One of the vendors that we at Arizona TPI really like to work with is Painless Performance. They're great people over at Painless and they make some great products. In addition to that, they've taken it upon themselves to single handedly bring an end to the recession by offering some generous rebate offers to their customers. One of these is coming to an end this week.
For the remainder if this month which, if you check your calendar, is not very long, Painless is offering a $100 mail-in rebate with most of their wiring harnesses. So if you buy a wiring harness from us by July 31, 2010, we'll provide the paperwork that you can mail in and receive a $100 check in the mail. That's quite a discount! There's also another option with this deal too. Rather than a check, you can choose to order a PowerBraid kit for your harness, which is valued at more than $100. How much more depends on the wiring harness you choose. You can't go wrong with this deal, but don't wait or you might miss out!
Speaking of Painless: One of the things I've heard recently is that people on the forums are saying that they don't like the Painless harnesses because they don't come covered in wire loom. On one hand I can understand this but knowing what I do from what goes on in our shop, I think it's almost a feature to have the wiring harnesses uncovered. When we install a harness we wait until the end to put covering on the wiring. Often times we might need to tap into a wire for some reason or modify it's length. We find it a lot easier to make these modifications and then, when everything is running right and we're confident that everything is in place and no further modifications are necessary, we'll put the covering on the wires. And, the PowerBraid that Painless sells to go with there harnesses is far and away better than about anything else we've used.
Anyway, if you're project car is going to need a wiring harness, nows the time to buy so you can take advantage of the big discount!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
A Rose By Any Other Name...
Arizona TPI was started in 1989 when Tuned Port Injection was the hottest thing going in performance cars. These systems came in the Chevy Corvettes and the higher performance Camaros and they were state of the art during the late 80's and early 90's. In 1989, one of the main things that Arizona TPI did was install TPI systems in vehicles as well as modify existing TPI systems for better performance. Arizona TPI was a very appropriate name and conveyed exactly what the business did, at the time.
Jump forward to 2010, and we find that Arizona TPI still sells parts for and works on TPI fuel injection systems but it's a small part of our business today. We now primarily work on the newer LS engines and the late model Chevy truck engines. We modify these newer engines for performance, retrofit them into older vehicles and sell performance parts for them.
Since we do so much work with the newer engines, you'd think that the word would be out about that, but I talk to people every week who ask me whether we work on anything other than TPI engines. It makes me wonder how many potential customers with newer cars may be passing us by because, from our name, they assume we only work on TPI engines.
So, we're thinking about changing our name. It's tricky, because we want to make sure that the customers we've had for the last twenty-one years can still find us when they want to but we also don't want new people that hear about us to think that we primarily deal with older technology. When we choose a new name, should we do the same thing that was done in 1989 and incorporate LS1, or something of that nature, into the name to get the point across? And, if we do, will we be changing our name again when new technology comes out?
Possibly a better option is to come up with a name that is, hopefully, memorable but doesn't necessarily convey the use of any specific technology. A name that generally implies that we work with the most recent technology would be ideal. If you have ideas for us, let us know!
Changing our name, of course, won't change what we do, how we do business or how we treat our customers. We'll still try to do the very best we can for each customer, every time and a new name won't change that. As Shakespeare put it a long time ago: "that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
Jump forward to 2010, and we find that Arizona TPI still sells parts for and works on TPI fuel injection systems but it's a small part of our business today. We now primarily work on the newer LS engines and the late model Chevy truck engines. We modify these newer engines for performance, retrofit them into older vehicles and sell performance parts for them.
Since we do so much work with the newer engines, you'd think that the word would be out about that, but I talk to people every week who ask me whether we work on anything other than TPI engines. It makes me wonder how many potential customers with newer cars may be passing us by because, from our name, they assume we only work on TPI engines.
So, we're thinking about changing our name. It's tricky, because we want to make sure that the customers we've had for the last twenty-one years can still find us when they want to but we also don't want new people that hear about us to think that we primarily deal with older technology. When we choose a new name, should we do the same thing that was done in 1989 and incorporate LS1, or something of that nature, into the name to get the point across? And, if we do, will we be changing our name again when new technology comes out?
Possibly a better option is to come up with a name that is, hopefully, memorable but doesn't necessarily convey the use of any specific technology. A name that generally implies that we work with the most recent technology would be ideal. If you have ideas for us, let us know!
Changing our name, of course, won't change what we do, how we do business or how we treat our customers. We'll still try to do the very best we can for each customer, every time and a new name won't change that. As Shakespeare put it a long time ago: "that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Garbage In, Garbage Out
There are plenty of companies that will sell you parts, but I'd be surprised if there are any that provide the kind of after the sale support that Arizona TPI does. The main reason that we can provide the in-depth tech advice that we do is that we have our own shop and we install pretty much everything we sell. So, when you purchase from us, if you have questions about your installation, you can speak with someone who has done the same installation themselves. We do enough work in our shop that we've probably already run into any problem that you might encounter!
