How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster.

Takes a good man and a gentlemen to step up ! .....You are right as it is difficult to "hear" the tone of an email conversation.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Reply By TRP: How do you make it rain in California?... buy a
sp...
From: "SpeedsterOwners.com" <**************>
Date: Thu, August 11, 2016 6:22 pm
To: mcmscott <scott@metalcraftmotorsports.com>

An open letter to specialists of all kinds:

Dear Guru,

I've got a hobby I'm really enjoying, and you are an expert in the field. You come recommended by people I respect, but you've never met me. I know you get a lot of tire-kickers and guys just jerking you around, and I'm really sorry for that (it must get really old). It's hard to make a living like that.

Even though I'm new to this and you don't know me-- I'm asking you to give my intelligence the benefit of the doubt. It has nothing in common with your particular area of expertise, but I'm reasonably successful at what I do. That's the thing about this hobby-- I'm at least partly interested in it because it's not like how I make a living, and it's a bit of a diversion from the grind.

I'm really motivated to learn all I can, and ask a lot of questions. You know that there are internet forums for every possible hobby, and that I'm bound to gravitate towards them. Please don't think this is meant as disrespect. This thing you do, you do for a living, and I'm trying to learn about it to escape my way of making a living. This is all new and really cool to me. I'm diving into the deep end, and it's all very interesting.

So, as difficult as it must be for you-- I'd like to be part of the decision-making process and would like to learn as much as I can along the way. I know that you do this on a daily basis, and I'm not trying to question your advice or conclusions. We'll probably end up just doing what you think is best, but I'd like to understand why we are doing things this way instead of that.

The thing is-- if I just give you vague perimeters for a desired outcome, and you build what you think is best, and my involvement doesn't go beyond just writing a check-- the thing isn't a hobby anymore, it's just a transaction. I can wander down to the car dealer and do the same thing. I don't want that, or I would have done it already. The journey is at least as exciting as the destination, and I've got a hungry mind-- I'd really like to learn about this stuff along the way.

I know it must get old. You say you're busy and don't have time for this. I get that, but I wonder if you remember what it's like to get so excited about something that you just needed to know everything you could about it? That you couldn't sleep? I can't expect you to be that excited about this any more, as it's the way you put food on the table-- but if you take away my "back and forth", you're taking away the things that are helping me learn. I'm sure it's not important for you that I learn, but it's vitally important to me. I'm not just buying your service, I'm buying the process.

Please don't short-circuit that process. Please don't rob the joy I've got in learning about this thing . You're the guru. I'm probably going to end up doing what you think is right. But PLEASE let me spool out a bit-- give me some line to run before you start reeling me in. I'm spending a lot of money.

It's important to me to enjoy every step of the way.

Stan....  A terrific essay hitting home on all points ..impressive and should be archived !  The prior post surely won't generate new fiends and business relationships as every successful and established business person knows that all contacts (likable or not)  are a direct or indirect potential customer. Final thought.. Word of mouth is the best for or advertisement, integrity, tends to keep the lights on and a good night's rest.

 

 

Stan, that indeed is a beautifully composed intelligent essay.... and should be archived so undiplomatic arrogance, from any quarter, can be gracefully parried.  

Stan well said!  

Some clients want to be included in the "reason why" things are done while some want to simply buy.  Some vendors or service providers will treat you somewhat patronizingly, willingly or unwillingly and if your part of the group that wants to be included in the process it may not work out as one of them will be frustrated. 

In custom car building I can't see getting much success without being somewhat of a teacher to your client in sharing your experience of what has worked in your previous builds. 

 

Wow! Even concerned patients get 2nd opinions from other Doctor's.

Is this guy related to Jake Raby? 

baaaaaaaaaa

So... that happened. I appreciate the support, guys. Let's let this one go and move on. 

Stan - your letter was spot on, man. Thank you. I was super excited about the five speed again after waiting 6 flipping months and $2500.00.  Now I'm back to being fed up with it.  Metal parts don't rot if you keep them clean and dry.  I will put them on a shelf and cool off for a bit.  

Interesting side note. Gene Berg sends you a fun little bag of candy with your parts. I didn't even get to try one. My daughter found the bag and ate them all. That's a metaphor for this project.

 

Sorry to see the tranny build take this turn.  I will likely do another build some day and I'm definitely interested in a 5 speed. Egos are a delicate thing.  If the tranny Guru is that sensitive I would not want to do business with him.  As a Doc I get advice from nurses, technologists and colleagues all the time.  A wise man considers all advice and then decides.  To dismiss a suggestion out of pure arrogance is foolish.  There is always more than one way to skin a cat  (I hate cats).   I'm sure the tranny Guru is swamped with work.  I believe him.  Good thing since he won't be getting any referrals from this site.   

