Gauging interest on Aussie visit

Sup fellas,

Well I've had a LOT of emails from various members on here asking if I would really make a trip out to Aussie to build a few engines for them. The answer is yes. I'd like to know if there are any members here that are wanting/needing an engine built. I could have all the parts shipped to me and then carry them on the plane with me. Shipping would be SUPER CHEAP!!!

What I could do is go to your local machine shops and have them machine your blocks to my specs and then I could follow through on building the engines for you all. If some of you require cylinder head work I can offer porting services while I am there.

I'd love to see a few races if given the chance while I'm there as well...maybe even get some fishing in.

Anyways, If any of you are genuinely and seriously interested in having me come out to your location I can certainly do so. I'd like to spend roughly 7-10 days there if possible to ensure I can focus on getting as many customers prepped/built as I can while I'm there.

I will find out rates on hotels and lodging and airfare. Lord knows it will be pricey but I believe it will be worth it for not only myself ( get to visit you folks and the great land of Australia, but great for you guys to finally put a face to a name! )

I'm up for suggestions on how I could do this. Maybe for the amount of ppl that want me to come out we could setup some sort of "relief" fund for airfare where some contribute or something. Not sure how the labor rates will be depending on how the trip is paid for but I am willing to work out things with those that want/need my services.

So shoot me a PM or post on here where you all are located and who is down for me coming out that way. I'd have to have the majority of you meet me at said location or have a few tech days in a clean shop to do the builds and so forth. But thats all details and we can figure that out later on. We have plenty of time to make decisions.

I look forward to reading what some of you have to say.

thanks

 

well you might be making more money in australia then you would be where you are now because the labor rate here is higher then the US. i think, its about AU$100 (US$90) an hour here.

im sure some members would offer you some sort of accommodation for a discounted build cost.

im not in need of a crazy spec motor or anything.

just giving you some quick heads up on some options.

 

well I certainly wouldn't be charging Aussie rates. My labor rates per hour are only $65 an hr. As for building engines, the assembly fees are flat rate charges. Depending on how many want work done depends on overall rates on each build. I can do group rates as long as its confirmed and a guarantee.

 

ahh man. why couldnt you have done this months ago. would have a been a once in a lifetime opportunity.

hope you have a mad trip in australia. could learn alot from you sir, i wish i had the chance. would have made my build alot easier

 

and thats your number 1 issue right there

Like most other countries Australia has strict laws regarding 'tourists' from "earning" money whilst on vacation..... American equivlant=Greencard

Best to check out the Aussie requirements and the purpose of your trip delemia before going to much further.....


Customs officers would see all the parts carried with you as an intention to "work" whilst here...... that would mean catching the next plane back if your travel documents say "tourist"
"7-10 days" isnt realy a tourists trip time either..... Probably should look at making your trip atleast 3 weeks long, that way you'd also get to have a bit of time for a gander at where we live.



Kingy

 

I have to worry about my gov job back here in the states as well. My tools can easily fit in my suitcase. I wouldn't be bringing standard tools. I'd bring micrometers, dial bore gauges, indicators etc etc. I understand your view on the labor vs tourist situation. My only guess is that being paid would be done so through electronic payment if done so no money would be exchanged physically.

 

I don't know you sir

But I smell a Con here.

Most if not all workshops would not be too keen on someone coming into their workshop to use their equipment, particularly someone from another country.

Most if not all mechanical workshops carry their own Micrometers and Dial Gauges, as standard automotive tools of trade, so why would you need to bring your own specialist equipment, considering you mention that you would have our workshops do the machining etc.

You also mention being paid, through some monies transfer ( sounds a little like a Nigerian Scam to me).
What a nice way of collecting funds or getting a free holiday or perhaps both.

You also mention, a number of members of this site have asked about your services and if you'd come here to do the work, BUT you do not mention How Many, or if there would be any discounts for X number of rebuilds.

You also mention being here for 7 days to complete this work and take in some sightseeing and fishing :rofl:.
Let alone considering the vast distances between our member base.
Unless you can clap your hands and have the motors assemble themselves, you have no chance of completing your task within 7 days.

There is only one person that I know of with these skills, and he hasn't been seen in over 2000 + years.
Kerry
:zlove:

 

WOW....well I will try and answer all of these pesimistic answers as best as I can.

I bring my micrometers to double check the machine work that others would do. Never can be too sure when building precision components. No where did I mention that I would go in and use another shops machines and or tools. Please don't put words in my mouth.

