Indi9xx
New member
Hi, I am Jon Mitchell and I am a Porsche Tuning addict...
My only experience of self help groups is on TV and they seem to be people sat around in a circle introducing themselves and saying "and I am an alcoholic" or "and I am a drug abuser"
Looking back over almost 30 years of my career to date, I do feel like I have had an addiction, or at least I have been doing something over and over again, which brings myself some emotional reward, but in the process destroying my finances, health and free time. Let me explain..
30 years ago it was inevitable I would become a Porsche specialist, even though I had resisted and was educated in science and software engineering initially, my father was a great Porsche specialist and so it was no shock when I became one under his wing..
Once my father retired, my training continued funded by some wealthy people in the middle east, who brought enough cars from the factory, that I ended up factory and factory motorsport trained. I also had a background in thermodynamics, Physics and low level programming languages, so it was no wonder I understood those new fangled Porsche with their microchip voodoo gubbins as my dad would call it (normally before saying something like "what was ever wrong with a carb, points and condensor??")
The business relocated to the UK about two decades ago, and grew, took on staff, and grew some more.. But one thing was constant, I was always a sucker for a project, someone wanting to transform their Porsche.
Often these transformations would involve not only some major surgery, but also an evolution of the project, where while the customers car is being worked on, they also come up with some ideas of other bits they want to do, or we find out the car they want to do it to has some serious issues that also need addressing.
We have always been a bit of a victim of our own success, the workshop is always very busy with servicing, diagnosis, repairs and straight forward modifications... Often booked up for 4 to 6 weeks in advance.. But the big projects always cause a problem, especially when they evolve, such as a car coming in for a chip and later turning into a car with a rebuilt engine, chip, maf conversion, big turbo, exhaust, intercooler, suspension package and a million and one faults rectified along the way, usually also with a customers budget evolving also.
In the past, I always was, as mentioned before, a sucker for a project, this meant that often I priced them low because I was not only wanting the customer to have the best car, but also because often the customer could not quite afford what they were asking for... So typically every project turned into a loss.
The other problem was the workshop being booked up for 4 to 6 weeks in advance, this meant that a car coming in for chips but needing (for example) a head rebuild by the time we checked it out, would not have the time to do the work there and then, meaning the extra work would often happen a month later, or sooner if we had the time.. Normally customers are completely aware of this, and each time they add to the project, with each decision potentially adding another month to the time scale, they should still be aware of this, but others often do not know...
But it does mean, over the years, when a customer comes on a forum like this and says "My car is at JMG having this..." and then a month later says "And now it is having this" and this story goes on for ages, it is not a shock that these days people in the community have an ongoing joke of "Your car is at JMG? Oh, you will have it back in two years!".
While on one side, it is often said as a joke, at the same time, it still isnt good for business and people who do not know the ins and outs, may think that we keep peoples cars here captive for months on end, not realising, that we really are always booked up in advance, and finding the extra time for X, Y or Z additional jobs, after the car is here can be a problem.
The other problem is often that customers start reading forums like rennlist and insisting, part way through a project that we use XYZGoofBallTuning's turbo, exhaust, suspension or whatever.. and that is when things really turn pear shaped.. You would think a turbo is a turbo? A maf kit is a maf kit? a clutch is a clutch... But those parts, so often are not as "plug and play" as the vendors and fans of the vendors will say... Meaning those modifications no longer take as little time as expected for one of our own products, but then take forver with parts being fabricated to make X fit with Y.. Then only to find later that the cheap part really is quite useless anyway.
So, why am I saying all this??
Well of course I want to put the record straight, with some of those that joke or jibe on here about cars being here for 2 years.. I can only think of one car which was here for two years, and that was complicated and included designing the worlds first 3.2 944 Turbo engine.. Another car was here for ages because the owner was adamant that his UK made 3.0 exhaust would flow as well as a Fabspeed and insisted that the detonation problems were not down to the exhaust, until eventually we modified his exhaust and rectified the problem.. Other than that, sometimes a car is here for a long time due to a combination of it ending up having much more done than the original booking, combined with our fully booked diary.
Another reason is because I was taking part in someones post, where they were putting together a project, quite a major one, with lots of parts from lots of sources and a feeling of complete dread came over me, as I have felt the pain all too many times of what happens when you have multiple suppliers go faster goodies all coming together in one Frankenstein car... It becomes a nightmare and where do you point the finger of blame when none of it fits, or something goes wrong.. So I guess just a bit of a warning tale that even specialists who have done this work a thousand times, even get unstuck with big projects and lots of suppliers parts which have been cherry picked from packages which work, when one supplier supplies just that, a package.
The last reason, is like an addict, who has been suckered into one too many projects which have gone pear shaped and almost bankrupted me over and over again, I need to admit my addiction openly.. You are
my support group and here is my confession, I need to recover from my addiction..
What is the solution for me?
I have learned my lesson.. From now on I will only fit parts that I have developed an know, or ones which I know work, R&D will be on my own cars for fun, no more customers throwing down the gauntlet of a challenge and me accepting it and developing something bespoke for them.. and I need to be stricter with my customers and to not let their cars evolve in my workshop, their cars need to become tip top first, then come back for tuning with a clear vision later... Most of all I need to control my desire to say "yes" when they say "Can you also..." once the car is already here...
My name is Jon Mitchell, I am a tuning addict, but I am recovering, one step at a time... Please don't fall into the same traps as I have.
