The 1972 Nissan Skyline we built for the 2016 SEMA Show is now featured in the latest issue of Superstreet Magazine.  We are honored to share the spotlight with Ginash George’s Hakosuka and Chris Forsberg’s S30 all from the SEMA. The magazine is on newsstands now, enjoy!

Art H. has owned this 1971 S30 since it was new! He had driven and enjoyed it for years but in the 80’s left it parked indefinitely in his garage…sometimes life gets in the way. Now retired, his family discussed moving out of San Jose to the Sacramento area and the Z had to move with them as well. Art was ready to get the Z back on the road so he met with Rob and went through the car.

 

A little background on Art…turns out he has an absolutely rad motorsports history! Back in the 70’s he was an SCCA racer, Datsun lover and tinkerer and all-around car enthusiast. Art kindly sent us these photos of him racing Formula V at Sears Point Raceway. He’s the young lad in the race-suit, long hair and ‘stache:

*Eagle eyes will note the Datsun 510 and other cool vintage cars in the paddock!*

 

The plan for Art’s Z included a mechanical and chassis restoration. As shown above, the Z had to be towed to the shop because the L24 engine had seized from sitting for decades.  Teardown revealed severe corrosion:

   

Our first task was to remove the engine/transmission and prepare the engine bay to look nice again. All accessories, hoses, hydraulic lines were removed and sorted. A/C components from back in the day removed and many parts were powdercoated:

 

The engine bay was in good condition:

 

We repaired and refurbished the heater core and removed the crazy 70’s-style stereo business:

   

The transmission was resealed and a new clutch was installed:

  

The new heart for Art was a fresh Rebello 2.8L stock-style rebuild using Z-Therapy SU carbs:

  

Other items in the engine bay included a new battery, upgraded 280zx alternator, Pertronix ignition, MSA header and Koyo race radiator. The engine bay looks fantastic now:

(More pictures of the restoration in the gallery after the jump)

Chassis work included a complete braking system overhaul with new wheel cylinders and drums. New T/C rods, rack bushings, ball joints, steering couplers and stock-style KYB gas shocks return tight handling the Z is known for.

   

The rear suspension was freshened with TechnoToyTuning (T3) control arms:

  

Stock half-shafts were replaced with Ermish Racing CV axles.  FYI ZCG will be making CV axles for high horsepower Z cars soon!

  

Full fuel tank refurbishment. Corrosion and disintegrated fuel hoses were replaced:

 

Our ZCG 2.5″ exhaust with Magnaflow resonator/muffler and slash-cut tip:

  

Finally, the only cosmetic detail we handled was to repair the rear bumper and brackets:

Art wanted to keep the stock dealer option slotted mags so we installed new 195/70/14 tires. With a rich motorsports background and a passion for cars it’s easy to see why Art loves his Z so much. It was a pleasure working with you and Long Live The Z!

 

…[read more]

 

We love to see our customer’s cars spotlighted in the media. Richard M’s 370z was recently featured in The Function Factory, check out the full article HERE. Also, keep an eye out for the latest The Smoking Tire episode where Matt Farah takes Richard’s 370z for a ride!

 

Brad M is a new customer with a 2009 G37 Sedan that visited ZCG for suspension work. Front tire wear issues resulted from riding around on Eibach sport springs without adjustable front control arms. In back, running aggressive offset Volk SF Challenge wheels with larger tires he was unable to control camber and have the lower ride height desired. We met a few weeks ago and came up with a plan:

 

 

We installed KW V3 coil-overs, SPC front control arms and Hotchkis sway bars. Those sweet Volks were wrapped in new Bridgestone S-04 tires, and he got an oil change/filter.

 

Stock vs the new front coil-overs and control arms:

 

Stock vs new rear springs/shocks and we also corrected a bad previous install of rear control arms:

 

Camber in check, car looks great now with an even ride height:

 

Installation of the front and rear Hotchkis sway bars with endlink detail:

 

Stock vs Hotchkis rear sway bar:

 

We noticed Brad was missing the hubcentric rings for mounting the Volks and installed a new set to ensure vibration-free driving. He was very happy and we know he’ll be back!

 

Miguel A had been saving up for a Stillen supercharger on his 2009 370z. At the end of last year he made an appointment with us and we ordered the S/C kit in satin:

 

As with many of our Stillen S/C installations Miguel also received a Stillen oil cooler, GTR plugs and an oil change/new filter:

 

   

We also resolved a few items that Miguel mentioned including some clicking coming from the rear end and a fan control module issue.

On the dyno with the supplied CAN tune we saw a peak of 393hp/290tq to the wheels. With Rob’s tuning final numbers were 413hp/300tq, a gain of 109hp/48tq over baseline:

 

 

Miguel’s Z34 had 82k miles before adding the Stillen supercharger.  There’s nothing better than owning a car for awhile then doing some improvements to keep you involved, happy and excited.

Long Live The Boost!