DOG BOX RACING gets Evodan2004 back on the road
Sep 10, 2009, 06:04 PM
#1
DOG BOX RACING gets Evodan2004 back on the road
Hello everyone and welcome to probably one of the best threads i will ever make on EvoM. This is going to be hard for me to get all this info out but i am going to do my best.
last year i had a 4th gear failure in my trans and like most started looking for a fix. But with the winter coming around i just let the car sit for a while to straighten up a few things in my life since i do not drive the car anyway in the winter. I had plans to send the car to a shop and have them send the trans and TC to TRE for a rebuild. i wanted to do this right the 1st time around so i invested a lot of research and time into my build. Reading, listening to find out what i wanted in my car for my needs. john at TRE was amazing in helping me out with questions and guiding me along my path. But when the time came to get the work done TRE had to leave town for around 25 days. I was very upset as i had a lot of trust and time in with John at TRE i wanted him to have my business. But with race season already started i needed to find another shop who could take care of my needs and requests. A good friend of mine told me to contact Dog Box Racing in Howell NJ. I knew about them and what they did but just always wanted to have a TRE built drive train. So i figured what the hell ill call this shop and see what they have to say. well Alex from Dog Box picked up the phone and we started to talk. I told him what i do with the car and my goals and other stuff. He recommended some changes i had wanted and also told me a great deal of useful info. After i hung up the phone i did some homework. Researching Dog Box and what not. Well i then called back the next day to get some pricing. Alex sat down with me ''on the phone'' and made out a full to do list and price quote on what i wanted. he explained what each thing was and how they work and so on. a little run down on what i got done. ''not everything''
new 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and a hole bunch of other trick stuff. i got the micronighting treatment done to the trans, and all the TSB updates and options for the evo8 trans. basically a full rebuild and the works. no short cuts here.
T/C got checked and also worked on and adjusted. I had the T/C healiacoiled ''spell check''
I also added a new QM twin clutch, quaife, and some other stuff.
when Alex told me the price on the R&R i almost fell over. ''in a happy way'' ask him how many times i called to confirm the price. And to make sure i was getting what i had listed. He told me DAN YEEEEESSSSSS haha. Well i then had asked how long it would take and when can i drop the car off. He 100% worked around what i wanted and even got the car done on a selected date i had that i wanted the car back. So i dropped the car off. I met the man behind the 45 phone calls and then it hit me. I had a feeling this was going to turn into a great relationship. I got greeted with a smile. the shop was busy as hell but Alex still focused all on me and my time. i do not like being rushed or to get the feeling of not being welcome. Alex defiantly made me feel welcome and conferable
While my car was at DBR Alex called me almost each day to tell me how things where going. He was very honest with me and gave me the reassuring feeling over and over that i had picked the right shop to do the work on my car. i am one picky **** with my car and who touches it and i was feeling like a celebrity dealing with DBR. He told me what had happen inside my trans. Explained what i needed and also added in some tips and recommendations. Anyways day to day i kept getting updates and everything was going good.
well the time came to come pick up the car and man was i excited. i got there and the car was all ready to go. NOTE i got there late. Alex had told me to come on my time and he would work around my time to be there so i can pick the car up. VERY helpful as i live almost 2 hours from the shop and work 5 days a week 12 hours aday.
Im driving this car home and im wondering if its even an Evo anymore. shifting ever so smooth. no odd sounds, overall AWESOME. i drive it home and Alex sends me a text. Dan. how is the car. of course me i had to call. and tell him all about it. it was great. lol. I am sure he new the phone would be ringing soon. The ride home was great. I could not beleave it. I was back in my Evo ready to rip it up again. At this point DBR had allready saved me about 1500 to 2000 bucks. I told Alex that night i could not thank him enough. All Alex could say back to me was bro. Dont worry about it. Its what i do. I just wanted to help. now go out and enjoy your car and keep me posted on how everything go's. I hung up with him and was just over whelmed with how much this guy did for me.
i get the car home ''friday'' and saturday was a big event at E-town. i did not plan to race as i wanted to brake the clutch in but i wanted to go. its been a while since i have been to a car show. lol ''7 months''
So Saturday moring comes and im up at 6am because i am so ready to drive this thing. I start washing it and polishing the car to get it ready for the show as i was going to be displaying it in the Full-Race booth. I had a friend with me and we hit the road.
