How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area
06-17-2004, 01:16 PM
#1
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How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area
I’ve received quite a few inquiries about the “Tuning For Beer” Tour and how to get the event into your town. Thought I’d post up some info on the Tour for those of you who might be interested in putting on an event.
The Tuning for Beer Tour Events started about 3 years ago when a few of the Forum members realized that it was actually cheaper to fly me in for a tune-up than to take their Vettes to a local garage and have some questionable work done at the going rate. Since that time, I have taken the Tuning Tour to Detroit, Memphis, San Antonio, Cocoa Beach, and New Orleans.
In spite of its reputation as a beer drinking festival, the Tuning Tour is actually a hard-core working session where I not only do some tuning and tweaking, but also discuss the “how-to” of timing, distributor setups and carb work. It’s an educational process where we discuss and demonstrate proper setup techniques for the cars and teach the owners how to do it themselves in the future. As an interactive seminar, the Tour is a lot of fun, in spite of the work involved. We have also done front-end rebuilds, cam changes and other work when the number of participants has been low.
Typically, I deal primarily with ignition system setup & blueprinting and carb setups. These are the two areas of tuning that usually provide the biggest bang for the buck in terms of performance gains and vehicle drivability. They’re also the two most neglected and misunderstood areas of the car, and lend themselves well to seminar group activities. I bring all the tools and parts needed to work on these systems in a specially set up toolbox, and I try to tailor the sessions to the specific vehicles that will be attending.
I don’t charge anything for these Tuning Tours. I donate my time at no cost. I do ask that I be reimbursed on my airfare expense and that I be provided a place to stay. I also request that the vehicle owner pay my cost on any parts I install into the vehicle – I don’t mark up the parts. As such, it’s a pretty cheap tuning session. I typically put in a full 8 to 12 hour day on the tuning seminar. With usual shop rates at $75/hour for good work, that’s a $900 value for the price of the airfare – not a bad deal in most cases.
I often bring my wife with me on these weekend excursions, but I pay her fare. Thus, the tuning tours typically cost me as much as they do the hosting group. But for the fun we have on these events, it’s well worth the money. And, yes…. we do drink a bit of beer on the Tours….
If you would like to bring the Tuning Tour to your area, simply get a small group of interested people together and split up the cost. Send me a proposal for place and time, and we’ll come out and run a fun and educational session for you. Keep in mind that I like to have at least 2 hours to work on each car, so don’t try to line up 22 cars for a one-day session… 4 is a good number for a relaxing day with a lot of personal attention, 6 is hustling, and the most we’ve ever accomplished in a hard-core 12-hour day is 8 cars – that’s pushing it…
Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you need further information on getting a session together for your club or group of enthusiasts.
V8FastCars@msn.com
The Tuning for Beer Tour Events started about 3 years ago when a few of the Forum members realized that it was actually cheaper to fly me in for a tune-up than to take their Vettes to a local garage and have some questionable work done at the going rate. Since that time, I have taken the Tuning Tour to Detroit, Memphis, San Antonio, Cocoa Beach, and New Orleans.
In spite of its reputation as a beer drinking festival, the Tuning Tour is actually a hard-core working session where I not only do some tuning and tweaking, but also discuss the “how-to” of timing, distributor setups and carb work. It’s an educational process where we discuss and demonstrate proper setup techniques for the cars and teach the owners how to do it themselves in the future. As an interactive seminar, the Tour is a lot of fun, in spite of the work involved. We have also done front-end rebuilds, cam changes and other work when the number of participants has been low.
Typically, I deal primarily with ignition system setup & blueprinting and carb setups. These are the two areas of tuning that usually provide the biggest bang for the buck in terms of performance gains and vehicle drivability. They’re also the two most neglected and misunderstood areas of the car, and lend themselves well to seminar group activities. I bring all the tools and parts needed to work on these systems in a specially set up toolbox, and I try to tailor the sessions to the specific vehicles that will be attending.
I don’t charge anything for these Tuning Tours. I donate my time at no cost. I do ask that I be reimbursed on my airfare expense and that I be provided a place to stay. I also request that the vehicle owner pay my cost on any parts I install into the vehicle – I don’t mark up the parts. As such, it’s a pretty cheap tuning session. I typically put in a full 8 to 12 hour day on the tuning seminar. With usual shop rates at $75/hour for good work, that’s a $900 value for the price of the airfare – not a bad deal in most cases.
I often bring my wife with me on these weekend excursions, but I pay her fare. Thus, the tuning tours typically cost me as much as they do the hosting group. But for the fun we have on these events, it’s well worth the money. And, yes…. we do drink a bit of beer on the Tours….
If you would like to bring the Tuning Tour to your area, simply get a small group of interested people together and split up the cost. Send me a proposal for place and time, and we’ll come out and run a fun and educational session for you. Keep in mind that I like to have at least 2 hours to work on each car, so don’t try to line up 22 cars for a one-day session… 4 is a good number for a relaxing day with a lot of personal attention, 6 is hustling, and the most we’ve ever accomplished in a hard-core 12-hour day is 8 cars – that’s pushing it…
Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you need further information on getting a session together for your club or group of enthusiasts.
V8FastCars@msn.com
06-17-2004, 03:08 PM
#2
Re: How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area (lars)
This is the most insane thing I have ever seen.
I can't believe you do this - you're a good egg Charlie Brown!
If i can ever get a few of my gearheads together in the same place, I will be callling upon you!
I can't believe you do this - you're a good egg Charlie Brown!
If i can ever get a few of my gearheads together in the same place, I will be callling upon you!
06-17-2004, 03:17 PM
#3
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Re: How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area (dunney)
Yes, it's well known that I'm absolutely certifiably insane. The entire Colorado group will attest to that, and can even provide testimonials...
06-17-2004, 07:34 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
Re: How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area (lars)
Yes....Lars is the man..!!! He has sent free of charge a Carb to a vette guy in Germany who couldn't get one at a reasonable price. The carb as I understand it was wraped up as a birthday present to go thru customs.
Perhaps Lars could set the story straight if I have made and erros..
In fact Lars..now that you mention it...Maybe will have you out here in 2005 to do my ZZ454/440 conversion when I bring it to life for the first time. We can get a bunch of Forum guys together and do some steaks and brewskies and light the BB off. Sorta like my tranny party thing. I know we'll get a nice turn out for that.
Yes My Friends...Lars is the man...How could you not like a guy like Lars with a face like that...
Perhaps Lars could set the story straight if I have made and erros..
In fact Lars..now that you mention it...Maybe will have you out here in 2005 to do my ZZ454/440 conversion when I bring it to life for the first time. We can get a bunch of Forum guys together and do some steaks and brewskies and light the BB off. Sorta like my tranny party thing. I know we'll get a nice turn out for that.
Yes My Friends...Lars is the man...How could you not like a guy like Lars with a face like that...
06-17-2004, 08:05 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
Re: How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area (Viet Nam Vett)
Yep, Lars is the man ! He made me an all metal fuel line for my 66 a few years ago - sight unseen - and it fit perfectly.
And that is the CCC group in the background of the pic - jumping into the beer pond
And that is the CCC group in the background of the pic - jumping into the beer pond
06-17-2004, 09:40 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Jan 2002
Location: Redondo Beach CA
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C2 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Re: How to get the "Tuning for Beer Tour" to Your Area (lars)
I don't "need" any work, but Lars came out to the area I'd sure want to be a part of it. There are a lot of us out here, but of course there are a lot of shops too. If there is enough interest, I might at least be able to host the tuning location. I've got a reasonable amount of room with one 1.5 car garage and space in the alley. Anyone in LA interested? Let me know...