Summer is here and we all know that Datsuns Are Driven! I’ve been seeing more classic cars on the road in this beautiful weather and it feels like Datsun owners are coming out of the woodwork. I drove my Datsun to work the other day and on the way home spotted this tennis ball green 240z:
I took some local roads to avoid traffic and I was at a stoplight when a Datsun roadster drove right past me! I crossed three lanes to catch up and got behind it at the light. I was very excited to stop and chat with the owner. I assumed he’d pull over but he didn’t so I followed him thinking how terrible am I for being a stalker . That roadster scooted! I had to know what was under the hood.
I followed him all the way to his home and turns out it’s his grandfather’s roadster. He said it’s the only car that made him enjoy driving! It is a ’66 SPL.
He popped the hood open and there was a 1600 engine with dual Mikuni 40’s!!! He made the linkage himself and also fabricated a nifty cold air intake/airbox!
Then I started noticing little details here and there like this oil cooler, elcctronic distributor, water tower conversion, Auto-Meter gauges and split-bumpers!
So get out there and drive your Datsun, you never know what other Datsun owners you may find on the road!
ZCarGarage has plenty of upcoming project updates to share with you so keep checking the blog! Here is Rob with a report on a sleek, twin-turbocharged Infiniti G37 coupe:
Matt and Josiah are cousins in a family filled with Nissans and Infinitis. Matt had owned lots of American muscle cars and bought the G37 since it had a great combination of performance yet refined ride and style. The power wasn’t enough though…we have all been there! Matt and Josiah came to ZCG to meet with me and discuss options for increasing the G’s output. We came up with a plan consisting of a GTM Twin Turbo Kit (Stage 2) to make sure we had room to grow should the need arise.
The kit installation was smooth and GTM really makes a high quality package. Note the heat shields that hide the exhaust manifolds and the large front mount intercooler that fits beautifully behind the factory bumper:
With the kit installed, the engine bay appears almost stock with only the polished intake pipes deviating from the tame look . There isn’t much to indicate the magnitude of force-fed power that is now being produced 🙂 On the ZCG dyno the Stage 2 kit turned the rollers to the tune of 428rwhp/369tq!
To keep the newfound power “under the radar” we mounted the Defi link gauge setup in the sunglass holder and out of plain sight:
The G37 is now an entirely different machine with the added power and torque and we know that Matt is enjoying his new Japanese super coupe!
You can see more pictures of the build below: …[read more]
Lou S is the owner of this right-hand drive 240z that got the full ZCarGarage performance suspension treatment last year shown HERE. With the handling and footwork sorted the Fairlady has received several improvements that add to both the driving experience and aesthetics.
The Z’s vinyl seats had seen better days with a few rips and tears so new Recaro LXF seats were installed. These are some of the best seats for your Z and a huge improvement over the stock pieces in terms of comfort and grip…letting Lou take advantage of that grippy new suspension!
Another upgrade to the interior was the steering wheel. The tuner-ish “D” shaped wheel was replaced by one of the best period-looking units on the market today: The MOMO Prototipo. I love this steering wheel:
The Fairlady’s tired chrome bumpers got replaced with brand new show-quality pieces and for a cleaner look the over-riders were not installed.: …[read more]
It is always great to hear stories from original Z-car owners. Joe A came to ZCarGarage to restore his 1974 260z after 36 years of ownership! He had become familiar with ZCG through our local club, ZONC. After carefully inspecting the car, Rob and Joe sat down and discussed several procedures that would update and improve the car. They decided on a complete engine rebuild with tuned exhaust, and removing all smog devices since the car was over 35 years old.
Here are a few pictures of the engine bay after removing the drivetrain:
The engine was rebuilt with a mild cam and dyno results showed nice gains of 23 rwhp and 13tq!
The engine bay and underhood had to look just as beautiful as the body so William painted everything back to the original exterior color. ZCG provided zinc plating and powdercoating services under the hood and all wiring harnesses were redone:
Here is Joe with a few words on how the Z became part of his life:
“It was January of 1969 and I had just been discharged from the Air Force. …[read more]
It brings me great joy to share this with you because it marks a major chapter in one of the most epic Z car builds I have witnessed. ZCarGarage is building this Datsun 240z for Gary S and it is affectionately called the “Behemoth”. If you are not familiar with this project just click HERE for past updates on paint, suspension, drivetrain, brakes, etc.
The stroked RB28 drivetrain was mocked up and test fitted into Gary’s Behemoth. The engine now resides in Rob’s GoGreen 240z for break-in and tuning before going back to that lovely black engine bay:
Here are some quick videos I shot of the car in action. Turn up the volume, you won’t be disappointed! And if I may, please allow me to personally describe the music this motor makes. To me the sound is very distinctive and exotic. It is loud, nasty and ferocious on start-up and idle. It reminds me of a BRE 240z with those twice pipes cackling, only this RB28 sounds much deeper in tone. It totally contrasts with the smooth, buttery noise produced when cruising. Only Nissan inline-6s sound this way. And that turbo whistling as you roll into the throttle…absolutely intoxicating. When the car shuts down one can actually hear the turbo still spinning through the exhaust!
Enjoy!
