I know it’s been said many times, but the guys at SpecialtyZ are great!
About two years ago they came out to Denver for some tuning. My car was a little noisy when they were running it. They said it sounded like detonation, so they made a nice safe program for me. I was a little disappointed that we were having those issues. I also found out later that I had spun a bearing.
La-Z-Link So long story short I started a new build. During my build I had a few issues and I just about threw my hands up and sold the car. As I pushed through the issues I contacted SZ a number of times to help me out. They always got back to me and had great info that both helped me get the car on the road and put my mind at ease. I finally got the car back on the road just before Greg and Seb came back out to Denver again this past weekend. With all the cars they work on they still remembered the last Denver dyno day and the issues I had. When I rolled my car on the Dyno and popped the hood Greg stood there looking at it. I thought oh crap what do I need to fix, and he says “was it this nice last time?” It kind of cracked me up a bit, I changed the color of some engine parts from blue and red to black and silver so it was a little classier. Anyhow after we got it strapped down and got the base line going Greg said it was still a little detonation sensitive. That was tough to hear after all the frustration I have been through, but Greg spent a lot of time going through the charts with me explaining what they were looking for and how they know what to adjust. We got into adjusting the cam gears and it started to smooth out and the knock sensitivity went away. When they got done they both said it was a different car from their last visit. Since I was finishing up the car just before Greg and Seb got here I never got a chance to get race gas, so all my runs were on 91 octane. It happened to be a pretty warm day in the upper 90s, the car got heat soaked and we had to let it cool a couple of times. On the last run we got 501rwhp, which is enough to make me happy! Greg said the car probably had more, but they don’t like to go over 15psi on 91 octane. I trust their judgment and decided not to beg them to push it to the edge. 
My build replaced the majority of the engine. Just about the only thing that I didn’t replace was the block, larger valves and turbos/manifolds. I got my block done by a local machine shop, he also balanced the entire rotating assembly from the UR pulley to flywheel and pressure plate. Due to some damage on my crank, I went ahead and ordered a brand new OEM one. I went with the standard Clevite bearings for both the rods and main with the WPC treatment. 
I went with another set of the Endyne 9.2:1 88mm pistons coated by Swain tech. I really like the low boost low end the higher compression gives on road course track days. Here they are all lubed up and ready for insertion. I used an assembly lube from Redline that breaks down easily in oil. The last build I used the typical molylube and found chunks of it splattered all over the inside of engine. 
The bottom end is getting close to done. 
Unfortunately my heads got trashed from an oil supply issue, the cams ate into the cam towers. So instead of getting a used set, I decided to get a brand new OEM set of the late model heads. So I had to find some ’95 fuel rails and lower plenum. I sent my heads off to IPP for the valve and port work. I had them install the Supertech 0.5mm oversized valves and dual springs, with JWT 500 cams. 
In an effort to keep from having anymore oil supply issues I decided to get the SpecialtyZ oil pan. Like the instructions say I had to make a few minor adjustments. What I probably spent too much time was the transmission bracket. The stock passenger side bracket will not fit with the SZ oil pan and I did not feel comfortable leaving it off, so I cut the stock one up and modified it to fit. 
Here is a shot showing how tight it is between the oil pan and oil filter. There is also a peek of the bracing I put on the back of the mount to keep it from flexing. 
I went with the CZP 2.5” intake piping so I got the Z1 silicone accordion replacements which left the turbo inlets that needed to be upgraded. So I made my own using the new TIG welder I bought. When looking at the pics keep in mind I have never done welding and I just watched a youtube video when I got mine. It also may look ghetto but I made some wood jigs with the stock inlets that allowed me to line up everything. Everything fit up surprisingly well when I got done. 
Here is the final product. 
[[LI[ http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t127/exalonhp/car%20stuff/2013%20build/P1010482_zpsfd89b291.jpg ]]] Here is the motor all assembled and ready to go in. I did decide to forego the timing belt covers cut out for the gears and put my J30 covers on. 
While Seb was programming my chip I had him change the settings on the Aux fan so I could run the Volvo 2 speed electric fan. After the dyno day I put my setup on and its been working great so far. 
"Being forgotten is worse than death"
"The penguines are slowly, but surely stealing my sanity"...."sprinkles" "The ricer isle is equivalent to the feminine hygiene product isle in the grocery store...real men just don't belong there." BradZ (FL) 
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Build progress and Specialty Z Dyno day. - 
