I hate this, but others should know. A couple of years ago, after numbers of hours of discussions with Ed (see other review), a great old fella who built and drove jet powered dragsters "back in the day", I made the decision to agree to having a "replacement" engine installed in my Z. Ed told me it would be five thousand dollars to install a "crate" short block and accessories in my '91 300ZX normally aspirated (called NA, the most basic of engine types). Another long story, but the car had NO engine, but had the transmission. So I agreed to the five thousand dollars for the "new" engine. After delivering the car to ZClinic, and a few days later, Ed called me and told me it would take another five thousand dollars to complete the engine install. People, that's TEN thousand dollars, which is more than a very clean twin turbo is worth. For whatever stupid reason, `I agreed, and delivered a second five thousand dollar check. When it was complete, he called, and I went to pick it up. I must say, the car was peppy, as I have another Z of the same year and it seemed to run with stronger torque. My "other" Z passed inspection with what the inspector guy said "lowest emissions i've ever seen". Back to the subject. Since the car is a "toy", it's not a "regular drive", so it "sits' a lot. So, in the first couple of weeks, the air conditioning ceases to work, and it's developed a "miss", sort of chugging sound. And there is this gurgling sound coming from the left fender well. When it came time to get an inspection, it failed miserably. So I took it back to Ed/ZClinic, and they did the old "tee in a vacuum line" trick which "may" fool the inspector. Well, it didn't work, so I took the car back to ZClinic, and Ed/Kevin agreed to "have it inspected", which they did, and I got my sticker. So it seemed every time I drove it, not only did the air conditioning not work, and the very annoying gurgling sound from the underside of the car, but, now the missing was so annoying it wasn't worth driving. So a few weeks ago, I followed the "book" and confirmed that the reason for the missing was the fact that one of the injectors had failed (TOTAL of about 400 miles on the car since I had paid TEN THOUSAND dollars for a "new" engine). Needless to say, for the amount of money that I paid, I would have expected "better". As I looked at the wiring and the injectors and a few other things under the hood, it became apparent that most of what is bolted to my "new" engine are very old used parts from "crapped out" cars. Rusty bolts, cracked rubber bushings, missing cover plates, generally "not good workmanship".
I decided that, given the amount of money I'd paid, I'd take it back to ZClinic, partly because it's time for another inspection, and I know that without a "trick", the car would not pass inspection. Talked to Kevin about the problems outlined above. He told me that the engine replacement was "Ed's deal" and that he had no responsibility. He also said that he "doesn't do inspections", (although they "paid" somebody to get a sticker last year) and he can't help me in that department". He gave me a price of seven hundred plus dollars to replace TWO injectors. I picked the car up and limped it home. I then double checked the injectors and there is ONE injector that is bad. After I picked it up, I now have an "exhaust leak" that was not there when I took it in to him. It CHUGS loudly. He told me that the "gurgling" sound was because there was water in the AIV system. (It happens, after some research), but he made no effort to correct the condition. After TEN THOSAND DOLLARS and 400 miles, this is a travesty.
Bottom line is, Kevin has no sense of "obligation" to anything that happened before he bought the business from Ed (even though part of the ten thousand dollars probably went toward his salary when "things were tough" a couple of years ago. What a shame that he has chosen to go down that path. Ed is a nice old fella, and I like him, but he's no longer "in charge". I will never set foot in ZClinic again.
Sour grapes? Maybe. What would you think if you were me ?
PS.... I'm sure I've forgotten a dozen or so other issues that are just "wrong". read more