Solving customer problems gives us a sense of satisfaction but, at the same time, it's frustrating when we can't find the solution. One thing that makes our job difficult is when we don't get accurate information from the customer about the problem he's experiencing. In the information technology field, there's a saying "garbage in, garbage out". What this means is that, if you're writing a program to analyze some data and the data you're analyzing is, well, garbage, the output from your program can only be garbage as well. In other words, the quality of the output will only be as good as the quality of the input.
The same holds true when we try to help a customer with a problem. If we get good quality information about the problem we can usually solve it pretty quickly but when the information is inaccurate, it's a whole different story. A typical scenario would involve a customer who purchased a wiring harness from us and had us reprogram their engine computer because they're transplanting an engine into another vehicle. He'll install the engine in the vehicle, hook up fuel lines and fuel pump, install the wiring harness and engine computer and, when the installation is complete, he'll turn the key and the engine will crank but it won't start. Of course, the obvious assumption at this point is that the engine computer was programmed improperly. What else could it be? So the customer will call us for help.
Often the first question asked will be whether there's something we might have done to the engine computer that would make the vehicle not start. Now I won't try to say that we never make a mistake because occassionally we do, but our guy who programs the engine computers is really good at it and he typically programs at least one or two a day and often quite a few more than that so he gets a lot of practice. He knows what he's doing. So our answer is that it's entirely possible that there could be an error with the computer programming but that we'd like to start with the basics first.
We'll ask whether the customer has checked fuel pressure and, if so, was it correct. We're told that it is, so we can now deduce that the fuel pump and pressure regulator are working fine and there's gas in the car (you'd be surprised how often that turns out to be the problem!). If there's good fuel pressure, all of that has to be true! But sometimes, we're told that the fuel pressure is good but, in fact, the fuel pressure was never checked. So, of course, we'll never come to the conclusion that the reason the engine won't start is that the fuel pump isn't pumping or the car is out of gas. If the fuel pump or an empty gas tank really are the culprit, we'll never solve this problem because of the bad information we were given. Garbage in, garbage out.
Interestingly, we can often tell when we're getting bad information. It's pretty obvious when a customer tells us that the fuel pressure is good and then, later in the conversation, asks what the fuel pressure should be. At that point we know it's going to be very difficult to help this customer because we're not getting good information to work with.
So the moral of the story here is: if you have a problem with something you've purchased from us and need to call us for assistance we're happy to help but please try to answer our questions as accurately as possible. And remember, it's OK to say "I don't know" or "I haven't checked that". We'll just ask that you do check whatever it is and, we can explain how to do the checking if you're not sure about that also We'd much rather hear that you haven't checked something than to be told that something was checked when it wasn't. The better the information you give us, the better we can help you! Good information in, good information out!
Solving customer problems gives us a sense of satisfaction but, at the same time, it's frustrating when we can't find the solution. One thing that makes our job difficult is when we don't get accurate information from the customer about the problem he's experiencing. In the information technology field, there's a saying "garbage in, garbage out". What this means is that, if you're writing a program to analyze some data and the data you're analyzing is, well, garbage, the output from your program can only be garbage as well. In other words, the quality of the output will only be as good as the quality of the input.
The same holds true when we try to help a customer with a problem. If we get good quality information about the problem we can usually solve it pretty quickly but when the information is inaccurate, it's a whole different story. A typical scenario would involve a customer who purchased a wiring harness from us and had us reprogram their engine computer because they're transplanting an engine into another vehicle. He'll install the engine in the vehicle, hook up fuel lines and fuel pump, install the wiring harness and engine computer and, when the installation is complete, he'll turn the key and the engine will crank but it won't start. Of course, the obvious assumption at this point is that the engine computer was programmed improperly. What else could it be? So the customer will call us for help.
Often the first question asked will be whether there's something we might have done to the engine computer that would make the vehicle not start. Now I won't try to say that we never make a mistake because occassionally we do, but our guy who programs the engine computers is really good at it and he typically programs at least one or two a day and often quite a few more than that so he gets a lot of practice. He knows what he's doing. So our answer is that it's entirely possible that there could be an error with the computer programming but that we'd like to start with the basics first.
