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There it is, out there for the world.

I'm an idiot.

Sorry to say but things just don't work like that anymore.

Here's the deal. 

Yes, with some people things don't work like that, you're right.   Some people do work like that though, and i'm one of them. 

Let me ask you this, if the ONLY reason somebody doesn't fuck you is because there's a contract, do you really want to work with that person? 

Part of choosing partners to work with is being good at reading people and choosing to work with good honest people.   Sometimes you make a bad call, but that should be the goal.  If you get a vibe that somebody is going to fuck you unless you put a contract in place, walking away is a better decision than signing a contract.   There ARE good and honest people out there, they just aren't as common as I wish they were. 

This is an open message to Davin.  I'm not going to post it on GTR-Life, and it's not even a thread on here.

I read your long diatribe last night.  I don't know if it was penned while you were jetlagged but my only thought after reading it all was that you took the wrong turn at albuquerque.

As everyone is aware, as of last week, GT-R Life is cratering.  People like me on the sideline are shaking their heads at the actions of your staff and last night it was compounded by the realization that egregious lapses exist within your organization.   I won't go too long or in detail because I don't feel the need to rehash, but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that way.

1.  People have been banned in the past couple days for posting publicly indexed information about GTR-Life.  I saw it posted, I saw it deleted, and I saw the repercussion to the user.   Somehow the act of posting this information was reprehensible enough and counter to the GTR-Life code of conduct to warrant a ban.   

Yet, you yourself go on a rant, trying to dox former colleagues, digging up as much information , some of it private conversations, to justify your argument.   Were you to apply the same litmus test to your behaviour, you would be erased from the board.

2. You completely dodge the catalyst for the recent exodus from GTR-Life.  The action and juvenile approach to moderation by some new members of your team.

At one point, I was a moderator on GTR-Life.    I can count the number of posts I deleted one one hand.  (outside of spam bot posts).  Those who have interacted with me as "Forum Moderator" because of their post received a courteous and polite PM explaining either what was wrong with their content, or the nature of a complaint of someone on the receiving end of a personal attack.   Each time, the user was given the chance to clarify / edit / remove their post.  This wasn't a "WARNING", but a mediation amongst cooler heads.

Moderation on a board can swing many ways.  What's important, is that those in charge of MODERATION (the 'avoidance' of excess or extremes) be magnanimous in their oversight of a community in which they are entrusted to be arbiter of content.

Unfortunately, those who have not been entrusted with responsibility over other's property and welfare in real life, and have not had a chance to exert leadership tend to be the shittiest online moderator.   That's something I should one day publish in JAMA!   Instead, what you ended up is a moderation team that has put aside rationalization of thought and deem their actions to be above everyone else.  I was disappointed by the sheer lack of empathy displayed by the moderation team , the condescending and belittling attitude.  It's as if a couple of under-achieving nutcases were put in charge of after school detention.   That or Amy's Baking Company is now in charge.  I couldn't stop myself reading all the posts from the wannabe Batman mod in the voice of Goofy, that was the only way to make his verbal diarrhea comprehensible.

While it's 'just the internet', what you are trying to foster is a community, and members are entrusting you with the storage of their content for others to share into.  

3. Conflict of interests

I laughed (and by that I mean that I exhaled a little bit more than usual through my nostrils while sitting in front of the computer) and then shook my head at your explanation and quasi-justification at having a vendor, and a shady one at that, as a Marketplace moderator.  

In the same screen where you whine about the lack of transparency of another forum's ownership structure, you completely dismiss one of the most egregious conflict of interest on your site.  An anonymous Marketplace moderator who's had numerous complaints wrt to his abusive verbal and moderating behaviour is revealed to be none other than the community's shady junkyard vendor.   All this time, some members , including myself, wondered who it was.  By hiding him behind a moderation role, it's not hard to see how GTR-Life was tacitly implicated in members getting ripped off by that same person.  and you complain about lack of transaprency?

Let me break it down the most basic way:

Having a guy who rips off people in the "For Sale" section of the forum is the last person you want MODERATING the "For Sale" section of the forum.  

This isn't a big ethical formulation that took me hours to come up with.  The fact that your company is aware of the large # of complaints, and non-trivial $ under questionable transactions, and that your only course of action was to 'remove his vendor status' is mind boggling and implicates you and your company directly in the wrong doings of that individual.  If anything, someone directly on your team is implicated in what appears to be fraud should be the recipient of very decisive actions.   The same kind of action currently being misdirected to people posting Memes.  

In the end though, you're free to do whatever you want to do with your company.  It's yours (or whatever your equity is) to do whatever you want with.  But members like me who have spent the better part of 5 years making it what it is don't have to agree with it either.   As the saying goes: if you don't like it then get out.