You didn't get any Zots? Oh man....

I would give it a few days, and talk to him again. How far away is he from you? Visiting his shop for a face to face would make it easier to clear the air, and if you can't save it at least you know you tried.

Talk about taking a hard left turn and getting derailed...

Zots! That's what they were called.  Nope not one. My daughter found 'em and loved 'em. It was sort of funny. She would go into the garage... and come back smiling.  A while later... repeat.  One flavor she didn't like... she came back with a sour look on her face.  It wasn't until the next day when I found the bag ravaged inside the box of parts that I figured it out.  When I asked her about it she just smiled and said "Sorrrry... you're not mad are you?"

I don't even know how she found them in the first place. I think Candy is to children like truffles are to pigs. They just have a nose for it. 

 

And that folks is how "you make it rain in California"!

Sorry Ted...

"I don't even know how she found them in the first place. I think Candy is to children like truffles are to pigs. They just have a nose for it." 

^  ....or, like gears to an SOCer with a serious case of the madness! 

This has been like watching "How I met your mother."
>

Ted - For what it's worth I just had my transaxle done. The planning of that had been in the works for two years and when I had to have the engine taken out to have body repairs done I jumped on the opportunity. Even though I had all the hypotheticals down on paper I still had doubts. After posting my thoughts here I received lots of feedback which caused me hesitation. It wasn't until I was given an opportunity to drive a car that had similar ratios to what I wanted that everything was confirmed.

For me I wanted to rid my car of that "granny" 1st and almost granny 2nd so I had a 3.44 ring and pinion put into a stock ratio transaxle. The result was that it still wasn't anywhere near what I wanted it to be. Now I knew I had to get the next one right or just settle for what I had. I'm not a settler. The drag guys love the stock setup with the big motors and when you hear them talk it sounds exciting! Well I realized that I don't like to burn the tires off between stop lights and I wanted something much different.

My initial thought on a new 1st and 2nd was to put a 2.90 1st and a 1.93 2nd in. The guys on here and at a shop I know really cautioned me on that saying that was too high and would make my starts and driving in traffic difficult. The car I drove had this setup in it - 3.88 R&P, 3.11 1st, 193 2nd, 1.21 3rd, and .89 4th. I know you're sick of this but it's important you talk to people that are in the know and ARE willing to listen to what YOU want and come up with a solution that fits.

After driving the car with the above configuration I spent hours running numbers on a gear calc and talking to Stan who has done this a few times then decided to change just the 2nd gear from the above config to a 1.86. I conveyed what I wanted to the builder and then had to wait and worry if my decision was right. When they got my car to a drivable state I went over and tried it and Ted it was like driving a $100,000 car! It really worked.

In my opinion your builder did you a huge favor that may save you $$$ and disappointment going forward. He also exposed his character not only to you but to all of us - thank you!

Ted - figure out what style of driver you are. If you like to drag race your car then stick with the ratios that are closest to stock. If you want 1st and 2nd stretched out a little don't be afraid to wait until you can confidently build it right by replacing the mainshaft with higher gears. I drive up to Bakersfield once or twice a month. That's not too far from you. Make a day of it and come on down and take my car out for a drive. We can take it up Kern Canyon Hwy 178. Take Terry's out first and get his configuration on paper then lets compare. See which type of setup you like best then design your 5 speed!

Stan...Write the book.........And they will come !

MusbJim posted:

"I would give it a few days, and talk to him again. How far away is he from you? Visiting his shop for a face to face would make it easier to clear the air, and if you can't save it at least you know you tried."

Right!

With that kind of thin skin, that would be like dealing with a woman and her "Gotcha" bag. You make a simple mistake that pisses off your woman but you take the high road and make peace and apologize for your misstep (she then stores that incident in her "Gotcha" bag). Time passes and everything seems to be fine. BUT, some time later (sometimes YEARS), you make a similar misstep, and POW, she pulls that sh*t from the "Gotcha" bag and pummels you with it. 

 

It's 2 guys talking, Jim, and it's what I would do. I've found (time and time again) that after tempers (and egos) cool down, sometimes you can still make it work. Maybe it won't, but you don't know until you try.

And my apologies for what follows, but I felt something had to be said....

The thing that's been bugging me about this whole sh*tstorm (and it's taken awhile to figure out) is why did you do this here? This should have been a private conversation with the person you're dealing with (where the rest of the conversation was being conducted) and not the public humiliation attempt you were looking for (I can see no other reason for doing this the way you did). I'm just calling it as I see it here- I'm a Samba-ite as well, have a lot of respect for your knowledge, and was 1 of the guys here suggesting to Ted that you would be a good choice for this, but now I don't really know what to think.

Before you reply to this please re-read Stan's post on the previous page and give it a little time to settle in. Al Blanchette