''what you are about to read has nothing to do with DBR''
well on the way to E-town i was jamming to MJ. R.I.P. M.J. and then it happen. BOOOOOOOM POW CLINK CLANK and my windshield is covered in fluid. guess what it was MOTOR OIL. clearly i had a problem. so i pulled over ''as if i had a choice'' and pop the hood. Everything is soaked in oil. Then i spot the problem. A huge hole in front of the block. I am not even 15 miles from my house and the dame motor blew up. At this point i had no clew why this happen. i was cruising at 60mph no boost and just bang. It was over. Anyways i call Alex and i tell him what happen and i wanted to thank him for all he has done for me at that point and that im sorry i cant put it to good use. Then Alex said to me not to worry. Get the car home and to call him. Lucky me a friend had a trailer and he came to my rescue. I got the car home and at this point i was crushed inside. i called Alex and he said yo WTF what happen. I explained the story and you could tell in his voice he was upset. He said Dan get the car to my shop and ill see what i can do to help you out.
So a week later i drop the car off. Alex pulls it apart in front of me so we can locate what the hell had happen. ''we knew it was nothing DBR'' but he was trying to help me out. What happen was i have no clue. lol i hole in front and back of the block. piston was sideways in the syl wall. rod/wrist pin was torn from the piston. it was just a big big mess. my clean car was covered is oil. I did not even want to be around the car at this point.
Anyways Alex had told me to leave the car there till i figure out what i was going to do. At this point i did not know they built motors. But i asked. From how well he treated me with the drive train build i felt more then comfortable asking him. He replied with yes i can build you a motor. So then it begun. I made a thread about 2.1 to 2.0l motors and so on. Started to talk to a few people such as Ted B ''A HUGE HELP in almost everything i do'' I finally decided to keep the car 2.0l and bought a 4g63 short block. I had called Alex and told him i found a motor and would like him to look at it. So i dropped it off to Alex at DBR and then we started to go over the pricing and parts list. He had told me before it all started not to worry and that he will do his best to get me back on the road at a realistic price. I had told Alex the goal of the car and what i wanted.
Well a few days went buy as he waited to here from a few places on pricing and other stuff. He called me with a quote and let me tell you. it was Christmas in July. i had planned to let the car sit again for a while so i could save up some cash but with what this man did for me was unreal. He gave me his personal spare head ''from his drag car'' to help save me a lot of time. He pushed the machine shop to get the block finished from boring and cleaning, And to finish balancing and polishing of the crank. He started ordering parts well before he had to just to make sure he was all set for when the block arrives. When everything got there i got the call. He said to me what will be going on with the car and just overall how the build will begin. The guy missed a race weekend he wanted to go to just to finish my car. worked on the car on Saturday and Sunday. again calling me daily telling me specs and everything that was being done.
the major things done
M2 race DBR spec head
DBR 2.0l motor
no more details. hehe. i can have secrets too but Alex hooked me UP.
Again the works. The man did not spare a second on my build. Checking, double, triple checking everything. Then i got a phone call. Dan, im gonna start the car in 5 minutes. just thought i would let you know. I was so frigen happy at this point i did not know what to do. Later that day he had called me back to tell me to come pick the car up. I was shocked how fast this was. 1.5 weeks and 3 days of that was waiting for me to figure out what i was doing.
all in all Alex at DBR is one hell of a guy. from trans to motor build to just being a huge help this man really took care of me. i cant thank him enough. A great builder, great service, and mostly a great new friend.
Alex. THANKS SO MUCH for everything you have done for me. cutting me huge brakes, saving me cash, being honest with me and IMO becoming one hell of a great friend. i know i have someone i can count on when i need it with this car. I know im in good hands when my baby is at your shop. When i saw you at E-town ''showdown'' it was hard to look at you. IT was hard to imagine a guy who went well out of his way for some kid like me and ask for nothing in return. With how this economy is today you did not try to pull one over on me or sell me something i did not need just to make that extra buck. Im a very sensitive person and take things deep to the heart and you my friend are the most well gifted, smart, down to earth person i know. i cant thank you enough for everything.
