Starting a Business in AZ

[Lilbloody4]

Looking to starting a Business in Phoenix,AZ.... I'm retiring out of the military and wondering how is the tuning scene there???

 

[DSM_munky_man]

There is a 2 shops in paticular that are very well known and very good. If you come down to open a tuning shop, you best know your stuff very well! and be knowledgable on e85 as well. And if you do, and are good and know your stuff, make it west valley, I dont want to drive forever to get a tune!

 

[Lilbloody4]

What are the names of those shops??

 

[DSM_munky_man]

UMS Tuning and Wingz Performance.

 

[Lilbloody4]

Are they any familiar with Megasquirt???

 

[DSM_munky_man]

Not sure on that, you can google them and get to here site and they both list what systems they tune.

 

[ReyRocka]

Are they any familiar with Megasquirt???

Since I was planning to do a turbo 420a, I know that Tony from UMS knows how to tune with Megasquirt. I don't know about Phuong at Wingz though. OP if you know how to tune with Megasquirt you will have a lot of Neon and NA DSMs at your door. Megasquirt is the primary means of tuning for those platforms.

Also Miata and V8 people like to use Megasquirt.

 

[DSM_munky_man]

I was thinking maybe run MS on my bronco so I can run better stuff on it since the SD stock is limited.

 

[boostedinaz]

As mentioned Tony and Phuong have a pretty good market share of the local tuning, however, there are also a few indepent people who do it as well. Any oen with talent can make a name for themself if they choose to.

The first question I have is what is your experiance? Both tuners mentioed above have VERY good reputations and are fmaliar with many types of cars, fuels, and tuning systems.

 

[Lilbloody4]

Well my reputation in germany especially on the Nuermberg ring, and Hockenhiem race tracks are great!!! If it has an Engine I can work on it, I can do some crazy things with fiberglass but I'm also thinking about maybe investing into a running business... I have been in contacts with Vivid racing there in phoenix, but they seem to not know what the #### talking about at times... They seem like a autozone if you ask me!!! ol

 

[boostedinaz]

Well my reputation in germany especially on the Nuermberg ring, and Hockenhiem race tracks are great!!! If it has an Engine I can work on it, I can do some crazy things with fiberglass but I'm also thinking about maybe investing into a running business... I have been in contacts with Vivid racing there in phoenix, but they seem to not know what the #### talking about at times... They seem like a autozone if you ask me!!! ol

So you have tuned cars on the Ring? What type of cars, what did they put down, what were the mods, etc...

Are you looking to just start a tuning business or a full on shop? You're response only confused me more and told me little about your abilities.

 

[DSM_munky_man]

So when are you planning to make this happen anyway? If you have good experience to back it up then you may have a good market, but getting started is going to be the tough part since people may tend to shy away from the "new guy" just do to them not know you or your skills.

 

[DrunkMcThief]

i will never go to wingz for a tune. the previous owner of my 99 gst had it tuned there and now all im doing is un-*ucking the car so it will run right. UMS seems to be the best tuning place here from all i have heard from people with experience with them. Tony seems to know what he is doing and knows how to do it well from the cars i have seen tuned by him. So once i get my 99 running right ill be getting it retuned by Tony.

 

[Lilbloody4]

Some of the enignes that I have worked on;
* RB30DET
* RB26DETT
* RB25DET
* NEO RB25DET
* RB20DET
* CA18DET
* SR20DET
* VG30DETT
* VQ35DE

Systems that I've installed and tune:
* Apexi Power FC
* HKS F Con V pro
* Solaris/Syvecs
* Link
* Hondata, ECTune, Neptune
* Vipec
* Autronic
* Motec
* AEM
* KMS
* Unichip
* Greddy E-Manage (Ultimate)
* Haltech
* Omex
* Life Racing
* Pectel
But, right now at the moment I'm trying to learn the Megasquirt 2 and 3... I've installed it on a 97" Eclipse, I'm pretty new to DSM scene but all engines need the same thing to run... I'm actually thinking about starting a full blown shop in AZ... I have some european and japan partners that are willing to help out on the parts/etc side of the house, but I will be new to AZ, so I dont expect to get all of the business... I understand that there isn't really a nissan scene there, but I will be bringing my engines with me since I can't ship my cars... We will see how it turns out, THESE ARE JUST THOUGHTS AT THE MOMENT, just trying to get a feel of the AZ atmosphere first...

 

[Lilbloody4]

So when are you planning to make this happen anyway? If you have good experience to back it up then you may have a good market, but getting started is going to be the tough part since people may tend to shy away from the "new guy" just do to them not know you or your skills.

I'm actually waiting on a reply from the owner of a piece of property there in Phoenix, to get back with me first... Its either the auto business or a night club... either way I will be tuning on the side...OL

 

[donniekak]

i will never go to wingz for a tune. the previous owner of my 99 gst had it tuned there and now all im doing is un-*ucking the car so it will run right. UMS seems to be the best tuning place here from all i have heard from people with experience with them. Tony seems to know what he is doing and knows how to do it well from the cars i have seen tuned by him. So once i get my 99 running right ill be getting it retuned by Tony.

