| This is a shop and mechanic review for Vina-Tech Auto Services in Houston Texas. For the background, I should have listened to members here over a year ago that told me not to get my motor pulled at the Nissan dealership even though I had used them and even the same tech before. Well, maybe he was rusty. Maybe he was lazy. I know he was in a hurry. But they finished my Z and I drove it home. It had an oil leak. Nothing major and it was fixable. Then within 3 days of getting it back it developed an exhaust leak between the newly installed MSP manifold (DS) and the block. The dealership did not want to fix it and started giving me the run around about “Well we will have to take it apart and see if it was our fault or the parts that failed.” I don’t have time to be sitting at a dealership all day watching them pull my motor. And what’s going to stop them from just throwing the manifold on the floor and say the parts were bent or something. It was obvious that they did a bad job. It was obvious that they didn’t want to work on it again, and it was obvious that they would just do a shitty job again. It became clear to me that if I wanted to get something done right, I would have to look elsewhere, and I wanted it fully built to the point where I could be happy and confident in it lasting another 88k miles. Even today the Odometer hasn’t passed 90k. So I came back here and asked for recommendations on a builder/installer. I wanted to use IPP but once I inquired further I found out they don’t do installs. So I asked about an installer in the Houston area. I was given a shop name (Vina-Tech), owner name (Tom Than), and number (281-575-7020), so I called them. Two things became clear. Tom was a Z expert, and English was not his native tongue. He asked me the situation with the Z, what had happened, what the dealership did, etc. I explained everything to him as clearly as I understood it all. He took time to answer my phone calls several times just to talk theoretically about what happened and out of curiosity. Never once did he even suggest that this was wasting his time and money, talking to some guy with a busted Z 9 hours away and 600 miles across Texas. Never once did he try to sell me on his shop or advertise for himself. I mean, when you are as far away as I was from him, there is a big distance gap, and money gap, that normally has to close before you can expect to be taken seriously. But Tom is humble enough and nice enough to answer my calls for about a month and talk thoroughly before I decided to use him. I had talked enough with Tom to understand that he was just as capable of assembling a Z32 motor as IPP. Through further talking with him I understood that there are a few different machine shops in Houston Texas that work on the Z32 block / heads. And there is only one that is the best for Z32s that always puts out a quality product. This machine shop is not exclusive to one mechanic and it was very backed up. I will just leave that statement alone and without elaboration. I posted an email online here from one of his workers at the time that quoted me for the job. Some people said it was a fair deal, good deal, some people criticized the informal style of the quote. But understand that that email was not written by Tom. I honestly don’t even think that quote was authorized by him but he stuck by it. So I committed and through connections of his my car was picked up from Midland Texas and taken to Houston Texas for a grand total of $475. It was a long process. It taught me much patience. And plenty of time to learn to respect this machine that was being built. I paid half of the original quote up front, and then as he needed money like for the machine shop or others, he asked for it and it was all done through the convenience of bank deposits. Throughout the process I could call Tom’s shop, cell, and probably even home if I had asked. He would give me updates, advice, whatever. Of course along the way you always end up buying more parts. I could just imagine the nightmare scenario of my garage or closet or both stacked up with new parts that I told myself that I would install, and of course never get around to doing it. So I asked him if I could send them to his shop and he said yes and I ended up sending him all kinds of extra shit to install. The parts that he would source for me were all prices below I saw advertised anywhere. Not suspiciously below, but probably little or no profit. I would send him used parts from the classifieds, new parts, whatever. He would just say “Yeah, no problem.” I can’t say enough about his integrity. To me that means more than anything. Add onto that his knowledge of the Z frontward and backward, and from what I can tell, very, very honest pricing for parts and labor. There were times that I would get scared for my car so far away just shipped off to some guy I’ve never really met. All the money, everything, you know how it is. Luckily the forum member that recommended me to Tom could go by his shop any time and tell me “Yes your baby is still there and yes it is being worked on.”