Waffles
11-01-2009, 01:54 PM
I just wanted to take a minute to thank Mike Bell for all his help and hard work.
I met Mike about a year and a half ago while shopping for a dyno tune after doing a bunch of bolt-ons. I’d called around before talking to Mike, most places just didn’t want to take the time to explain things to me. One place seemed to have nothing but time and nearly refused to hang up the phone without my credit card number. Another closer shop is great to work with, but in the end it Mike’s “special” made the difference. After a couple of days of mulling things over, I scheduled with Mike.
My car gave Mike fits. I goofed a few things up (I did the bolt-ons myself and am by no means a mechanic) that Mike quickly corrected, but also the car was acting erratically. One set of problems on the stock tune would just seem to transform into another set of problems on one of Mike’s tunes, and nothing stayed consistent. Eventually, we ran out of time for the day. Mike had worked on my car for at least 4 or 5 hours but refused to charge me for anything but the tuner until he figured it out. We spent the next week emailing tunes and datalogs back and forth.
It turned out, a local stang guy had seen nearly the exact same problem and it turned out to be the exact same cause. The two bolts under the Cobra intake hat had vibrated loose and created a vacuum leak. I’m not sure why Mike didn’t kill me when I told him that it had all been my fault for not using lock-tite. He was just happy it was fixed.
Some time later I developed a rod knock (I think) and decided to build a new stroker motor for my car. I knew I’d be nickel and diming it, so I didn’t want to take advantage of Mike any more than I already had. I posted about my build on here. Mike calls me, cuts me a hell of a deal on building the motor WITH me (I really wanted to learn!), and tells me to bring the thing up. We worked together on it a few Saturdays, ended up needing another block which Mike worked out in his own time (Matt Johnson and I traded blocks), and really just went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of.
To make an even longer story a just little shorter I lost my job and had to put the project on hold. Mike, even though I know he needs the money (who doesn’t?) has never hassled me about my motor that’s been sitting there for nearly a year now.
This is evidently just who Mike is. I’ve watched him go out of his way to help people so many times. I’ve seen him jump in and offer his time and services for a good cause. I’ve seen what kind of guy Mike is with this community he truly sees as friends.
Anyway, I know this got long winded. I just wanted to say, “thanks Mike, you’re a great guy.” I really appreciate your time and patience with me. I’m excited that I’m in a position now to get started back up on my motor and will be in touch very soon. Oh, it’s great to hear about all the improvements to the shop too! That’s freaking awesome and can only help business.
I met Mike about a year and a half ago while shopping for a dyno tune after doing a bunch of bolt-ons. I’d called around before talking to Mike, most places just didn’t want to take the time to explain things to me. One place seemed to have nothing but time and nearly refused to hang up the phone without my credit card number. Another closer shop is great to work with, but in the end it Mike’s “special” made the difference. After a couple of days of mulling things over, I scheduled with Mike.
My car gave Mike fits. I goofed a few things up (I did the bolt-ons myself and am by no means a mechanic) that Mike quickly corrected, but also the car was acting erratically. One set of problems on the stock tune would just seem to transform into another set of problems on one of Mike’s tunes, and nothing stayed consistent. Eventually, we ran out of time for the day. Mike had worked on my car for at least 4 or 5 hours but refused to charge me for anything but the tuner until he figured it out. We spent the next week emailing tunes and datalogs back and forth.
It turned out, a local stang guy had seen nearly the exact same problem and it turned out to be the exact same cause. The two bolts under the Cobra intake hat had vibrated loose and created a vacuum leak. I’m not sure why Mike didn’t kill me when I told him that it had all been my fault for not using lock-tite. He was just happy it was fixed.
Some time later I developed a rod knock (I think) and decided to build a new stroker motor for my car. I knew I’d be nickel and diming it, so I didn’t want to take advantage of Mike any more than I already had. I posted about my build on here. Mike calls me, cuts me a hell of a deal on building the motor WITH me (I really wanted to learn!), and tells me to bring the thing up. We worked together on it a few Saturdays, ended up needing another block which Mike worked out in his own time (Matt Johnson and I traded blocks), and really just went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of.
To make an even longer story a just little shorter I lost my job and had to put the project on hold. Mike, even though I know he needs the money (who doesn’t?) has never hassled me about my motor that’s been sitting there for nearly a year now.
This is evidently just who Mike is. I’ve watched him go out of his way to help people so many times. I’ve seen him jump in and offer his time and services for a good cause. I’ve seen what kind of guy Mike is with this community he truly sees as friends.
Anyway, I know this got long winded. I just wanted to say, “thanks Mike, you’re a great guy.” I really appreciate your time and patience with me. I’m excited that I’m in a position now to get started back up on my motor and will be in touch very soon. Oh, it’s great to hear about all the improvements to the shop too! That’s freaking awesome and can only help business.