Cannonball Garage

Cannonball Garage Cannonball Garage is your Chicago area McLaren specialist. Cannonball Garage’s foundation is the people who operate it. Our customers always come first.

We offer maintenance, service, repair, performance, dyno tuning and have an M838T & M840T Engine Program Cannonball Garage is founded by Arne Toman, AMS Performance co-founder and former Vice President of one of the nation’s top aftermarket manufacturers. Arne wanted to start something that he could call his own. A company dedicated, like his former, to selling the best the aftermarket automotive

parts the world had to offer. Cannonball Garage is a place where you can buy parts from a familiar face and know you are getting parts that perform. A place where things like profit margin and brand popularity don’t matter. A place that only sells parts he believes in. A company that not only sells the parts but understands them to their core. Quite simply Cannonball Garage won’t carry anything he doesn’t believe in himself. A place you can trust in a world filled with questionable choices. Relationships are the core of Cannonball Garage. You are never simply a name in an online shopping cart. Customer service will always be the priority. It’s easy to buy a part from someone but what if something goes wrong? What if you don’t know what part you should be buying? These questions and many more, are why Cannonball Garage is the place to shop for all your aftermarket automotive performance needs.

The shop is quiet today, and that’s exactly how it should be.Our technicians and team spend the week under McLarens, ins...
05/30/2026

The shop is quiet today, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Our technicians and team spend the week under McLarens, inside engine bays, on the dyno, chasing diagnostics, validating repairs, and making sure every car that leaves Cannonball Garage is ready to be driven with confidence.

Their work is technical. Their standards are high. Their attention to detail is what makes this place what it is.

And when they’re not here, their workstations say a lot about the process. Cars safely in the air on our Challenger Lifts. Tools reset. Bays ready. The next round of McLaren maintenance, upgrades, inspections, and engine work waiting for Monday.

Enjoy the weekend, guys. You’ve earned it.

Need your McLaren serviced, inspected, or upgraded? Call the shop or send us a message and we’ll get you on the schedule.

05/29/2026

This 720S Spider made a quick pit stop at Cannonball Garage on its way from Vegas to its new home with our longtime customer, Russ.

He had previously trusted us with his 570, but this time he stepped into a 720 and wanted to start things off the right way with our CSO-T package.

The car came to us completely stock. It left with:

✅ Unobtainium exhaust
✅ M-Engineering dyno tune
✅ Pure Turbo inlets
✅ CSO spark plugs

Nothing too crazy. Just a clean, reliable street build that put down right around 815 wheel horsepower and 640 lb-ft of torque on 93 octane.

That’s a major jump from his previous 570, which made around 600 horsepower. This 720S Spider is going to be a completely different level of power, response, and excitement.

Before delivery, we’re finishing up the street validation process to make sure everything feels exactly the way it should.

Congrats, Russ. This one is going to be a blast.

Ready to take your McLaren to the next level? Call the shop or send us a message.

05/28/2026

Oil smoke coming from the exhaust of your McLaren might not be caused by what you think.

📣 On this episode of McLaren Engines 101, Ivan takes a deep dive into factory McLaren Technical Service Bulletins and uncovers a much larger issue hiding beneath the surface.

What started as a discussion about oil level readings and perimeter seal gaskets led us down a rabbit hole involving crankcase vacuum, oil scavenging efficiency, turbocharger oil return flow, and warped factory plastic valve covers.

After inspecting hundreds of used valve covers, we found a common pattern:
Heat, pressure, chemicals, and vibration cause the plastic covers to distort over time. Once that happens, gasket compression becomes inconsistent, vacuum distribution suffers, and oil scavenging efficiency drops.

The result?
Oil can back up in the turbo return lines and make its way past the turbo oil seals, leading to smoke out of the exhaust.

That’s another major reason why we developed the CSO billet aluminum valve covers.

✅ No flexing
✅ No bowing
✅ No distortion

Just stable sealing, proper vacuum control, and long-term reliability.

Sometimes solving problems isn’t about adding horsepower. Sometimes it’s about eliminating weaknesses before they become catastrophic failures.

Watch the full episode now and see why the details matter when it comes to building and maintaining a McLaren the right way.

📱Call the shop 847-829-0060 ⚡ Send us a message.

05/27/2026

❌ The Problem: Watch as Ivan shows you wear marks on the underside of every single McLaren factory bank 1 valve cover. Marks that show the camshaft is making contact.

What we discovered isn't a one off issue. It is repeatable. Across every V8 McLaren engine we disassembled. Same wear pattern. Same internal contact. Same plastic material being removed and introduced into the oiling system.

The factory design mirrors the valve covers externally, but internally the stiffening ribs were not properly mirrored. On bank one, intake cam lobes can contact those ribs. Not catastrophic at first. But enough to create plastic debris that has to go somewhere.

➡️ Some gets caught in filtration.
➡️ Some circulates.
➡️ Some may contribute to wear patterns often labeled random or unexplained.

This isn’t speculation. It’s what we see in real world tear downs.

Cannonball engineered a solution.

✅ The soon to be released CSO billet aluminum valve covers eliminate internal contact, remove plastic from the equation, and protect your engine’s oiling system. Designed from experience. Proven through inspection. Built to solve a problem owners never knew existed.

If you own a V8 McLaren, this is not optional protection. It is necessary. We do not guess. We investigate, engineer, and solve.

📱Call the shop 847.829.0060. Send us a message. Protect your engine before it becomes a rebuild.

Coming Soon.

05/26/2026

A CSO-T package with an incredible 813 wheel horsepower and 630 ft-lbs of torque!

