mmahon04

Who...run...barter...towwwwnnnn?

KrazyK

Master-Blaster?

Wow, what a sad ending to a crappy story. At least Jake will repair the car rather than see it scrapped or parted out. What a nice clean example of a 996. Maybe the 996 theme song should be "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen.

I have entertained the thought of chartering space on a ocean freight liner to ship all our 996's to sell overseas before word spreads there. I can certainly feel where the OP is coming from on his decision.

Gonzo911

Yeah...these cars are crap. Absolute crap. I have never heard of cars over a decade old grenading. Just on Rennlist alone this year there must be, my gosh, at least 3 or 4. They are all doomed. Doomed I say. DOOMED!!!

Sorry for that, but my 3-day weekend is starting 2 days early. Sorry to hear the OP's troubles. Certainly is bad luck. Would like to hear exactly how Jake wouldn't "let you out of the deal". That would be good reading.

Bloody Mary anyone?

Barn996

It's 5 o' clock somewhere!

EMBPilot

Actually I believe it's two this month...
Where's perfectlap? The defender of all 996....

Gonzo911

That is the Official Motto of the Gonzo Household!

Flat6 Innovations

My wire transfer was already in his account; and the shipper was lined up with a deposit paid before Chris started reconsidering. We had made a deal and it had been sealed; Chris kept his word and I appreciated that; because today too many people simply will not do that.

Anyway the car is here now and I have diagnosed it as a worst case, just as Chris' shop had concluded as well. I have a new version of my 3.7 big bore (with IMS Solution installed) going together for the car and I am sure that Beth will appreciate the 8,000 RPM rev range of the combination while her and Ava (my 18 month old) rocket through traffic each morning. The combination makes 350 WHP so it should be a lot of fun.

When the car arrived I queried the ECU with some new toys and found some enlightening information that I saved. The car is very nice and like most that we see here that are failed, it has low mileage and has been well maintained.

Beth drives a Cayenne Turbo daily, but I need to strip that one off the road to install my 5.3L big bore engine for some more test miles, so now she can drive this car instead of my aircooled 911 :-)
We haven't turned the boost up on such a large Cayenne based engine as of yet, so if it fails in testing its not a big deal, since Beth has this car to drive now. Chances are it won't go perfectly smooth considering how far I have put this one on the ragged edge.

When I tear into the failed engine I'll post some pics to my facebook page, like we always do during post-mortem operations.

KrazyK

Pant, pant, pant, well if you would ever publish your work we would know wtf your doing to these engines!

B r i a n

Chris - What are you going for next?

Imo000

It's the RPM that makes this happen. The difficult part is to make things last at 9K for a long time.

Imo000

Do some research on the award winning 3.5 V6. Nissan engines. They and many others have their own major problems.

Flat6 Innovations

Exactly... Then so would those who are always looking for the formulas to be our next competitor.

This 3.7 doesn't use very many Porsche components at all... Billet crank, rods, etc, etc, etc. The only Porsche parts it really retains are gaskets, seals and timing chain guide/ wear rails. Otherwise its all FSI & LN Engineering generation 4 components.

Hell, it uses a Chevrolet rod bearing set and Ford mains! Thats how it works.

utkinpol

Jake, you are a legend and your motors are the best. Yet prices are also set to reflect that.

I think it is time to go to shark tank and ask for a mil $ to extend your operations and then drop your rebuild prices 50%. it would probably pay off quite fast by a bigger volume.

we exchanged emails, I still think of an option to order a stage3 motor from you but, well, time will tell. it is a lot of $ to consider into an old platform, maybe simpler to order new 991 gt3 is it will show itself well.

Still a presence of people like you on this site makes it invaluable so please don`t go anywhere.

KrazyK

Amen to that. Jake could you at least start selling power kits, stroker kits, engine kits, something for the DIY'er that wants to build their own?

Flat6 Innovations

First, a correction: We don't offer "rebuilt engines". Our engine is nothing like a rebuild, because we address problems instead of just putting it all back together again; rebuild is a really dirty, non precision term. Our engine is a precision piece that incorporates all of our developments to "reconstruct" it, and we install that turnkey engine into the vehicle and I personally test and break the engine in over a 200 mile period. When the customer receives the car back, it is 100% ready for daily driving with no special care or attention and we have already given it the first service and a 28 point check thats fully documented.

To me this isn't as much a business as it is a way of life. I could triple or quadruple the size of the business without needing any "shark" to finance it; I could do it out of my pocket. I do business the old fashioned way and won't ever bring someone else into the mix, because I founded this place and it is mine. That means more than any dollar amount.

In the engine business "volume" is defined by compromise. Here we have no clocks; we don't care how long something takes and one pair of hands, coupled to one mind carries out every process on every engine and vehicle completely. I also take great pride in every project, having direct communication with the buyer from start to finish, which is necessary at this level to maintain a reputation.

I am the happiest I have ever been right now, because I get to "play all day" (as my wife calls it) and feed my family while financing my hobbies, too. I have no desire to build the business into anything larger than it is now, because I don't want the headaches associated with having to deal with every person who comes our way, or having to deal with mass numbers of employees. Here we are all like a family and have all known each other for years, so its a great atmosphere thats conducive to enthusiastic employees and projects. This place is not a "regular grind" where people hate to be. I look forward to every day at my shop, because I have never "worked" a day in my life; the reason we are good is because its not work to us. This has been my goal since the age of 13 when I started all this craziness with old aircooled Porsches and VWs and I am not about to waste it by doing things like everyone else does, because life isn't about building the most, its about building the best and moreover its about LOVING IT!

Remember, we are not engine producers primarily; we are developers first and foremost who just happen to apply those developments to a handful of engines per year. We develop products, "fixes" and procedures as a primary objective; and thats why its easy not to get bored with doing the same old thing everyday, over and over again.

You can buy a new Porsche, then send that to me, like the owner of the Cayman R downstairs that has 4,400 miles on it and has come here for a big bore Raby engine at 4.2 liters, based on the DFI platform. We have already moved into the DFI platform and are making more power than the factory and more displacement.

Start selling them??? Hold on fellas, I already have sold them.... But I stopped. Why? Because DIYr's make their problem my problem when they assume the same title that I do when completing their engine. The years when I did that were lucrative, but I was disgusted and had to field complaints, which is something that I NEVER have to deal with.

When something becomes a pain in the ***, or when someone complains, or we don't like something, I simply stop doing it. Because I don't have to and if I am not happy, this isn't fun and that means it almost becomes a job, which is something I won't accept. There are a TON of parts that we could sell individually, but its not even worth doing it and now we have ceased all product sales outside of engines and our specialized procedures because we just hate to deal with the modern, off the street human that believes the vendor owes them something for nothing. Our engine purchasers son't think that way, and if I sense they do, I tactfully and professionally direct them to my competitor- so they can sue him. Its a great flanking maneuver.

The only way to get what we do is to buy it straight from the source. Trust that it will never be compromised "to increase volume". Volume kills, just ask all of those who think they are our competitor and effectively lose their reputations inside of a year.

It takes as long as it takes, costs as much as it costs and is only done my way. Every time.

That said, I am stepping out of my office to walk 50 yards to catch me a nice fat bass this afternoon, and I bet the owners of those "volume shops" can't do that.