John, as far as I can tell, no one is disagreeing with you. I basically said exactly what you just wrote in two of my posts. When I talked with them on the phone, I told them straight up that there was no way I could justify that kind of cost for my application. They understand, it's not for everyone. Paying them to do their thing is a choice, not a necessity. They seem to do very well without my money so no harm, no foul.
Would I like to have one of their pieces? Yes. Will I ever have a true need for one? Probably not. Was it worth the inquiry? Yes and in fact, it helped confirm my decision by illuminating exactly what I didn't need. Gotta start somewhere.
The problem is not everyone is able to port heads and intakes at home effectively. It takes an investment in tooling, time, effort and a willingness to accept screwing things up when you first learn the techniques. It's taken me 3 tries to get to where I am (I'm obviously still a hack). For those following along at home, that's 3 intakes I've rendered unusable. If I went to replace them with new ones I'd be out at least a grand. Plus buying burrs, sanding rolls, several sets of intake gaskets, Dykem etc. My time is worth something as well so however many hours I've spent bent over intakes breathing aluminum dust trying to figure out how to do this has to have value. When you add all that up, $2K does not sound so far fetched.
Again, I didn't post this thread to discuss the pros and cons of sending an intake to Wilson so let's put this topic to bed.
- Greg