. You see, this shop isn’t set up like SZ or Z1. Don’t expect a website or 800 number. Don’t expect an invoice or a folder full of receipts. I know for a certain select group that is a deal killer. For me it wasn’t. I can still get it appraised and fully insured. There are lots of car shops that won’t even work on cars or guarantee anything if you send them other parts to put on it, much less used parts from some random forum member in BFE. So it was very casual and personal experience. Anything he came across that needed replacing, he called me and told me. Any decision to be made he called me and asked me. Not to mention he has several used and junk Z32s lying around to source used parts which are cheaper than dirt from him. It was at his shop for about 6 months before it was ready. I kept asking how much I owed him for the remainder of the work and he just kept saying “Don’t worry about it.” I mean, I was still sending him all kinds of parts including SPL coilovers, fender braces, etc. And he did all kinds of extra shit, from taking off panels and prepping for the lazy painters, shitty jobs we all hate like installing a Defi BF Link setup with 3 new gauges, to breaking it in when it was complete, and tons more. When it finally came down to it I only owed him $500 extra off the original quote. So I was all ready to go pick up my Z from him the first week of February. Saved up a good chunk of cash, bought a flight over to Houston, everything. But one night I was passed out drunk on the couch and I woke up to my girlfriend holding a positive pregnancy test 6 inches in front of my face. So I had to rearrange my priorities somewhat for the next few months. The doctor wanted $10,000 up front after the first appointment, which was in February. Get that all behind me and it is the second week of May and I finally get my baby (the Z, that is). I finally get to meet Tom and check out his shop and everything. His shop is filled with z32s and he has several motors on stands around the shop in various stages of completion He also had the heads pulled off of a GMC Envoy in there and told me he just recently put a turbo kit on a brand new Mustang GT. In the end I felt bad about all the work he had done when he gave me the final price. I don’t know if you are supposed to tip your mechanic or not but he got one and I felt he deserved it. Me and Tom with my Z in the background at his shop: 
So that particular weekend there happened to be massive thunderstorms sweeping all the way across Texas. I checked into the Marriott across from the Galleria and parked the Z in the underground garage and took up 2 spaces. Then the rain came. All night. Storming. I waited around the next day and it became evident that the rain wasn’t going to ever completely stop. So I did something I told myself I wasn’t going to do and I drove her in the rain. Torrential rains. Houston Texas, Gulf Coast rains. But it wasn’t lightening and wasn’t hail and I was on the well traveled roads where it wouldn’t flood (although I’ve seen half of Houston under water before), and I was watching the weather and I was heading west. She made it home and she ran beautifully the whole way. Flawlessly. Besides the first part of the trip that was rainy, I had a smile on my face the whole way home. I don’t think the new SPL parts made for a very comfortable ride for my girlfriend and baby who were at this point 4 months and 1 week into their journey, but they were troopers. She loves the Z, just not riding in it while pregnant. The day after I got back, I called my friend who is a professional detailer and he came and picked her up and worked his magic. Here she sat that day: 
Notice the lack of finishing touches like body stripe and chin stripe. I figured this would be the case and it would be one of my first priorities to put them on once I got it back, but after seeing the car in person, I definitely like it better without both. And I like rolling around badge-less in the rear. People don’t even know what make it is, and if they do, they don’t know if its turbo or not. But anyone with a brain and interest can tell by the sound. 3” everything, no cats, no resonators. It is obvious that it is something serious. All the exterior really needs in my opinion is new trim pieces. And no, I wasnt about to get that fruity blue Texas plate with clouds and shit, screwing up my color scheme. And of course it is still sporting the Wayne Garcia Special Edition interior. Which is beautiful. I wanted to write a review before I left the country in May and I only returned on June 18th. Before I left I had it all torn apart installing ballasts and connecting and soldering wiring so I could have HID’s on all driving lamps up front. I worked on it up until the night before I left and finished it all up so I could get home and enjoy it. Sunday I spliced the wiring in the pod to have them all on at once. Next week I will get some HD video and newer pics daytime and night time. I am very happy with my car after getting it back from Tom. Of course I can still call him anytime with any questions. When I get more comfortable in the car and I rack up another thousand miles I will get it dyno tuned but for now it is running great. This is a shop and mechanic that deserves some recognition and respect in the Z32 community. If you have any questions or anything feel free to email me.
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"If everybody is thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking."
"Pressure makes diamonds." ~~ George S. Patton Blow money on your Z. |
Shop Review: Vina-Tech Auto Services, Houston Texas - 
