work and of course the auto was still in limp mode.

Turns out the 2 plugs behind the passenger side headlight which were unplugged for the Plazmaman pipes had issues - one had a bent pin, which is associated with powering the ABS module, which is how the car gets its vehicle speed, hence the auto gets out of limp mode.

Now, did I mention the cooler piping problems with the plazamaman pipes bolted to a AVO intercooler? This means a different length cooler resulted in the pipes not just bolting up. The hot side pipe was not going over the K frame, but instead was dragging on the ground, and the cold side pipe had two massive kinks in the rubber hoses because the pipe wants to pass were the Nizpro battery relocation kit is now sitting. After a day of me and John repositioning, cutting, adjusting pipes etc. we got it all sorted.

Now the surge tank: It was bought from eBay, with fittings missing. Need I say more?

Airbox fouled with the Auto cooler line for the oil cooler so we had to relocate that also.

Finally! Time for tuning! Remember, the owner had intended to drop the car off with all the stuff fitted to save money but so far its cost him more fixing all the problems.

I start a base tune in the car, and go for a drive. We don't even get 50 meters before I blow a cooler pipe off. This is where it starts. Take note, nearly every single hose clamp is different. Attempting to refit the hose clamp, and tighten it up, ended up with a busted hose clamp. The cooler pipes blew off with a assortment of clamps a further 6 times. I was rather frustrated. There's nothing worse than that happening over and over and over again…

So I got a new hose clamp of decent quality, and started tuning it. Immediately with 0 duty cycle I was seeing to the order of 18+ PSI of boost. So I guess it has an 18psi actuator. With insufficient porting, it would do that to you considering the previous tune had 0 duty cycle, and Bayswater autos showed 24psi of boost. I started to think I was going to tune a grenade. I told the owner I wanted to take the turbo off, re-adjust the actuator as well as look and adjust the port work as required. He didn't think this was needed.

So at this point, I was rather unimpressed, frustrated, and lost all interest in tuning this car. I wanted to enjoy my weekend, not get pissy with a car. I had told the owner earlier to come pickup the car untuned with a 3000rpm limiter on it but he didn’t till this weekend. Personally, I would rather have the sh*t bagging for keeping the car for so long, rather than it blowing up a couple of weeks later.

The owner did comment that he doesn’t understand why I didn’t do it. Making $100 an hour tuning is easy money. But in all reality, with my job, weekend overtime rates pay more than that.

So realistically, why am I dealing with cars and customers like this, when all they are doing is killing my passion for this industry? At the end of day I've come to the conclusion that some people should not work on their cars, and some customers are not worth my time in any way.

I'm not a workshop; I don’t need all the customers I can get to make a living. I can hand pick my customers. I may be a "backyarder", but I'm still very well regarded in this industry which is proven by the people that will wait for me to tune their car, as well as the relationships I have with various workshops.

I'm very happy with my position at the moment. Tuning will ONLY remain my hobby, with very small amount of hours dedicated to it.

But at the end of the day, neither of these customers deserved my time, nor a headsexTuned sticker on their cars.

[NVYDF6]

Having worked with you for a year now in your full time job, I can see the stress you put up with during the week related to tuning. why should this carry onto your passion for cars on the weekend?

Keep doing what you enjoy and don't let a few bad experiences get in the way of your passion for tuning as there are a number of ppl out there that respect your work and would hate to see you stop.

[Dillz]

Couldn't agree more mate, sounds like a nightmare. Kits are designed as kits for a reason but some people just don't understand this.

Your a tuner, wtf are you doing f*ckin around with heater controls?? I think you have every right to hand pick your customers I just hope I make the cut when I get back behind the wheel of my next T .

[skunk]

couldnt agree more n more with both NYDF6 n DIllz.

I rekon id sell me car if u totally quit the game mate.

[Guest XR09]

It's about the only negative of getting paid to do what you love. Dealing with the morons.

You always give your best because it is your passion. It's your pride and your work is a reflection of you. And they suck the life out of it. They know better or have heard

Keep it small, keep it you and don't rely on the cash from it and it will always be your passion.

Keep the procceeds and charter a rag or stink boat. Best way to detox the fools from your system.

[xr6t_ute]

When I saw the car at your place, I told u dont even bother touching it, its harder to fix stuff ups than starting from scratch, in this case the owner did not get anything right, and the cost to rectify the problems is financial suicide, a lesson to all you people out there, get it done right the 1st time and stop stuffing around matching bits and pieces and trying to do it yourself unless you really are competent.

[sixappeal]

Aw Danny! your good at what you do. Maybe don't try and fix other peoples mistakes/problems

x

[R-SPEC]

I remember reading about you when I first bought my BA XR6 many moons ago and I thought if I ever bought a turbo I'd get you to tune it. Then a couple of years later I bought the arsepeck F6 and straight away I started firing PMs to you hassling you for answers about everything. I see now how annoying that would be lol

I wanted to stick to a budget and I shopped around. I found Chris Faubel to be very helpful and nizpro to be rude and obnoxious so I bought rapid gear. You basically refused to help me because I was annoying the sh*t out of you and I didn’t listen when you said to go and buy nizpro or PW gear as it has the best overall performance from your experience and you’d never tested rapid stuff before. So after I cracked the sh*ts because you wouldn’t install my stuff and tune my car I took YPURV4’s advice and went to Mick Egan at Pitlane. His wife Bel and him were very helpful and did all the work to an exacting standard. He worked so freaking hard on my car and tuned it into all hours of the night on his dyno. I felt bad, but at the same time could see the passion that he had for the job, which is obviously a big factor in why he does it. I’ve always held Mick in high regard as everyone knows he’s very helpful and knows his stuff, and even though I paid him for his work I always refer business to him as appreciation for his efforts, even if the work is non performance related, and I never try and take credit for this person or that person going to see him.

I had a couple of issues with boost control a few months later and used this as a way into getting you to look at my car (sorry, I lied at the time). Finally you agreed to do my port job and tune my car and at last I had a headsex tune and since then we’ve become good mates.

Obviously this topic is not for a sympathy vote for those of you thinking that way, it’s just a way of justifying why you told that guy to take his car elsewhere, so I agree, and being in sales I get countless morons to deal with, but being in a business where customer service is almost my no. 1 priority, I have to deal with it, whereas you can rightfully pick and choose.

Thanks for putting up with my sh*t over the years. And lastly, can you please tune my new f*cking car already?

[MiKa]

Couldnt agree more Danny.. I'd hate it if my passions and things I do for fun, ever felt like a job.. It'd feel like you never have any time off, working during the week and then working/stressing during your weekend..

Never been anything but happy with your work on my car, not even just the tune but racking your brain too..

I always have a laugh when people say WTF does that sticker say...

[Dagabond]

Life is like a box of chocolates....