This 2020 McLaren 720S came to us from a great client all the way from South Florida, and the goal was simple: build something brutally fast without sacrificing reliability.

This car received upgraded turbo inlets, CSO ignition coils, CSO plugs, and a custom M-Engineering tune running on 93 octane.

That’s the kind of performance that completely transforms a car while still keeping it streetable and dependable. A true all-around monster built to be driven and enjoyed.

Now it’s time to see what it can do on the street.

Interested in taking your McLaren to the next level? Call the shop or send us a message to discuss your build.

Today, we remember, heroes.On this Memorial Day, we honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our...
05/25/2026

Today, we remember, heroes.

On this Memorial Day, we honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice gave us the freedom to pursue our passions, build our businesses, spend time with our families, and enjoy moments like the ones we often share here at Cannonball Garage.

Memorial Day is more than a long weekend or the unofficial start of summer. It is a day of gratitude and remembrance for those who never made it home.

To all of the families carrying the weight of that sacrifice, we thank you.

Please take a moment today to reflect, remember, and honor those who gave everything.

We will never forget.

05/22/2026

Today, we say goodbye to one of our favorite people around the shop.

Brandon came to Cannonball Garage as a shop hand, but quickly became much more than that. Whether it was helping keep the shop moving, lending a hand wherever needed, making people laugh during long days, or simply bringing good energy through the door every morning, Brandon became part of the fabric of Cannonball.

The reality is that good people are hard to find, and Brandon is one of the good ones.

While we’re sad to see him go, we’re also incredibly excited for him as he moves on to pursue bigger and better things in the world. Watching talented young people grow, chase opportunities, and take the next step is something we’ll always support.

We know this won’t be the last time we see him around the shop.

Thank you for everything, Brandon. We appreciate all the hard work, the laughs, and the memories more than you know.

Once Cannonball family, always Cannonball family.

Good luck! We wish you all the best.

📣 At Cannonball Garage, we do basic maintenance and much much more.From routine annual services and diagnostics to compl...
05/21/2026

📣 At Cannonball Garage, we do basic maintenance and much much more.

From routine annual services and diagnostics to complete engine builds, dyno tuning, suspension setup, pre-purchase inspections, track prep, electrical diagnostics, transmission work, and custom performance upgrades, our shop is built around one goal: keeping McLarens performing the way they were meant to.

✅ We work on everything from daily-driven 570s to record-setting 765LTs and even Ultimate Series cars like the McLaren Senna and McLaren P1.

Our facility is equipped with factory diagnostic equipment, a state-of-the-art dyno, specialized McLaren tooling, and a team that works exclusively on these cars every single day. Whether it’s preventative maintenance, solving a complex issue, or building a 1300+ horsepower CSO engine package, we approach every car with the same level of care and attention to detail.

We believe exotic cars should be driven, enjoyed, and trusted. That’s why every service, inspection, and repair is focused on reliability, performance, and giving owners confidence behind the wheel.

Need service? Performance upgrades? A second opinion? A pre-purchase inspection?

📱Call the shop. Send us a message. Let’s talk about your McLaren.

This is exactly why pre-purchase and post-purchase inspections matter.A McLaren can look absolutely perfect on the surfa...
05/20/2026

This is exactly why pre-purchase and post-purchase inspections matter.

A McLaren can look absolutely perfect on the surface while hiding thousands of dollars worth of issues underneath. During a recent inspection at Cannonball Garage, we uncovered a long list of items that the average buyer would never notice during a quick walkaround or test drive.

First we were able to verify the positives:
• Updated 765-style accumulators already installed
• Healthy brakes and rotors
• Tight suspension components with no active leaks
• No concerning fault codes
• Overall strong mechanical health

There were aspects that needed attention:
• Aging original tires with excellent tread but be aware of age and hardness
• A cracked roof glass panel
• A broken airbrake light tab
• A partially dislodged turbo inlet baffle
• Minor underbody damage and scuffing

That balance is important.

A good inspection isn’t about trying to “kill the deal.” It’s about understanding exactly what you’re buying, what can wait, what needs immediate attention, and what upgrades or preventative maintenance may save you money later.

These cars are incredibly rewarding to own when properly maintained, but they are complex machines that deserve more than a quick glance before purchase.

Whether you’re buying your first McLaren, preparing for rally season, or simply wanting a baseline after taking ownership, a thorough inspection can make all the difference.

Call the shop. Send us a message. Know what’s underneath before small issues become expensive ones.

05/19/2026

➡️ Sometimes the most important repairs are the ones you catch before they become catastrophic.

This McLaren came to Cannonball Garage from out of state for a pre-rally inspection. As part of our inspection process, we pulled and inspected the oil filter instead of simply replacing it and sending the car down the road.

👍 What we found inside could have saved this engine.

The oil filter was packed with ferrous metallic debris, something we commonly see when an oil pump shaft begins to fail on these cars. Left unchecked, the shaft can eventually break completely, leading to oil pressure loss and catastrophic engine damage. Fortunately, we caught it early.

Instead of a destroyed engine, this customer is likely looking at replacing the oil pump, thoroughly cleaning the oiling system, and getting back on the road safely before the rally even begins.

➡️ This is exactly why inspections matter.
➡️ This is why experience matters.
➡️ And this is why we go beyond simply changing parts.

Anybody can replace an oil filter. Taking the time to inspect it can save an engine.

📱Call the shop. Send us a message. Let’s protect your McLaren before small problems become big ones.

Address

38 West End Drive
Gilberts, IL
60136

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+18478290060

Website

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