And so I have taken my marbles and am going home.  I no longer desire to have my content on GTR-Life and have therefore decided to remove myself and my contributions from your site.

I may be walking away from a forum, but I'm still a member of a GT-R community where I've made lifelong friends.

I'm taking the NISMO to the track at the end of the month, and I'm getting pretty excited. Wanted to share a bit of what I'm doing.

Car so far has a Mines Ti fully resonated mid pipe, SiR 1,000cc injectors, and EcuTek tune by Bill Guthrie himself. All on 91 octane. 

Before I go to the track I'll be installing a Greddy GR6 cooler, and an AMS street intercooler (reliability/longevity mods).

Round three will include: 

• AMS down pipes
• GR6 upgraded by Shep w/ two billet baskets, and new "OEM like" clutches
• Upgraded fuel pumps (most likely Fore Innovations)
• Flex fuel sensor/kit
• New tune by Bill 

Round three will be the end of the line for me on this car. Trying to keep it highly functional, street friendly, reliable, and reversible. I will post pics as we proceed.

So for those of you that don't know, I'm an admin in the Batallion Facebook group and look who tried to advertise today...

Not on MY WATCH   

1995 Motorex R33 GTR

Plans are 7-800whp build for street driving and road racing.  Should be fun

some pics...

Hi Jack, welcome back

 

For as much as your are trying to poo-poo what we do here I will state the following:

 

 

2)  To say all the good members have left here is crazy.  I would argue the opposite - they have been slowly but surely migrating here as they find out about the place.

 

I just canceled my GTR Life sponsorship! No BS

Im confused:

1. marketed as an SBD1200 kit with Garrett GTX turbos

2. We point out that they are not GTX turbos

3. Chris says that maybe his shop in Taiwan is changing the wheels

4. I say they are not GTX then

5. Chris then advertises them as a Proprietary SBD turbo spec and design.

6. Chris is called out for copying HKS

7. Chris says hes not the manufacturer but the distributor.

8. Kits now have his logo on the casting of the manifold and are still the SBD1200 etc kit.

9. Also now he is not calling them Garrett turbos at all!

So what is it? would it have been a GTX if I didn't say anything? now its not even a Garrett turbo?

how can he not be sure what the factory has done to the turbos but yet call it "his" proprietary design?

How can he only be "distributing" if the product bears his name in title and in actual branding on the physical product?

Regardless if you feel the product he is offering is ok I would hope that that the way in which he either doesn't know his product or mis-advertises his product would make you question if you should work with him or not.

Hello Everyone,

Today is my last day here at Switzer Performance. I've decided to explore another career opportunity that has presented itself to me and my family. I'd like to thank everyone I've worked with over the past seven years in the automotive aftermarket, my clients, my competitors, and my friends. I've had a lot of fun, an absolute blast, and we've achieved some truly amazing things. 

I'll continue to frequent the forum when I have time and answer any questions to help people out. 

All the best,

Neil

Again this is Martin from AMS.

This will be the last post I make about this.   The people wanting to sell this block.. do what you want.. the people wanting to buying it, do what you feel is right.  I will state the facts and leave it at that.  Did company X break the law?  No.  Did company X act unscrupulously?  in my opinion and everyone I've talked to.. hell yes.

1.  We approached company X  on 9/6/2012 to make us a Nissan VR38 Billet engine block.  We ship them all the parts they will need to design a block (stock block, internals, gaskets, etc). We are told it will take roughly 16 weeks.

2.  We visit the company on 10/8/2012 and discuss the project further and bring with an Non-compete.   We speak with owners son as he is in charge of the project and he says he doesn't want to sign anything and to get things complicated.  He says that if anyone approaches them for a billet block he will just refer them to us or they will give a price to them that will steer them to us as they don't want to deal with end users.  This was my decision, albeit not a smart one, to go ahead with this project and trust them on their word....lesson learned.

3. We communicate for the next 4 months going over design reviews that they are sending us, giving feedback, etc.  We are shown pic of 3d rendering and are asked if we approve the design?  How the hell can we approve it from that?  We ask them for 3D cad so we can check measurements on our side.  We are told no, they can't give that to us. So we ask for detailed pics of certain important features and dimensions so we can reviews.  This process goes on a few times with a lot of our time invested in reviewing and approving or changing.  

4.  The year 2013 consists of very poor communication on part of Company X where they are not getting back to us for weeks at a time or sometimes over a month!!  At one point we send an email questioning them what is going on and why is this taking 4-5 times longer than they promised?  The owners son responds telling us to basically screw off.  

