"Are you sure you want me to modify it for you?"
Tej confirmed one last time.
Zhang Jie nodded, "Since Wood thinks your modifications are great, then it's you. But I have one request: don't change the exterior too drastically, so I don't have to spend more money to restore it later."
"Don't you worry, I'm more worried your undeveloped wallet can't handle it."
After Tej made a jest, he began to ponder the modification plan.
Tej scraped his fingernail across the camaro ss's hood, four years of car wax debris accumulating under his nail.
"Listen, baby," he muttered to the V8 engine bay, "we're not breaking your bones, just changing your blood."
Day one, 07:17 AM, modification factory.
"Are you sure you're not touching the short block?" Zhang Jie held up a cylinder compression tester, droplets of water dripping from the cold metal tube onto Tej's AJ3 shoes.
Tej didn't look up, busy measuring the diameter of the stock throttle body with a caliper.
"That damn GM left 15% redundancy for the LS3,"
He suddenly turned the caliper towards the sun, the scale lines glinting silver in front of Zhang Jie's eyes, "so we're only touching the breathing system."
Three hours later, the camaro's exhaust manifold was removed as a whole, kept intact like a surgical operation.
Tej held a stainless steel header, salvaged from a pile of CTS-V scrap, with three layers of graphite gaskets at the joints.
"Supercharging? No," he said to a bewildered Zhang Jie, "I'm just increasing this gentleman's lung capacity by 30%."
Messing with supercharging is less effective than simply increasing the air intake; this is the cheapest and most effective modification.
"Don't just slap a turbocharger on everything; it's not a panacea."
Clearly, Tej was disdainful of aggressive modifications; anyone can just throw money at it.
But a perfect combination is king; suitability is always more effective than forcing a fit.
Day two, 01:33 PM, body shop.
Zhang Jie covered his ears as the angle grinder shrieked, cutting open the stock air filter box.
"This is what you call not a major tear-down?"
Looking at the drastic Tej, Zhang Jie was quite speechless,
"Don't worry, it's just a small, minimally invasive surgical procedure."
Tej inserted a K&N high-flow air filter into the cut and secured it with industrial zip ties.
It looked crude, but it was incredibly stable; this was Tej's practical application and wisdom, always using the simplest method to achieve the most brutally effective fastening.
He held up a tablet, the screen showing a self-made intake airflow simulation diagram: "The stock ECU's tolerance range is just enough to swallow this extra air."
Then he pointed to the firewall, "Unless you plan to tell it the truth."
Zhang Jie shrugged, "You're the professional in this area, I'll just listen to you."
[Car Modification: Lv0 (25 → 32 / 100)]
The increase in proficiency told Zhang Jie that Tej's approach was correct; this was what professional truly meant.
The Russian threw the Brembo calipers onto the counter.
"950, no negotiation."
Tej held up the calipers, inspecting them against the fluorescent light, not minding the grease on his mink fur.
"Piston seals are aging, dust boots are cracked," he blew off brake dust, "480, plus I'll fix the ECU lock on your Cayenne."
"Damn it, deal!"
Tej could always simplify complex problems.
On the hydraulic lift, the camaro's chassis was as good as new, with only a newly welded bracket behind the driveshaft supporting a used Z06 differential.
Tej completed the three-point installation without cutting the car body in six hours.
This step alone made Tej curse and grunt for six hours!
"Hey! Zhang! You have to pay me an extra 500 dollars, otherwise I'll hit your butt with a wrench."
To this, Zhang Jie readily agreed; skilled work deserved its reward.
Day three, 6:09 PM, at the test track.
The mechanic at Wood's factory frowned, looking at the knock sensor data: "91 octane gasoline can't handle such a high dynamic compression ratio."
Tej dragged two barrels of blue liquid from the trunk.
"VP Racing's MS109, mixed with the stock fuel system, just forms an effective octane rating of 12.8:1."
He unscrewed the fuel cap, then suddenly turned to wink at the recorder: "The customer insists on using 'regular unleaded gasoline,' understand?"
When the camaro pulled 503 wheel horsepower on the dynamometer (stock 426 hp), the exhaust temperature sensor showed that the tailpipe temperature had actually dropped by 27°C.
Tej took a photo of the dashboard and sent it to Zhang Jie: "Breathing surgery successful, patient's blood pressure slightly high."
"Holy crap?! Σ(°ロ°) It's done?"
When Zhang Jie arrived at the modification shop, he looked at the camaro, which hadn't changed much from before, with a look of disbelief.
"3 days, 28,523 dollars?"
Looking at Zhang Jie's incredulous eyes, Tej smiled with satisfaction: "Of course, now he has 77 more horsepower than before! And his stability has also increased several times over, enough to handle this race."
Looking at Zhang Jie's joyful eyes, Tej added another sentence.
"But you can only use it once."
?
No? Bro?
Looking at Zhang Jie's confused eyes, Tej explained, "Many of the parts inside cannot work for a long time; almost all of them are used parts, which is why I said it can only be used once. Prolonged use will damage the car."
"So I spent 28,523 dollars just for a one-time use item?"
Tej spread his hands, "You can't blame me for this. If you want to win the championship, this is the only way, and you only have one chance. If you don't win the championship, this car..."
Alright, alright, it seems the pressure is quite high this time. He must win the championship, as the people in the underground racing scene are not pushovers.
They might even play dirty during the race.
Glancing at his Level 2 driving skill again, he still felt a faint worry in his heart.
Of course, there was no turning back now; the car was already modified. If he couldn't win the championship, his money would truly be wasted.
However, Wood had also given him some training these past two days, and his driving skills had improved significantly. Zhang Jie had also mastered the technique of drifting.
[Car Driving: Lv2 (64 → 88 / 100)]
A boss who can't race is not a good modification master, but even Wood was very surprised by Zhang Jie's growth.
After all, Zhang Jie's previous driving skills were entirely reflected in overtaking, adaptability, and those details.
After studying with Wood for a period, he had mastered most of the racing tips and tricks, lacking only practical application.
But driving skills are not just about these techniques; in reality, underground racing is far more complex than this, but these are things Zhang Jie can only experience firsthand.
Wood wouldn't tell him these things, lest Zhang Jie back out.
Even the car was modified; if he didn't go to the underground races to show off, wouldn't that be a waste of all that money?
These were Wood's exact words to Zhang Jie.
And Zhang Jie deeply agreed with this.
Increasing his driving level through this method was also one of Zhang Jie's goals, as these skills could very likely become his life-saving skills in the future.
So, the higher the level, the better, naturally.
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