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I have been trying to get hold of NitroDann for a couple of months now with no joy. Also the nitrodann.com web site has gone down recently.

So does anyone know if he is still working?

Nick

Use the Search function and have a look at the two most recent threads.

I bought a bit of stuff from Dann for my SE and he was kind enough to return a phone call regarding some trouble I was having which was nothing to do with his gear.

Chatting with him seemed to indicate that he is now working for a company that repairs rail track and his previous business is no longer. He reckoned that it was impossible to make a decent living and have a life with the work he was doing as we know it.

He said that he is still doing some fabricating I think for Mania. Might be worth checking with them

If this has been posted already sorry to repeat it.

Given the resource that he was and the quality of his gear a sad loss to the community.

Nick

Thanks Nick, that is new news to most around here.

It's unfortunate but understandable that Dann has close up shop, it's got to be a hard gig, with lots of unexpected hurdles. I've always had good experiences with him and his work for me has always been of a high standard. His knowledge and enthusiasm when dealing with him was always exceptional.

It's disappointing though that he's closed down without notifying many, and it seems a few customers are still awaiting work. I do hope he pops up and tells his piece, and I hope the waiting customers get some closure.

Be a shame if it's true, but not completely unexpected, as Dann always seemed to be trying to get on top of the work he had. He has done some great work on my car and many others, and I had planned to use him for further upgrades in the future. Does put those of us that went down the Megasquirt path in a bit of a tricky situation, but I guess that was part of the gamble going that way.

oooops

I have spoken to Dan recently and he has in fact packed up the business. Sad in many ways that things didn't work out, he's a talented man.

SKYHI wrote:Does put those of us that went down the Megasquirt path in a bit of a tricky situation, but I guess that was part of the gamble going that way.

I went down the haltech path as there are several tuners in Newcastle that play with them. However in saying that, I recon if you ask Dan nicely he may still tune your car

The Megasquirt path is fine. It's a capable ECU. That other new UK ECU looks interesting too. It depends what your car has been tuned for. Squeezing the last 1 mm of performance out of an engine puts it at risk, no matter how talented the tuner. There are plenty of tunes available that don't push the envelope so far. Depends what YOU want to do with YOUR car. I liked Dann's philosophy of being able to get you good power with add ons and stock internals. Vale. Dann's fabrication skills look absolutely first class. An artisan with pipe work.

Any ECU is only as good as the tuner. I liked Dann's approach to tuning, and touch wood, to date I've had no issues pushing my car on track with his tune. With further mods planned, I'm going to need a re-tune at some stage, and if Dann is unavailable then my options are somewhat limited. In hindsight perhaps I should have put a bit more thought into having a "plan B", but anyhoo

It is unfortunate that he has left so many people with paid-for outstanding orders and cars incomplete. Not the way to cease a business.

I can vouch that he isn't leaving us in the cold.

We had a chat today about finishing up my car including all tuning.

The way I see it, it started for him as a passion and hobby, grew and took on a life of its own, but wasn't sustainable for him. I hope (as I'm sure many do) that the passion remains and that he still feels he can contribute his knowledge to this group even if he's not physically doing the work any longer.

Over the years I've seen a number of gifted tuners seemingly "burn out".

One thing I noticed about a lot of them was their generosity with always being ready to talk at length with clients and potential clients. I've also seen where some of them recognize the non-productivity of losing so much time. Those ones have engaged somebody very competent to expertly field and manage client contact so they can do what they do best.

Stewart W and SSS in Girraween 30 years ago and Mania come to mind.

One of the hardest lessons for me when I went into business was learning to delegate and then trust someone with that work so that I could focus on what I had to do. Finding others to work to your own standards isn't easy. Hope Dann's coping ok with all the changes.

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Wish Dann all the best.

The tyranny of distance prevented me from throwing large amounts of money at him, I was heavily tempted - all because of his outstanding reputation!

StuwieP wrote::
The way I see it, it started for him as a passion and hobby, grew and took on a life of its own, but wasn't sustainable for him. I hope (as I'm sure many do) that the passion remains and that he still feels he can contribute his knowledge to this group even if he's not physically doing the work any longer.

+1

Dann LOVED doing this work and went out of his way for most customers to ensure that they were happy with the results (including driving for hundreds of kms to a customer to repair a leak).

As a DIYer, I know that that some projects can take MUCH longer than expected, especially when a wrong part is delivered or just doesn't fit despite what the manufacturer claims.

The more complex the project, the more delays/$$$ you really need to build into your estimates.

MX5Plus ceased custom builds because they take too long and the results weren't always satisfactory, especially given the cost (labour is expensive and customers choke when they see this figure but time spent working on the car needs to be accounted for, even if nothing comes from it because it ended up being wasted time).

I'm sorry to see NitroDann close shop but fully understand that it was a financial issue - he worked hard and long hours and the return didn't justify the effort.