Seattle Auto Accessories cam...

[Russ Maki]

Carter,

I can't disagree on the quality issue regarding some of their stuff -- The
tailpipe cracked off the Blau (Ansa) exhaust on my 4000 last spring, taking
a big chunk of a muffler baffle with it. It lasted perhaps 35,000 miles.
Junk.

On the other hand, Jim Blau has a reputation as a pretty good tuner of older
Audis. (How many of THOSE are around?) And it isn't hard to find a quality
machine shop here in Wisconsin...if he found a local grinder to do the work,
I'm willing to take a gamble that the quality is acceptable.

And there's something to be said for walking up to a parts counter, plunking
down the cash and getting product in return. Instant gratification, I
guess...and the knowledge that you can go back and confront said vendor
face-to-face if it fails. While a visit to Blaufergnugen isn't exactly the
equivalent of a grocery run for me, they are within a reasonable distance.

Blau is a funny place. The people I know who deal with the shop in person
(rather than by mail) swear by him. I'm far less impressed, but I have to
think I haven't seen the whole picture yet.

I'll quiz them a little on their product -- if it sounds OK I'll probably
buy it and pop it into my 4K this spring with a big-valve head. I plan a
little track time this summer, so I should be able to report back with a
pretty good impression of the results in about 6 months.

Cheers,
Russ

> From: Kwattro at aol.com
> Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 07:58:27 EST
> Subject: Re: Seattle Auto Accessories cam...
> To some people, 100$ is probably worth the lack of legwork and waiting.
Then
> again, I've had some concerns with "Blau sport" items - lack of quality
being
> the largest problem....then again, this is just my take on the situation.
If
> I had unlimited resources and limited time, I wouldn't wait for Elgin to
> grind a cam, I'd buy a Schrick - no matter what the price was.  However,
> given my somewhat lack of money which accompanies college life, it was
worth
> the month of "Gee, am I ever going to get this cam back" to save roughly
60$
> - at least, I hope it was - we'll find out very, very soon.
>
> Also, to those who are interested in cams, Ken Keith was selling a Schrick
> (honest to goodness) cam for a while - check with him..
>
> Later!
> Carter Johnson
> Kwattro at aol.com