Shop Talk for
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Raymond L purchased a few bolt-ons and he needed them installed correctly on his Infiniti Q50 Hybrid. This is the first Q50 Hybrid we have worked on so we were excited. We installed a new front sway bar and cat-back exhaust, both from Stillen.
OEM vs Stillen sway bar:
OEM vs Stillen exhaust system:
A few more detail shots of the exhaust:
The front sway bar and Stillen exhaust made welcome improvements!
Rob drove his Datsun 510:
Lou drove his 1970 Series 1 240z:
Ty and Christine also joined us in their 991 Porsche:
Naveed has a cool collection of sports cars including an Nissan R32 Skyline and recently acquired this Fairlady Z:
We stopped at a vista point just after the 9/35 junction and headed to Alice’s:
From Alice’s we drove down 84 and to the coast via Pescadero Rd. Though foggy it was quite warm and we had fun staging the cars for photos.
Naveed’s RHD S30 sported a triple-Mikuni carb’d L20A with a full Fujitsubo exhaust. Stay tuned as we report on the dyno performance of the Fujitsubo exhaust system on our shop S30:
Naveed’s Z sounded wonderful echoing off the forest-lined roads. Listen to the exhaust and watch a short sample of the fun run in the video below.
We had a blast, thanks for inviting us Naveed!
Enjoy more pictures from Naveed and us in the gallery below:
This Cherry Red Pearl 1992 Z32 Twin-Turbo is owned by our customer Kevin B. Z Car Garage has maintained and modified the Z since Kevin purchased it in 2006 from the original owner. It has an extensive list of exciting upgrades as well as total maintenance records. The Z passed smog, has a clear title and is ready to be enjoyed. More information, a video and pictures can be seen on our For Sale page HERE.
Lou S is no stranger to Z Car Garage, having built several cars with us since we opened our doors in 2004. Although the red Z shown above is the focus of this blog post, let’s spend a moment recalling Lou’s 1973 Fairlady Z . You might recognize this RHD Z from local Bay Area fun runs and car shows over the years. What started out as a fairly stock car evolved into a canyon-carving street machine as we began modifications in 2011:
The Z featured a 250whp Rebello 3.2L engine, 240sx KA24 5-speed, Recaro seats, LSD, full-suspension, our ZCG Big-Brake Kit and Panasport C8 wheels.
Enjoy this short video showing the mellifluous sounds coming from the 3.2 engine:
The pretty triple Weber carb setup on the 3.2L was pictured on SpeedHunters and the Z was a feature car in JNC’s booth at the highly-successful Bayline show:
Lou enjoyed his Fairlady Z for many years and after ZCG’s 2nd SEMA build in 2016, Lou was inspired to take his car to the next level. The 3.2L drivetrain was sold to our customer Tim Ng to be used in his ’72 S30 build. We are currently building an IMSA-flared body Fairlady Z featuring wider Panasport C8 wheels and a stroker RB engine backed by either a close-ratio 5-Speed or 6-speed.
While Lou’s Fairlady Z was being torn down, Rob had been daily-driving his Monte Carlo Red (#905) 1970 Series 1 S30. Rob had this car for a few years and every time Lou saw it he would hound Rob to sell it to him. Here is the low vin (6143) S30 back when Rob acquired it, before a cut and buff, stock hubcaps and refreshening:
Lou finally acquired Monte Carlo from Rob. While the Fairlady Z sat in storage Lou was driving around in the bone-stock Monte Carlo. We thought, why not take the pieces in storage and upgrade Monte Carlo? ZCG went to work and transferred all of the suspension, wheel/tires and Big-Brakes from the Fairlady Z to Monte Carlo:
Lou has our ZCG Big-Brake kit. Not to be confused with our current Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), this Big-Brake kit was our initial setup from over a decade ago. This 328mm sized kit requires 17″ diameter wheels and the massive ST-42 calipers are finished in bright red. We actually did all the R&D in-house for this setup…using a 280ZX master cylinder and our own mounting brackets. Full suspension (Coil-overs) and ZCG Big-Brakes F/R replace OEM parts:
Another look at those massive ZCG Big-Brakes!
The 280z 2.8L engine received a 5-speed transmission with new clutch/flywheel.
5-speed transmission fitment required trimming the shifter area as early cars came with 4-speeds:
While the Z was on the lift we also addressed a few engine bay items like a new brake booster:
The interior also got attention with nicer, complete seats from our parts supply. The original seats were badly torn:
The resulting transformation is impressive. From a stock, early series 1 Z to a hot rod with killer brakes, suspension and footwork that is familiar to Lou. We know these upgrades to Monte Carlo will keep him Enjoying The Ride while his Fairlady Z gets built.
We love Lou’s passion for Z’s and he is a Z car fanatic. Thanks for letting us work on Monte Carlo!
Long Live The Z!
More pictures in the gallery
Kassem L hails from San Francisco and he brought his 370z to Z Car Garage because he was having warranty issues with the dealership. After some some discussion and guidance we installed a new clutch and transmission. For piece of mind the troublesome internal slave cylinder was switched to an external unit using the CMAK upgrade from ZSpeed. We went through the car and fixed all the little things missed by the dealership when they did a warrantied replacement engine (replaced b/c of oil-burning issue). Minor items like re-learning the windows and parking adjustment were comped.
Kassem visited ZCG again for suspension upgrades. We installed HKS 4GT coil-overs, SPC F/R control arms, and a Hotchkis sway bar set:
SPC front/rear control arms. After suspension installation we aligned the car and changed the oil:
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Kassem was going for a very JDM feel/build and chose his modifications accordingly. We installed an HKS intake system and the Power House Amuse R1 Titan Extra STTI full titanium exhaust system:
More exhaust details:
HKS Racing Suction twin intakes replace OEM units:
After the coil- over suspension was installed Kassem came back in to have the car lowered just a bit more. We handled this for him as well and the Z looks fantastic sitting over pretty Volk Racing G25 wheels and Bridgestone RE-11 tires:
Enjoy The Ride, Kassem!
