A very astute hybrid owner brought his 2007, 80,000 mile Toyota Camry Hybrid to our shop after seeing his check engine light. Computerized analysis of the hybrid battery pack found 2 severely compromised V-blocks in the pack. Replacement of the 2 V-blocks, followed by 2 power-cycling operations, resulted in this pristinely clean hybrid pack coming out factory-fresh. See for yourself in these before, during, and after graphs reflecting energy capacity of the pack. He picked up his Camry, ready for another 80,000 miles, and completed at a price thousands less than the dealer offers!
Toyota Camry hybrid battery pack BEFORE reconditioningToyota Camry hybrid battery pack DURING reconditioningToyota Camry battery pack AFTER reconditioning
We are posting this as part of the continuing awareness campaign regarding Honda and Acura airbag recalls. This information was provided to us today by American Honda Motor Company, to be forwarded to anyone that we believe may have a defective Takata airbag in their vehicle. The following information has been provided by American Honda Motor Company and they are responsible for its content:
The Takata Corporation is a leading global supplier of automotive safety systems such as seat belts, air bags and child seats. The company has 46 plants in 17 countries around the world. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Attention Important Safety Information for Your Customer:
American Honda is providing crucial information that may help keep your customer safe. Everyone knows someone who drives a Honda – or Acura – and with your help, we can ensure our friends and loved ones are driving a vehicle that is safe. Please check VINs at www.recalls.honda.com for Honda vehicles and www.recalls.acura.com for Acura vehicles or call 1(888) 234-2138 for open recalls. If a vehicle is found to need a recall performed, please arrange to address it immediately.
In addition to a busy week of maintenance & repair on some of the most fun and interesting cars in the Chicago area, we all pulled double duty in getting the shop ready for our first ever Google 360° photo shoot. The end result can be seen by clicking on the photo below. Take a digital “walk” on our shop floor, with an immersive, panoramic photo tour. We very much enjoy sharing the eye candy that we get to see in our normal workday, with the many regular visitors to our website and our Google+ and facebook pages.
Our ongoing rebuild of this 1978 Porsche 911 SC engine deserves an update, if for nothing more than the beautiful new pictures of the sandblasted, repainted engine!
Extensive tinwork needed to be modified, as the original pieces had already been removed, discarded, or otherwise altered from their stock configuration.
The fan was replaced as well, and the housing altered to accommodate new pieces. Everything was then coated in hi-heat red or black paint.
The engine has now been fully assembled, and was re-installed this morning.
Startup, tweaking, road testing, and more tweaking await!
Seeing the finish line on an extensive engine rebuild job, along with a laundry list of other issues on this one-of-a-kind 1969 Porsche 912!
This car rolled into Midwest Performance Cars with a Frankenstein-like engine. Sourced with many aftermarket parts – very little stock – all of the internal tolerances were one-offs. As beautiful as it looked, the engine had never run correctly and could not build oil pressure, and we were charged with figuring out what the heck was going on. After performing a complete tear-down, deleting a second, added oil cooler and the oil lines running to it, we sent the crank out for polishing, and replaced the camshaft with a new piece from Webcams.
Replacement of nearly all internal fasteners with factory-spec Porsche and other high quality hardware was necessary, as the suspect, previous engine rebuilder had used inferior hardware. Finally, after replacing a non-spec, broken oil cooler valve, reassembly followed.
Once the 912 had been buttoned up, it went through extended road testing and fine tuning, as it also has a programmable fuel-air mixture and engine timing black box that requires quite a bit of fiddling to get just so. But tune it we did, and the result is a 912 that is just a blast to drive! Here are a few pictures of it at our friend’s detailing “lab”, Simon’s Shine Shopin Lincoln Park. They hand-washed it and performed a thorough cosmetic inspection, recommending a minor paint correction procedure that would have this car ready for even the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance!
Final Cosmetic Inspection on the Porsche 912Inspecting for Scratches on the FinishPorsche 912 Detailing at Simon’s Shine ShopInspecting for Swirls on the 912
