I would rather design my own kit than copy someone elses work. If you guys are looking to duplicate piping, get a set from another member that already has the kit.

 

I would rather design my own kit than copy someone elses work. If you guys are looking to duplicate piping, get a set from another member that already has the kit.

Yeesh, what got up you ass? Your the one trying to make a business out of it. You stated you were no longer supplying the kit. I was simply suggesting that there is no reason to call it a "kit" at all. You put some great work into what most of us consider the really hard part in getting started (custom pipes) and you could continue to profit from it by selling those. I for one would have bought them, then also probably purchased blow-off valves, injectors, etc from you as well. All those pieces you continue to sell without being part of a "kit" either.

I would gladly copy your work; Foolish of me to try and make a better one on my own. I apologize for suggesting I wanted to purchase through you.

Lighten up. :moon:

 

Yeesh, what got up you ass? Your the one trying to make a business out of it. You stated you were no longer supplying the kit. I was simply suggesting that there is no reason to call it a "kit" at all. You put some great work into what most of us consider the really hard part in getting started (custom pipes) and you could continue to profit from it by selling those. I for one would have bought them, then also probably purchased blow-off valves, injectors, etc from you as well. All those pieces you continue to sell without being part of a "kit" either.

I would gladly copy your work; Foolish of me to try and make a better one on my own. I apologize for suggesting I wanted to purchase through you.

Lighten up. :moon:

You don't understand, Donny Eley made the kit (formely AAI, now Gulf Coast Turbo). I'm no longer supplying the kit because they could not deliver their kits to the customers on time and customers were doing charge backs to my business account putting my company in the hole since I gave the customers money to Gulf Coast Turbo to buy the parts and build each kit one by one.

I have never ever once called it or marketed their turbo kit as a "Tearstone kit". Most people understand that I started Tearstone Performance because Donny had difficulties running the business aspect of his operation, so I did that for him while he did what he did best.

If I took their design and copied it through another company that could fabricate it for me, then that would be a big slap in the face to Donny and their company would it not? Not only that it would show how incapable of truely making my own real "Tearstone Performance Solutions" turbo kit.

We do what we can to help people futher their Eclipse, I sit continually doing everything in my power to support this community. I have done what I can to do whatever it takes to deliver a quality turbo kit knowing what potential risks were involved doing business with a company which at this point has nearly cost me my Eclipse, what else do you people want from me?

 

From: Matt's blown GTS - Crow's old car (pun intended!)

thing is ... im still in college, i really don't have $6,000 dollars to just throw away at the moment. plus, what happens if something else goes wrong two months, six months, a year from now? i'd much rather spend $6,000 on a down payment on an STI or EVO. i'm bitter about this whole situation, and i think turning this car back to stock is my best decision, this way i lose nothing in the deal. i've been stung once and i won't let it happen again. what will most likely happen is, i'll have the car turned to stock and i'll part the rest out and then get rid of it. i understand a lot of work was put into this car, but fuck it -- seven hours after i get it the motor blows. it was just never meant to be. crow doesn't want to take it back, i can understand that, so this is probably my only choice. sorry to dissapoint so many, but on a college bankroll it's just impossible for me to do an entire engine rebuild.

$6000? We must be really cheap down here in Florida. You would have paid us $1500 to pull it out and put it back in and $2000 to re build the engine using a fresh crank, rods and new pistons. Maybe there's other things wrong that I'm not aware of though.

 

$6000? We must be really cheap down here in Florida. You would have paid us $1500 to pull it out and put it back in and $2000 to re build the engine using a fresh crank, rods and new pistons. Maybe there's other things wrong that I'm not aware of though.

But how long would it be sitting in the shop?

 

But how long would it be sitting in the shop?

Standard time is 9months before you pull it out unfinished :lol:

 

2500 on a new shortblock, 1800 in labor plus gaskets, new oil pump and all the other stuff brings you to around 5k. That's what he was looking at before a tune.

I guess Donny doesn't charge enough so he has to steal from people to make ends meet and feed his family. I prefer to charge a little more and always deliver. Go figure.

I'll digress at this point. The decision has been made and the car is going back to stock. If you want to flame me please put it in OT or something and then link me so I can devour you just as you've devoured others money without delivering product.