I have no first hand experience with your car, but i do know a few things about cars, people, and shops. If all wingz did was flash a tune to the ecu, or bolt in some injectors, or whatever, you cannot blame them for a hacked up car. Even if they built the entire car, the owner may have done more to it afterward. Who's not to say the car was totally fvcked, and the owner told wingz to "just get it running".

Without knowing more about this particular situation, it's hard for me to think a shop with as good of a rep as wings, just totally rigged the car.

One more tidbit, the owner may have just said wingz tuned the car, without it being true.

 

[phreakish]

well phoung sounds like a really cool guy from the get go. hes the one thats hooking me up for my tune on a 99 reflash ecu.. ums tunning .. tony is a great guy but Jeremy is just a slacker only reason i fended away from ums is cause i was ready to drop 2k last friday and he couldnt even get me quotes on some parts he pretty much just ignored me so no business from me

 

[Lilbloody4]

So, other than tuning shops, are there any good complete auto shops ie:customizing shops???

 

[DSM_munky_man]

So, other than tuning shops, are there any good complete auto shops ie:customizing shops???

Not sure on this exactly, i am sure there are a few places that may do it, what they specialize in im not sure. I would be down for like a DSM shop where we can put on high performance parts. I would even work there with you if it is soon!

 

[Lilbloody4]

I dont want to start a business for just one type of car.... That would be a waste of my money, A shop should be able to work on anything and do anything to car car for looks, speed what ever... I might just take you up on that offer....

 

[boostedinaz]

I have no first hand experience with your car, but i do know a few things about cars, people, and shops. If all wingz did was flash a tune to the ecu, or bolt in some injectors, or whatever, you cannot blame them for a hacked up car. Even if they built the entire car, the owner may have done more to it afterward. Who's not to say the car was totally fvcked, and the owner told wingz to "just get it running".

Without knowing more about this particular situation, it's hard for me to think a shop with as good of a rep as wings, just totally rigged the car.

One more tidbit, the owner may have just said wingz tuned the car, without it being true.

Have to agree with Donnie. Phuong has a sterling reputation for a reason. I highly doubt he would do anything to tarnish that rep. So many variables it's hard to say.

So, other than tuning shops, are there any good complete auto shops ie:customizing shops???

They are out there and most of them are smaller shops. I have a buddy that mainly does fab work but he can do pretty much anything else including, fiber glass, paint, bodywork, etc...

Not sure on this exactly, i am sure there are a few places that may do it, what they specialize in im not sure. I would be down for like a DSM shop where we can put on high performance parts. I would even work there with you if it is soon!

A DSM specific shop will always be a horrible idea and short lived. The vast majority of DSM owners are simply cheap. They won't even buy a good quality turbo so they certainly aren't going to pay someone else to put it on. If they did it's won't be shop prices they toss a few bucks to people like Donnie or myself that do it out of out garages.

If you can get a portfolio or work, start a webpage showing all of that, and have experiance with the cars you want to get involved with then you might have a chance. In any case good luck, I hope this works out.

 

[Boug]

Is your mind 100% set on the Phoenix area? PSI is Tucson in pretty good as well. The owner's name is Archie and is by far the smartest DSM'er I know on this side of Texas.

 

[Lilbloody4]

Is your mind 100% set on the Phoenix area? PSI is Tucson in pretty good as well. The owner's name is Archie and is by far the smartest DSM'er I know on this side of Texas.

Well, I think that I will be kind of in the middle of phoenix and tucson, I bought a house out in Maricopa the city.... Where ever the business is brother, thats where I will be... I was actually talking to a friend of mines and he kind of was talking me into being closer to the border for other reasons..OL (not illegal reasons tho, had to clear that up)

 

[Boug]

Well, I think that I will be kind of in the middle of phoenix and tucson, I bought a house out in Maricopa the city.... Where ever the business is brother, thats where I will be... I was actually talking to a friend of mines and he kind of was talking me into being closer to the border for other reasons..OL (not illegal reasons tho, had to clear that up)

I understand that business is business. Maricopa is north of Tucson. You are in the thick of things regardless of where you settle. I have driven all the way from Sierra Vista (90 miles south of Tucson) to Surprise, Arizona (northwest of Phoenix) just to get a tranny for my 1G that turned out to be busted. If you can get your reputation out there, I am sure that guys will regularly come to you for work. There are some very nice DSM shops throughout the Phoenix-Tucson corridor, so you have to be on your A-game.

By the way, I spent 14-years in the Army with four deployments to Iraq. I started working in Sierra Vista a little over a year ago after getting out as an Intelligence Warrant Officer (350F).

 

[Lilbloody4]

Then you feel my pain, 9 years with the nightstalkers!!! I stop counting deployments after my 6th and that was back in 07 ...OL