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Heart Transplant: Scott’s 240z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:05 am on May 30, 2013

 

Z-car owners will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure their cars stay on the road and not in the driveway. Scott W bought this blue (below) 240z from Terry H, and Z Car Garage made extensive upgrades to it. At the heart of this Z was a 3.0L stroker with triple Mikunis and a host of supporting goodies.


Unfortunately for Scott his Z got wrecked. With all of the work put into the engine the best solution was to find the proper donor Z chassis.  Stars aligned and Scott found the perfect donor to host his drivetrain: Rob J’s beautiful S30 (Rob’s story later). Let the heart transplant begin!

From L to R:  Scott’s old Z with the 3.0L in place, wrecked chassis and 3.0L extracted:


The engine bay on the donor car had been painted black so we took this opportunity to paint it body color and perform general tidying. As usual William’s worked his magic to match the dark metallic blue body color.

 

New hydraulic lines/plumbing and wiring harness cleanup make this engine bay pop

 

We treated the engine to several upgrades including an MSA 6-into-1 exhaust header, new intake manifold with rebuilt Mikunis, JWT HD clutch/flywheel, Koyo aluminum radiator and of course what every triple-carbed L-series needs: a ZCG heat sheild!

 

 

The stroker motor produced good power with 235hp/217tq to the wheels!

 

The new body is definitely worthy of this drivetrain. Bye-bye dirt and grime…

 

Scott’s Z also got the ZCG HID kit. We performed this mod on Gary R’s 280z restoration with great results: stock appearance during the day with HID brilliance at night:

 

Scott is now Enjoying The Ride with a familiar heart behind the steering wheel of one very pretty S30!


Check out more pictures in the gallery!
…[read more]




Ben’s LS1 RX-7 in 1/24 Scale

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects
by Alvin G @ 12:30 am on May 27, 2013

 

I built this 1/24 scale model car to replicate Ben S’ LS-1 powered FD RX-7. Ben has been a long time client and friend of the shop and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this beast in action at several track days. Since he’s recently been back to ZCG for even more power upgrades I thought it would be fitting to share the model with you. When I built it years ago I used a little “artistic license” and added a few items that weren’t exactly faithful to the original car (VOLK wheels, f/r spoilers)..but still cool to me.
Here are a few in-progress pics along with the final product, enjoy!

 

I tried to capture most of the item visible in the engine bay like the oil catch can, EDFC, ABS line plumbing, oil dipstick, heater hose, clamps, etc. The exhaust has welds to simulate the mandrels. License plate is a photoreduction of the real thing.


Look for a full update on the Ben’s now-500hp RX-7!

 


Check out more pictures in the gallery!
…[read more]





Reminder: ZCG Closed Memorial Day 5/27/13

Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 1:09 pm on May 25, 2013

Just a reminder that the shop will be closed 5/27/13 and business will resume 5/28/13. The weekend weather will be beautiful so get out there and Enjoy The Ride!

 





Race Ready 370z For Sale

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 11:52 am on May 24, 2013

 

Jonah’s 2009 Nissan 370z race car is up for sale. Interested in a fully-prepped, winning Z-car to fulfill your wheel-to-wheel competition desires? Check it out on our For Sale page: HERE





A Better Way to Commute: Peter’s 350z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:23 am on May 23, 2013


Peter  has been with ZCG for a long time and we’ve been maintaining his 350z to keep it reliable for his commute. Peter eventually decided to turn up the wick and make the Z a bit more fun when driving over the hill from Santa Cruz into the South Bay via HWY 17. To sharpen handling we installed Hotchkis front/rear sway bars:


A Bassani exhaust system frees up some power while increasing the already melodious VQ-note:

 


A Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer followed by an UPREV tune rounded out the power mods.  +22hp/16tq to the wheels is sure to make Peter smile on the drive to work  🙂




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