Melbourne Z shops again

[drunkenmaster]

Who has used where and what are their impressions? Pleas be as honest and brutal as legailty permits PM me if its too bad

I would like a few people opinions for a couple reasons:

a) I need to get my 1977 Z roadworthy asap and as much as I like tinkering with it its costing me too much to have it off road so it would be in my best interest to dump it somewhere for a major service/tune/inspection.

I will be having a pair of L28's rebuilt and have been informed that for best results, dont use my back yard, so again another one for the pro's.

[MicksZ]

I get all my stuff off Warren at ZWorx in Mordialloc. - his number is 9587 5500. Dunno about roadworthy's but give em' a yell and see.

I have had minor dealings with Z-Shop in Glen Iris - Lindsay (9885 3366). Again, give them a call and see.

Good luck! :classic:

[Gav240z]

Lindsy does know how to build good engines just not sure if he'll charge u a reasonable price.

[MicksZ]

I have heard that actually - depends on how much you wanna spend vs. quality. Definantly give Ash a yell first.

[drunkenmaster]

Ash?

[MicksZ]

hahaha :stupid: got my names mixed up. I meant give Warren a call first at ZWorx.

[Zpeed]

not sure what you mean by best results,

but whoever told you that you can't build a quality L28 in your backyard either wants to get your hard earned money, or has tried it themselves, and stuffed it cause they are stupid,

i rebuilt my L26 when i was 17, and it was strong as a oax, just take it slow, and do it by the book.... its where you get your machine work done is the main crucial part about engines, take it to a quality machinist, then put it together back at your house... should take max of a weekend to put back together....

[drunkenmaster]

I may have a crack and reco'ing the carb'd L26 but for the L28ET, I dont want to take responsibilty for that one.

What I have been advised more correctly (and not by shops) is that it will cost more in correct tools and equipment to get all the tolerences right etc than to pay a workshop. Opinions?

[Gav240z]

Yes and no, but don't you plan on doing more than 1 Z?

So the tools will be used again and not to mention nothing goes perfect on the l28 turbo say it throws a rod? back to the shop and more $$$.

Also you wanna learn how to fix it right or how to build a great engine nobody said it would be cheap.

Granted some things you need a specialist but for the most part I agree with Nathan(Zpeed).

Ben is building a killer engine I'm sure he's not doing all the work but a large part.

I'm about to go down this route also but I do not wanna leave this to a mechanic i'd rather understand how it works and how to fix it so I don't worry about driving it a bit hard once in a while.

Would you agree?

[Gee]

I guess it depends what you want. If one car is just gonna be something to get you around whilst you wait for the other one to be finished, why don't you consider getting rid of everything you don't need for the project car and get something else to get you around in the meantime? Surely you could pick up something reasonably cheap and near roadworthy? You might even be able to go the 240k route for a while..

Engine building is a bit of an art so you should really decide what you want out of it before you start. If you want a full fire-breathing monster I'd wait and speak to as many people as possible. If you are happy with something that is smoke-free but a little down on power, why don't you just chuck some new rings in something from pick-a-part? Just an idea. I guess it depends how many cars you want to end up with when this is all over.

Good luck. I'm thinking of doing a motor too but I'm in between thoughts of building a 3.1 and just re-doing the original block so at least the no's match. Decisions, decisions...

[drunkenmaster]

I am dead keen on doing what I can myself, im an engineer by occupation so problem solving and building/working with my hands is a natural passion.

However you find most of the guys who have neat backyard workshops have fathers who share their interest or at least experienced relatives. Everything I have learnt is of my own accord and even if my father lived in the same country, he sure as hell wouldnt support rebuilding a car older than myself. This is fine and I am happy learning as I go BUT stuffing up an engine could be a costly excercise for the sake of learning. This is what has lead me to the decision that I should pull the engine and drop it off to a qualified mechanic, I am more than happy to swap over the ancillaries and rewiring the car is something I am actually very much looking forward to so I can add some electronics of my own. Like I said, once i have the L26 out or if anything goes wrong with it I may tear it down and have a crack at it but the L28E's are too expensive in my mind to stuff up, especially when following vague descriptions and grainy black and white photos. At least one of them will be turbocharged and I am hoping for the high 100's for rw kw. All the moe stress on the internals and all the more requirements for fine tolerneces.

As for the daily driver issue, buying another Z probably wasnt the brightest idea although it seemed good at the time. The initial plan was to buy a roadworthy Z and drive it, possibly stealing/swapping parts between it and my good car as need be. The problem is that I have come to really appreciate the "completeness" of my new Z and dont know if I could tear it apart, that and it is a fair way off roadworthy. It is currently at the Z shop in Glen Eris, I dropped it off monday night and not sure when it will be ready, its just in for a basic service and inspection. The weekends are proving too short to get anything done on the car very quickly and its already been over 3 weeks of driving my gf's car to work and dropping her off at the train station which is inconveniencing both of us. You are probably right, I should have bought a cheap run around but a running Z has so much appeal when you have 2 that dont

[drunkenmaster]

PS. I dont mean to rant on and I respect/appreciate everyones input but I thought a bit more background info may be helpful. It took me a full weekend to get the electrics working 100% and to get the car to even start/run and I cant afford to wait until every weekend to do a little more as i need it onroad as of 3 weeks ago :disappoin