Money transfers..has no bearing on a Nigerian scam. Its a well known way to pay. We call it paypal. You may not be familiar with it but every Aussie member here that has done business with me has had a stellar transaction. Don't see any issue here.

There have been quite a few wanting to know if I would come to Australia to do some work. The answer is yes. This thread is to gauge exactly who is on board to validate this request to give me the reason to come out there. How could I even begin to offer discounts if I don't know how many members here are wanting me to come out there to do said work? C'mon man. You've got to have more sense that this.

I did mention 7-10 days correct. I didnt say sight seeing but I did say fishing...and I believe the words were "maybe even get some fishing in"

I have no idea the amount of distance between said parties if they wanted to have me do the work which is why I suggested "I'd have to have the majority of you meet me at said location or have a few tech days in a clean shop to do the builds and so forth. "

Maybe you could reread my original thread a little better. I have no qualms about doing any of the said work for anyone. If time prevails to do other things then so be it but thats why this thread is tagged "gauging interest". You sure are quick to jump the gun man. Pitty because theres a lot to be said for those that act the way you do.

 

If you do some quick research on him you will find that he is a proper business and out of good faith he is coming over to start off the build.. I don't think he mentioned anything about completing the engines.. Starting off the rebuild (getting bore sizes, etc.)

Even just YouTube him and you I'll see some of his work

 

There was no malice intended

mate.
Just that we have had several Nigerian Scammers on this site, so perhaps some of us are a little gun shy.

I would suggest that if this is a go-er, then work to a plan where most interested parties can source a workshop within one major city.
This may disadvantage others, but maybe the others could organise for their engines to be freighted to the chosen location. After all, Australia is ONE BIG PLACE with thousands of kilometers between some of our major cities, and we have members all over Australia.

Oh! by the way you did mention porting in others workshops.

If some of you require cylinder head work I can offer porting services while I am there.
Perhaps you should have mentioned, That you could have Porting Services done to your standards/measurements while here.
Not as above, which would seem to indicate that you will be doing the work.

We have some excellent workshops here in Australia, that specifically service 300zx's. Some of note are UAS, PZP, Autotech, and I'm sure there are many more that various members use.

So it's NOT being PESIMISTIC mate, It's just that we try to look after each other and try to avoid Scammers.
That's not saying that you are one, but, you have to admit it's unusal to have someone come from the USA to build a few motors, when we have perfectly good Automotive Engineers and Workshops here that can do the same work.

I would like to know the approximate costs associated with Travel, Accommodation and the Work to be preformed ( that's your expertise and any local machining, motor removals etc), as opposed to the costs of having the work done by a local workshop with the know how, only to end up with the same HP/KW outcome.

Cheers
Kerry
:zlove:

 

Well I'd ask that you do some research on my status here to ensure you understand who you are dealing with. Im by no means a scammer.

As I stated in the original post..

I'd have to have the majority of you meet me at said location or have a few tech days in a clean shop to do the builds and so forth.

I don't know how much clearer I can be regarding this. Its almost as if you didn't read my thread. I mentioned porting but not in anyone elses shop. Customers would need to have their machine work done (surface/valve jobs) done prior to me porting and I could do the porting at the designated location of where I'd be working. But again that goes back to what I posted above.

Porting services has nothing to do with machining. Machining is machining, porting is porting. There is no grey area there. You keep twisting the statement into what you feel it means. you are wrong again sir.

I have no issues if customers want to use said shops that you mention, however why would contact me to build them engines if there are these other shops in the area or country? There has to be a valid reason for them not to want to shop there and contact me. I dont know any reasons why they wouldn't but I'm not everyone so I can't say.

I understand you are trying to look out for others but it seems all you are trying to do is find a way to make this entire ordeal look bad. Again its an interest thread not a validated solidified situation. You jump the gun WAY TO FAST.

I'm sure there are plenty of good engine builders out in Australia, however why would they contact me to get work done? could be costs are too high? Parts are too expensive? Many of the members here buy from the US due to availability and cost effectiveness. Why wouldn't they put their hard earned money to the local businesses? Thats something you should ask them not me. I don't remove engines, I dont work on cars. I machine/build engines. My practices have already proven themselves with many of my customers engines to make great power more efficiently and with less work. I can't speak for anyone else but I can safely say that I put a LOT of detail into my work that speaks volumes in how the engine looks, performs, and lasts.

