Discussion
Dear Phil
Your engine is ceramically sealed and properly machined, as was required. The fact that your local garage do not know what they are talking about is your problem and not mine. Despite Mark's kind offer to build your engine in his own time, to prove it is exactly correct, I have first call on Mark's time and hereby annul that offer.
Regards, Tim Alanthwaite @ Linden Special Vehicles
Your engine is ceramically sealed and properly machined, as was required. The fact that your local garage do not know what they are talking about is your problem and not mine. Despite Mark's kind offer to build your engine in his own time, to prove it is exactly correct, I have first call on Mark's time and hereby annul that offer.
Regards, Tim Alanthwaite @ Linden Special Vehicles
[quote]The fact that your local garage do not know what they are talking about is your problem and not mine.
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I have first call on Mark's time and hereby annul that offer. [/quote]
that is a bit harsh mate, especially if the owner has received advise from another source, doesn't matter if it is right or wrong.
/me removes LSV from my shopping cart
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HSV owner looking for upgrades.
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I have first call on Mark's time and hereby annul that offer. [/quote]
that is a bit harsh mate, especially if the owner has received advise from another source, doesn't matter if it is right or wrong.
/me removes LSV from my shopping cart
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HSV owner looking for upgrades.
Yes, this one's generated a bit of heat, and I'm the first to agree that getting into these forum arguments is a two-edged sword. I'll use the opportunity to make a few points, however.
In addition, I'd also say up front that as our customer has chosen to debate his woes in public, I'd ask him publicly to call me in private and we can probably sort the matter out to everyone's satisfaction.
In any event, I will always stand behind our work, irrespective of cost, and on occasions irrespective of fault.
We did exactly what was asked, and the engine block was returned, correctly machined, and ceramically sealed. We cannot be responsible for the fact that his local garage were/are unaware of the machined tolerances/profiles. I appreciate we work on these engines every day, and they probably very rarely touch one, and my comment may have been overly harsh, but a telephone call to us for advice or explanation would have informed them. Rather than that, our customer has been told that the engine is unusable.
The first we knew this customer had a problem was when he posted on the net that we had 'recked' his engine. Again, rather than contact us for advice or an explanation, he has seen fit to post a misinformed and damaging slur on the net. My engineer Mark telephoned the customer, explained the whys and wherefores of what we had done and, probably feeling hurt at the accusation, offered to build this engine for free to prove it was as required. That is not at all appropriate.
I very rarely respond to these types of posts, as I don't think a public debate is generally helpful. The written word can often provoke people to the point of annoyance far more quickly than a dialogue, therefore my slightly bad-tempered post above. But it is as well here and now to put my position clearly.
Like every other company in this (or any) business Linden has its successes and its failures. We've been building and modifying cars (particularly V8s) for fifteen years. On that basis, we've probably had more problems than our direct competitors who haven't been around for nearly as long. And we've dealt with them. We've over 250 modified cars out there, and the only one that we could never get right to the customer's satisfaction is sitting here being fully rebuilt.
The background to this is it was one of a number of poorly tuned ECUs we received from our ECU supplier. We have since invested approx £1m in our facility, equipment and stock, including £100k in a chassis dyno, software and nine months training and testing, and our ECUs are now fully mapped on the dyno to each individual car. Our cars will stand favourable comparison with any other tuned HSV/Monaro, and we can offer fully road usable tunes to almost 700 bhp.
Now, if there's anyone else out there with a complaint with LSV he does not feel has been dealt with to his satisfaction, please contact me direct and I'll consider it fairly. But posting on a public forum in a pejorative manner prior to doing this will only serve to sour relations.
Mark and I run LSV because we are enthusiasts for these vehicles. Our customers often become acquaintances, and I count a number among my friends. We want to be on the best of terms with not only our customers, but also our suppliers and competitors. I'm sure Wortec and WRC are in the same position. Frankly, none of us are AMG or Brabus in terms of our resources, and our customers should understand this.
This is a very small community and we're all after the same thing, which is the best we can get from our cars. Honest tough competition is ideal for our customers, and will continue to force all suppliers involved to improve and develop their products.
