Bill Ball

OK, I'll admit I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I finally smell something.

soupcan

Back to the intake issue, I wonder how close the port layout is to the 5.7/6.1 Hemi engine. The intake has no water and might be high enough to clear the water bridge, could be as easy as making some adapter plates. Just a thought.

worf928

Yeah.

This thread is starting to look like some kind of fishing expedition. I have my own thoughts on who's fishing and the intent of said expedition. If my suspicion is correct then those folks that have built motors and/or those that have carried out further development activities on motors they didn't build might want to choose the words in their posts very, very carefully until a little more detail is available from The Sterling Direction.

My concern stems from phrases I've seen in legal documents that have ran across my desk over the years such as "Intellectual Property", "Misappropriation of Trade Secrets", "Unauthorized Disclosure", "Defamation", etc.

Hopefully, I'm just being far too paranoid. On the other hand, there have been times when folks were out to get me. (Not 'me' personally, but my company.) As many of you know, just because accusations must be proven doesn't mean that the innocent don't suffer extreme stress and monetary penalties in the process.

Tom. M

Not a lawyer, but if someone buys a Devek Stroker and then proceeds to pull it apart and then duplicate it...if he didn't sign non-disclosure agreement then what does he have to worry about?. Can it be proven that a person building a direct copy of what he purchased has affected Devek in any way?
Why are they out of business?...Why do they have such a bad rep here on Rennlist?
Search rennlist for Marc@Devek or Susan K Thomas and read the threads..make up your own minds as to why Devek went away.

Louie928

A shop near Seattle did the work. I think it is representative of a standard stroker with 968 intake valves and GT cams. Don Hanson's original 6.5L was the same build type as mine, and Tim Dey's. I believe Don's did around 420 - 440 dynojet rwhp with the only tuning from fuel pressure. Maybe the difference was in port work, or something.

worf928

Theoretically, nothing. But, from a practical standpoint, this hypothetical "he" might still have to hire and pay for a lawyer and possibly waste tens or hundreds of hours of "his" time dealing with the frivolous legal issue. The best case is getting out of it with the first response, but that still costs a couple of thousand dollars in either legal fees or your own time. (Actually the absolute best case would be if our hypothetical "he" was married to a now-homemaker that used to be an IP attorney....)

I suppose that the worst case would be some kind of cease-and-desist letter whereby one is directed to shut their mouths or cease some activity henceforth or face legal action. In that case one would have to decide whether the best course is the simple - and seemingly free - option of shutting up or the more-expensive and stressful option of fighting.

I've been on the receiving end of frivolous legal action numerous times over the course of my business career. My company was attacked multiple times by patent troll organizations, domain name thieves, and other parties looking to make a quick buck from a - seemingly - small fry that might otherwise be expected to roll over and pay rather than fight. BTDT. In only one case did our response come close to ignoring it. In all the others at least several thousand dollars of lawyer time or executive time was expended. A small organization is hard-pressed to pay for the former and the latter usually comes after the typical 60-80 workweek. This is what the bringers of such legal B.S. count on. They count on an individual or small organization not having the wherewithal to fight.

Being 'right' doesn't mean you get to ignore a summons or a nasty letter from How, Dewey, Cheatum Attorneys at Law LLC.

Tom. M

Very true..and lets hope this matter resolves itself fairly quickly. The one ace in the the hole though is that likely the Rennlist 928 Community would step up and provide that "ace in the hole" for Sterling should it come to that.

That said, is there any issue with someone posting who sent the summons in the first place?

worf928

Yes, it's possible under some circumstances. However, publicizing anything about a pending legal issue is almost always considered a no-no by the folks you've hired to help you.

Louie928

Guess I'm hoplessly dense. I thought this thread was about stroker technology. Maybe it's about something else that bypassed me.

Taking the thread at face value, conditions needed to increase engine performance are pretty well known. Increase breathing capability, reduce friction, maximize cylinder sealing, etc. It boils down to how much time and money you want to throw at it to achieve a certain result and gain that last few % of max.
The engine capacity has a great bearing on the maximum torque, but hp depends more on the breathing capability the engine has. That means intake system, valve sizes, port shape, and cams have the greatest effect on maximum hp. I remember I had scanned an article from the old 928 Forum magazine that dealt with 928 S4 head flow and the effects of valve sizes and port work. The article was written by Phil Threshie and documents some of his work. I have no knowledge whether the information is correct, or not correct, but may be better than guessing.

The scanned sheets are here on my Rennlist web site. It's about 2 meg size zipped file.
http://members.rennlist.org/louie928/928HeadFlow.zip

If I'm stepping on copyright toes by posting this, let me know and I'll remove it.

steaditim

The American legal system is a real drag in the sense that anyone can file an unfounded law suit against anyone and the defendant must spend time and money dealing with it.

Here in Canada, the loser of a law suit is responsible for not only his own legal fees, but also a large part of the other guys fees as well. Therefore no one is interested in getting into something they're not absolutely sure they have a very strong chance of winning. Weeds out alot of the Rif-Raf

ShawnSmith

The US system allows the judge to dismiss a case and order payment of court costs for a frivilous suit, however this option seems to be rarely (or in my opinion insufficiently) used.

I'd simply change the default: Loser pays unless the judge deems otherwise.

worf928

That's a good direction in which to go.

One problem is that most issues (at least in the US) never go to trial because they are settled prior. None of the 'legal issues' in which I became embroiled ever went to trial. They were all settled in our favor but we still expended scarce resources to make them go away.

I'd like to see something that has a chance of preventing the first 'lawyer letter' from going out in something that's frivilous. But, in that regard, I'm cynical. Lawyer's make far too much money shooting thousand-dollar letters at each other.

928autobahndreamer

Some people are just a little on edge after what happened to Sterling. He was apparently served a summons based on something that was said on this thread or some other recent thread on rennlist.

More of the story is on Sterling's thread "I've decided to take a break..."

I have no idea of what is really happening beyond this, only that I have never seen Sterling post anything I thought questionable, and it seems finky that someone would initiate legal action based on comments on a 928 discussion forum.

cold_beer839

The ol' saying seems true "Lawyers have ruined the world". Attorneys will pick up the ball and run on anything to make a buck.

Everybody thinks they need to sue over every little thing. People are so thin-skinned in our country now.

Now back to topic: I wish I could afford a stroker. I got GB's price list the other day and had to change my plans by a couple of years.

Larry928GTS

I guess it may or may not be a good idea to publicize anything, depending on the circumstances, but a lot of that kind of stuff is public record, isn't it? I remember coming across a web page a while back with documentation of an issue involving Devek that was apparently a matter of public record. Based on that document, I guess that the IRS had a little different view of accounting practices then Devek did.