We'll ask whether the customer has checked fuel pressure and, if so, was it correct. We're told that it is, so we can now deduce that the fuel pump and pressure regulator are working fine and there's gas in the car (you'd be surprised how often that turns out to be the problem!). If there's good fuel pressure, all of that has to be true! But sometimes, we're told that the fuel pressure is good but, in fact, the fuel pressure was never checked. So, of course, we'll never come to the conclusion that the reason the engine won't start is that the fuel pump isn't pumping or the car is out of gas. If the fuel pump or an empty gas tank really are the culprit, we'll never solve this problem because of the bad information we were given. Garbage in, garbage out.
Interestingly, we can often tell when we're getting bad information. It's pretty obvious when a customer tells us that the fuel pressure is good and then, later in the conversation, asks what the fuel pressure should be. At that point we know it's going to be very difficult to help this customer because we're not getting good information to work with.
So the moral of the story here is: if you have a problem with something you've purchased from us and need to call us for assistance we're happy to help but please try to answer our questions as accurately as possible. And remember, it's OK to say "I don't know" or "I haven't checked that". We'll just ask that you do check whatever it is and, we can explain how to do the checking if you're not sure about that also We'd much rather hear that you haven't checked something than to be told that something was checked when it wasn't. The better the information you give us, the better we can help you! Good information in, good information out!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pete's Camaro
My good friend Pete has a '67 Camaro that he learned to drive with so, without editorializing on Pete's age, let's just say he's had this car a long time. Since I've known Pete this car has been gathering dust in his garage, although he often talks about restoring it. Obviously, the car has a lot of sentimental value and a '67 Camaro has quite a bit of monetary value as well. The car itself appears to be in reasonably good shape. It appears to be mostly original and the body looks straight. There's is a certain amount of rust from Pete's days growing up in Wisconsin, but it's probably not anything that a competent body shop would have any problem resolving. All in all, this car looks like a relatively straightforward restoration and I think Pete would get a lot of joy out of driving this car.
So the question is: why hasn't Pete gotten started on this project? Like many of us, Pete's a busy guy and I don't think he has the time or inclination to do the work himself so he'll undoubtedly pay professionals to do the work. From what I can tell, it doesn't appear that finances are a major factor either. And he certainly seems to have the desire to have the car back to a state where he can enjoy it again. So what's holding him back?
It all became more clear to me the other night when Pete and I, along with our wives, were having dinner. Pete mentioned to me that a few weeks earlier, when the four of us had met for drinks at the Sand Bar, a nice Mexican beach themed restaurant and bar, I had totally derailed his plans for the car. He told me that I said he should upgrade the car to an LS1 engine or a GM 5.3L or 6.0L truck engine and an accompanying electronic transmission. Apparently, I must not have been communicating my ideas about what to do with this car well because I thought that I'd always been throwing this option out there. I know Pete has always envisioned the car to be just as it was when it rolled off the assembly line in 1967 so, in my mind, I felt like I was keeping that option open but trying to gently steer Pete towards some more modern upgrades. Apparently, after a couple of beers at the Sand Bar, my steering became less subtle!
One thing I know about Pete is that when he does something, he likes to know what all the options are and he likes to analyze and fully understand the ramifications of each one before he makes any decisions. In this case, the conflict that I apparently brought to the surface was whether to restore the car to it's original condition or to upgrade it with modern technology. I think that what's been holding Pete back on this project is simply uncertainty about the consequences of making decisions about how to proceed with this car. And, the reason I'm bringing this up is that I don't think Pete's unique in this respect. I think there are a lot of cars gathering dust in garages all over America because their owners can't decide what they want to do with them.
I think Pete appreciates the idea that, with a modern engine and transmission and maybe four-wheel disk brakes and some suspension modifications, the car would be far more enjoyable to drive. But what about the value of the car compared to what it might be if the car were restored to completely original condition? I think this is the real issue that Pete is wrestling with. The modern options sound nice but will they ruin the value of the car in the event that he wants to sell it sometime in the future?
Restoring a vehicle to original condition is a huge project. Determining all the original parts it might have had requires a lot of research and then finding the correct replacement parts is a big undertaking. To do it right, you want to use the correct part down to the right kinds of bolts. And, although our memories are often better than reality, old cars never drove as well as what we've become accustomed to with modern vehicles. So, are you really going to want to drive a 60's muscle car that you've invested so much in and it doesn't drive as well as your late model Toyota? (On a side note, late model Toyota's are actually very exciting to drive because you never know when you'll find yourself careening down the freeway at full throttle!)
In my opinion, unless a car is particularly rare, you want to have fun with it and, to me, that means driving it and, if you're going to drive the car, it should be brought up to modern standards. This means a modern engine, transmission, brakes and possibly suspension. From what I've seen at the auctions every year in Scottsdale, these types of modifications, if done well, have little, if any, effect on the value of the vehicle but they will have a dramatic effect on the owners enjoyment of the vehicle. Hopefully, I can help Pete come up with a plan, and ultimately a car, that he can really enjoy!
