Unfortunately due to Formula D rules, our 350z is getting a new skin. The rules state that a car must have body, not just a chassis like our 350z has been for a while now. Some of us like the new look of the car, but others like how it looked like a big go-cart. As you can see the car is getting more than just a body, it is getting a bunch of little things that are needed to pass tech as well. Obviously we can’t drop working on customer cars to just finish this car, so it is being worked on between projects as well as after hours. The car needs to be ready for a Pro-am drift event on July 9th in Charlotte NC. That means a few more late nights to get this car competition ready.
Shop 350z gets a face lift
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011When push comes to shove, hit em’ in the knee with a baseball bat.
Friday, March 12th, 2010Today we will be broadcasting live as we make the final push to get the LS/Z tuned. Dan spent all day yesterday pulling the heads off the LS6. He had to modify the guide tubes for the push rods and adjust the rockers again. He stayed till 1:30 in the morning getting it finished. Thank you to Jason for his help yesterday, that allowed me to work on customer cars, and gave Dan an extra set of hands. After the motor was assembled again Dan was able to rev it all the way to red line. Previously it would stumble and break up around 3500-4000. We will see how it does under a load on the dyno. Broadcasting will begin between 12 and 2. Once again the link to view us is: HERE Please visit our gallery for all the pics of the build process and for all of our other photos.
Watch live video from batltracy on Justin.tv
The work doesn’t stop just because we are having fun.
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Anyone that has been following Batlground over the last 2 weeks knows that we have been working very hard to get our new race car together. The LS6 350Z is the premier vehicle in the BG stable, it is by far the most impressive car we have ever built. We have logged extreme hours in the recent weeks just trying to get the car ready for shake down runs at the track.
That doesn’t mean that we have stopped working on customer cars either-its actually quite the contrary. Over the past 3 weeks Batlground has seen the most business since the beginning of the new year. Here are a few of the cars we have been working on and completed. Some of them you will recognize from previous posts, some of them are new.
First off the Prelude, thats all I’m calling it. I have completed this car and it is awaiting a break-in tune. We have a well documented history with this car. It tried really hard to beat me but so far I have prevailed…. so far. After getting this car started I let it down off the lift and it started making this HORRIBLE racket. I panicked and shut it off, lifted it back up and started it again. No noise, so while running I dropped it back down. As it lowered down it started making the noise again. Some head scratching ensued. I was finally able to figure out the crank pulley was hitting the tension rod in the suspension as I lowered the car. I replaced the driver side engine mount and solved the noise issue. The motor sounds great and I can’t wait to see what the car will do on the dyno.
Next we have a 2nd gen MR2. Our customer had done a 3rd gen JDM motor swap and got the car running. It was not running well but good job considering the difficulty of working on that car in general. The car has some wiring issues and was running a mismatched ECU. The BOV needed its flange welded to the intercooler pipe, and we are installing a really nice downpipe and exhaust. We are still in the process of figuring this one out, but I know Justin can get it done.
The next couple of cars are getting various levels of work done, anything from general maintenance to motor swap. We had a 2010 Nissan Titan get a custom intake. A 2003 Honda Accord getting either a motor rebuild or replacement. There is a 2003 350Z getting a motor swap. We even had some time to dyno a FJ Cruiser, baseline numbers were 196 whp and 231 wtq with a factory 6 speed manual trans. I really look forward to doing some mods to that truck, as a supercharger kit is in the works.
We also had a visit from Todd @ AEM this past week. He wanted to check out the shop and drop off a new fuel pressure regulator for the LS/Z. We were able to get the car aligned this week and get it on the dyno. The car is having some issues tuning with a phantom cam trigger problem. Last night Dan also found out that the push rod/rocker/head combination requires modification to work properly. The first rockers we received interfered with the heads, these rockers fit in the head but require you to machine some material for the push rods to clear their guide tubes. That would have been really nice to know before we installed everything, but once again the supplier of the parts dropped the ball. We will get it fixed and we will have the car ready for the event this weekend.
Follow us live as we finish the LS/Z- we will be live broadcasting again on Friday the 12th.
Batlground is Live again!
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Hey everyone we are back on. Watch as we get the LS/350Z aligned and tuned. Follow us here: Batlground Live
Watch live video from batltracy on Justin.tv
LS6 350Z: Sleep is a luxury and highly overrated.
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
After an eventful Friday into Saturday work night, trying to get the LS/Z together and running, anyone who was watching via live broadcast is probably wondering what happened? Well I can tell you at about 4 a.m. saturday morning the car started and ran.