I guess that selling drugs and going to jail taught me something. It's called respect and honoring ones word. All you have in life is your word as it becomes your reputation. I make mistakes but I man up and fix what I screwed up. I don't see the same from you Donny or your pimp Jimmy or whatever his name is. The truth and being a man will set you free. Perhaps one day you'll grow a set of testicles and man up. Until then... Well hell might freeze over before then.

Mods, might as well lock this one as it's going to go no where fast and it might be my fault.

Oh I forgot one thing. You might as well sue me for libel just like you would try to sue anyone who tries to make turbo piping based off your design and who can actually deliver product instead of taking money and never delivering. Did I ever mention I love you? :lol:

 

You learn respect and honor through selling drugs and going to jail?
:lol: Who woulda knew.....

 

Hey I learned my lesson the hard way when I was 21. I will never ever do anything that is unlawful again. I haven't been in trouble in ten years. Sometimes it takes something like that to get people on the right track. Obviously GCT hasn't had any consequences or reprecutions for there actions. That is why they continue to screw people. Maybe one day someone will be really pissed and do what the previous man wouldn't.

 

Hey I learned my lesson the hard way when I was 21. I will never ever do anything that is unlawful again. I haven't been in trouble in ten years. Sometimes it takes something like that to get people on the right track. Obviously GCT hasn't had any consequences or reprecutions for there actions. That is why they continue to screw people. Maybe one day someone will be really pissed and do what the previous man wouldn't.

It is an eventuality that will one day come to pass. Hopefully it wont be too severe to the point where GCT wont have a second chance to change their ways.

 

You learn respect and honor through selling drugs and going to jail?
:lol: Who woulda knew.....

Meeting Greg, albeit briefly, I reprect his honestly with his past and his situation with Randy's car. If I blow my engine, I have an idea where I'd go... Silver Spring, Md. I used to rebuild v-8 boat motors, but it has been awhile so I pass the batton on...

This thread has been about Greg's rebuild of what was formly Crow's car... but it has been littered with the Tearstone/GCTurbo/ryu saga... which I guess is officially public (speaking more of Russ and Donnie/Jimmie situation rather than ryu's... ryu hasn't been pull any punches from the get go). Not trying to make light of any of those conflicts, because I feel the pain from all parties (some more than others)...

But my question is this: is the relationship in divorce court? How is this going to end? I mean, I know the turbo kits weren't flying off the shelf, but Ripp's tuner kit is the only tested game in town now.

I just don't want to think we've peaked... Ideally, I'd love for Russ and Donnie to get the kits back online some how.

I've been drinking watching the football game, so I may be talking out of my ass... Sorry, the editoiral...



So Greg, I guess to take the car back to stock, you get to keep the Turbo kit, right? There might be someone I might know who would want it, if that is the case.

 

So Greg, I guess to take the car back to stock, you get to keep the Turbo kit, right? There might be someone I might know who would want it, if that is the case.

I appreciate your vote of confidence Phil. In regards to the kit, I will be keeping it. I do have an XTech 2nd gen kit for sale now.

In regards to Ripp being the only game in town... Well I wouldn't count on that forever. I do know how to weld and really, how hard can it be to make a jig? If Jimmy thinks he can use the threat of lawyers to try and corner this market he is absolutely wrong. I have a contact that can mass produce items overseas and just to spite him and Donny for the absolute dirty crap they have done I would GIVE him the kit for free so it can be replicated in China and sold on ebay. Russ and I haven't always been on the same page but we are more often than not. As a business owner I really don't appreciate the crap he has had to go through due to the ineptitude of these two clowns ... *cough* crooks. Above and beyond that, there are others out there with the means to make another kit a reality other than me. Now that I don't run that hell hole of a shop anymore, I have more time on my hands. Who knows what the future might bring. It's not as if I don't have a kit to use as a guide line. :lol:

 

I appreciate your vote of confidence Phil. In regards to the kit, I will be keeping it. I do have an XTech 2nd gen kit for sale now.

Ha! I knew it!

 

You don't understand, Donny Eley made the kit (formely AAI, now Gulf Coast Turbo). I'm no longer supplying the kit because they could not deliver their kits to the customers on time and customers were doing charge backs to my business account putting my company in the hole since I gave the customers money to Gulf Coast Turbo to buy the parts and build each kit one by one.

