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More Boost: Doug’s Shelby GT500

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 11:57 pm on September 17, 2014

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When you build a car with us sometimes it’s contagious. Doug W is the best friend of Z33 owner Craig K and he couldn’t resist visiting us for a boost upgrade on his sweet 2012 Shelby GT500. Equipped from the factory with a Eaton supercharger, a common way to increase boost is to use a smaller diameter pulley. Shown here (right) is a 2.5″ supercharger pulley designed to look like the stock 3″ unit. To make up for the slack due to the smaller pulley, a larger 90mm idler (left) was used:

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Installation was straightforward:

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The smaller pulley is designed to give 3-4lbs more boost. Using an SCT tuner we gained 16hp/37tq for a total of 530hp/519tq to the wheels. The power gains are everywhere!

 

Doug W Stang GT 500

Enjoy the Boost, Doug!

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Lou’s R32 Skyline GT-R

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance,r32
by Alvin G @ 1:38 am on September 15, 2014

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Lou S is a long-time friend and customer of Z Car Garage. He is also an avid sports car fan with a interesting collection including a 3.2L FairladyZFD RX-7, Mazda RX-4, and Dodge Viper GTS.   Adding to this stable is his 2nd RHD vehicle, a 1992 Nissan Skyline GT-R. For most fans of Japanese sports cars this “R32” supercar is highly regarded and quite popular. Not familiar with this model? Find out what makes it special over at JNC.

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Lou acquired this Skyline from previous owner David C who had extensive suspension and engine work performed at ZCG. Lou wanted to make it his own so he visited us for some upgrades and tuning! Wheel aficionados will immediately notice the VOLK TE37SL wheels, sized 18×9.5 and finished in high-metal bronze. We think the TE’s are easily one of the best looking wheels for the R32, good taste Lou!

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Perfectly framed by the TE’s spokes are Stoptech calipers/rotors at all four corners. The Ray’s valve stems color-matched to the “TE37SL” sticker is also a nice detail:

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Adding to the list of choice parts is a full titanium exhaust system from Tomei. This includes downpipes, test pipe and the Expreme Ti muffler:

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The quality and detail of this exhaust system is impressive, please click on the pics for larger views. We think it adds a little sportiness to the car’s rather understated (by today’s standards) aesthetic. It also sounds sublime.

 

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The R32 was much louder than I anticipated. At idle it has a loveley burble and part throttle acceleration produces a semi-truck like turbo hiss…very audible from outside but never obnoxious. Under full throttle however, there is an absolute orchestra of sounds from the exhaust and turbo…it screams and reminds us how unmistakable the RB is!

 

With the new exhaust we re-tuned the Haltech to a healthy 412hp/311tq to the wheels:

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I personally love this car.  A few more pictures…

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Lou is having a blast driving his R32 and recently attended Cars and Coffee at Canepa. We love how he chose to take Skyline/HWY 9 as opposed to the freeway. Enjoy the Ride Lou!

 

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More pictures in the gallery to enjoy below:




Track Day 10/12: Thunderhill Raceway with Speed SF

Filed under: Events,Featured Cars and Projects
by Alvin G @ 12:24 am on September 11, 2014

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Our friends at SpeedSF are running another great track day at Thunderhill West October 12.  This is a great opportunity to enjoy the newly opened “West” section of the track. We love running our cars with these folks and they go above and beyond to make sure you get tons of track time! They are also offering a discount if you sign up for both Thunderhill 10/12 AND Laguna Seca 11/1. For more details please visit  SpeedSF.com.

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Need some motivation to sign up? Watch Patrick in his Vortech supercharged Z33 from last weekend’s Speed SF event at Sonoma Racway:

 

 

 





Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion Report!

Filed under: Events,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 5:46 pm on September 1, 2014

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We had a tremendous week racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 14-17.  More commonly known as the “historics” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this epic vintage race is part of several events occupying the week-long Monterey car festival leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours.  Our friends over at JNC were lucky to experience the Pebble Beach scene in all its opulence and excitement. From the multi-million dollar auctions and surprising Japanese classic entrants check out their coverage HERE.

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If it’s the smell of 110 octane, straight-piped exhausts and wheel-to-wheel action you desire than look no further than the historics. Typically I would cover this event from a spectator’s point of view. This year, I was fortunate to be part of the Z Car Garage race crew and bring you, dear readers, a perspective from the pits as a first time participant.

 

Joel Anderson and Restoration of the #49 IMSA Z

Z Car Garage was thrilled to team up with original owner, builder and driver Joel Anderson to bring the IMSA Z back to life after being stored for 25 years.  Restored to late-70’s spec as it was raced, this IMSA GTU-prepped Z does not have new “trick” parts.  Parts from Joel’s collection were re-used and common wear items were refreshed. Below:  Original race seat and MOMO Prototipo steering wheel. Original suspension parts were plated.

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Our man William applied Joel’s bespoke striping:

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More detailed restoration photos and our full interview with Joel can be found HERE. We were very pleased with the engine bay…plenty of Joel’s engineering remains intact:

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We applied the vinyl livery, took a step back and pinched ourselves…are we still dreaming?

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With all of the vitals checked, #49 rests before heading to Laguna Seca on the original trailer Joel used decades ago at Road Atlanta:

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Racing at Laguna Seca

For the Friday practice session we drove the ZCG Datsun 2000 to Laguna Seca and parked alongside some fellow roadsters owners in the paddock. Arriving at  ‘Seca early morning with the track enshrouded in fog is surreal.  Despite the moisture and most high-dollar machinery still under car covers, a few brave souls were on course for their practice sessions.
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