Sounds like he was either having a bad day or was just getting irritated with
all sorts of phone calls. (Hey, it happens...but again, yes...he is a little
harsh on the phone. Once you get to know him, he's a decent person and you can
then understand why he's a little bit harsh at times. I'm not trying to defend
him, just stating what I saw and experienced with him.)
> Absolutely. I'm in Kalifornia, I come to Houston once every two years. If
> I'm going to deal with him its got to be over the phone. I call in March.
> "What do you have available in mods for the 4.7L." Response was along the
> lines of, "Call back when you're ready to spend some money." Hello? I
> guess I was receiving the answer for the guy who called before me that
> morning. Now he's going the patent route not for a new product but for
> modifications to somebody elses product. Which threatens to close down
> less expensive alternatives to Magnum Performance. I don't like that at
> all. And he is expensive. And no, you don't always get what you pay for.
> But that's his customers' problem, not mine. Does he do great work? I'm
> sure he does. Does he practice alchemy? Hmm, I'll leave that alone.
>
The patent issue isn't a real issue since there's so many other
people/companies that do it as well. Holley vs. Race Demon is one example
(Race Demon improved on an existing design).
Does he practice alchemy?....not really...he's a Hot Rodder just like the rest
of us (well, most of us).
> | The other comment rather shocked me when you stated that (in the past of
> | course) you wouldn't even give me the time of day.
>
> I said I've grown up, I was cutting myself. I'll never forget the day I
> got chewed out for calling a customer after he left a "Pro Stock wannabe".
> He was a rich guy with a Pro Stocker that had about zero chance of ever
> qualifying at an NHRA national event. But I wasn't pleased with your "oh,
> isn't it nice you have an NHRA approved car, I know all about that...."
> line. I really doubt that you do understand the differences between a
> class car (Stock, Super Stock, and Comp) or a Pro Stocker and the typical
> bracket car.
Since my old vehicle didn't have to be NHRA approved, you're right, I don't
understand all of the regulations for that class but most of the basics still
do apply. (Mainly safety regulations.)
There's a big difference between the "Show" ProStreet vehicles and the actual
classification at the track. Putting a blower on a SB Chevy Camaro doesn't
make it "ProStreet", "Tubbing" a Dart with a Slant-6, and neither does a lot of
chrome on some little rice-burner. Engine configuration (non-factory at that)
is the main difference...a Fuel Injected BB Chevy/4-Speed never came in a '76
Camaro so that's why the classification (that was the actual class at the old
Muscle Car Shootouts at Sears Point back in the late 80's to early 90's.
Classes have changed since then). Squeezing 12.2's @ 120mph and still getting
16mpg is also a feat in itself...yes, that's what she was running. So I am
familiar with getting that last little bit out of an engine...not by just
bolting stuff to it either.
>
> My point was things like Pro Street cars or Super Gas cars are different
> animals from the knife edge cars I grew up with. But unless you've been
> there you wouldn't appreciate the difference and you're likely to get
> caught up in the frenzy to spend money in areas that don't make sense in
> the HP return analysis. The Pro Street guys invented "Rice". Their mods
> are there to look impressive. The Super Gas guys just don't seem to get it
> at the local level. One of the few categories anywhere that you'll find
> the cars winning the title cost far less than the cars losing in the early
> rounds.
>
So before this gets out of hand completely and ego's or feelings are hurt,
let's stop this and get back to the initial discussion (and my cup of coffee).
Respecfully,
-
Bernd
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:55:44 EDT