We spent about an hour longer on the car before the starter took a dump and we were dead in the water. We accomplished our goal of getting the car running but we fell short of our goal of getting the car to the event. Dan drove his 240 instead and tore it up just the same.
Yesterday saw us work on it a bit more and get a few of the bugs figured out. Today we are going to live broadcast again when we get the car on the dyno. We are aiming for a 4-5 p.m. broadcast time. Stay tuned this week as we continue to get the LS/Z together.
Batlground is live!
Friday, March 5th, 2010Ever wonder what it looks like when we are scrambling to get a car together? Even seen Brandon in action when he gets mad and throws a temper tantrum? Watch us work on the LS/Z right now! Follow the link here, or search Batltracy on justin.tv
LS6 350Z: Do or Die Time.
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Please visit Batlground Motorsports gallery for more pictures of this build.
Day 5 is here and the only thing we have left is everything. Dan spent over 12 hours yesterday getting all the plumbing done. We had hoped for more like 4-5 hours. Considering what had to be done though maybe we were a little too optimistic. With the power steering, brake, fuel, and accusump lines all being made from scratch-its not hard to understand why it took a lot longer. With that being said todays list still includes the exhaust, mounting the seat/harness, installing the wiring harness, mounting the battery, getting the alignment done, mounting the Moton reservoirs, start it up, and tune it. There are plenty of other small things that will pop up too. Hopefully this evening will bring a positive update and a sweet sound bite or video.
LS6 350Z: Run them H-O-S-E! Lay that (exhaust) pipe!
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
As always you can visit our gallery to check out more pictures of this build and all of our other projects.
Day 4 is under way and the LS/Z just left the shop. Dan is bringing the car to Andy at Performance Hose Distributing to get all of the power steering lines and fittings installed. Since this is a completely custom job-a custom kit must be made. Yesterday saw some tasks take a little longer than expected, so a little extra time was spent last night to try and catch up. Dan modified the fuel cell for the return and breather hoses, he also got the headers installed so we can get the flex sections and “X” pipe installed. Once those are installed we can make the turn downs and the exhaust will be complete. Justin finished the harness and it looks great. Its really amazing how few wires there are once you cut out all the non-essentials. The accusump is going to be a little more of a pain in the rear than we hoped. According to most amateur organization rules and all professional rules-the accusump and all of the hoses associated with it, that are exposed inside the cockpit of the vehicle, must be contained in a secondary firewall. It makes sense because you are going to have hot oil running inside of the car. If you were to hit a wall, another car, or even flip upside down you could possibly have a nice bath in 200 degree oil. Anyone up for some deep fried Dan? So we are going to move it into the engine compartment for an easier installation.
Once Dan gets back with the car, we can get it on the lift and make some significant progress. We will bust out the alignment machine and get it real close to perfect. Later we will take it to Gran Turismo East to have Kieran and the guys there make sure it is perfect. The major goal for tonight is to get the car started. Once it is cranked we can check for any leaks in all of the plumbing, and hear how she sounds for the first time. Maybe I can even get a sound bite or video! At any rate, time is getting short and we have to buckle down to finish the job.
LS6 350Z: Its the detail work that makes the difference. That or it will kill you.
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Visit Our Gallery for All the Build Pictures here: Batlground 350z Gallery
Yesterday saw some crucial work get completed. Justin is working feverishly to complete the wiring harness and is but a mere half dozen wires away from wrapping it up. Dan completed the custom tension rods for the front suspension, got the radiator mounted, installed the throttle cable, and buttoned up a lot of small things. The exhaust parts showed up as well, we had ordered a couple flex sections and an “X” pipe. Todays list of tasks includes: Modify the thermostat housing, mounting the Moton reservoirs, mount the fuel filter, modify the fuel cell for return line and breather, mount accusump, install Earls firewall fittings.
LS6 350Z: A month of work in a weeks time.
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Full gallery of the progress here: Batlground LSZ Gallery
We are but 4 days away from a local drift event and the LS/Z looks far from ready. Dan has been frantically working to get the car ready enough to get some shake down runs in. The main goals for this week are to have all of the suspension components installed and aligned, power steering plumbed, exhaust fabricated, wiring harness, fuel system, and tuning.
Not only is there an event this weekend that Dan must be at, but there is another just a week away. That event presents us with a completely different set of obstacles-the car does not have any glass installed, including the windshield, as well as the doors have not been hung. We will have another article on those processes later. Stay tuned this week as I will be posting everyday on the progress, set-backs, and plain ‘ol weird stuff that happens when you have a month worth of work to finish in 1 weeks time.
