It is for people like this, that I no longer participate on Prime. If 6c5gf4 xhv6t7 had even a clue, the tiniest shred of evidence that there had been an engine fire befoe Jons, he would have rented a billboard already (in addition of course to boring the rest of us here to death) The word inuendo has been used more here than anywhere lately, and no better example of this childishness exsists, than this situation.
For the record, no NSX that I have either worked on, or SC'd, mine or someone else's, has had any engine or other fires. Besides being a purile human being, d6fr5txrg is a pathetic liar. In case anyone is looking for the loophole in my words, let me make it a bit clearer- There has been no fire, no burned parts from heat or flames, no damage outside of an engine anywhere on any NSX that I have worked on. I stand behind my work, and my customers stand behind me.
What HAS happened to my car, and my car only, is that a valve cover leaked, and leaked oil all over the exhaust same as FX reports happened to Jon's car some time before the fire. At the time, I was running somewhere between 10 and 11 psi boost and had done nothing to vent the crankcase. Jon was running almost 9 psi at the time, and was doing so on the oldest beta kit still in commision. (the only beta kits out of commission are the ones I updated as a courtesy to my testers who are also friends. They got the new, better looking parts because I always promised them they would get them as soon as they were available. In reality, ONE beta car had a failure- a bearing in the drive unit of BZ's car. Also, we replaced many parts either because failure seemed imminent, or the part was not robust enough for my liking- like the drive unit itself) More on beta in a moment. Jons car is also running a brand of syn oil I have never heard of, and zero weight at that. I do not know what effect this may have had, but I see in my shop a Honda XXXXX with a valve cover or oil pan dripping oil PRECISELY on top of the exhaust system EVERY DAY, and have never seen or heard of a flash or fire occuring. I can post dozens of pictures of headers with burned oil CAKED on them, and still no flames. In fact, when my own car developed a leaky VC gasket, (at 11 psi with no provisions for 11 psi) I drove it home that way (because I had to) blowing a continuous oil spray right on to the headers, and still no flames. I used approx 1 qt of oil every 20 miles, and still no flames. Jons situation makes no sense as I understand it. After the fire, weeks after in fact, FX was still scheduling my car for more chip work, so I hope no one suggests there is a connection between the events.
(As an aside, the reason for our business split is between us for now, and that is where it shall stay. I would not however assume who made that decision, you only "know" who announced it first)
For the few adults on this list who have a real interest in what beta issues there were, NONE of them had any issues besides mine, which was very predictable and in fact expected even. MJ's car, at 10 psi, developed a blow by problem in one cylinder early on, with an experimental EVERYTHING-
testing new fuel system possibilities, and safe boost / fuel combos. It occured somewhere WAY over 10 psi.
For those who feel sorry for the beta testers, they have been treated pretty well. They paid a fraction of the cost of the retail price, they recieved all the latest updates as they became available, and were compensated additionally with free or "at cost" upgrades such as aftercoolers etc. And, when the real final kit was done, that will be installed as well, for free. Sound a bit much?? Not to me. I could not have done this without them. I spent approx 15k per car by the time all expences are tabbed. Since it is once again the subject of inuendo and rumors, the time and milage of the beta program was huge. The time period for most of them was at least 6 months. The milage varied because use varies, but I tried to pick testers who would drive thier cars, not park them. My car has logged over 20k kmiles, Nicks over 10k miles, and the others between them, another 50k approx.
To recap the beta failures- one engine total,
mine, and one damaged, MJ's. One other had low compression and a host of issues when we started as well as low compression. We overhauled this one early in order to do low compression pistons, which is part of an ongoing beta program. Not exciting or scary enough for some?? Sorry, its all you get.
MAKO- I'm sorry especially if you think this all so "damn grimm". Its pretty damn exciting to everyone involved, with the one notable exception. Jon's car was not only the oldest beta unit around, it is the one off of my car originally. It had at least 5 or 6 k miles on it when I gave it to Jon, because we had no other units available at the time. (the 20k miles on mine does NOT include that kit) He has put a ton of miles on it according to him, and virtually NO PARTS from this kit (except blower and diverter valve) have made it to the production model. IOW, IF, and I say IF the SC caused the fire somehow, it is not the SC currently being sold.
I am VERY sorry to Jon that this happened, in any regard. I am very sorry to ANYONE who got nasty mail from anybody because of their views expressed here (except 6d5fg47s) as we are all entitled to HONEST opinions (I don't believe 6xgth4sdf56g has any of that particular type) and once again to Lud- again the fact that there are people who really like me, and those who really belittle me and what I do, has caused your fine Forum on which you work so hard, to be used as a place for harboring hate instead of spreading goodwill and commarderie to our fellow NSX enthusiasts.
Peace
MB
