Today we’d like to introduce you to Dane Miller.
Dane, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Well, I started out just fixing cars for myself and my friends. I was working at a general automotive shop when I really got heavy into the Nissan 300ZX scene. They’re kinda challenging cars to work on, but I was good at it. I worked on my own car, and my friends’ cars, too.
Eventually, there was enough work that I wanted to open my own shop, so I found a business partner and did it. If I hadn’t had my buddy Ben who could handle all of the paperwork and office stuff I wouldn’t have gotten this far, but luckily he was there to help get this thing off the ground. I’ve broadened my specialization from just the 300ZX to all Nissans and Infinitis, and I’ve bought out Ben’s share of the business, so it’s all mine now.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but I never expected it to be. There are always a hundred little irritating things that a business owner has to deal with, but that’s all they are – irritating. I wasn’t about to give up just because I was irritated. It’s difficult finding a good place for a performance shop, and it’s difficult to find good help.
Finding someone to work in a general automotive shop is tricky, but finding someone who shares enough of a passion to work in a specialty performance shop takes time. A lot of people think they can cut it, but they can’t. And I’ve given up more hours to keep Houston Z going than I can count.
My family, my friends, and my wife can all tell you, A lot of hours. Sometimes I’ve had to work late into the night, sometimes I’ve had to work weekends and holidays. But I want my business to succeed, so that’s what I have to do.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Houston Z – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Houston Z is a Nissan and Infiniti specialty shop. We inspect, maintain, modify, repair, and restore all Nissans and Infinitis. We’re really known for our work on the 300ZX – we take these cars from the early to mid 90’s and make them drive like modern-day sports cars. Everything from basic maintenance and repairs to full engine builds, bigger turbos, and e85 Flex Fuel upgrades.
As far as I know, we’re the only ones in the country who offer a complete flex fuel kit for 300ZX owners looking to make more power with ethanol, so I’m pretty proud of that. We’ve also recently started offering them for the 240SX and Skylines as well – ethanol is a really interesting solution for getting these older turbocharged cars to make really nice power. On top of that, we’re branching out.
The Nissan Skyline is finally making it over to the US; we’re seeing more and more of those coming in, so I picked up one for myself to see what sort of cool stuff can be done.
We’ve also decided to get a little more modern, and recently acquired a Nismo 370Z for a shop car. We’re currently working on building a custom twin turbo kit, and our plan is to see just how far we can push the stock motor before it blows up. Once we know what the stock motor will handle, we’re going to put in a built motor and try to get over 1000 horsepower at the wheels.
What sets us apart from others?
That’s a good question, I don’t really know. I’d like to say it’s partly innovation and partly commitment, but I don’t want to imply that other shops aren’t innovating or putting out good work. I try not to pay too much attention to what others are doing. I just focus on what I’m doing, and on doing it as best I can. I’ve seen shops come and go, and there seems to be a lot of trash-talking that goes on, especially from behind a computer screen and keyboard. I just try to keep out of it as best I’m able, and keep turning out good work.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Well, I eventually want to buy some land and have a building put up. I don’t want to have to keep paying rent on someone else’s building.
Hopefully, that’ll happen in the next couple of years. But in the more immediate future, there’s that twin turbo 370Z project. With luck, we’ll get that thing to make over 1000hp at the wheels and not break too many things along the way.
Infiniti also has the new Q50 and Q60 out, and I’m really dying to get my hands on one of those. We’ve got a lot of experience with Infiniti, and I know they can sometimes yield surprising results.
Contact Info:
- Address: 10541 Cypress Creek Pkwy
Ste. 702 Houston TX 77041 - Website: houstonzautomotive.com
- Phone: 9364638966
- Email: houstonzauto@gmail.com
- Instagram: houstonzauto
- Facebook: facebook.com/houston.zauto
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