Andy,
My panties ARENT in a bunch, in fact, rather than sit around and play in the love fest with the others, I chose to move forward and keep racing. These rediculous claims that there is a conspiracy to steal your ideas are just way too overwhelming.
I am glad you pointed out the flaws in the production of the MACS. Yes, indeed there were many issues that caused hardships for boaters that required assistance from CMDI. The exhaust snout on the case were off center, cranks dragged in the housing causing debris to go thru the sleeves and gall them up, the cases themselves were molded "weak" and case craters formed and that debris went thru many an engine.
But these are the things that happen with the start up of any engine, AMERICAN or ITALIAN.
Time corrects these defects as engineering modifications are made and the production motors improved. As to your requests of CMB for change, well, i make no claims to know what was said or wasnt.
In the USA, the maching industry is in a downturn, as outsourcing is all but killing the machining industry. each month in the USA, there are hundreds of auctions of machine shops no longer in business. The remaining shops have to price-point higher than other countries because of labor costs and tooling changes that must be made. This trend in the industry is devastating to not only the machinist but the tooling business as well. The cost of machines (all foreign) has gone up by 45%.
Any business that tries to go with a "start-up" project here in the USA would have to "piece" out all aspects of the engine thru the bid process just to try and keep the costs down, however, once this is done the project is all but doomed. It would be next to impossible for one shop to manufacture all components under one roof. This would be ideal at best but way too costly.
Consistency is all relative Andy. Nothing is perfect. By percentage, a good business model factors in errors and if 90% of production is accurate, then the 10% is negligible.
As for Italian machining, it is world reknown and second to none in the world. The top designers in the world study in Italy. That is not to say that things are not made wrong, it just means the consistency is better.
Kudos to you for trying to get a project made here in the USA. Not enough of that going around in this country today by any means. Once your engines are out, and the "start-up" blues are over, the competition can only improve. If they are priced well over the foreign engines, then a racer will have to decide if his budget will be able afford such. Intially, the MAC was priced more than the PICCO blackhead yet racers made the switch.
The cost of speed is also relative. If you have to ask how much going faster costs, then you couldnt afford it anyways. Boaters need to keep this in mind.
The real way to show support for CMDI is to purchase products and other services offered by CMDI. Talking about how much love we feel for CMDI isnt the same as putting money into the business. Talk is cheap, spending money is something different. I for one spend many a dollar with CMDI and am proud to do so.
While I have made an engine switch, the other services of CMDI are still a valuable aspect to the racing community. This is what keeps a business in business. Diversity. You have a good business model in place and I for one would appreciate it remaining as such.
