| Vendors I used during my build. ADMIN If this is inappropriate PLEASE delete. I have had quite a few people email me asking about my experience with the build up and the vendors I used. Here is my story... This may be a long post so bear with me. I just wanted to express my satisfaction with Z1, COZ and Greg D. For history, I hydro locked my engine back in July. My insurance company covered it as a flood and totaled out the car. I bought it back from them with the intentions of rebuilding it. During the initial planning stages I did lots of research and lots of searching TT.Net to decide what route I wanted to take. The first thing I was sure of was that I wanted to use Greg Dupree’s Inconel manifolds with a set of HKS 2530 BB turbos. I made this decision based mostly on what others had told me about the turbo and its streetablility. I had people pitch me all sorts of turbos, try this or try that. I didn’t want to be a guinea pig, I wanted something that was proven and I wanted to make over 500 at the wheels on turbos only.
It seemed like as soon as I posted that I was doing a build and had about 17K to spend everyone is this area wanted my business (understandably). Living so close to Z1 I contacted them first. This is right after they built Wagz car to its level and to me they were proven (again, not wanting to be a guinea pig). There are 2 other shops in the Atlanta area that contacted me about them doing the work. I listened to what both of them had to say and even considered one of them since I was planning on buying a lot of the big parts (turbos) from them anyways. The one that I was considering was quoting me better prices than Z1 but I just didn’t get a warm and fuzzy with them and spending my money there. Now, I know the first time someone visits the shop at Z1 you are like “Are you sure it is down this gravel drive” and “Is it in that Barn?” I was the same way but the first time I sat down with those guys and talked strategy and my goals I knew they would handle the build from start to finish. My Mom always said don’t judge a book by its cover, and although it is easy to do with Z1 you will loose out if you do. I spent about 3 hours talking with Russell and Ash (bless my poor wife) and came up with a plan of attack for the car. I think the important thing was I went into this with realistic goals. I am sure every Z shop in the nation gets at least 1 call a week with someone asking “I have $4K and want my Z to put out 1 gazillion HP at the wheels, can you do it?” I sat down with them and came up with a reasonable plan with obtainable goals. Anytime they asked me how much power I expected I always told them anything over 500WHP was gravy. I ended up getting lots of my parts from COZ. Turbos, Koyo radiator, Nismo thermostat, new lifters, EFI harness, Nismo 740cc Injectors and probably a few other things I can’t remember. Greg D supplied the Manifolds, the Koyo bracket and indirectly a set of 5 bolt down pipes. It is well known on the forum that these are trusted and reliable vendors and I would recommend them to anyone. I dropped the car off to Z1 in mid November along with all of the parts and told them to call me if anything came up. I ended up stopping by a few times when I was in the area, always getting to see different parts of the build process. I told them to take their time with the car, as I didn’t need it or expect it until sometime in Jan. Anytime something came up that wasn’t part of the plan someone from Z1 would call me and discuss it with me. Contrary to COZ’s recommendations I went with a sweet dual fan setup and eliminated the stock fan. Thanks to Seb at specialty Z for the recommendations on the fan and adjustable thermostat. There was one small hiccup with one of the heads (a blessing in disguise) so they had to pull the engine out and have a valve replaced or something. That gave us the opportunity to do some more porting and polishing. They got the engine back together and continued with the break-in with a goal of dynoing and tuning on 23 Jan. All I can say about the tuning is that I am pleased and they went beyond all of my expectations. [ [ http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=1134574 ] ]
[ [ http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=general&msg_id=1135784 ] ] I never imagined that we would put down the kind of numbers that we did. I know there are some on here that couldn’t care less about the numbers; they want to know how it is on the street. Let me just say that being a helicopter pilot in the army and having been to Iraq I have done lots of crazy stuff in a helicopter. Nothing that I have done compares to 25 PSI in this car. It is truly amazing. I cannot put into words how I felt during that first ride in the car. I still have a grin on my face. It was like that first ride in a TT. Simply amazing. The turbos come on nicely and with very streetable lag and amazing power. I don’t think that this car could be tuned any better than it is right now. For those of you that have kept with this post up till now I commend you. I am sure it is lots of rambling thoughts… The bottom line is I would send anyone to Z1, whether they are spending $1.00 or $100K. I am so thankful that I didn’t decide to go to the other shop in Atlanta that was cheaper. I think in this case you get what you pay for and the car speaks for itself. I would recommend this setup to all, it is very streetable and a joy to drive. When you want to really get on it the power is just a blip of the throttle away. This car is truly amazing, if you want more info please don’t hesitate to email me or call me. I will answer any questions I can about the car, the set up or any of the vendors and the parts/services they sell. Thanks for reading and thanks to Z1 for the great car and COZ and Greg D for the awesome prices and amazing parts (these manifolds should be stock on the Z car).
I'M A HOOKER
 .
My other ride is a CH-47D "Chinook" helicopter.
Visit the TwinTurbo.NET Store
|
