What can I say about swaps??? Well first find the right shop to help you out. Sure lots of people say they can install a motor and transmission but in reality installing it is only a small part of the big picture. Yes having the correct headers, motor mounts, accessory brackets, transmission to support the power and driveline are huge. They all play into the swap but honestly I am not telling you what you don't already know. We actually handle the whole swap meaning we remove the old power plant, build our motors in house, build the transmission (we have 2 builders we use both we trust 100%), build our harnesses and do the install. When we are finished, which means not when the motor is in but when we feel we are ready for you to take the car because well our name and reputation is on the line with each car we put on the road then you can drive the car. There are lots of shops around that can handle this, believe me you see them everywhere but do they all do what we do?? Do they do all the work in house?do they build the entire motor??? Do they work hard to make sure each line is tucked up and safe? Make sure the driveline is the appropriate length so not to ruin the output housing seal and bushing?? All too often we get a car after someone else has done the swap.. It's all fine and dandy until things start leaking causing damage that could and should have been prevented. We aren't perfect but we try damn hard to make sure you are happy!! At the beginning of December, Jeff brought us his sand rail and the motor was fried. She had a nice LS1 in her with a Mendeola transmission which was pulling some good numbers and looks at the dunes. Well, the previous version of the ls motor had a speed density tune which was never put on the dyno for a proper tune!!! So with that being said and a few dune trips 2 of the pistons had basically melted and had no compression! Ugh oh, that stinks.
Thankfully our friends at Tires 2 Go ((480) 332-3270) recommended us and the rest is history. Jeff brought the rail over, we diagnosed the problem and set forth into the engine getting her torn apart and reassembled. It didn't take long to get the parts back here at PRK and get her put back together. Unfortunately with this build we didn't make Jeff's deadline of the New Years trip, because of the custom sized push rods. We got the engine back in the car and set Jeff on his way. This was a pretty mild build, after the dyno the numbers were pretty impressive 424 hp at the rear wheels and 400 ftlbs of torque. Considering the rail has a truck intake, that's pretty good, because in the sand you need torque to get you out of sticky situations. Project snowcone is a peach! She's a 1998 s10 blazer, the original motor seized when the previous owners had her about 5 years ago. She sat, lonely for all those years until making the trip to PRK for an overhaul. Well that overhaul on the original 4.3 was going to be expensive and they couldn't quite spend that kind of money. So began her life with us. Phil first thought we would stick a rebuilt 4.3 in her and set her on the road. But if you know Phil, then you know that the first idea we have is never the last. So, Phil brought up putting a 5.3 v8 swap in her. I, Randi, of course said "hell ya!" Phil was amazed, he didn't think I would ever agree to it, but given the chance to build my harness for my truck, you bet I am going to jump on that. It just so happens we had an aluminum 5.3 (l33) at the house and she quickly made the trip up to B&B machine in Mesa. They are currently boreing, zero decking and cleaning the motor. For the heads, those 241 heads are getting a proper clean, new valves ( z06 corvette valves), surfaced, they were ported and polished by a customer of ours. Those babies are gonna flow! The camshaft is a custom ground DRC (doughtery racing) cam which he is grinding to our specifications. As for the suspension, it's all been cleaned up, new paint, all that good stuff. Snow cone is getting qa1 shocks and coil covers, energy suspension bushings and corvette rotors. I will add more as I have more :) 👏👍 Back in May 2012,in the old shop, Royce came to us with his 1956 Chevrolet BelAir. This beauty has had some modifications to the body, prior to his purchase a few years ago. Originally she was a 4 door, which had been smoothed over and made a two door, hard to notice unless you are really looking. We had only spoken with Royce a few times before he handed us the keys and told us to get going, talk about putting full faith in a shop you had just met!