I have never ever once called it or marketed their turbo kit as a "Tearstone kit". Most people understand that I started Tearstone Performance because Donny had difficulties running the business aspect of his operation, so I did that for him while he did what he did best.

If I took their design and copied it through another company that could fabricate it for me, then that would be a big slap in the face to Donny and their company would it not? Not only that it would show how incapable of truely making my own real "Tearstone Performance Solutions" turbo kit.

We do what we can to help people futher their Eclipse, I sit continually doing everything in my power to support this community. I have done what I can to do whatever it takes to deliver a quality turbo kit knowing what potential risks were involved doing business with a company which at this point has nearly cost me my Eclipse, what else do you people want from me?

I don't think we necessarily "want" anything in particular from you. You need to remember that many of us have not been around this forum very long and have no reason to infer anything about your company, your products, your history or who the heck Donny, AAI or Gulf Coast Turbo is.

My job has been so boring lately, I'd swear I have read nearly every post on this forum within recent time frame and I have never gotten any indication that any of those people mentioned ever existed, nor that the turbo kit you attempted to sell was not of your own design. In fact, I'm pretty sure I read a post from Rulez (he is part of the company I think, but I'm not sure) on how he got some sort of "vision" on how to run the Intercooler piping and how you guys went on for over a year solving the over heating problem. Seems to infer some ownership of the design to me. None of those threads ever mention that you guys were trying to make someone else's kit actually work.

Remember, just because you have a core group of eBuddies here doesn't mean the rest of us know what is going on. You are on a public forum.

I'm pretty sure you also are aware that you just let the whole issue of dropping the turbo kit just quitely slip in. A half way decent announcement here and on you own web site would have done wonders. If you had handled it professionally, you also could have prepared recommendations and/or referrals and apologized sincerely for the inconvience.

If you want to present yourself as a business, then most of us will you grant you that trust until we have a reason not too. Don't get a case of the ass because we don't know your life history.

Now back to what we want from you.... As I have been saying, I want to give you MONEY for a set of pipes that I can use to insert a tubo here, a wastegate there, a blowoff valve over there, etc. I bet you can even suggest which of those componets would work well and then sell me those if you can get them at a price that isn't too much higher than a big distributor.

If me suggesting that I want to buy from your busineess is that upsetting to you, then tell us all right now that you gave the business thing a good try, but you have had enough - thanks for support. Otherwise, get your act together and figure out how you can make some money at it.

The people on this forum mostly seem to be do it yourselfers. Quit worrying about selling someone elses shit as a "kit" that most people are going to balk at because of the huge entry price. Come up with a recommended option list of components (you sell them already anyway), get someone to bend those darn pipes that started this conversion, and let us buy from you. If we buy enough from you, then it comes with telephone and email technical support. If someone nickle and dimes you and shops the parts from Ebay, then no tech support - very simple. Heck, make tech support one of the options that someone could buy.

Now, you gonna let me spend my money with you or not

 

Meeting Greg, albeit briefly, I reprect his honestly with his past and his situation with Randy's car. If I blow my engine, I have an idea where I'd go... Silver Spring, Md. I used to rebuild v-8 boat motors, but it has been awhile so I pass the batton on...

I cant say that I would dump all of my confidence in a person that forgets to put the drain bolt in on a freshly built engine and then turns around and tries to deem someone elses work careless and absent minded, all based on a highly inaccurate hypothesis. But I dunno, thats just me....

 

Russ, I have to say I agree with pretty much everything that NoQuarter has said. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for you for doing what you have for the community, but the news that you were no longer selling turbo kits sorta just slipped into our knowledge. Granted, it's not like I really expected you to have a flashing neon sign on your website or on Club 3G, but I really only came by the knowledge through snippets I heard here and there.

Plus, I'm sure I myself had referred to the kit you were selling from time to time as the "Tearstone kit," both because you were the one selling it, and honestly, because I thought your company had put it together. I've been around long enough to have caught the tail end of AAI selling turbo kits, and never made the connection that you were reselling their kits. Come on, man, between you and Rulez and some other guys, you should have the knowledge to put together a turbo kit of your own design! Get on it! (I'm joking, by the way...what you do with your business is your business, but I'm sure plenty of people here would welcome such a thing. And while I wouldn't encourage you to copy someone else's work exactly, it's a bit like a company saying they don't want to make an exhaust for the 3G because the piping will be just like Invidia's or Greddy's piping...well, there's not many options for making things different, after all, it's for the same car.)