DBR also has someone great other then Alex. his name is Chris. he is the guy who builds the transmissions, does some tech/phone calls, orders parts, and other stuff. He is another great person. Very helpful and just a great guy to talk to. When i went to the shop a few times he was always welcoming customers and acting as if everyone was family. Very friendly guy. a guy i also owe a huge thanks too.
P.S. this is a service review. for more details on the new setup, specs, goals, pics, and other stuff stay tuned. another thread will be made for that. but its a few weeks away as i am having a few issues NOT DBR related and need to fix them. then its off to the dyno. dyno + track + camera = thread
for anyone looking to do drivetrain work or a motor build. i highly recommend DOG BOX RACING. here is there web site. http://www.dogboxracing.com/ you will not be disappointed.
last year i had a 4th gear failure in my trans and like most started looking for a fix. But with the winter coming around i just let the car sit for a while to straighten up a few things in my life since i do not drive the car anyway in the winter. I had plans to send the car to a shop and have them send the trans and TC to TRE for a rebuild. i wanted to do this right the 1st time around so i invested a lot of research and time into my build. Reading, listening to find out what i wanted in my car for my needs. john at TRE was amazing in helping me out with questions and guiding me along my path. But when the time came to get the work done TRE had to leave town for around 25 days. I was very upset as i had a lot of trust and time in with John at TRE i wanted him to have my business. But with race season already started i needed to find another shop who could take care of my needs and requests. A good friend of mine told me to contact Dog Box Racing in Howell NJ. I knew about them and what they did but just always wanted to have a TRE built drive train. So i figured what the hell ill call this shop and see what they have to say. well Alex from Dog Box picked up the phone and we started to talk. I told him what i do with the car and my goals and other stuff. He recommended some changes i had wanted and also told me a great deal of useful info. After i hung up the phone i did some homework. Researching Dog Box and what not. Well i then called back the next day to get some pricing. Alex sat down with me ''on the phone'' and made out a full to do list and price quote on what i wanted. he explained what each thing was and how they work and so on. a little run down on what i got done. ''not everything''
new 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and a hole bunch of other trick stuff. i got the micronighting treatment done to the trans, and all the TSB updates and options for the evo8 trans. basically a full rebuild and the works. no short cuts here.
T/C got checked and also worked on and adjusted. I had the T/C healiacoiled ''spell check''
I also added a new QM twin clutch, quaife, and some other stuff.
when Alex told me the price on the R&R i almost fell over. ''in a happy way'' ask him how many times i called to confirm the price. And to make sure i was getting what i had listed. He told me DAN YEEEEESSSSSS haha. Well i then had asked how long it would take and when can i drop the car off. He 100% worked around what i wanted and even got the car done on a selected date i had that i wanted the car back. So i dropped the car off. I met the man behind the 45 phone calls and then it hit me. I had a feeling this was going to turn into a great relationship. I got greeted with a smile. the shop was busy as hell but Alex still focused all on me and my time. i do not like being rushed or to get the feeling of not being welcome. Alex defiantly made me feel welcome and conferable
While my car was at DBR Alex called me almost each day to tell me how things where going. He was very honest with me and gave me the reassuring feeling over and over that i had picked the right shop to do the work on my car. i am one picky **** with my car and who touches it and i was feeling like a celebrity dealing with DBR. He told me what had happen inside my trans. Explained what i needed and also added in some tips and recommendations. Anyways day to day i kept getting updates and everything was going good.
well the time came to come pick up the car and man was i excited. i got there and the car was all ready to go. NOTE i got there late. Alex had told me to come on my time and he would work around my time to be there so i can pick the car up. VERY helpful as i live almost 2 hours from the shop and work 5 days a week 12 hours aday.
