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2003-2009 Nissan 350Z

Happiest place on Earth? My drivers seat!

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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 11:41 AM
  #1  
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Talking Happiest place on Earth? My drivers seat!

Disneyland can’t hold a candle to the fun I have every time I visit Z-Car Garage in San Jose, CA. I drove 11 hours from Portland, OR to San Jose, CA to have Rob Fuller and his crew work on my car. Crazy? You tell me. When I arrived, I got to ride in or drive an APS TT Z, a Nissan Skyline, a 240Z turbo, a Vortech S/C Z, and a 750 hp 300ZX. Does it get any better than that? Keep reading!

I showed up with a built, low-compression motor, a whole bunch of expensive hardware(including an APS TT kit), a serious APS oil smoke problem, and was only making 413whp(We don’t have an APS tuner in OR). It was fast, but half the cars in their parking lot would’ve killed me in a race. Rob knew what my car needed and went to town on it. I even got DAILY updates. Does your shop do that?

What’s that? Final numbers? Oh yeah…my daily driver now puts down 561.89whp and 563.81tq. We left some horsepower on the table and tuned conservatively because of the aforementioned distance, differences in altitude, and severe traction issues. Honk if you see a red blur go by!

My hat’s off to Rob, Rico, Vince, Luke, Jeff, and Paul.
Attached Thumbnails Happiest place on Earth? My drivers seat!-dynochart.jpg  
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 11:46 AM
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my hat off to you. NOW bring that car back to OR and kill all the sucker up there. hehehehe

BTW, what is the price range after all of this? what other parts on your car need to be replaced in order to get that hp #?

Last edited by Bubble; Jan 17, 2006 at 11:48 AM.
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 11:57 AM
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Alex-
I already had the AAM fuel system and almost everything I needed: It just needed to be massaged by the pros. I jumped up to the APS 3.5" test-pipes, the 3" exhaust, and JWT cams.
I got to meet "Louzer" & "Barthelb" while I was there. Cool guys-Awesome Zs! See you next trip!

Bruce

Last edited by RedLeader; Jan 17, 2006 at 12:03 PM.
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 12:00 PM
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Congrats Bruce!

You have the fastest Z in Oregon.
How long was the wait, all told?

Greg (is jealous)
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 12:10 PM
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WOW.....WOW....Great Job!!!!
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 12:11 PM
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Awesome numbers-your a/f looks kinda lean up top...
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 12:28 PM
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D@mn drove down from Oregon?!

Awesome numbers! Congrats on joining the 500/500 club!
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 12:45 PM
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Halitosis-
Thanks, but there's still a wild-card out there: Overzealous1 hasn't really finished his car yet. I expect bigger numbers than mine when it's finished.
He wants to be in the 600hp club:-)

They could have cranked the car out pretty quickly, but they had some prior install work to clean up and we had to locate additional parts. I slowed them down, because I wanted the APS down-pipes and exhaust and they hadn't landed yet. It was worth the wait.

Alberto-
I don't know why their A/F figures always seem to read high. They're very experienced and really emphasized maintaining the proper ratio. Maybe it has something to do with "where" they measure. I read the same comments when Barthelbs car was re-tuned.

Bruce

Last edited by RedLeader; Jan 17, 2006 at 12:52 PM.
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 01:16 PM
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now, take it easy when you drive back to OR. hehe
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 01:47 PM
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Alex-
I drove home Sunday. The pass over the Siskyous summit had snow, so I had to run up Hwy. 101 as far as Crescent City. Good thing I had plenty of passing-power! Hwy. 199 from Crescent City to Grants Pass is a really fun stretch of road with great twisties. I got to put the Tein suspension through its paces on the firmest setting..... It still took me three hours longer to get home than it took driving down I-5.
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 02:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Bubble

BTW, what is the price range after all of this?
Mind if we asked how much everything cost? Maybe a price range?
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 03:10 PM
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highside107-
I haven't added it all up because it would be too painful. I'm in at least $20K. I used a local tuner shop to build the motor, but they're not really a Z specialty shop and they'd never done an APS kit. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a spare block and build a motor to avoid down-time and expense.

A friend pulled his own motor, stripped the block and took it to a machine shop he's used before and spent pennies compared to what I paid to have it done. I had to redo some things because I wasn't dealing with people who know these cars inside and out. I even changed my exhaust, wheels, suspension,and shifter twice!
That explains how I arrived at the decision to patronize Z-Car Garage. Ask them a question----they know the answer. And, unlike some shops, the bill isn't higher than the estimate...........because they're not GUESSING.

Bruce
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by RedLeader
........... Final numbers? Oh yeah…my daily driver now puts down 561.89whp and 563.81tq. We left some horsepower on the table and tuned conservatively because of the aforementioned distance, differences in altitude, and severe traction issues. Honk if you see a red blur go by!

My hat’s off to Rob, Rico, Vince, Luke, Jeff, and Paul.

Those are fantastic numbers....congrats!!!!!
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 05:24 PM
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Originally Posted by RedLeader
Disneyland can’t hold a candle to the fun I have every time I visit Z-Car Garage in San Jose, CA. I drove 11 hours from Portland, OR to San Jose, CA to have Rob Fuller and his crew work on my car. Crazy? You tell me. When I arrived, I got to ride in or drive an APS TT Z, a Nissan Skyline, a 240Z turbo, a Vortech S/C Z, and a 750 hp 300ZX. Does it get any better than that? Keep reading!

I showed up with a built, low-compression motor, a whole bunch of expensive hardware(including an APS TT kit), a serious APS oil smoke problem, and was only making 413whp(We don’t have an APS tuner in OR). It was fast, but half the cars in their parking lot would’ve killed me in a race. Rob knew what my car needed and went to town on it. I even got DAILY updates. Does your shop do that?

What’s that? Final numbers? Oh yeah…my daily driver now puts down 561.89whp and 563.81tq. We left some horsepower on the table and tuned conservatively because of the aforementioned distance, differences in altitude, and severe traction issues. Honk if you see a red blur go by!

My hat’s off to Rob, Rico, Vince, Luke, Jeff, and Paul.
nice nice #'s. Im completely jealous!! hehe Good luck with the car. Dont let it go Boom!!! Now
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 05:44 PM
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I haven't added it all up because it would be too painful. I'm in at least $20K.
Wow, you could be in the 600 club, you could have just about another z. Nice car you got!
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 06:28 PM
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If I could I would take out a loan to get where you are. BIG congrats and keep her in between the white lines.
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 09:42 PM
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sweet numbers.. please post some pictures of your car.. thanks...
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by MyV6IsFaster
If I could I would take out a loan to get where you are. BIG congrats and keep her in between the white lines.

+1
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Old Jan 17, 2006 | 11:37 PM
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kick some @$$ man...
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Old Jan 18, 2006 | 09:02 AM
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what???
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