5.  I get involved with trying to contact the company and smooth things out.  I call the company and the secretary tells me that Mr. X (owners son) is no longer there, great, let me talk to the owner.  I look up the sons name online and find lawsuit with him as the defendant...promising news.   I speak with the owner him and he says he's taking over.  Things progress and communication is still horrible on their end (weeks go by with no response on their end).   If we had a dollar for every time we were told... it's going in the machine next week to get made....

6.  2-4-2014  (1 year and almost 5 months after we were told 16 weeks) we get our first billet block sample (that we paid up front for 1 year 5 months ago).  Upon first inspection and trying to bolt stuff up on an engine stand it's waaaay off.  Some of the pics you see that we posted in our blog with bolt holes off, spacing off, incorrect surfaces. etc.. i mean we have folders of pictures, dimensions we had to check etc.   We document all of this , pack up the block and send it back.  

7.  We spend the better part of 2014 waiting for company X to fix all the issues.  Communication is again poor, we're told every time we call that they're not in, we leave numbers, messages, no avail.  When we do hear back. it's  'oh a few more weeks, it's almost done".   At this point this has taken so long what other choice do we have?  we decide to wait.  This goes on until mid NOVEMBER of 2014..  over 2 YEARS since they started the project.

8.  11-17-2014  we get the revised engine block back from them.    The block is still not right!  there are major issues with the design and machining.  At this point we're not confident in Company X's abilities to fix the issues and to save time and more iterations of the block We decide that we will make the changes and fixes and document them all (and provide this to Company X) so they can get it right on the next iteration of the block.  

9.  January 2015 , after us making changes to the block and fixing it we have a running engine.  We pack up, take the car to Florida for half mile testing and drag strip to see how the engine holds up.  At the half mile event we see that blowby is significant and crank case pressure gets higher and higher as we run it (max 44 psi boost and it ran 224mph in the half mile).  

10.   we spend the next 4 months we spend testing and debugging the block.   Yes it would worked sort of, the car went fast,  but the bore would distort and other issues would pop up.  We discussed with Company X that we need a stronger sleeve design than what they had.  We contacted a company that specializes in sleeves to come up with something that would work better  (The design is totally different than what Company X first used, and remember this because this will come up in the end).

11.  Sleeves are designed and sent to Company X  for them to incorporate into the block design, along with all the fixes and changes we had to make to the block.  

12. We wait a few months and on 12/14/2015 we get 2 billet blocks out of an order of 10 blocks to be made.  We can't wait to get more, there is a line for these things!  Sadly upon inspection we find problems.. problems that concern us because now there are fundamental issues like holding basic machining tolerances, and other features are still not machined correctly!    Again, we start documenting the issues and are preparing to go back to Company X AGAIN to have issues addresses.. when we get wind of people pushing 'same as AMS billet blocks' online to our own customers...  then we get pictures and message confirming that these are the same billet block company X was making for us.  

13.  12/22/2015   I attempt to make contact with Company X to address this issue.. GOOD LUCK!  I spend the until january 5th calling almost every day, leaving messages, ect.. telling them it's very urgent they call me back.  

14. 1/5/2016  I finally speak with the owner and I presume 'Billet GTR' member here that made this post.  I dare you to tell me I'm lying when i say the following....     I tell him that we've heard that people are soliciting sales of an 'AMS billet block' online and ask him if he knows anything about this.   He says yes, we're selling a GTR billet block and it's not the same as our (AMS) block, it's a design they made on their own.  I ask him if he thinks it's right that we approached them with the idea, gave them all the parts necessary, design reviews, debugging, testing and now they sell a GTR block.  He says it's not the same , (AND THIS IS IMPORTANT),  he says that their block will use their original sleeve design as he thinks it's better.   He tells me that they have a ton of time and money wrapped up in this (which I agree,and we do also) and he needs to sell blocks (admitting right there that he has time and money in THAT PARTICULAR DESIGN).     At this point I see where this is going.. he wants to make money even if the block isn't ready or is right, (not the way AMS operates!) .   Seeing the situation I ask him what it would take have exclusivity and he said I would have to buy a lot of blocks from them, which I was planning on doing anyways if the blocks were correct!!!  He tells me to email him this request and he'll think about it.   I send an email asking him this question just to see what he would say.   At this point our mind is made up... we're not working with thieves.  

And here is where we arrive today.  A block being offered for sale that has been tested, debugged, reviewed, and retested by AMS.  EVEN THE SLEEVE DESIGN THAT WE IMPLEMENTED AND THEY SAID THEY WOULDN'T USE!!!!  Company X has proof it's their design?  Tell me yes and we'll post links up to all the design changes, features, etc we have documented on our end that I can point out in the pictures are used in this 'new version' of their block.  And yes we're still sitting on those two blocks we received from Company X that are still not correct.. will you take them back and refund our money?

