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This past week Batlground was working at full capacity. We had as many cars as we could fit in the building (14) and a few in the lot. By the time Friday rolled around we were literally running around the shop. On top of the long term project cars that we had been working on there was still daily appointments coming in. Everyone wanted their cars back for the weekend. I would too, it was an incredible Atlanta spring on Friday and Saturday.

First of all the Prelude project is a wrap! The car was finally put on the Dyno for a break in tune after a wiring issue popped up with the oil pressure sensor and BCM (Body Control Module). It was also the only car not picked up on Friday. He did make it in today for delivery and the only person happier than our customer is his mom! She was very thankful to be able to get her car back. Thank you for your business and patience Brian.

We were able to deliver the 2000 Accord engine swap. Our customer was able to locate a 2000 Accord EX motor with only 11k miles on it! It really was like having a brand new motor to work with. No oily, greasy, grimy mess of a motor that I either have to clean or bathe in for the rest of the day. Pretty straight forward swap. Stock for stock, with only a adjustable cam gear and distributor to swap over. There was a minor set back at start up when the injectors from the new motor appeared to be frozen. We tried to free them up but ended up swapping over the old set.

A Nissan 240sx (S13) came in with a CA18 swap already completed. The customer had a running car but it was not running right at all. After a general inspection of the vehicle and its wiring, Justin was able to identify a couple problems in the wiring and set up. The MAF wiring had to be adjusted as well as the MAF being relocated further away from the turbo inlet. The ignition timing was off and the S-AFC 2 settings needed to be adjusted. Some tuning will have to be done before delivery of this car. It is already running a hundred times better though.

The MR2 with wiring issues was figured out and fixed. The final problem to be solved was a faulty fuel pump relay. That customer will be returning in the future to get some tuning performed when his engine management arrives.

A long time customer of ours had a small incident with a concrete barrier in his Supra. After the car spent time in the body shop getting new panels and frame adjustment it came back to us for some much needed general maintenance. We finished up all of his mechanical issues and it is now ready to move back over to the body shop for paint.

Monday and Tuesday we saw a Civic with clutch problems. We thought we had it figured out when we found the master cylinder leaking. Unfortunately the car returned the next day for us to find that the slave cylinder was leaking as well.

On Tuesday a Turbo Del Sol came in for some spark plugs and general inspection of the turbo system. The car had not been making boost, and we were going to do a boost leak check. Upon inspection though we found that the turbo was merely hanging on to the manifold and not tight. The waste gate was leaking badly too. What we saw next I have never seen before in my life. The outlet of the waste gate had been blocked off. A plate had been bolted on to the outlet of the W/G! Apparently whomever had previously owned the car was afraid that the open dump of the W/G would blow exhaust into the turbo inlet. How this D series motor and turbo survived infini-boost I have no idea. We were able to fix the issues of the car that night and made sure he got home. This Del Sol will be returning for some much needed tuning as well.

A 2003 Mitsubishi Evolution came in on Wed. to get some maintenance and performance work done. A set of GSC 272 cams, SuperTech valve springs and retainers, ARP head studs, Gates high performance timing belt kit, new OEM timing belt tensioner and pulleys, and a OEM water pump were installed. After the labor was completed Dan custom tuned the car with our re-flash software. At 20 psi on the stock turbo he was able to achieve 346 AWHP. Good for a deep run into the lower 12′s at the strip.

Thursday we brought in a BMW 540i. This customer wanted a new exhaust from the manifolds back. I had to fabricate a new “y” pipe on the passenger side due to a previous shops use of some 2″ crush bend tubing. This was a fun and challenging project. All stainless piping was used to match the factory quality. The “y” pipe section was 2″ tubing that collected into a 2.5″ section before entering the factory CAT’s. The CAT’s then exited at 2.5″ before collecting into a single 3″ pipe. I installed a 7″ round, 20″ long, Magna Flow resonator and that plumbed into the 5″x9″ oval offset in/out Magna Flow muffler. I was a little worried that the car maybe a little too quiet but after cranking it up I found that it had a really powerful sound while free revving. Definitely a more aggressive note than stock but not an annoying growl at lower to midrange cruising.

Friday I over booked us and we were scrambling to try and keep up. Justin had to take the day off and that really put the pressure on Dan and myself. Along with finishing up the BMW exhaust, tuning the Evo, and breaking in the Prelude-we had a Lexus ES 300 scheduled for some exhaust work after one of the flex sections in the factory “y” pipe decided to break in half. After fixing that section we found that the other flex had cracked as well. Our customer decided to come back another day for that one. We also booked a 09′ Subaru Impreza WRX for a down pipe installation. Dan and I tag teamed that one to try and give us some breathing room near the end of the day. By this point customers were showing up to pick up their rides and Dan had to get back to tuning.

All in all a great end to a great week here at Batlground. The weather is getting warmer and everyone seems to be getting the itch to get their cars started, fixed, or finished before summer time. Race season has already begun, our LS6/350z is up and running now, my KA24DE-T motor is nearly finished at Ball Engine Parts and Service. It will be  immediately assembled and installed back into the car. Look out when all 3 of the BG cars are tearing it up at the track and on the streets (legally of course).