Im driving this car home and im wondering if its even an Evo anymore. shifting ever so smooth. no odd sounds, overall AWESOME. i drive it home and Alex sends me a text. Dan. how is the car. of course me i had to call. and tell him all about it. it was great. lol. I am sure he new the phone would be ringing soon. The ride home was great. I could not beleave it. I was back in my Evo ready to rip it up again. At this point DBR had allready saved me about 1500 to 2000 bucks. I told Alex that night i could not thank him enough. All Alex could say back to me was bro. Dont worry about it. Its what i do. I just wanted to help. now go out and enjoy your car and keep me posted on how everything go's. I hung up with him and was just over whelmed with how much this guy did for me.
i get the car home ''friday'' and saturday was a big event at E-town. i did not plan to race as i wanted to brake the clutch in but i wanted to go. its been a while since i have been to a car show. lol ''7 months''
So Saturday moring comes and im up at 6am because i am so ready to drive this thing. I start washing it and polishing the car to get it ready for the show as i was going to be displaying it in the Full-Race booth. I had a friend with me and we hit the road.
''what you are about to read has nothing to do with DBR''
well on the way to E-town i was jamming to MJ. R.I.P. M.J. and then it happen. BOOOOOOOM POW CLINK CLANK and my windshield is covered in fluid. guess what it was MOTOR OIL. clearly i had a problem. so i pulled over ''as if i had a choice'' and pop the hood. Everything is soaked in oil. Then i spot the problem. A huge hole in front of the block. I am not even 15 miles from my house and the dame motor blew up. At this point i had no clew why this happen. i was cruising at 60mph no boost and just bang. It was over. Anyways i call Alex and i tell him what happen and i wanted to thank him for all he has done for me at that point and that im sorry i cant put it to good use. Then Alex said to me not to worry. Get the car home and to call him. Lucky me a friend had a trailer and he came to my rescue. I got the car home and at this point i was crushed inside. i called Alex and he said yo WTF what happen. I explained the story and you could tell in his voice he was upset. He said Dan get the car to my shop and ill see what i can do to help you out.
So a week later i drop the car off. Alex pulls it apart in front of me so we can locate what the hell had happen. ''we knew it was nothing DBR'' but he was trying to help me out. What happen was i have no clue. lol i hole in front and back of the block. piston was sideways in the syl wall. rod/wrist pin was torn from the piston. it was just a big big mess. my clean car was covered is oil. I did not even want to be around the car at this point.
Anyways Alex had told me to leave the car there till i figure out what i was going to do. At this point i did not know they built motors. But i asked. From how well he treated me with the drive train build i felt more then comfortable asking him. He replied with yes i can build you a motor. So then it begun. I made a thread about 2.1 to 2.0l motors and so on. Started to talk to a few people such as Ted B ''A HUGE HELP in almost everything i do'' I finally decided to keep the car 2.0l and bought a 4g63 short block. I had called Alex and told him i found a motor and would like him to look at it. So i dropped it off to Alex at DBR and then we started to go over the pricing and parts list. He had told me before it all started not to worry and that he will do his best to get me back on the road at a realistic price. I had told Alex the goal of the car and what i wanted.
Well a few days went buy as he waited to here from a few places on pricing and other stuff. He called me with a quote and let me tell you. it was Christmas in July. i had planned to let the car sit again for a while so i could save up some cash but with what this man did for me was unreal. He gave me his personal spare head ''from his drag car'' to help save me a lot of time. He pushed the machine shop to get the block finished from boring and cleaning, And to finish balancing and polishing of the crank. He started ordering parts well before he had to just to make sure he was all set for when the block arrives. When everything got there i got the call. He said to me what will be going on with the car and just overall how the build will begin. The guy missed a race weekend he wanted to go to just to finish my car. worked on the car on Saturday and Sunday. again calling me daily telling me specs and everything that was being done.
the major things done
M2 race DBR spec head
DBR 2.0l motor
no more details. hehe. i can have secrets too but Alex hooked me UP.