In the end we made an emotional post, we wanted to let the public  know that a product was being offered for sale around our back that we put hard work, money, and time into.  And worst of all, it's still not right.   Did I make a horrible decision of not having something in writing with Company X?  yes!   Was making the initial emotional based post and blog worth all this drama?  probably no.   Does my gut say I just got taken advantage of by a company doing unscrupulous business practices?  YES!    The things I've witnessed and learned from being in business over the past 15 years really make me question human integrity in general.

Martin Musial,

President, AMS Performance

I understand why Dave would want to take this on, hell it's pretty smart the more I think about it.

Just got back home, was great seeing everyone in real life again.  Seeing all these cars in the same place at the same time is a bit overwhelming.  Consider my pics a placeholder until Stuart/Cicio/Eric et al put up the real ones.  I will say it's hard, for me at least, to capture how perfect the T1 car looks in person.  It is the ultimate combination of sex and intimidation and believe me, this is no 20' race car that looks half ass up close.  Every little detail is dialed in.  To put that level of on-track performance into such a stunning package, was something I felt lucky to see in person.  ETS definitely gets the award for determination.  They hit a string of bad luck and just would not give up, continually bringing the cars back to life and making pass after pass.  Really inspiring to see that level of commitment.  

 

4 days of Lone Star and Donuts has for some odd reason left me tired so I'm going to leave it at that.  Good night!

First, Jeff thanks for the quick great pictures. I know first hand how much work that can be, props.  Also, thank you for the kind words. Tony has hired the right people to build that car along side him and nobody involved believes in cutting corners, no matter how small of a detail it is. Hope you had a great time and I'm glad you share our enthusiasm for the car!

Tony's throttles closed at the 1100' mark on his 204mph pass!! No wonder he had a higher ET vs his 194mph pass even though the 204mph had a better 60'.

 

It's gonna be nuts. I can't wait to see if he can break Ekanoo's record. 

Throttles shut early on the 7.38 @ 195 pass. It was up significantly in MPH over the 204 pass at the 1/8 though.  Tony and I have alot of reflecting, typing, and editing to do before a full recap will be put up, but rest assured its coming.

We had an INSANE amount of people come by the trailer and wish us luck. Its hard to describe how rewarding it is to see people pushing for us no matter who we are up against. To everyone that has been keeping up and pulling for us, thank you!

Few people in the GT-R world haven't at least heard the name Gidi or Gideon. He has become ingrained in R35 GT-R folklore as one of the most passionate GT-R fanatics in the world. Last summer Gidi, like many seasoned racers suffered an on track incident. Sadly this particular case resulted in the total loss of his beloved blue GT-R. Walking away without a bump or a scratch Gidi would not be defeated. He did what any logical GT-R fanatic would do....he started building a better one.

With TX2K coming up I thought I would share some of the progress pictures of Gidi's latest project dubbed the ALPHA G. The goal for ALPHA G was simple....Give her all she's got without making it a full blown race car. It had to be quicker than anything we have built and it had to go faster than anything we have built. So far its shaping up to do JUST THAT!!!

We still have a lot of work to do but for now here are some pretty wild pictures of what is shaping up to be our most monstrous GT-R build yet.

As we get more pictures and the finished product I will post it all here. Disregard the finish on the parts as most will be coated or anodized after they have been completed. Please also note the motor in the engine is simply a dummy motor for mock-up purposes.

If you have questions fire away.... not saying I will answer them all but you can ask lol.

Eric

All of us are like

But SBD is just chillin like

While most of us over here are all like

But the shops that are getting their products knocked off are like

but then you've got mods on "other forums" that are like

but over here we're all like

it is hard for me to bite my tongue at times and know that by helping educate customers it in turn educates my competition which sadly is why I rarely post about new things that we do or know.

Lets take the clutch baskets for example. The weld itself does not break.  It actually breaks right outside the weld due to the heat created from the weld. The factory basket works great for moderate power but we have found the limit, unfortunately we had to have failures to find this.  Now there are claims of "robot" welding.  And claims that this eliminates the problems.    I must ask how that statement can be made and what actual testing has been done to prove this. 

Mike Wads for example has just now finally broke his stock basket after many miles of 1000 plus hp abuse, breaking axles, breaking stock gears, running 9.0 and so on.  Unless something can substantially outlive this abuse I do not and would never claim that I have a cure.