 

Mozart, I have never ever called it a "Tearstone kit". I have always been very concious of that because it was not my kit and I have too much pride in what I do with my own stuff to try to just jump on someone elses product and call it my own. The reason that there was no company name on the product was because when we first started selling the product for Donny he did not actually have a company and not the greatest reputation after what happened to FIAS. I did however state in each listing that the turbo kits were designed and manufactured by "Donny Eley". Then about 4-5 months down the road, a venture capitalist came in and formed the company "Gulf Coast Turbo". At that time he felt that since the sales were adequate he wanted to keep things the way they were. Every customer who has bought a turbo kit from me, they are all very well aware that I do not build the kit and that they need to contact Gulf Coast for service and support.

You all have to understand that right now there are alot of things I cannot say on these forums because that company reads every word I say and whatever I say will effect nearly $26,000 worth of customer's money invested in their company for product that has not been received yet. I could have just very well closed my company and walk away leaving all the customers hanging with nothing to show for their investments. The last thing on my mind right now is selling turbo kits for the nightmare that I've had to endure over the past year. So, if I come off acting a little weird, my apologies.

I think a lot of confusion here goes on is Mike and I posting about our own cars and it's being interpreted as us designing a turbo kit and it was solving problems with the our own personal turbo kits we've put together over the years.

There are some issues with designing a turbo kit for this particular platform from a business standpoint. You all may percieve that there is demand for these products, but very few want to ante up any money to pay for one. I probably sold a total of 4-5 V6 turbo kits last year. From a business standpoint, why would I want to rush out there to go design another kit? Regardless of how upset you all get, in reality it's not worth the investment to a smart business to make a kit for this car. But that's not to say that since I personally have a vested compassion for this car that I won't try down the road. I welcome anyone to come into this market to go through what it takes to produce a turbo kit and make an ROI that makes it worth while.

Most importantly, my focus now, is to fill back orders for people that have paid because I have a responsibility to the rest of my customers to do whatever I can in my power to get them their products even though I have already paid Gulf Coast Turbo to do the work, I have been spending my own money to buy parts on top of that to fill these orders. We don't have a shop here to manufacture anything, and none of can weld so at the very least I'm looking for Gulf Coast Turbo to ship the piping to the customers so I can fill the rest of their orders.

After all that is taken care of, if my company has stabalized again with normal product and vinyl sales carrying us through this than we can reconsider designing a new turbo kit for this platform, but if we do it will most likely only be for the V6. Otherwise, we are doing everything in our power to support the Eclipse/Stratus/Galant platform with hard to find parts and jobs such as building full engines for your boost requirements.

If you want to present yourself as a business, then most of us will you grant you that trust until we have a reason not too. Don't get a case of the ass because we don't know your life history.

I never get a case of the "ass" on these forums, you interpreted what I said and got somehow offended. I was just stating the facts and I did not mean to offend, I don't know how else I can explain it.

If me suggesting that I want to buy from your busineess is that upsetting to you, then tell us all right now that you gave the business thing a good try, but you have had enough - thanks for support. Otherwise, get your act together and figure out how you can make some money at it.

I'm doing just fine at my business, I'm sorry I cannot meet your requests but there are plenty of other products out there on http://tearstone.com to meet your modification needs at the moment. I suggest checking in with Rippmods for a Forced Induction solution.

All I can offer is what is on my website now and we appreciate your suggestions. If you need assistance in building your own turbo kit, email me at rsanderlin@tearstone.com and I will help you out with whatever questions you may have.

If nothing else, I ask for everyone's support in helping us through these difficult times so that we can continue to support this community in whichever ways we can.

 

You know, folks, it's sad that the moment you take something personally important out in the open, it's immediately up for public opinion. Russ has done nothing but try to provide not just a niche solution for one of the most poorly-esteemed platforms out there - the 6G72 - but know-how and support for issues beyond turbocharging. I'm sorry, Russ, that this kind of misconception plagues you so much. I've been there before, and it's the same reason why I personally won't ever partner with another business like that again.