So the question is: why hasn't Pete gotten started on this project? Like many of us, Pete's a busy guy and I don't think he has the time or inclination to do the work himself so he'll undoubtedly pay professionals to do the work. From what I can tell, it doesn't appear that finances are a major factor either. And he certainly seems to have the desire to have the car back to a state where he can enjoy it again. So what's holding him back?
It all became more clear to me the other night when Pete and I, along with our wives, were having dinner. Pete mentioned to me that a few weeks earlier, when the four of us had met for drinks at the Sand Bar, a nice Mexican beach themed restaurant and bar, I had totally derailed his plans for the car. He told me that I said he should upgrade the car to an LS1 engine or a GM 5.3L or 6.0L truck engine and an accompanying electronic transmission. Apparently, I must not have been communicating my ideas about what to do with this car well because I thought that I'd always been throwing this option out there. I know Pete has always envisioned the car to be just as it was when it rolled off the assembly line in 1967 so, in my mind, I felt like I was keeping that option open but trying to gently steer Pete towards some more modern upgrades. Apparently, after a couple of beers at the Sand Bar, my steering became less subtle!
One thing I know about Pete is that when he does something, he likes to know what all the options are and he likes to analyze and fully understand the ramifications of each one before he makes any decisions. In this case, the conflict that I apparently brought to the surface was whether to restore the car to it's original condition or to upgrade it with modern technology. I think that what's been holding Pete back on this project is simply uncertainty about the consequences of making decisions about how to proceed with this car. And, the reason I'm bringing this up is that I don't think Pete's unique in this respect. I think there are a lot of cars gathering dust in garages all over America because their owners can't decide what they want to do with them.
I think Pete appreciates the idea that, with a modern engine and transmission and maybe four-wheel disk brakes and some suspension modifications, the car would be far more enjoyable to drive. But what about the value of the car compared to what it might be if the car were restored to completely original condition? I think this is the real issue that Pete is wrestling with. The modern options sound nice but will they ruin the value of the car in the event that he wants to sell it sometime in the future?
Restoring a vehicle to original condition is a huge project. Determining all the original parts it might have had requires a lot of research and then finding the correct replacement parts is a big undertaking. To do it right, you want to use the correct part down to the right kinds of bolts. And, although our memories are often better than reality, old cars never drove as well as what we've become accustomed to with modern vehicles. So, are you really going to want to drive a 60's muscle car that you've invested so much in and it doesn't drive as well as your late model Toyota? (On a side note, late model Toyota's are actually very exciting to drive because you never know when you'll find yourself careening down the freeway at full throttle!)
In my opinion, unless a car is particularly rare, you want to have fun with it and, to me, that means driving it and, if you're going to drive the car, it should be brought up to modern standards. This means a modern engine, transmission, brakes and possibly suspension. From what I've seen at the auctions every year in Scottsdale, these types of modifications, if done well, have little, if any, effect on the value of the vehicle but they will have a dramatic effect on the owners enjoyment of the vehicle. Hopefully, I can help Pete come up with a plan, and ultimately a car, that he can really enjoy!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Getting Started - Replacing the Newsletter
At Arizona TPI, I've published a newsletter for quite a long time and hopefully you've seen one or more of these and found them to be useful or interesting or at least not horribly boring. For a couple of years, I published it like clockwork, on or about the 15th of each month. But writing a newsletter like I was doing is time consuming. You have to come up with several ideas to write about and then actually write about them. And, the way I did it was to fit it all on to one page so it looked a bit like the front page of a newspaper. Of course doing that requires that you write enough to fill the page but that you don't write so much that you don't have room for it all. It makes me appreciate newspaper columnists that write a column every day and make it fit into a predefined space.
So, the writing of this newsletter became something of a burden on my time even though I really like putting the articles together and sending out what I hope will be useful information to our customers. But because each newsletter was a big project, it started to get published less frequently and sometimes we'd go for months at a time without sending one. So much for keeping the customers informed and up-to-date on what's going on at Arizona TPI!
I was looking for a better (read that easier) way to accomplish my goal of providing useful information to our customers. After our last newsletter, my lovely and talented sister who was kind enough to be a subscriber and who also, apparently, actually reads the newsletters called me and suggested that I write a blog. She pointed out that I could do the same thing as far as providing information but could do it in smaller pieces. Actually, each blog entry could be very small or large, as necessary to cover the topic. No fitting things on a page! We talked for quite a while about this and it started to sound pretty good. So, thanks (or blame, as you see fit) to my sister, here's the beginning of a blog that will replace our sometimes monthly newsletters. Unlike this first post, hopefully you'll find it full of useful and interesting information!
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