Hull-based Z Cars Performance Engineering Ltd specialises in fast cars for road, race and rally use. The company is known world-wide for its do-it-yourself kits, which can transform a Mini to a car that will out-perform an Aston Martin V12 Vantage.
Built around the shell of an original Mini, the Z Car features a tubular chassis, fibre-glass panels, inboard push-rod suspension and tyres from a Formula Renault single-seat racing car.
Moreover, the car weighs less than 500kg and is powered by a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, which sends 194hp to the rear wheels. All this adds up to a vehicle with superb handling that reaches 60mph in 3.9sec and 100mph in 10sec.
Z Cars was founded 15 years ago as a one-man operation, principally involved in fabrication. The company has grown to become a successful precision engineering business. It has 16 employees, and there are plans for further expansion later this year.
Simon Smith, owner and managing director, says: “We have close ties with Hull University and its Formula Student team; Formula Student is Europe’s most established educational motor-sport competition, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
“With our help, the team produces a prototype for a single-seat racing car and presents it to a hypothetical manufacturing firm. The car has to be low-cost, easy to maintain and reliable; it must also offer high performance in terms of its acceleration, braking and handling. We currently have two students working with us, one of whom graduates this year and will join Z Cars as a CNC programmer and operator.”
While Z Cars is well known for its Mini kits (having shipped more than 500 of them around the globe), the company produces a wide range of bespoke vehicles. These include: Fiat 500s with Subaru engines (and the stopping power to match the resulting performance); 1950’s Jaguars that have been totally uprated; and classic Lamborghinis and Maseratis that have been given ‘a modern twist’.
Z Cars has even built a replica Batmobile. In fact, any classic car can be upgraded with modern components, engines and running gear. A 1,000hp twin-engine Ultima racing car is currently being developed by the firm.
In-house machining
Mr Smith says: “Until recently, we had been sub-contracting all of the major machined parts that we use. However, we got to the point where we had to take stock of the situation and decide what our business objectives were.
"We realised that if we were to grow the product range and the company, we would have to take responsibility for all the quality-critical operations. We just couldn’t continue using parts that weren’t designed for purpose. When a part is 100% designed and made by you, there’s no longer any compromise.”
Before investing in a Haas Super Mini Mill and a Haas ST-10 turning centre (
www.haascnc.com), Z Cars took a careful look at what else was available. “We looked at various machine tools. Some were cheaper than the Haas machines, others were more expensive, but we soon concluded that the American-built products offered the optimum cost/specification ratio.”
The ST-10 comes as standard with a 6in hydraulic chuck and a 12-position bolt-on tool turret. The 15hp spindle provides a maximum speed of 6,000rev/min, while the A2-5 spindle nose accepts bar stock up to 45.7mm.
Meanwhile, the Super Mini Mill features a 40-taper 15hp vector-drive spindle and a work envelope of 406 x 305 x 254mm; and with 30.5m/min rapids and 2.5sec tool changes, cycle times are kept to a minimum.
Both machines are being used to produce a variety of parts in steel and aluminium. The lathe is currently producing batches of threaded wishbone bushes and suspension spacers, while components machined on the mill include drive-boxes, wheel-bearing housings, front suspension parts and adjustable suspension mounts.
Complex components
“It’s amazing to watch a small machine like the Super Mini Mill take 10mm cuts. We’ve also found that even quite complex components are simple to produce using the Haas machines — even for relative novices like ourselves.
As our confidence grows, we’ll produce more of our own parts; we are also more than happy to produce parts for other companies. These are our first CNC machines, but we needn’t have worried about getting to grips with them.
We taught ourselves to program very quickly, and we were making parts the day after the machines were installed.” In conclusion, Mr Smith says: “Operating them is like driving a Z Car. They go wherever you point them, they’re responsive, and they won’t let you down.”