Oh boy here it comes (please don't)

 

With the amount of funds you have spent on this project I hope that they can help you out with some kind of discount on the engine build and installation. I know of a few other cars that made more power without having the block sleeved...ain't that right Bri.

 

I don't know what you mean by this statement but I can only assume you mis-read the thread from the beginning.

We did not build/assemble or install this engine and/or sell the parts to build it. Alex purchased a FCon from us which was loaded with a base map so he can drive down from Nor. Cal. to get the car tuned by Sam.

From my understanding from Alex the car was worked on by Z Car Garage, the parts were purchased from Sharif, and the engine was built by another source Z Car Garage uses. This is all information I have gathered from the first page of this thread.

I would hate anyone to be mis-informed and believe this is our engine or work when the car was simply brought to us to be tuned.

To date we have had 0 engine failures ( knock on wood ) We do everything in house, have very expeiranced machinist and take great pride in our work. We are not some overnight operation and have been in business for many years.

If you are ever in So. Cal. give us a call and I can show you our 33,000sq ft. facility so you can see there is nothing "fishy" about us or Sam.

If you have any other questions please feel free to PM me.

Good luck Alex and I hope we can help you with what ever you decide to do, either way your a great guy and your car IS beautiful! Makes me miss my Z

Sorry for the OT

-George
GT Motorsports

 

Thanks George...you are correct as in that Sam and the whole GTM team has done nothing but to help. I believe Sam totally went overboard in helping me... Nothing but great things to say, even though the project needs to be cut short.

 

thanx for the support. But I don't think anyone has made more power than what we were aiming for without sleeves...550rwhp was a BASE map...and there are 4 maps.

 

Man Alex,

I was in the middle of sanding when I got the horrible Text from you, saying the engine is dead... I honestly felt a bit sick to my stomach being one of the few people who had seen and sat in the car in its more recent completed form... I am truly sorry bud...

Having been in the car modding business for a while...here are my honest thoughts...

lets say you part off the car, sell what could be sold...and take a HUGE financial hit from what you have spent int he past...

you then turn and get something that as you say, starts off being fast, a Z06, a viper, a 911..etc etc... at first its great, its plenty fast and reliable...but...soon enough, you see enough of the same cars driving around to start wanting to make yours feel unique...and then its the same thing over again as you start to think about modding...

all the time, perhaps for the rest of your life, you will remeber with some distinction that, one time you came really close to having a dream machine, the kind of car that every car enthusiast dreams about having, the kind that magazines features, videos, and urban legends are made off. The kind of car that everyone claims their friend's friend's friend knew someone who had one, but you ALMOST acutally had it...but never did...

i would say that 100 percent of us car lovers dream about having the ultimate car, we dream about it at night, during the day, and anytime we look at a magazine feature... Be it a car with 600, 800 or 1000HP, or one that has a truly awesome and one of a kind stereo, or one that simply freezes people in their tracks as it drives by. (or in your case, all three)...we all have our dreams...but 99.9 percent of us would never ever see anyhting remotely close to achieving this perfection...

You truly came close enough to it to seeing it, touching it, and even driving it...I can only say that the bitterness of having been so close will resonate long after the immediate relief of selling off a costly and problematic project wears off.

In our hobby, waht do we spend money for? when it all comes down to it, we spend it for the smile on our faces... and from that perspective, it makes MUCH better sense for you to continue as well...

afterall, would you rather spend spend an extra 10-20k and gain a HUGE grin for a long time to come? or would you rather have spend 100k and gain nothing?

love to have a smoke with you now man...i have gone through similar things in the past (spend 6 months building what i thought would be a iasca winning car audio install, and had the car hit from behind, totaled, all system destroyed with perhaps 1 week worth of cableing to do)...and i say just chill right now, thoughts are running wild in your head, pushing you to say screw it one moment, and then go for it the next, give youself at least 48 hours and then you will be able to see things clearly...

we'll meet up soon...

 

^^ +1 X infinity.....this guy summed it up. If you read one post out of this thread read this one.

 

+1 well put

 

yea i agree stick with it. I would def try to get some of it back. You said someone overbore the engine right? they must not have done it right if the piston rings dont fit perfectly. It also depends on how much more its going to cost to get it running right again. But i say stick with it.

 

It's really a lot of money. 6 figures. You can buy a house in some places.

 

Anyways...a little info for those seeking to build with the APS Extreme kit...

It's a BIG mod. Including the supporting mods needed. The engine...keeping it 3.5L is not enough. Fully spools at around 5000rpms. And you'd need around 8000 rpms to fully utilize the powerband.

I think for people seeking this route, the 4.2L stroker would be great for it.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your motor. I have been looking forward to your numbers for quite awhile. I guess we'll see in a couple months if I end up in the same boat as you .

 

alex, you gotta check with zcar to see what they can do...the relationship is good and should remain good if they are willing to help you out

 

Damn Alex sorry to hear about your situation. Godd luck with e verything. I hope you get Alyssa up and running and not decide to part with her. Let me know if you need anything(like I can help )

Chris

 

Man, I'm really sorry to hear about this. Sorry for the tough situation you're in. I was eagerly anticipating your final numbers with the APS ETT. I'm just glad to hear for my sake, GTM had no part in the failure since they'll probably do my build. So does this mean the Arias ED pistons quality or consistence of quality are suspect or is there a compatibility issue with the VQ motor? Are there better options?

 

I'm shocked at how much you put into the Z. You are right, you can buy one down the street from me.

One thing I must say upfront: Thanks for sharing and being honest about your experience. Too often we only hear the good, as people (human nature) don't often want to share the bad experience.

I must say that if I spent as much as you did, I would expect a perfect vehicle, and for that kind of money, you should have one.

Just my personal opinion, but once you sort out whatever the machinist or Arias or whomever is going to "help" or fix on this, it would be a good time to sit down with a pencil and paper and do the math.

How much to fix it.

How much parting out will get you. And be careful here, because the second hand market isn't always generous.


Best of luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

 

Hopefully it's not an issue with those pistons. It seems like there are a ton of people running them in high hp/high boost applications.

My question is, are all cylinders losing compression?

 

so i assume you guys pulled the motor already? what size was the final cylinder bore? .020 over pistons, right? were the correct rings used? (correct size?)... of course, during assembly, the correct ring sizing would have been discovered...

was the block bored/honed with use of torque plates? sorry for your misfortune, just curious as to what went wrong with the build. hopefully the builder takes care of you

good luck

TODD

 

there is much more to building a motor than just slapping all of the parts together!!!
There are several hours in prep work and inspection before properly assembling an engine

the pistons are all measured to insure correct sizing and to match to the cylinders (in the honing process) if there are any noteable variances. The piston rings are all checked when matching them to the clinders... if the piston rings were the wrong size, this would have been caught during assembly (if say, they were standard bore 95.5mm rings vs .020 over 96mm rings--> I know because we have run into this before)

To date, a majority of our motors are built with Arias Extreme Duty pistons, they have all been EXACTLY machined to spec out of the box... some balancing is required to perfectly match their weights, but the outside diameter of the pistons has only varied from piston to piston by 1-3 ten thousandths of an inch (.0001-.0003) which is practically nothing when dealing with piston size. So, before any panic begins, the pistons are not the issue...possibly the maching of the cylinders, possibly the assembly, possibly the sizing of the rings, but NOT the quality of the piston!

TODD

 

+100.