If the only way to make a name for yourself is being the cheapest guy and hacking then this will continue if customers buy into the BS that is allowed to be spread.    

I'm still blown away he is getting near Tial prices for those $30 Chinese blow off valves.   Just one example of every product he 'improves' by putting his name on it.   Or, I mean, his stuff isn't that cheap Chinese junk pictured below, his are high quality made in the same Taiwan factory that makes OEM parts.  Don't kid yourself, many big name shops are doing the exact same thing and GTR taxing everybody.   I could go on and on, i've heard it enough to recite it. 

https://spdbydesign....-off-valve-kit/

https://www.alibaba....4838.0.0.k6V1m3

https://www.alibaba....4838.0.0.k6V1m3

https://www.alibaba....4838.0.0.k6V1m3

So tell me, is the ~$50 I make selling an actual Tial BOV the GTR Tax, or is the $150+ that's made selling the $30 BOV for $200 the GTR Tax? 

Open your eyes people.  Clinton and Riggs are in the same fucking boat. 

I feel like I need to comment in here since I've been mentioned a few times.

First, I've used Ivey and Jacks for transmissions builds.  Both have been great, quick turn around times, great customer support when there was an issue (both companies).  The two transmissions Ivey did for us, one is still running with zero issues, it's was his 1.5 build and ran 8's in my car and then was sold to someone else.  The other is what I think he calls his Promax build and it too has been perfect, as Nick said earlier, Jack and Kevin also swapped the ETS out in his car in 2015 at the Shootout, no charge.

Jacks however, I have to say, I've had one of the best customer service experiences with them I've ever had, PERIOD.  I've got their top of the line trans in my car.   It has been absolutely flawless as far as the build itself goes.  I have had a few other issues, I've had a valve body solenoid fail and I personally didn't like the way the Zero ETS worked in my car.  Now, here is the kicker on both of those issues.  Jack was present both times, which oddly enough were at the Shootouts in 2015 and 2016.  BOTH TIMES he and his brother Kevin, personally pulled the trans out of my car and fixed the trans, no questions asked and no money accepted.  BOTH TIMES, I was going to just bow out at the race and fix the car the coming week, they wouldn't hear of that.  I don't know anyone, not even us, that would have done that.  

Since the trans has been in my car, I've run two half mile events and I don't know how many drag passes with my best being 8.33 at 168.68 and 199.29 in the 1/2.  

Jack took faith in us and decided to teach us how to do the trans builds and offer all his tips/secrets/parts, that's a huge risk.  The honesty I've seen in Jack is bar none, he's a top notch guy.

We have been working closely with Sheptrans over the past few months to make some of the Billet GR6 parts we have mentioned previously. First up is the WR35CH Billet Quickchange Clutch Housing. Much stronger than the factory piece which has failed with catastrophic consequences in some high powered GTRs this 6061-T6 Billet case has a removeable front plate for Clutch and ETS quick changes with the transmission still in the vehicle to save valuable down time at the track (even seals with an O-Ring to avoid the use of silicone during changes). Its a landmark piece and being tested by Sheptrans over the next couple of weeks. All enquiries for this should be directed to Sheptrans.

May 27th I posted a poll on here to see who would be interested in a billet front differential housing.  The stock one is prone to breaking and when it breaks it breaks the block, if you are lucky you can half ass it back together to salvage doing a complete new block.  

Nick's car broke the housing, broke two mounting points off the new 4.1 engine and his low mileage 2014 factory block.  We were able to build a brace on the tail shaft area of a new front diff and it has, luckily held up in the car since and the block never had to be removed.

This put the fear in me as I sure don't want to swap blocks in my own car over something like this.  That started us on the process to make a new billet housing.

They are done, I don't have the final pricing yet.  The housing will use all the stock components and it is a direct bolt in.  Jacks has upgraded gears for the front already.

This is going to be a game changer with the addition of our upgrade front drive shaft (the other common part to break) and the amount of power than can be sent to the front wheels.

Here are some pictures.  This is the first one off the 5 axis CNC, the second housing has been changed slightly on the exterior to save a little more weight and make it "prettier".  The main focus was on absolutely strength.  The oiling capacity has been increased to the bearings and the entire housing has been increased in strength, it is NOT going to break, period.  

I should be posting pricing later today.  As a heads-up, there is going to be ONE price for these, no discounts to anyone or shops.  While that may sound shitty to some, we are basically going to be selling these at what we'd wholesale them for, so it's one price as low as we can offer them.  I think it's a critical part to a build, the block getting broke absolutely SUCKS.  Rather than try to get rich from selling them, my goal from the beginning has been to get them out there in as large a quantity as I can to keep the damage from occurring.