OK Guys here we go . . . I might as well write it as a story so you guys can get the feel of this recent adventure of getting my car back . . also I am going to put an asterisk after every factual example of Gerry's good-naturedness so you can begin to get an idea of the type of vendor he is if you haven't been lucky enough to meet or speak to him yet.
Got a one-way ticket to Oakland airport for last wednesday to arrive around 8 PM. Gerry insisted on picking me up in my car*, which was a nice bonus. When I got there he called and said an unexpected minor problem had been discovered, there was an oil leak from the front valve cover that hadn't become apparent until the car was at a decent highway speed and the turbulence kicked the oil up onto the back glass (remember I had no glass hatch on the whole time in Modesto). So he took a little time on the side of the road to make sure it was safe then kept on his way to the airport and got me. I was straining my eyes watching the approaching lights to look for that kool color HID's and finally I saw them and heard the car at the same time! The back of the car looks so killer, in my opinion it is one of the best looking car asses I have ever seen on anything. So anyway Gerry drove us around 1/2 way back to his shop where we stopped for gas. He popped out of the drivers seat and went to go pay for gas for my car* . . . I said "I can just credit card it out here at the pump" . . he said "Are you sure"?
OK so anyway then he wants me to drive the rest of the way back to the shop. It had been a long time since I had driven the car, pretty much 6 months and 5 days, not that I was counting. So it took a little getting used to especially not being familiar with the area either. I was impressed how she idled, how she sounded, and the extra juice that comes on when you roll on the throttle. Gerry has my car tuned very conservatively since the previous setup was on there for 20,000 miles with pretty much improper everything, so he didn't want to go too overboard, we are running like 6.5 pounds for right now.
OK so we get back to the shop and he begins removing the parts neccessary to get to the front valve cover. Shortly into the procedure he discovers the lower passenger side nut is loose, and thats exactly where the leak is coming from. Now keep in mind it had been doing this ever since the nsx modified turbo was up on top, so we both thought the oil spitting on the back window was from the oil feed to the old turbo and since it was removed it had been solved. So instead of just tightening the nut down and sending me on my way back to newport he pulls the cover and replaces the gasket*, painstakingly and methodically. Now I know why this guy isn't the Jiffy Lube of FI'ed NSX's, he REALLY DOES work on every car like its his own. He really really does an almost overly-thorough job, at the end of which when it was time to settle the balance on my tab with him, he wouldn't take a penny for the time he spent fixing a problem that was not of his making*.
There were a bunch of other things he didn't charge for either, like not a cent extra for it being an OBDII car*, in fact He thanked Me for "letting him" use my OBDII car to experiment on*. I emphatically assure you that Gerry Johnson is not in it for the money.
OK so then after she was done we spent a little while talking about some of the new components on the car and then I was on my way. By now it was 2AM and I was 400 miles from home, Gerry had kindly offered me the couch at his house to crash* but I figured it would be better to just go for it so I head out to the highway after I said my thank-you's.
I made it from Performance Autoworx to the LA County line in 3 hours flat. Then going up the grape vine was so much fun - like twice there were cars ahead of me so I had to downshift to fifth, but for the most part the car was effortlessly pulling up the long long hill in 6th gear at 100 MPH and minimal boost . . real sweet, someone was trying to follow me in I don't know what but they got lost after the first serious incline.
The car runs perfectly, as Gerry says . ."Like stock except when the boost comes on". Even with conservative timing and fairly low boost to spare my poor abused motor, the car is one hell of a snappy little go kart! Everyone who gets a ride in it is very impressed. I have been driving her around all weekend to LA and OC clubs, I was on the strip friday night, getting mad looks from all sorts of people.
The car right now is very loud, the exhuast is as follows:
Comptech headers to a Y-collector to the turbo to a 6-inch canister. No cats, no almost anything but a very small muffler. He has a 14 inch canister being TIG'ed for me up there. I got pulled over today for leaving my car in the middle of the street running in newport and having loud pipes, but I talked my way out of it. But the 6 inch might be kind of asking for it I think, every block I go down car alarms go off even just idling by. Keep in mind I asked for a single exhaust, you can pick any style you want. Thats the kool part, its like burger king - have it your way - except its not crap.
SO to summarize, Gerry is a great guy. He is a Great mechanic and a great system designer. If you are lucky enough to have him touch your car, neither you or your car will ever regret it. He found like 3 different tools on\in my engine compartment and a small handfull of wire snips, nuts, bolts, cotter pins, etc. left over from previous tinkerers. Not everyone that works on NSX's respects them for the gorgeous girls they are, believe that!
