Hi all,

Proud new owner of an 8. Where do all of you who live in Chicago get your work done? Who does the best work? Who has the best prices? etc. Saw mention of A-spec, Banzai, and Protege from the old 2008 thread, but wondering if there are any updates or more detailed advice. For example, I'm hoping to upgrade to Bilstein PSS9s in the next few months. Who'd be best for the install?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hey you should check out the Chicago rotary club (click on my signature). The people there might be able to give you more specifics on what you need. I think THMotorsports was one of the few they mentioned in one of the threads but you should definitely stop by, introduce yourself and ask some questions!

Good luck and hope to see you there.

 

The last I had any contact with A-Spec, they only wanted to work on FD's and FC's. They had a backlog of work. This was several years ago and they haven't reached out to our local club. I don't know much about Banzai. Last I heard from them, was they were a RX7 shop too. Ken is the owner of Protege Garage. He replaced the transmission in my car. He found me a good used one and replaced it for a very reasonable price. He used to have a shop, but now works out of his home. He is a good guy. One other shop that you may not have heard about is Shook Motorsports out of Rockford. He has a shop and is a sponsor of our local club. He's a good guy too.

 

Thanks so much guys, that helps.

Rockford is a but far for me as I live in the city. Do you know where Ken's garage is located. I read up on Protege garage from the other Mazda forums, and it seems to be a very reputable place that's actively involved in the community. Their website is impressive with a huge catalog. It seems odd to me though now that they would just be operating out of the owner's garage

 

I think it's Round Lake Beach on Oakwood Dr.

 

PM me and I can get you in touch with them.

They are fair and very reasonable with labor rates. Ken operates PG primarily as an online parts retailer, but will do work for locals. Most of the work, including Al's transmission, is done by Ken's Brother Aric. Aric just opened his own shop. If you have them do any work on your car, that's where it would get done. They are more than capable of swapping the suspension on our car and will give you a better price than you will find anywhere else. I have known the guys for years and can recomend them with no reservations. They are all true "gearheads" have a lot of experience with all Mazdas. Last time I was at their shop there was a MS6 with a big turbo getting a new clutch, and a first gen Miata with a well built engine getting a bigger turbo, DP, Mani and engine management installed. Before the swap this Miata Dyno'd 425 RWHP!!!! Its a beast.

 

We work on both RX-7s and RX-8s, also offer a full line of products for the 8

http://www.banzai-racing.com/