For those of you who're caught in the middle of this issue between Tearstone and AAI, I couldn't feel any more awful - been there too, with XTech (strike one) and another local company (strike two). All I can say is this - at least Russ hasn't ducked tails beneath a bankruptcy, and your money along with it. He's still here, isn't he, fighting it out with you? Can't say that of Chris. It's tough being in the middle while holding the front.

Now for those who don't understand the history of what we FI... or more specifically TURBOed people at C3G... have been through, or what Russ has been trying to do, I'm sorry, but you need to be the ones to lighten up. If you're wanting to buy something that isn't offered, then apparently you need to go somewhere else.

If another company is offering a solution that you believe will do the trick for you, then by all means, your cash is king. However, caveat emptor and best of luck that you don't fall into the same mishap as many people who think turbocharging is like just the same as putting on some new decals.

But rest assured, if not for Russ and Mike and the many other FI folks in this forum who've tried and tested and DOCUMENTED the results of years of trial and error, you won't have the kind of "support" you already do. Have a little decency to look things up before crying wolf.

 

I feel Russ has always been very open in his buisness and what is going on with the kits and so forth to his customers. Russ has a great buisness and is very good to work with. I hope in the end everything works out for him because he does have a good buisness.

 

In fact, I'm pretty sure I read a post from Rulez (he is part of the company I think, but I'm not sure) on how he got some sort of "vision" on how to run the Intercooler piping and how you guys went on for over a year solving the over heating problem. Seems to infer some ownership of the design to me. None of those threads ever mention that you guys were trying to make someone else's kit actually work.

That was doing work on my own personal kit, which is not the kit that we were selling through TPS.

I'll say the same thing Russ said in short -- Right now we have a lot of back orders that we need to fill and a lot of catching up to do on the turbo piping that GCT still is fabricating for us to fill the orders that have been placed. When all that is done, and Russ and I both have the time opportunity, we will look into designing a turbo kit of our own for the community.

I dont understand why you got offended when Russ said he wouldnt be copying someone elses design. Maybe you just read it the wrong way :dunno:

 

Russ, Mike, please don't take anything I'd said as any kind of attack (from the response, I didn't get the feeling that you did, I just want to make sure that you understand that I didn't mean it that way). As far as options for the 3G go, there's nothing I want to see more than you guys succeeding, and I support you 100% in whatever you do (although financially, I'm not in the position to be buying much of anything from you or anyone else right now anyways). The whole thing about the "Tearstone kit" probably just came about as a matter of convenience when people were discussing options on here. Like I'd said, when I first joined I heard bits and pieces about the AAI kit, then you (Russ) started selling them and people started suggesting that someone buy the turbo kit sold by Tearstone, which got shortened to the Tearstone kit...simple as that.

And when I said I pretty much agreed with everything he said...well, I shot myself in the foot with that one. I'm not usually up at 6 AM and I think I actually read about half of what he wrote, and the half I missed contained a lot of stuff that I wouldn't say about you, ever. Not to say that NoQuarter didn't have some good points, but that statement about "a case of the ass," well, that's not my feeling at all.

I had no idea that you sold so few of those V6 turbo kits within a year's time. While I didn't figure you were selling hundreds of them, I would have thought the number over the past year would have been 10 times the amount you stated - at the very least I would have guessed 25-30. As much as it would hurt to see an option like that disappear...well for 4-5 in a year, that's really not hardly worth your time. After all, when you're running a business, no matter how strong your feelings for the platform are, you're talking your livelihood, not just a hobby. When the time comes that I can afford to really chase my dreams for this car, I hope that you're still around to provide advice and especially some of those hard to find parts. :twothumb: I have to say honestly that if I do turbo my car, it'll most likely be a custom job anyways, because I would want to go with twin turbo if I go the turbo route. And when has RIPP ever seemed like that dependable of an option, honestly? Especially now with the BRAT fiasco and the renamed OBX headers. :noplease:

 

Greg,

I'm not sure how my post about the price warrented that type of response from you but I think overreacting is an understatement. You want to make statements about my delivery issues and two vehicles that have complaints but you say nothing of the dozens upon dozens of other customers who are completely satisfied with their products and the quality of the work and service I provide. I have many customers who won't let anyone else even touch their car at all. That's loyalty that I've earned over the last 14 years of hard work that I've put into this industry. When you've done even half of what I have then maybe you can talk to me about respect and responsibility. You continually talk about copying my kit. Why don't you try something original and put your own neck on the line for once. I've made mistakes and I've paid for them. I'll continue to do so until I make this business run smoothly or choose to do something else. Once you've built a substantial amount of motors and/or vehicles you'll be in the same situation with someones vehicle broke and the finger being pointed at you even though you know you didnt short cut anything. It's only a matter of time. How will you handle it when you know you did everything by the book?

