CAMautoMag

29th Sep2012

Shop Feature: Nip N Tuck Performance(revisited)

by Trent

Recently (ish) we went back to Nip N Tuck Performance to catch up with Dustin and Mitch and present them with a challenge. My brother’s car had a whole host of things wrong, and they said they’d fix them. These things included:

Two broken motor mounts
Bad wheel bearing
bad valve cover gasket
bad serpentine belt
terrible seats (but they couldn’t do anything about these. I just felt like expressing my disdain for them)

And they fixed them… In an hour and seventeen minutes! Thus proving that they’re not just a performance shop.

After that Trent and I got to working on this here little feature. The shop has changed quite a bit since the last time we brought you a feature on it. Counters went in and were wrapped in a carbon fiber wrap. Product was carefully placed in the display cases, and then around the shop because they carry a lot of stuff.

The outside has been painted gray and yellow, and they got themselves a big Duramax Silverado which hangs out in front of the shop. You can’t really miss the building, nor can you miss the big diesel pickup with Nip N Tuck stickers, carbon fiber trim and “NIPNTUK” license plates.

In the shop itself were some serious projects: the 700AWHP Evo we showed you, a blue SRT4 with a massive rotated mount turbo kit and a fuel system where the trunk used to be, and a 4AGE swapped Toyota Corona.

So to sum up: Nip N Tuck is different because the building has been painted and the show room has been given counters; however, it’s the same because they can build you a serious car while fixing all the problems on your mom’s Camry.

Words and photos by Michael Chandler, Video by Trent Bray

*Article, photos and video are copyright of CAMautoMag.com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.com

Category : Interview

Tags : Nip N Tuck Performance

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28th Sep2012

Japanese Classic Car Show

by Michael Chandler

Last weekend was the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California. We were all busy with other things, but Aaron Cleverly (frequent reader, and now contributor) made the trip and brought back some photos for us

JDM Legends has a rebigulator! And the skills to make a full scale car off of a car that only exists as a Hot Wheels car.

A Kenmeri Skyline came out to bask in the sun

And a Hakosuka with a surprise under the hood

I don’t know which Datsun is prettier, but I wouldn’t say no to either one if they showed up in my driveway.

And it wouldn’t be a classic Japanese car show without Toyotas. They made some of the most beautiful cars to ever come off the Japanese islands.

More photos are up on the Facebook, give em a look. You won’t be disappointed

Photos by Aaron Cleverly, words by Michael Chandler

Category : Coverage

Tags : Coverage, Datsun, Japanese Classic Car Show, JCCS, JDM Legends, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota

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27th Sep2012

Intermountain Councours d’Elegance

by Trent

This past weekend I left the house at 9am and didn’t return until 2am. It was a day filled with cars, but this is what set the tone for the day, the 2012 Intermountain Concours d’Elegance.

These are not the type of cars I normally shoot, but I’m starting to wonder why. The lines and the details are exquisite. The emphasis on design is unsurpassed in today’s cars where they are built by the marketing team.

The Intermountain Concours d’Elegance took place at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens in Lehi, UT. It was about as beautiful surrounding as you can get without an ocean nearby.

Really though, the pictures and video describe it all.

[func-shun] Episode 22: Intermountain Councours d’Elegance from [func-shun] on Vimeo.

The rest of the photos can be seen on our Facebook Page.

Category : Coverage

Tags : Allard, Concours, Ferrari, Hudson, Utah

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26th Sep2012

It Plays: Audi S4

by Michael Chandler

At the last Slammed Saturdays I threatened to bring my camera gear and pick someone for a quick shoot. This lovely red B7 S4 revealed itself as a strong candidate. So I walked up to Alex, the owner, as he was mowing down some french fries and pitched him the idea. He was down, and so we moved the car and got down to business.

The S4 has always been a handsome vehicle, not requiring a whole lot of modifications to make them truly proper. A set of wheels, coilovers and uncorking either the twin turbo 2.7 liter V6 or either of the 4.2 liter V8s do the trick nicely.

The devil is in the details, and if you were just going to say “Oh, coilovers and wheels? I guess thats cool…” look at the wheels again.

Those green calipers? Yeah, they’re not Audi calipers. They’re Porsche calipers, and Porsches can stop pretty good. So yeah, just wheels, coilovers and a set of freaking Porsche calipers mean this B7 S4 plays.

Words and Photos by Michael Chandler

Category : It Plays

Tags : Audi, B7, H&R, It Plays, Porsche, S4, Slammed Saturdays

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24th Sep2012

Underdog

by Michael Chandler

Say you’re out one night, driving around in your whatever it is. You pull up next to a black Cobalt at a traffic light. You look over and you see a skinny kid behind the wheel, and he has a grin on his face. Perplexed, and angered, you slide it into first and wait for the light to change.

Green light.

You both take off. He’s right there with you. Into second, and he’s still there. Then he starts pulling away. Try as you might you aren’t catching him. Until the next light. And there he is, grin and all. This is what happens when you meet 300whp and 400lb/ft crammed in to an unassuming package.

Does Nick, the guy who owns this Cobalt SS, do this? Beats me, but it made for a good intro for this story. While the events might not be true, the numbers this thing lays down are. At JDP Motorsports it put down 304whp and 405lb/ft of torque. And it didn’t take a lot to get there.

Starting with a stock Cobalt SS, Nick added a chunk of the ZZP Performance catalog to the engine bay. The OEM charge pipes went in the dumpster, along with the catted downpipe and the intercooler. ZZP pieces replaced all of them. Behind that catless downpipe is a three inch straight pipe exhaust, which sounds so very mean. A ZZP blowoff valve relieves pressure from the stock turbo, and a K&N Typhoon intake feeds air to that hair dryer. JDP Motorsports strapped it to their dyno and worked their tuning magic on the Ecotec.

The only things on the exterior of this car that would lead you to believe that you’re dealing with anything beyond an econobox are the front mount intercooler, the eyelids, the Brembo calipers and the gold, 9.75” wide XXR 527’s.

This thing is very understated. And even listening to it you wouldn’t think it’s about to blow your doors off. Tommy didn’t. Then Nick offered to take Trent, Tommy and myself on some 2^nd gear pulls. Sh*t gets real when this thing hits the top of 2^nd. Tommy stopped calling it a Slobalt after his ride.

So if you ever pull up next to a black Cobalt SS coupe on gold XXRs with a skinny kid behind the wheel, you might want to think twice about racing him. You wouldn’t want to be embarrassed by a Slobalt would you?

Words and Photos by Michael Chandler

Category : Features

Tags : Chevrolet, Chevy, Cobalt, Cobalt SS, SS

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19th Sep2012

Lap Battle and HPDE Group 3

by Michael Chandler

Great news! This past weekend had a gaggle of stuff going on at Miller Motorsports Park! Sad news. If you want to see the photos, you’re gonna have to look at them on our Facebook page. You already spend more time on Facebook than you do working while at work, so really this is just a heads up. Anyway, on to the stories from the day!

Brendon and his Evo were there, but his head gasket wasn’t. At least it isn’t a mystery problem.

JDP Motorsports brought out their Camaro, and proceeded to place 1st in their class. It does better on the West course, like all higher power cars do; however, it still looked right at home on the East course.

Super fan Sally was out, making hand gestures and generally being quick.

Max brought out the Evo, and reached into his growing bag of skills and laid down some seriously quick times.

Porsche’s natural enemy is Corvette, but Mustangs can be just as formidable.

This is normally where I stick the gallery, but due to technical issues (umm… Yeah…) you’re going to have to go to the Facebook page and look at the album to see all 55 photos. Sorry folks, but it’s not like you’re actually working.

Words and Photos by Michael Chandler

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com

Category : Coverage

Tags : Coverage, HPDE, Lap Battle, Miller Motorsports Park, NASA

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14th Sep2012

Wide Open Wednesday 09/12/12

by Trent

It’s been awhile, had to dust off some cobwebs, but we made it out to a Wide Open Wednesday event. And by we, I mean Mike, Dave, and I.

The paddock was busy with auto-x, go-karting, and both east and west tracks were running. We had to stop by a friend’s shop to see how his race car was coming along, but eventually made it trackside on the east course.

Dave shot motorsports photos for the first time on his new(to him) camera which happened to be my first DSLR, Mike’s first Canon DSLR, and now Dave’s first DSLR. We’ll be back out at the track this weekend for Car-B-Q and Lap Battle.

Check out the image gallery below.

wow

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Words by Trent Bray, Photos by Michael Chandler, Trent Bray, and Dave Rawley

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com

Category : Coverage

Tags : Miller Motorsports Park, Wide Open Wednesday, WOW

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13th Sep2012

Semi-Retired 2005 STi

by Michael Chandler

This STi has a history. This car was owned by a guy who tracked it here and there. It had the prerequisite big wing and decals, but now it’s retired. But retired doesn’t mean it left it all at the track. Oh my no, it left nothing at the track…

Staring at you from within the bumper is a massive APS 525 front mount intercooler. That is 314 square inches of intercooler hanging out there! AND it’s good for 525 horsepower, but this car isn’t making 525 horsepower. No, it’s making 340 horsepower at the wheels on 91 octane. E85 in the tank brings that number to 380. Impressive considering this car was rated at 305 crank horsepower seven years ago. Behind that giant intercooler is a big Koyo radiator. Cooling is key everybody.

A Garrett 3076 ball bearing turbo sends hot, pressurized air through that massive intercooler core and into the two and a half liter mill. An AEM 3-Bar MAP sensor monitors the incoming air and dictates how much fuel the massive 1000cc Deatschwerks fuel injectors to spray into the cylinders. Those big injectors are in an Aeromotive fuel rail, and there’s an Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator between the fuel rail and the 255lph Walbro fuel pump. Not all that fuel gets used, but more on that later…

All of the air the turbo pressurizes isn’t used either, so a Tial blow off valve releases the excess air. The car is tuned at 20 lbs of boost, and a Tial wastegate helps keep boost levels stable.

17×9 Enkei NT03’s are sitting at all four corners, as are the Brembo calipers that came bolted to the car. Inside those calipers are Stoptech pads, and Stoptech lines feed Motul brake fluid to those pretty, gold calipers. The rear rotors are OEM, but the fronts are slotted Stoptech pieces.

This thing has some serious suspension pieces, being a former track car. JIC Magic coilovers hang at all four corners, and COBB sway bars are at either end. Also keeping the chassis flex to a minimum are a Cusco strut tower bar in the back and a Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) strut tower bar in front.

Inside the cabin the US spec seats have been replaced with JDM STi Version 7 seats. Still OEM, and comfier than the stock seats. Thats a win/win situation. Behind those seats is a Sparco harness bar, but no harnesses to speak of at the moment. The old shift knob was taken off, and replaced with that stylish white Beat Rush unit.

This car was a track car, but it left none of its track capabilities behind when it became a street car. A fact that became very apparent when we went out for some rolling shots. Throw some BFG R1’s on this bad boy and it’ll do some work out at Miller.

Words and photos by Michael Chandler.

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com

Category : Features

Tags : APS, Enkei, STi, Subaru, WRX

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12th Sep2012

Inside Dave’s Unit

by Michael Chandler

Before Trent, Tommy and Dave ~~abandoned me~~ left for their SF trip, Dave and I went up to his storage unit to grab some stuff that he had sold/is selling. Now, we’ve known Dave for many years but this provided a look into… Well, we already knew this but here’s a chance for you to get a little glimpse into what is going on in Dave’s unit, nay head… STORAGE UNIT!!! MIND!!! Stupid double entendres…

He has three cars in there in various states of togetherness. A SN95 Mustang Cobra (theft recovery), a Mitsubishi Starion TSi (on its second head gasket) and his FC RX7 convertible (no engine, but no drive shaft either). The Starion is the closest thing to a drivable car in there, which makes sense considering it was the last thing put in there.

He also has remnants of projects past in there, such as the “Ghetto Bastard” CRX which sported an exhaust off of an EF Civic sedan.

Dave has a lot of goofy, weird stuff in his garage, which makes sense because Dave (like the rest of us) is a goofy, weird guy. We’re proud to have Dave on board, and we’re rather excited to see what he pulls out of his head/unit next. STORAGE UNIT! Son of a!…

Words and photos by Michael Chandler

*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com

Category : The CAM Journal, Uncategorized

Tags : Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mustang, Project Car, RX7, starion, storage unit

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11th Sep2012

Midnight Drags 09/07

by Trent

We are motorsports fortunate in Utah. We have a world-class racing facility at Miller Motorsports Park as well as an off-road, motorcross, and rock-crawling course out there. Parking lots are full of auto-x on the weekends, and Rocky Mountain Raceway hosts the midnight drags on their 1/4 mile track. It’s always great having somewhere to go to test out your car. All of this is within 1 hour of Salt Lake City too.

Well it had been some time since we’d been out to the drag strip to see some of that action, and with one of our friend’s customer’s car running out there, we figured we’d make the trip. I brought a camera and lens with me to show the way.

The last time I was at the drag strip, it was littered with Subaru’s, my old STi included. It seems to have switched to the Evo crowd. There were plenty of them. Of course, the usual Mustang and Camaro combo came out to show everyone what can be done for relatively cheap.

I was impressed by some of the vehicles, and also surprised to only see one 10-second Honda Civic. Utah has more than a few of them, but they must have been busy that night. Also surprising, no less than 4 Dodge Vipers showed up. I haven’t seen that many together in some time.