LSV offer friendly advice, a professional service, and access to many years of experience and commitment. We accept criticism where it is due, and praise if it is earned. We don't offer mute acceptance of slurs, or as much sympathy as would otherwise be the case thereafter.
Tim @ Linden Special Vehicles
In addition, I'd also say up front that as our customer has chosen to debate his woes in public, I'd ask him publicly to call me in private and we can probably sort the matter out to everyone's satisfaction.
In any event, I will always stand behind our work, irrespective of cost, and on occasions irrespective of fault.
We did exactly what was asked, and the engine block was returned, correctly machined, and ceramically sealed. We cannot be responsible for the fact that his local garage were/are unaware of the machined tolerances/profiles. I appreciate we work on these engines every day, and they probably very rarely touch one, and my comment may have been overly harsh, but a telephone call to us for advice or explanation would have informed them. Rather than that, our customer has been told that the engine is unusable.
The first we knew this customer had a problem was when he posted on the net that we had 'recked' his engine. Again, rather than contact us for advice or an explanation, he has seen fit to post a misinformed and damaging slur on the net. My engineer Mark telephoned the customer, explained the whys and wherefores of what we had done and, probably feeling hurt at the accusation, offered to build this engine for free to prove it was as required. That is not at all appropriate.
I very rarely respond to these types of posts, as I don't think a public debate is generally helpful. The written word can often provoke people to the point of annoyance far more quickly than a dialogue, therefore my slightly bad-tempered post above. But it is as well here and now to put my position clearly.
Like every other company in this (or any) business Linden has its successes and its failures. We've been building and modifying cars (particularly V8s) for fifteen years. On that basis, we've probably had more problems than our direct competitors who haven't been around for nearly as long. And we've dealt with them. We've over 250 modified cars out there, and the only one that we could never get right to the customer's satisfaction is sitting here being fully rebuilt.
The background to this is it was one of a number of poorly tuned ECUs we received from our ECU supplier. We have since invested approx £1m in our facility, equipment and stock, including £100k in a chassis dyno, software and nine months training and testing, and our ECUs are now fully mapped on the dyno to each individual car. Our cars will stand favourable comparison with any other tuned HSV/Monaro, and we can offer fully road usable tunes to almost 700 bhp.
Now, if there's anyone else out there with a complaint with LSV he does not feel has been dealt with to his satisfaction, please contact me direct and I'll consider it fairly. But posting on a public forum in a pejorative manner prior to doing this will only serve to sour relations.
Mark and I run LSV because we are enthusiasts for these vehicles. Our customers often become acquaintances, and I count a number among my friends. We want to be on the best of terms with not only our customers, but also our suppliers and competitors. I'm sure Wortec and WRC are in the same position. Frankly, none of us are AMG or Brabus in terms of our resources, and our customers should understand this.
This is a very small community and we're all after the same thing, which is the best we can get from our cars. Honest tough competition is ideal for our customers, and will continue to force all suppliers involved to improve and develop their products.
LSV offer friendly advice, a professional service, and access to many years of experience and commitment. We accept criticism where it is due, and praise if it is earned. We don't offer mute acceptance of slurs, or as much sympathy as would otherwise be the case thereafter.
Tim @ Linden Special Vehicles
Tim, good to know what happened. Thanks for the info. Definitely would be interested to know as well what the ceramic stuff is all about.
I think the moral of the story is that, if you want to do modifications, expect things not to quiet go to plan. Some things work out, some things don't. I guess doing work on cars is a pretty tricky business, especially with the age of some of the cars getting around now as well. I think you can expect problems to arise every now and then. I guess sometimes there needs to be a line draw of direct cause and effect and fringe cause and effect.
>> Edited by Raggyman on Friday 9th September 23:44
I think the moral of the story is that, if you want to do modifications, expect things not to quiet go to plan. Some things work out, some things don't. I guess doing work on cars is a pretty tricky business, especially with the age of some of the cars getting around now as well. I think you can expect problems to arise every now and then. I guess sometimes there needs to be a line draw of direct cause and effect and fringe cause and effect.
>> Edited by Raggyman on Friday 9th September 23:44
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