If those are your prices than so be it. I know prices seem to be a bit higher up north but damn man.

He doesnt need a new shorblock. You said the block was good. So it needs a light hone and a good cleaning. That's less than $100.

He needs new pistons. I said I would donate parts at my cost so that's about $640.00

He needs new rings. Again, my cost is about $60.00

He needs new rods. I told you I'd donate a set for free. Re-sizing them is about $80.00

He needs a new crank. I have a good one he can have. Polishing it is about $20.00

The assembly will need to be balanced. That's about $150.00

If your machinist assembles it he probably charges around $300-$500

Head gaskets are about $150.00 for cometics and $50 for stock.

I have several low mileage oil pumps, he can have one.

Fluids and misc. other supplies are about $75.00

That's about $1700 on the high side.

I would have charged $1500 for the labor, you said $1800 which sounds fair to me. So he's at $3500. That seems like a better alternative than giving up well over $6000 in parts just to have a stock engine installed.

If that's what the customer chooses to do than that's up to him. The price sounded high to me so I commented on it. Why would you get so defensive about it? Unless you feel guilty about the price I don't see why you wouldnt just discuss it. I've discussed all the criticisms that have been directed at me throughout this thread so what's the problem?

 

Greg,

I'm not sure how my post about the price warrented that type of response from you but I think overreacting is an understatement. You want to make statements about my delivery issues and two vehicles that have complaints but you say nothing of the dozens upon dozens of other customers who are completely satisfied with their products and the quality of the work and service I provide. I have many customers who won't let anyone else even touch their car at all. That's loyalty that I've earned over the last 14 years of hard work that I've put into this industry. When you've done even half of what I have then maybe you can talk to me about respect and responsibility. You continually talk about copying my kit. Why don't you try something original and put your own neck on the line for once. I've made mistakes and I've paid for them. I'll continue to do so until I make this business run smoothly or choose to do something else. Once you've built a substantial amount of motors and/or vehicles you'll be in the same situation with someones vehicle broke and the finger being pointed at you even though you know you didnt short cut anything. It's only a matter of time. How will you handle it when you know you did everything by the book?

If those are your prices than so be it. I know prices seem to be a bit higher up north but damn man.

He doesnt need a new shorblock. You said the block was good. So it needs a light hone and a good cleaning. That's less than $100.

He needs new pistons. I said I would donate parts at my cost so that's about $640.00

He needs new rings. Again, my cost is about $60.00

He needs new rods. I told you I'd donate a set for free. Re-sizing them is about $80.00

He needs a new crank. I have a good one he can have. Polishing it is about $20.00

The assembly will need to be balanced. That's about $150.00

If your machinist assembles it he probably charges around $300-$500


Head gaskets are about $150.00 for cometics and $50 for stock.

I have several low mileage oil pumps, he can have one.

Fluids and misc. other supplies are about $75.00

That's about $1700 on the high side.

I would have charged $1500 for the labor, you said $1800 which sounds fair to me. So he's at $3500. That seems like a better alternative than giving up well over $6000 in parts just to have a stock engine installed.

If that's what the customer chooses to do than that's up to him. The price sounded high to me so I commented on it. Why would you get so defensive about it? Unless you feel guilty about the price I don't see why you wouldnt just discuss it. I've discussed all the criticisms that have been directed at me throughout this thread so what's the problem?

I am in no way taking sides but 6000 sounds high as well. I got a quote of 1000 bucks to do a K20 swap in my wife old civic. I think that would 3700 bucks total cost. I know this motor doesn't go for 2700 bucks so I have to agree with Donny on that.

 

Damn man, WHERE did you find a K20 for THAT much?! Let ME know! :lol:

 

Russ, Mike, please don't take anything I'd said as any kind of attack

No worries man

 

I have yet to blow up my car and its running a ripp sds, well at least shaft that's about it. :lol: Now time to find a nice V1 :devil: