Zen_Performance

Graeme, Did you get my emails? Cheers Paul

Now that I have sorted this out with Graeme, and the package is off to him via UPS as I write this, I thought I would add a little background to what it is that Graeme has purchased and why it's not a simple thing to sort. Our dry sump kit comprises of a huge number of parts and just about every single one is bespoke. The pump itself uses only the pump gears from the manufacturers stock of standard parts. All the bodies, studs, shafts, relieve valve and bracketry are unique to Zen. The tank is a Zen designed tank, shaped to fit in a paticular place in the engine bay that you simply can't put an off the shelf solution. The drive system uses 3 pulleys components and accompanying parts, only the screws, two pins and a flange are off the shelf items. The sump is much more than just a sump pan, as it comprises the mount for the pump, scavenge filters and a windage tray, all bespoke parts again, and the sump itself takes 10 hours of machining. The accompanying parts are all made to our spec, or made by modifying standard parts in house by me and to bring together each kit currently takes some hours and relies on parts coming from a number of suppliers, not just the manufacturer of the core elements. What this means is that it's not a straightforward product, and Graeme will be the first person to install the whole system themselves, that isn't a tuner or WRC trained engine builder, or had me come and do all or some of the installation. Given the distance involved it means that when the system gets to Graeme it should be as easy and obvious as possible to fit and get running. Getting to that stage hasn't been easy and has been one of the main holdups in getting this out to Graeme, but without it, I don't think it would have been a kit fit to send out to a DIY builder. It's not an ideal situation, and I would liked to have all these things ironed out before letting a single kit go, but many of the kits have been "needed" and sold/installed on the basis that it is new and there might be a few issues on the way to getting the car fully sorted. But without it, I can think of at least 3 cars that would have suffered had they had to continue with a baffled sump solution, and many that are just nearing the finish of a build that would be hopelessly delayed if they had been kept waiting for parts. The unfortunate side effect is that many cars have had to have very hands on support from myself, which is just not sustainable as the number of installations grows. Graeme got a good deal initially, and to help make up for the inconvenience I have now included extra parts and some further assembly FOC to help with the installation that will save both money, but more importantly time. For the sake of accuracy, I would like to point out that Graeme last paid at the beginning of December.The cost of the core kit has been set on a par with what Ron was asking for Cosworth kit, but I have also supplied the required dry sump tank and lines, and kit requires two less lines and no need to purchase an uprated 12mm stock pump, making the overall spend required less than the Cosworth dry sump route. I don't like to operate like this, and Graeme has been very polite and amiable throughout, giving me no real reason to think that he was getting anxious. However in light of his previous experiences with traders I will be, and have been making an effort to keep Graeme and everyone else I deal with much better informed. Cheers Paul Zen

Many thanks to those who attended on sunday, I was especially (and pleasantly) surprised by the shear number of those that came all the way just to spectate, let alone run their cars on the rollers. It was without doubt the best organised RR day I've ever witnessed, thanks wholey to Nigel and Rachel who did lots of background work for all this, including all the lists, the ticket system and really just left me and Andy to get on with the business of running the cars. We will be endeavouring to improve our RR facilities from a noise and fumes perspective, so I hope to be running more RR days for a variety of clubs and themes (in 2008 we did a 2.5 day for instance), but it will certainly be run the same way as it was on Sunday! Big thanks to Andy T for being my dyno bitch for the day. And a final mention for Bill that shocked everyone I think with such a stealth looking car! Cheers Paul