Oh yeah right before I left Gerry mentioned that he may soon be appropriating a 3.2 block to "experiment on"* wink wink
Got a one-way ticket to Oakland airport for last wednesday to arrive around 8 PM. Gerry insisted on picking me up in my car*, which was a nice bonus. When I got there he called and said an unexpected minor problem had been discovered, there was an oil leak from the front valve cover that hadn't become apparent until the car was at a decent highway speed and the turbulence kicked the oil up onto the back glass (remember I had no glass hatch on the whole time in Modesto). So he took a little time on the side of the road to make sure it was safe then kept on his way to the airport and got me. I was straining my eyes watching the approaching lights to look for that kool color HID's and finally I saw them and heard the car at the same time! The back of the car looks so killer, in my opinion it is one of the best looking car asses I have ever seen on anything. So anyway Gerry drove us around 1/2 way back to his shop where we stopped for gas. He popped out of the drivers seat and went to go pay for gas for my car* . . . I said "I can just credit card it out here at the pump" . . he said "Are you sure"?
OK so anyway then he wants me to drive the rest of the way back to the shop. It had been a long time since I had driven the car, pretty much 6 months and 5 days, not that I was counting. So it took a little getting used to especially not being familiar with the area either. I was impressed how she idled, how she sounded, and the extra juice that comes on when you roll on the throttle. Gerry has my car tuned very conservatively since the previous setup was on there for 20,000 miles with pretty much improper everything, so he didn't want to go too overboard, we are running like 6.5 pounds for right now.
OK so we get back to the shop and he begins removing the parts neccessary to get to the front valve cover. Shortly into the procedure he discovers the lower passenger side nut is loose, and thats exactly where the leak is coming from. Now keep in mind it had been doing this ever since the nsx modified turbo was up on top, so we both thought the oil spitting on the back window was from the oil feed to the old turbo and since it was removed it had been solved. So instead of just tightening the nut down and sending me on my way back to newport he pulls the cover and replaces the gasket*, painstakingly and methodically. Now I know why this guy isn't the Jiffy Lube of FI'ed NSX's, he REALLY DOES work on every car like its his own. He really really does an almost overly-thorough job, at the end of which when it was time to settle the balance on my tab with him, he wouldn't take a penny for the time he spent fixing a problem that was not of his making*.
There were a bunch of other things he didn't charge for either, like not a cent extra for it being an OBDII car*, in fact He thanked Me for "letting him" use my OBDII car to experiment on*. I emphatically assure you that Gerry Johnson is not in it for the money.
OK so then after she was done we spent a little while talking about some of the new components on the car and then I was on my way. By now it was 2AM and I was 400 miles from home, Gerry had kindly offered me the couch at his house to crash* but I figured it would be better to just go for it so I head out to the highway after I said my thank-you's.
I made it from Performance Autoworx to the LA County line in 3 hours flat. Then going up the grape vine was so much fun - like twice there were cars ahead of me so I had to downshift to fifth, but for the most part the car was effortlessly pulling up the long long hill in 6th gear at 100 MPH and minimal boost . . real sweet, someone was trying to follow me in I don't know what but they got lost after the first serious incline.
The car runs perfectly, as Gerry says . ."Like stock except when the boost comes on". Even with conservative timing and fairly low boost to spare my poor abused motor, the car is one hell of a snappy little go kart! Everyone who gets a ride in it is very impressed. I have been driving her around all weekend to LA and OC clubs, I was on the strip friday night, getting mad looks from all sorts of people.
The car right now is very loud, the exhuast is as follows:
Comptech headers to a Y-collector to the turbo to a 6-inch canister. No cats, no almost anything but a very small muffler. He has a 14 inch canister being TIG'ed for me up there. I got pulled over today for leaving my car in the middle of the street running in newport and having loud pipes, but I talked my way out of it. But the 6 inch might be kind of asking for it I think, every block I go down car alarms go off even just idling by. Keep in mind I asked for a single exhaust, you can pick any style you want. Thats the kool part, its like burger king - have it your way - except its not crap.
SO to summarize, Gerry is a great guy. He is a Great mechanic and a great system designer. If you are lucky enough to have him touch your car, neither you or your car will ever regret it. He found like 3 different tools on\in my engine compartment and a small handfull of wire snips, nuts, bolts, cotter pins, etc. left over from previous tinkerers. Not everyone that works on NSX's respects them for the gorgeous girls they are, believe that!
Oh yeah right before I left Gerry mentioned that he may soon be appropriating a 3.2 block to "experiment on"* wink wink