As for the work, again....it depends on what the customer needs/wants done. Each person isn't going to have the exact same build or requirements of a build or labor to be done so I could never give you a definitive answer to this. Regardless, what would it matter to you in particular though? Judging by your views here and how you've come off to me you seem quite the negative individual from my point of view.

 

I bought a crankscraper / windage kit from tech@EPR and he was great to deal with, quick responses and parts came through when he said they would.

I believe you can learn a lot about a person when dealing with them regarding money.

KEZA have a search and a read of the builds and work he does, he has a high attention to detail and has done some impressive work. If i hadn't just put my freshly built engine in my car last week I would be interested in him doing some work for me.

Cheers,

Adam

 

Wow, i'm actually a little shocked mate - and even a little embarrassed about the questioning that i'm seeing on here.
Even to me, it almost looks like you're getting crusified for offering an incredible service to us aussies way over here. If any parties are in doubt they should do a search for any of your posts showing your awesome build work and look around for testimonials from happy customers - but not instantly jump over you as if you're a criminal or scam artist needing to justify yourself and your great, friendly offer to us fellow zedders.

I hope it's not going to scare you off possibly offering your services here if the demand was there.

Good luck, and hope to see you over here building some awesome engines for some of us aussies some day. :zlove:

 

There are 7 states in Australia.I live within the state of Queensland.Queensland's main city is Brisbane.Brisbane would be a excellent starting point for you.I live 145 kilometres from Brisbane in a city called Toowoomba.Travel would be fine with me to brisbane.Im sure some members in brisbane will be in.

 

Mate I woulda LOVED getting this done but damn where were you like 6 months ago!

 

Where is there any discussion on this forum by the numerous individuals who are requesting this gentleman to travel half way around the world for the sole purpose of building superior engines at a bargain basement price?
I don't think that anyone who knows of this blokes workmanship/results have ever discussed same on here(that, of course, doesn't lead to a suggestion of ill intent on his behalf, nor a lack of skill, but it certainly leaves room for questions to be put forward).

There are many brilliant engine builders in this country(as well as in the USA)innovation is not the province of any particular Nation or race, and yet, we find numerous instances of people in this country whose skills are being denigrated by virtue of the costs involved(costs which are dictated by "economy of scale")and the inevitable result of having a really small potential customer base to share the overhead costs of research and development.

America got to be a world leader in many fields because of its "Buy American" philosophy(regardless of early failures and shortcomings).
If there is something worthwhile to be gained from such a campaign, it's that we would do well to adopt a similar philosophy of support for our own home-grown innovators. It worked for the Yanks, it can work for us too.

 

I'm going to quote some posts from THIS THREAD below:

This i believe is where the original question may have been publicly asked that he come to aus to build some engines. And who knows, there might have been PM's from other people that you and i don't know about asking him to come over and do some builds aswell. So i personally am not going to instantly assume the worst. And his build posts are also significantly impressive, which will of course encourage some people here wanting to patronise his expertise, and pay for that opportunity no matter what country it comes from.

... Who knows, maybe some people on here might even feel guilty about paying a Japanese man their hard earnt Aussie dollar for importing their Zeds ...instead of possibly paying twice that amount to their local Aussie dealer as an act of patriotism?

Anyway, i'm not personally getting an engine built, so it's not my business to post in this thread. Appologies to the O/P, and the genuine people involved. :bash:

 

I totally get where some of you are coming from in the regards to keeping business where the home is. I get that totally. But, there has to be a reason why folks contact ppl over here in the US to buy parts and get engines built. Pricing I'm sure is cheaper just by looking and reading on this forum and on other sites around. I can't comment on build practices what so ever and nor would I if I knew of said parties ability. Customers choose to buy/use whomever they choose to do the job. Whether that be in house (Aussue) our out of town (USA or any other area across the globe) While I certainly don't aim to step on anyones toes by any means, if the demand is high enough for me to come out there then I will persue that. I have many engines out running and being raced on but as I stated on other forums that question my work, I can't make my customers post online about their experience and how the engine is running. My philosohy on the subject is that if they aren't speaking about it or mentiong anything then it must be going quite well because believe me, if weren't I'd be hearing about it and others would be too. I have no issues giving references to some of my customers (if they allow it) to have others contact them regarding the work they've received from me and so forth. I'm only here to help not take over. Please understand that.

 

I have had about 5-7 other members here contact me regarding getting work done. Just an FYI to add to the list. All were sent via PM or email.