My only experience of self help groups is on TV and they seem to be people sat around in a circle introducing themselves and saying "and I am an alcoholic" or "and I am a drug abuser"
Looking back over almost 30 years of my career to date, I do feel like I have had an addiction, or at least I have been doing something over and over again, which brings myself some emotional reward, but in the process destroying my finances, health and free time. Let me explain..
30 years ago it was inevitable I would become a Porsche specialist, even though I had resisted and was educated in science and software engineering initially, my father was a great Porsche specialist and so it was no shock when I became one under his wing..
Once my father retired, my training continued funded by some wealthy people in the middle east, who brought enough cars from the factory, that I ended up factory and factory motorsport trained. I also had a background in thermodynamics, Physics and low level programming languages, so it was no wonder I understood those new fangled Porsche with their microchip voodoo gubbins as my dad would call it (normally before saying something like "what was ever wrong with a carb, points and condensor??")
The business relocated to the UK about two decades ago, and grew, took on staff, and grew some more.. But one thing was constant, I was always a sucker for a project, someone wanting to transform their Porsche.
Often these transformations would involve not only some major surgery, but also an evolution of the project, where while the customers car is being worked on, they also come up with some ideas of other bits they want to do, or we find out the car they want to do it to has some serious issues that also need addressing.
We have always been a bit of a victim of our own success, the workshop is always very busy with servicing, diagnosis, repairs and straight forward modifications... Often booked up for 4 to 6 weeks in advance.. But the big projects always cause a problem, especially when they evolve, such as a car coming in for a chip and later turning into a car with a rebuilt engine, chip, maf conversion, big turbo, exhaust, intercooler, suspension package and a million and one faults rectified along the way, usually also with a customers budget evolving also.
In the past, I always was, as mentioned before, a sucker for a project, this meant that often I priced them low because I was not only wanting the customer to have the best car, but also because often the customer could not quite afford what they were asking for... So typically every project turned into a loss.
The other problem was the workshop being booked up for 4 to 6 weeks in advance, this meant that a car coming in for chips but needing (for example) a head rebuild by the time we checked it out, would not have the time to do the work there and then, meaning the extra work would often happen a month later, or sooner if we had the time.. Normally customers are completely aware of this, and each time they add to the project, with each decision potentially adding another month to the time scale, they should still be aware of this, but others often do not know...
But it does mean, over the years, when a customer comes on a forum like this and says "My car is at JMG having this..." and then a month later says "And now it is having this" and this story goes on for ages, it is not a shock that these days people in the community have an ongoing joke of "Your car is at JMG? Oh, you will have it back in two years!".
While on one side, it is often said as a joke, at the same time, it still isnt good for business and people who do not know the ins and outs, may think that we keep peoples cars here captive for months on end, not realising, that we really are always booked up in advance, and finding the extra time for X, Y or Z additional jobs, after the car is here can be a problem.
The other problem is often that customers start reading forums like rennlist and insisting, part way through a project that we use XYZGoofBallTuning's turbo, exhaust, suspension or whatever.. and that is when things really turn pear shaped.. You would think a turbo is a turbo? A maf kit is a maf kit? a clutch is a clutch... But those parts, so often are not as "plug and play" as the vendors and fans of the vendors will say... Meaning those modifications no longer take as little time as expected for one of our own products, but then take forver with parts being fabricated to make X fit with Y.. Then only to find later that the cheap part really is quite useless anyway.
So, why am I saying all this??
Well of course I want to put the record straight, with some of those that joke or jibe on here about cars being here for 2 years.. I can only think of one car which was here for two years, and that was complicated and included designing the worlds first 3.2 944 Turbo engine.. Another car was here for ages because the owner was adamant that his UK made 3.0 exhaust would flow as well as a Fabspeed and insisted that the detonation problems were not down to the exhaust, until eventually we modified his exhaust and rectified the problem.. Other than that, sometimes a car is here for a long time due to a combination of it ending up having much more done than the original booking, combined with our fully booked diary.
Another reason is because I was taking part in someones post, where they were putting together a project, quite a major one, with lots of parts from lots of sources and a feeling of complete dread came over me, as I have felt the pain all too many times of what happens when you have multiple suppliers go faster goodies all coming together in one Frankenstein car... It becomes a nightmare and where do you point the finger of blame when none of it fits, or something goes wrong.. So I guess just a bit of a warning tale that even specialists who have done this work a thousand times, even get unstuck with big projects and lots of suppliers parts which have been cherry picked from packages which work, when one supplier supplies just that, a package.
The last reason, is like an addict, who has been suckered into one too many projects which have gone pear shaped and almost bankrupted me over and over again, I need to admit my addiction openly.. You are
my support group and here is my confession, I need to recover from my addiction..
What is the solution for me?
I have learned my lesson.. From now on I will only fit parts that I have developed an know, or ones which I know work, R&D will be on my own cars for fun, no more customers throwing down the gauntlet of a challenge and me accepting it and developing something bespoke for them.. and I need to be stricter with my customers and to not let their cars evolve in my workshop, their cars need to become tip top first, then come back for tuning with a clear vision later... Most of all I need to control my desire to say "yes" when they say "Can you also..." once the car is already here...
My name is Jon Mitchell, I am a tuning addict, but I am recovering, one step at a time... Please don't fall into the same traps as I have.
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Ok thanks, I would return to my 2 Engine tuners & builders (USA & UK) should any issues ever occur, but my capacity is 2707cc not 3.2, or is it turbocharged but a Normally aspirated 8 valve.