So in the midst of moving the shop, Royce's car had to sit for a bit. It's to get all the necessary parts in order, build an engine and move an entire shop across town. Lucky for us, Royce is a super patient guy! Once we were all settled in the new shop, we got to work. Building the engine was the simple part, its an LQ9 with custom ground camshaft, 317 heads, a 4L60E transmission with 2600 stall, Dirty Dingo accessory brackets and a very custom cross-member! As you can see in the pictures of the engine and progress we made, Phil spent many hours in the engine compartment, welding, grinding and painting to make the engine just right. When we were all done, we took her out for the maiden voyage around Mesa. Boy did she have some get up and go!! This little LQ9 had no problem getting out her own way! People were looking as we drove her around working out all the kinks that come with a new build. On a Friday afternoon, Royce came in pick up his girl. Talk about being able to see the joy in a man's face when he looked his car and then heard her start up!! He was like little kid on Christmas Day! That evening, he drove her out to her first of many car shows here in the Valley of the Sun. I spoke with him the following week where he told me all about his friends and strangers and how much they loved the car and the sound of the engine. Thanks again Royce for allowing us to build your engine and for trusting us during a pretty hectic time in PRK's life as we moved across town to a bigger and better shop! We look forward to many more projects with more great customers!!! Brian purchased his 72 C-10 about 3 years at the Good Guys car show in Scottsdale, since that day its been a work in progress. Brian completed a good majority of the work himself including frame off restoration, some of the body work, after that he sent it out for more body work, paint and a full interior work up. Originally Brian put a stock 350 motor and 700R4 transmission in the truck, but driving her around daily he soon realized was a bit of struggle with the old carbureted motor. He found us at PRK and decided it was time for an update. After looking at some numbers, deciding what direction Brian wanted to go with the truck, we put together a package. Today the truck has a PRK Built Iron Block LS1, 4L60E transmission and custom PRK aircraft loomed wiring harness. With a much more reliable motor and transmission, Brian is looking for to the upcoming show car season. Dyno results: 325 ft lb of torque and 334.2 hp at the rear wheels. That is about 450 hp at the flywheel!!! Pretty awesome. A while back we were contacted by Larry. He told us how he had grown up building cars with his father, on the east coast, and how he was looking to build this 99 Camaro he had. He brought us the Camaro, he already had an
engine built by another place, wanted to get the car running. After some time and consideration, he decided that car just wasn't the one. He did some looking around and found a really nice 2001 Camaro in California, a widow had it and just wanted it gone. Larry picked the car up, sight unseen and brought her back to PRK to get the engine put in her and get her up and running. For a while everything seemed ok, the car was running but Larry could sense something just wasn't quite right. There was noise coming from the heads. He brought the car back to us and said just get her fixed, "I really love this car and just want her right." So that's what we did. We dropped the engine and transmission out of the car, swapped the camshaft for a custom ground one, cleaned up the carbon built up on the pistons, replaced the worn out lifters and valves (on a supposed freshly built engine) and got her back and running. She sounds amazing now! No more ping, no lifter tick and runs like a champ. Yesterday, I took her over to get a dynotune and see what we are working with now. Well she blew our minds! We had no idea the little Camaro was going to pull such great numbers. Remember now, she's just an iron block 6.0 with factory 317 heads, flat top pistons, an ls6 intake, headers, 3" exhaust and a stock air box! Now to some they might not be impressed but me, I am! As you can see from the pictures above, she has 393.7ftlb of Torque and 375.3 Horsepower! Big thanks to Larry & his family for once again trusting in us and our knowledge to work on his vehicles. Thanks to UMS tuning for once again getting the dyno done! We look forward to another long lasting relationship with Larry and the 2001 Camaro! :) All to often we look at companies to see why we should bring our business there. Why should you come to PRK, what sets us apart some others?
To me, ethics is a huge part of business! If I am not honest, provide a bad service (both customer service wise & with your vehicle) then what happens? You tell your friends, they tell some more friends and then pretty soon everyone knows that PRK provides unreliable and to be honest crappy service. I DO NOT want to be and WILL NOT be that company. At PRK we promise to be respectful, honest and up front on everything. We don't have anything to hide, I want to earn your trust and respect, this is only further our relationship and allow you to recommend us to your friends. The reason I was always say to "become part of our family" is because that is what this is. I don't want to take my vehicle, computer or even child to someone I don't know or trust to provide the care and service they need, so why should I expect that from you? If you have a question, whether it be a quick, what's the price for an oil change? or you just want to chat and learn more, call us! That is why I am here. If you are reading this you should already know we are a family ran company. Phil and I (Randi) are here to make customers for life, I can't grow this business without you. Just like you can't develop a relationship without trust and honesty. Remember shopping small and local keeps your dollars here in Arizona, where they belong. We always try to use small local companies for any of our supplies also. Thank you for trusting us! So we had the 2003 Silverado 1500HD dyno tuned!! OMG the results were amazing. We did a swap from the old engine of an LQ4 to an LY6 with a Z06 Corvette camshaft, LS3 throttle body, stock internal parts, and some normal bolt on parts- intake, headers & electric fans. I have the dyno tune sheets posted for you to review but basically the truck has max torque with 340ft lbs & 340hp at the rear wheels. As you know this is a full size- 3/4 ton pickup truck, not a small drive train by any means. The numbers equate to around 440hp & torque at the flywheel. Not bad for a stock motor and stock camshaft. Big thanks to the guys at UMS Tuning for performing the dyno on the truck!! |