Two rather large Nissan trucks came to ZCG for some tuning! Here is Rob with the story:
Linda N is wife and partner in crime to Mark. Mark is a long time Datsun Rocker and has owned plenty of Datsuns including an IMSA turbo Z, Datsun 510s, 620 Truck. He still has his 510 from when he was 16 and built a turbocharged L-series motor for it. He also has a daily driver 510 with a KA24DE and A/C!
Enough about Mark, back to Linda. This Datsun family uses the Armada to haul the kids and pets around town while Mark has all the Datsuns torn down in various stages of modification.
Linda was asking me what we could do to give her Armada some extra kick. I suggested the UPREV software. She dropped the V8 powered SUV off at ZCG. Vlad helped me strap it down on the rollers of our DYNOJET 224 LC and we got some baseline runs before tuning.
We were impressed with the results: gains of 17hp/29tq at the wheels…not bad for a truck with 130,000 miles and just an intake! Linda is very happy and reports that along with power and torque increase she is also seeing better gas mileage.
More Nissan Family Madness: Nick’s QX56
Nick is the brother of Matt, you may remember his G37TT, the quest for performance runs strong in the family! Nick brought in his QX56 for some service work and we starting talking cars…next thing you know we ordered a Stillen intake and stainless Magnaflow cat-back exhaust.
Icing on the cake came in the form of some UPREV tuning. On the test drive I could see that performance smile that runs in the family. Nick called me the next day to tell me the QX56 feels like a new machine. The exhaust and intake are just the right amount of rumble and you can see from the DYNO graph below that the power and torque is increased everywhere:
The Nissan hard-drive in my head started buzzing after this exciting few days of SUV madness…VK56DE powered Datsun 510 Stationwagon, anyone?
As soon as Rob told me “It’s here” over the phone I jumped in my Datsun and drove as quickly as possible to ZCG. So what’s all the fuss? Gary S recently acquired a ’71 Skyline 2000 GT and had it shipped overseas from Yokohama, Japan! You might remember Gary from his black BEHEMOTH RB28 240z, and 500whp black G35, and now this black Skyline!
The car is in great condition and will get some ZCG love in the next few weeks. It came fairly modified with suspension and cosmetic upgrades. I absolutely love the way these models have so much character. The pillar-less windows are incredible and make side-profile views sleek. The GT-R style flares are a must especially with larger wheel/tire combos like the Watanabes that the previous owner ran. Gotta love those beefy BFGs in back….
I have never sat in one of these cars, and it is a fantastic interior… …[read more]
Geri R first came to ZCG in November of 2009. She has owned this pretty 1974 Datsun 260z for over 30 years and never had a dedicated Z-car shop work on it. The car needed specific Z parts and some TLC that ZCarGarage is always willing to provide. Geri’s goal was to make the Z totally dependable and more enjoyable for long roadtrips down to LA.
A complete rebuild of the suspension was performed, both front and rear. Along the way a laundry list of items were replaced or refurbished including:
-New factory Tach
-Battery cables
-New factory fuel pump
-Hard to find factory transmission speedo cable
-Gear reduction starter
-Fuel hoses
-A/C system converted to r134
On to the suspension rebuild! After parts were removed the underbody was undercoated and all nuts/bolts were zinc plated:
Every major suspension part was powdercoated. Geri found the stock suspension to be a bit on the soft side with lots of body-roll so Tokico shocks with slightly firmer/shorter springs, and sway bars were installed to stiffen the ride:
Check out the before/after pics with the freshly powdercoated a-arms, T/C rods, subframes, zinc’d hardware…it’s so clean!
New ball joints were also installed:
Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 4:00 pm on August 21, 2011
Everyone had a great time at Laguna Seca on Saturday. We had a great turnout at ZCarGarage for the morning caravan to the races with 15 cars. It was definitely exciting to drive down the freeway with more than a dozen Datsuns/Nissans!
When we arrived at ‘Seca ZONC had already setup the corral with coffee/donuts and Ann even procured our Laguna Seca souvenirs, thanks Ann! There were 27 cars in our corral, a great showing for sure! Here are few cars that caught my eye. This blue RHD 240z was gorgeous with a “twice-pipe” exhaust system and Rebello motor that dyno’d at 240rwhp!
Scott S recently added an APR rear spoiler to Green Machine for more downforce on road courses…we will report on its performance soon. Dan M drove his beautiful orange 240z that now has twin-SU carbs replacing the triple-mikuni setup.
How cool is this IMSA-inspired Z? This was the owner’s first time at Datsun gathering, thanks for showing this flared beast!
Here is a very a sexy Z32TT that we will feature soon, and Will C’s Datsun Roadster :
The various car corrals were filled with plenty of vintage metal. We checked out a few cars before touring the paddock. Jaguar was the featured marque, so the main corral was filled with E-types galore. Who knows, maybe Datsun will be here one day 🙂 …[read more]
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