Again the works. The man did not spare a second on my build. Checking, double, triple checking everything. Then i got a phone call. Dan, im gonna start the car in 5 minutes. just thought i would let you know. I was so frigen happy at this point i did not know what to do. Later that day he had called me back to tell me to come pick the car up. I was shocked how fast this was. 1.5 weeks and 3 days of that was waiting for me to figure out what i was doing.
all in all Alex at DBR is one hell of a guy. from trans to motor build to just being a huge help this man really took care of me. i cant thank him enough. A great builder, great service, and mostly a great new friend.
Alex. THANKS SO MUCH for everything you have done for me. cutting me huge brakes, saving me cash, being honest with me and IMO becoming one hell of a great friend. i know i have someone i can count on when i need it with this car. I know im in good hands when my baby is at your shop. When i saw you at E-town ''showdown'' it was hard to look at you. IT was hard to imagine a guy who went well out of his way for some kid like me and ask for nothing in return. With how this economy is today you did not try to pull one over on me or sell me something i did not need just to make that extra buck. Im a very sensitive person and take things deep to the heart and you my friend are the most well gifted, smart, down to earth person i know. i cant thank you enough for everything.
DBR also has someone great other then Alex. his name is Chris. he is the guy who builds the transmissions, does some tech/phone calls, orders parts, and other stuff. He is another great person. Very helpful and just a great guy to talk to. When i went to the shop a few times he was always welcoming customers and acting as if everyone was family. Very friendly guy. a guy i also owe a huge thanks too.
P.S. this is a service review. for more details on the new setup, specs, goals, pics, and other stuff stay tuned. another thread will be made for that. but its a few weeks away as i am having a few issues NOT DBR related and need to fix them. then its off to the dyno. dyno + track + camera = thread
for anyone looking to do drivetrain work or a motor build. i highly recommend DOG BOX RACING. here is there web site. http://www.dogboxracing.com/ you will not be disappointed.
Last edited by EvoDan2004; Sep 10, 2009 at 06:07 PM.
Sep 10, 2009, 06:05 PM
#2
WOW thats long. sorry guys if its a little messy. i left a lot of detail out. it would be twice as long if i told you everything they did for me. but this gets the main points across.
Last edited by EvoDan2004; Sep 10, 2009 at 06:11 PM.
Sep 10, 2009, 06:23 PM
#7
i cant begin to tell you how well and how much Alex and the hole DBR crew did for me. i cant express how thankful i am. i still to this day sit here and have no way of explaining how great full and thankful i am of this company. DBR for life.
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Sep 10, 2009, 06:27 PM
#8
shipping all my fluids super fast to DBR for me. no hassles ever. AAA++++
i only deal with a few people in this hobby and let me tell you guys. i dont just pick anyone. i pick the best of the best and i stick with them. i have made great relationships with some fantastic people. Alex, Chris at DBR, my hole sig. i dont just spit names for fun. its all because it WORKS.
Sep 10, 2009, 06:33 PM
#9
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On the day you dropped off your car for the tranny build i got there earlier than you and i spoke to alex while i waited for you. This guy takes his time explaining what he does, what are the flaws of the factory tranny, what he does to correct them etc... He tells you more than what many other shops dont. Alex is a guy you can trust. Im very happy that everything turned out great for you dan because i know how much time and money you have invested in your car. Congrats on a successful outcome. P.S Hopefully early next year my tranny will also get a built at dbr. 
Sep 10, 2009, 07:47 PM
#13
thanks to you also.
shipping all my fluids super fast to DBR for me. no hassles ever. AAA++++
i only deal with a few people in this hobby and let me tell you guys. i dont just pick anyone. i pick the best of the best and i stick with them. i have made great relationships with some fantastic people. Alex, Chris at DBR, my hole sig. i dont just spit names for fun. its all because it WORKS.
shipping all my fluids super fast to DBR for me. no hassles ever. AAA++++
i only deal with a few people in this hobby and let me tell you guys. i dont just pick anyone. i pick the best of the best and i stick with them. i have made great relationships with some fantastic people. Alex, Chris at DBR, my hole sig. i dont just spit names for fun. its all because it WORKS.
now lets get some pics
Sep 10, 2009, 08:01 PM
#14
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Dan great review about DBR! I have dealt with Alex for years now! Always helpful and knowable! Built some great shifting tranies for me! I think hes Evo says it all!
