allen_skillicorn

I even bought a car from one of them...

I respect what your shop has done for the community and you do great work, but for a non-race car I don't understand why some P-car owners have to act like snobs sometimes. Would I like to have a Raby 4.0L engine,hell yes, but I can't financially justify one for my 996 daily driver.

You build top shelf stuff, I wouldn't expect you to compete with a guy who does quality, but budget rebuilds. There's a market for both.

Flat6 Innovations

All I asked was who the previous poster was referring to from my facility. Thats all.

As for competing, we don't have a single competitor, no one else does what we do. :-)
Happy 4th!

69gaugeman

If you have time and money to waste.

ltusler

^ Would you like to share something specific?

69gaugeman

Nothing specific. It is well known Jake's prices compete with Porsche prices for new engines. To be fair, I am sure he builds a fine engine. I have not heard complaints or stories of poor workmanship. There are less expensive options that work perfectly well out there, that take less time to acquire.

ltusler

Quality and precision take time and money. The time it takes to get a rebuild done at FSI is a direct result of the work they do and the value we customers place on that. I would guess that the less expensive options are not the same thing. I think we may be back to defining refresh, rebuild, the process each builder uses, and the materials they choose. When that is taken into account, there is no direct comparison. Not even from the factory.

Sneaky Pete

That was quite the "off the cuff" comment. Usually comments like that come with no knowledge of the topic or experience. There was a time when I made those same comments........but trust me on this......you don't know what you speak of.

Here is a little story....I bought a motor w/out a warranty from Jake in May 2013 after mine went kaput while on the track. The motor developed intermix Dec 2013 and Jake took care of it by repairing the crack in the head. I put the motor back in the car and it still wasn't running right. Jake had a truck and trailer at my door in a few days and off my car went to GA. This was 3 weeks ago. He found the issue......the original intermix was caused by a void in the head casting. The void was never found until he pulled the head and milled into it. There was crack coming from an oil passage in the head. Did I mention I bought the motor without a warranty? A new head was matched to my motor and installed. He has put 300 miles on the car and is ready to put the car back on a truck and drop it at my door. I should have it back this week. All of this has been on his own dime. ALL of it

So did I have time and money to waste? Nope. But what also came with my motor with no warranty was a company that stood by their product regardless. You can go cheap but think about what you are buying....you know the saying.....you get what you pay for.

Apologize to the OP......sorry to highjack and I'm glad you are up and running.

Zookie

I had unsubscribed from this thread few days ago as it has gone so off topic in Rennlist Tradition.

69gaugeman

Not really off the cuff. I know what Jake does to his motors based on what has been posted in this forum. I have read a lot of what he does here and his responses. I generally don't make off the cuff comments. Those who know me, know I do research before I comment.

I am also in the automotive industry directly and I am very aware of what it takes to make a motor. I rebuild motors myself including quite a few Porsche ones. I have been a machinist in a previous life before engineering, so I know what is involved. Machining of automotive components (all engine and transmission parts) are what I am involved with on a daily basis.

With all this information, I stand by what I posted. His prices are high (even for the quality he does) and his deliveries are long (if 8 moths is a true reflection of his deliveries). What you have NEVER seen me post about Jake is that his engines are not any good. You have never seen me post that because I don't believe that is the case.

But what do I know?

Sneaky Pete

No doubt you have skills that are over my head regarding how these things go together. What I was getting at was being in the scenario that your motor has died.....what do you do? What would you do? If you have the means to dig into the thing and fix it great.....that's not me. Saying send it to Jake if you have time and money to waste is backwards at least for me. In my case I couldn't afford not to have him involved.

5CHN3LL

Mods, can we abyss this mess?

Sneaky Pete

Agreed......just chaps my a$$ when it is just too easy to talk sh_t.....I'm out.

Flat6 Innovations

But fully unsubstantiated.

Really? No you do not. Why? Because what we do specifically to these engines is not posted here. Why? Because of people like you, and their comments, pretty much. Also, I don't make blatent advertisement posts like other companies do on this forum. Show me once where I have posted an ad for an engine here. You won't find it.

And you've been abrasive in most every post that you've made. Your research is limited to my posts on Rennlist and you have ZERO direct experience with me or my company. You call that research?

And now comes the truth and you're true motivation for your behavior.

For whom? It seems that you know all about me, but we don't know you. Care to share a little more than the username with us, so we can "research" who you are?

How do you substantiate this? When have I given you a direct price on one of these engines? If I would have done that, you'd know that my prices include every single thing, right down to power steering fluid and oil for a completed car when we carry out a reconstruction. This price was higher than Porsche's engine program (by as much as 5K) several years ago, but at the end of the Porsche program for crate engines my engine was less and included complete installation and break- in service with chassis dyno time. Hell, I even fill the fuel tank of every car that sees a reconstruction, and ship it home clean.

That doesn't even take into consideration that we give 200ccs of free displacement to every purchaser of a Stage I engine and give them a full year's worth of engine oil and filters for their new engine, and include oil analsis for that year as well. Hell, I even give them free used oil analysis kits to send the oil back to us with and free postage!

As I stated earlier in this thread, no other service, anywhere is this complete. This is the reason why we have no competitor in this market.

So, how can you say that my prices are high for whats offered? You can't. Why? Because you don't know whats included.

Most of the owners like that the deliveries take a while. We run 8-12 months all the time and that make it easier for folks to save money. I work from a 3 payment (1/3 payments) plan that breaks the process down to an initial deposit, a mid term payment and then one final payment when the work is done. Maybe twice per year people complain about a lead time, but they can call someone else who has an engine on the shelf and have it tomorrow- thats fine with us. People that understand what it takes to process one of these engines start to finish have a great respect for the procedures and man hours expended to do so. Remember- We aren't just slapping an engine together and wrapping it with saran wrap and shipping it away, we are doing everything required to restore function to that entire vehicle. Today that means a lot more than just the engine, as the cars are getting older and sub- systems are lending a hand.

And there's probably another reason for that, too. I won't post my thoughts, because I don't believe in posting speculation.

Hard to say, because we don't know you.

LexVan

Great response, Mr Raby. Thank you!

Seeeu911

Oh yeah it's just warming up ! Subscribed.