Vinny Ten Racing Preaches The Truth

[rherold9]

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Thoughts? I think he is right. People come in and just want something done with no idea or direction with specific plans then blame the people who tried making it right for them when all along it was the owner of the car's fault.

But, I also see the other side where a shop can completely fuck you with just a bad build and quality.

[Kaan]

I have a hard time with this topic. I've seen too many shops screw people over (i've even been screwed over). you can do your best to explain exactly what you want, to research the best shops, etc... in the end its if they are doing well and if they arent having issue, etc.

I think its especially bad in the honda community. There isnt a shop in the NOVA/DC/Bmore area that has a 100% clean nose. I've personally seen the crappy work, the misquotes (by thousands of dollars), the people waiting for weeks to get a car back when they promise it in days... the shops hate on each other, cause drama, vandalize cars at different shops to make them look better...

I dont trust a soul when it comes to working on my car. If i take it somewhere (even a mom and pop repair shop) I know exactly what i want done and i'm always prepared to pay at least double.

[CaptainHenreh]

I dont trust a soul when it comes to working on my car.

You mean there isn't a shop, say, down south somewhere that you wouldn't let... werk on your car?

[Goodspeed]

Great vid. There are two sides to every story but most people will try to save a buck w/o realizing that its going to come around and bite them in the ass. For every dollar you think you're saving when building a car buy cutting corners, you're just going to spend two dollars fixing it later, including taking it to a reputable shop.

But, there are some really shady shops out there, including some that put on a good front. Justin/DJ can tell you all about the infamous Dryft Motorsports there in Hburg....come and gone, what a debacle that was. I'm sure most of us have seen the Forged Performance GTR build disaster that hit the interwebs a few weeks back, one of many such tales - I was just reading about a MB tuner in NY that was a stand up shop, that all of a sudden shut down; owner stole a bunch of customer's money, turned out to have a prison record that he covered up, etc. Horsepower Freaks out west just recently shut down due to an employe scamming the place silly, and customer cars were locked up in the proceedings for weeks, thousands of dollars of CC charges not refunded, I'm not sure whatever happened to that.

Also, Vinny Ten is a badass. He was the first person to break into the 12's, 11's, 10's, 9's, and 8's in the 1/4 mile with one of these:



The car is currently being resurrected after sitting in a trailer for almost a decade.

[Kaan]

I dont trust a soul when it comes to working on my car.

You mean there isn't a shop, say, down south somewhere that you wouldn't let... werk on your car?

yes sorry... i dont trust any shop ... down south or anywhere. There are certain PEOPLE i would let work on my car.

even "the best" machine shop in the DC area... said they built tons of my exact head... assembled it wrong!

[G.Irish]

Well he's right on both sides of it. There are a lot of incompetent and shady shops out there, but ignorant customers are the other half of it.

I don't know what it is, but it seems like the aftermarket business attracts a lot of unethical people. From Peter Farrell (who ended up in jail I believe) to John Hennessy, there are lots of stories of guys who may even have a decent reputation who at some point start ripping people off. I have to wonder if part of it is that shops often end up over their heads and at that point they decide to take the unethical way out.

I think shops often find themselves over their heads because to have the engineering expertise to start pushing the limits of a car is not easy. There's no shortage of people who want stupid power but mo' power, mo' problems. If you don't know how to truly engineer a solution, all types of shit is gonna go wrong when you start pushing the limit.

Then, even if the shop owner knows how to deliver, his shop lackeys may not. If you're not a shrewd business owner who is on top of the details, one of your grease monkeys can and will totally fuck things up. Which is still your fault because you should be inspecting work before it goes out.

I think a lot of shops need to get better at telling people no. No I can't get this done in that amount of time, no that's not going to be reliable, no you are not going to get that amount of horsepower with those mods, no I cannot do this job professionally.

[rherold9]

I agree with all said. It is no single person's fault. It is a little of everyone. Also, I agree on the point shops need to be straight up and not talk out their ass. I don't like letting others mess with my car unless I know them and trust them.

[JPolen01]

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[rherold9]

http://jalopnik.com/owner-says-18k-engin...1029580432

Now that's shoddy shop work from the story provided, but we don't know the whole story yet.

[G.Irish]

I've seen shit work before, but I find it hard to believe someone used twine to secure things. That is some next level stupid shit. I mean damn, I would think someone would at least use zip ties.

Color me skeptical. Not doubting that the guy could've really fucked up the build but that sounds fishy.

[BLINGMW]

GTR? New Jersey? gah... finding it... hard to care...

besides, what's wrong with twine? :dunno:

[JPolen01]

Thread on GTRlife if anyone cares. Good time killer for a slow day in the office. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic/88379-anatomy-of-a-blown-motor/page__st__20">http://www.gtrlife.com/forums/topic/883 ... ge__st__20</a><!-- m -->