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Jk's97DSM

Supporting VIP
482
199
Apr 27, 2006
Norfolk, Virginia
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I’ve been doing this for awhile. I am not saying that I can do everything but what I can do is to a standard and I hate cutting corners. Shops seem to pop up with a great social media presence and claim only the best while producing subpar work.
Here are some pics that I have taken from a local friend and military member. He originally got scammed by Tampa Motorsports only to have another startup here in Virginia do the same. This time it actually ran but barely and is still having issues from hack work and inexperience.
Just watch out.

Numerous issues. Dual pumps with a single rewire kit . Twisted fuel injector pigtails instead of solder. Oil leak behind the timing cover probably coating the crank sensor causing timing sync issues. Omni map sensors going bad. Aftermarket starter without a heat shield getting roasted by the dumps. It’s all crazy that it even ran. The scary thing is it made 774whp somehow and it only has 2k miles on it since the “build”.
 
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Can't trust anyone to work on my car. Being a broke college kid has it's perks. It means I will put 100% OCD perfectionism with my car. Mainly because I can't afford to break shit or make mistakes :p

Someone who is financially stable and doesn't own your vehicle more than likely will not put in that same effort..
 
I've let other places do various work on my car a few times but that was because at that time I was neither confident enough nor had the tools to do it myself. And each time, they "left their hands on it", which in my parts of the world means they basically didn't do a great job and cut corners etc. Nowadays I would trust absolutely no one to touch any part of the car, unless it's a close friend who also deals with DSMs, but that's about it.

I'd rather take the risk, do something and end up screwing up, but that way I can at least know it's my fault, I can more easily find out the problem and the best thing is, you learn what NOT to do and how not to do it, which saves you money and time in the future. If I had to let a shop do all the work I've done so far, I'd be looking at over 5 grand, maybe even more if we're talking US-labor rates. That's money I'd rather spend on actual parts!
 
Shops see these cars as old pieces of junk in most all cases, they know that most Dsm owners are broke and won't expect much, vs say an Evo owner that as rumor has it has tons of money to blow on only the best and will flip out if its not perfect, that of course is not actually true but that's what the general feeling is across the internet and car groups, until we as owners start holding these peoples feet to the fire when working on these cars and demanding nothing less than whats acceptable then it will continue.

Sadly the bottom line is that at somewhere along the line these cars got a reputation for being fast for cheap, we needed to stop that nonsense when it started but we didn't and so you have it, and this stuff is what you get, shops use your "cheap junk" to cut their teeth on when they need quick cash and the experience to get started, they learn how to work on turbo cars using your car and your money and the internet and then they dump the Dsm's off when they finally get enough experience and cash to get rolling for real and move on to the Evo/Gtr/R8 etc crowd, its very obvious and that simple.
 
Only I work on my car. This way, I can know exactly what has been done and how.

Some of those pics are simple mistakes... How could a shop let that stuff pass through?
A lot of people that might wrench on the weekends as a hobby think they can do actual tech/mechanical stuff. I’ll be the first one to tell you I thought I knew a lot until I started working at the shop I’m at now. I knew absolutely nothing. Thats 15 years of DSM/4g63 stuff and other projects. I knew absolutely shit LOL.
 
Shops see these cars as old pieces of junk in most all cases, they know that most Dsm owners are broke and won't expect much, vs say an Evo owner that as rumor has it has tons of money to blow on only the best and will flip out if its not perfect, that of course is not actually true but that's what the general feeling is across the internet and car groups, until we as owners start holding these peoples feet to the fire when working on these cars and demanding nothing less than whats acceptable then it will continue.

Sadly the bottom line is that at somewhere along the line these cars got a reputation for being fast for cheap, we needed to stop that nonsense when it started but we didn't and so you have it, and this stuff is what you get, shops use your "cheap junk" to cut their teeth on when they need quick cash and the experience to get started, they learn how to work on turbo cars using your car and your money and the internet and then they dump the Dsm's off when they finally get enough experience and cash to get rolling for real and move on to the Evo/Gtr/R8 etc crowd, its very obvious and that simple.
Facts. It’s sad when they point the finger at a tuner or a parts company for shotty work and inexperience. The real reason why DSM’s and Evo’s get a lot of hate about reliability is because of improper maintenance.
 
i’ve had a similar shop do the same to me it ended me putting in way more money than i needed to. also no work order & receipts were ever given to me. he was trying to tax us for asking for the parts list as well. there are crazy things people are willing to do to rip you off.
 
i’ve had a similar shop do the same to me it ended me putting in way more money than i needed to. also no work order & receipts were ever given to me. he was trying to tax us for asking for the parts list as well. there are crazy things people are willing to do to rip you off.
"Shops" (and I use that word loosely) like that are predatory, the see you as the next victim and realize that if you brought it to them that you likely have no alternative, as in you cant fix it yourself and you cant find anyone else willing to work on your junk so you are at their mercy and they are doing you a favor, they will charge whatever they want and do as they want and you will pay for it and like it or move on. Best to make friends with another owner that can work on cars in this case.
 
I work on my car so I should definitely watch out.

The issue with "shops" is that there are only basically three kinds...

1) Brand specific shops that are pretty good but charge NEAR dealership pricing for work (like 0-20% less usually) but WILL NOT do anything custom. They'll replace your alternator or steering rack, but not going to put your Holeset and FMIC on.

2) The rare custom shop that does meticulous work (everyone can mistakes, people need to understand customization IS NOT an exact science) but they have such a solid rep in a community and they charge so much that when they give you a quote your instant reaction is "f*** YOU, YOU'RE A SCAM ARTIST!" Which, after you get screwed over by people in category #3, you will realize is not true.

3) All the shitty "tuner shops" that are basically sub-technician level enthusiasts that decide working on cars is fun enough to do it for a living. Their motivation can be anything from they don't want to work as an installer at Best Buy anymore to thinking the community is ripe with suckers ready to pay too much money for simple garage jobs like installing turbos and FMICs. You really don't know and usually they present themselves as friendly and knowledgeable. But their skill level is like "hey, come to my garage and help me with this clutch install, I'll provide the pizza and beer," not "I'm going to give you my car and pay you $120 an hour." PLUS they're not just mechanics, they're also trying to run the business and are often way over their heads in that as well. Many people naturally have questionable morals and go their entire lives without being shady, but when they're trying to keep their business afloat they'll do shady shit like put used parts on your car, sell parts off your car as a bridge loan but never have the money to re-buy the part so they keep your car forever, tell you they're not done with your car yet but use it as their personal vehicle, etc.

For this reason, you should learn to work on your car yourself or you should not modify it. Live in an apartment? Live with your mom? Don't have a garage or tools? Don't modify your car. BUT, have a garage and a Harbor Freight nearby? You definitely have no excuse not to learn how to do everything yourself. A thousand dollar trip to the local "tuner shop" can even cover an OK compressor and basic MIG welder. For the price of an oil change you can have all the 10mm sockets your heart desires. Never has there been more resources available for YOU to work on YOUR car. The beauty is that YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR. Nobody else does. They may care about their reputation, but they don't care about your car. If you screw up you don't have to deal with trying to get them to honor warranties and not just blame you for your customized vehicle breaking. You just fix it again. And maybe again after that. Then maybe eventually you'll be as good or better than a shop. They didn't get to where they are by NOT screwing up ever, trust in that.
 
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