This thread begins with a discussion about the 2003 350Z, which is an important part of our race shop. This car serves more as a therapeutic project for the patriarch of our racing group than anything else.

To provide some context, our shop is called AutoShop, and it's located in Wichita Falls, Texas. The owner is Al Weiss, an 80-year-old racing engine builder and enthusiast who has spent the last 50years participating in races ranging from Top Fuel dragsters to Stock Eliminator.

In its heyday, the shop employed between four to eight people and produced a significant number of performance engines. Many well-known engine builders and shop owners started their careers here as high school students, spending years mastering the craft before branching out on their own.

Al, now a widower, has moved into the shop after selling his house. The reason for this is simple: Al often wakes up at 3 a.m. with an idea and he can't sleep until he's in the shop working on it.

Al raced in NHRA's Competition Eliminator, a class that required a great deal of innovation to stay competitive. The class involved a variety of vehicles, from 4-cylinder altereds to full on 4000 hp Pro Mods. To afford this type of racing, Al had to run in unusual unique classes using small V6s and inline 6-cylinder engines as well as small displacement V8s. Over the years, Al and his team set numerous NHRA records. Al also performed unique machine work for Top Fuel dragster champion Eddie Hill and served as Eddie's crew chief for the last two years of Eddie's racing career.

These days, the shop is a one men show. And primarily focuses on unconventional builds for friends and long time customers, from land speed gasoline and diesel engine to ventage engines

. Al's late wife had a fondness for the 350Z, which is why I'm starting this build thread.
When the car first arrived at the shop, it was in poor condition. Over time, every aspect of the car was upgraded to meet her specifications. Al even painted it in the shop, and the interior was revamped in the same way. After her passing, the car was moved to a dedicated area of the shop where Al continued to work on it as a form of therapy.

The first engine modifications involved installing a Vortech supercharger off a Mustang. . Al fabricated the brackets and pulleys from billet stock. Without an intercooler, the boost was somewhat limited, but that did not stop Al from planning an engine build. This build, which will be discussed in detail in this thread over the coming months, involved a fully billet Brian Crower stroker engine. Al thoroughly ported the heads and worked on various intake manifolds. He even designed custom grinds for Bullet Racing Cams to produce.

With this project now completed, Al is ready for the next one. We had a few GM LS7 427 warranty engines that GMPP had given us as part of our sponsorship package a few years ago. Al had built a few in the past, and on our in-house engine dyno, they demonstrated impressive high-rpm power.

Now we're starting the next chapter, and we're open to ideas and guidance from anyone who has experience in this area. My role in all of this is to source parts, technologies, and ideas for the shop. Al

 

Make sure to address the head issue on the ls7.

I had west coast corvette heads on my c6z, Frankenstein and BTR are a little better

 

Welcome to the forum - sounds like your in good hands and sounds like a fun build - anything we can help with just post up.

Subscribed -

 

Actually the heads on the LS 7 are great. We CNCed then and run Jesel rockers

so here are some pictures of the car it self

 

Here is Big Al


here are some of the pictures of the engine











This was the first variation on intake manifold






This is the supercharger





Billet pully he made from barstock

 

I have just found out this powerplant, along with headers and Link ECM will be available. It literally has zero miles on it. Big Al just wanted to change. It is a Brian Crower stroker kit, with fully ported heads and custom cams,

 

Nice!

Love Link stuff! What ECM is it?

What headers?

 

the headers are stainless. I’m not sure which link but I’ll find out