We finished the relatively easy task of putting a modified 350z back to stock for starters last week.  This car came to us from another shop with a massive oil burning and smoking issue.  The car was running a built engine, GReddy TT, full fuel system, and so on.  It turns out that the other place believed that the turbos were the issue so the original set was trashed and two new sets were installed before the owner decided to bring the car to Z Car Garage.

The engine was disassembled and the inspection discovered that it had been subjected to massive detonation and was no good.  It was torn down and all good parts were saved for later use.  A stock engine with low miles was sourced and was installed.  The car ran great when delivered and most importantly the owner was happy.  The car went from being on the lift with no engine, trans, etc. to being a runner in less than a day.  Nice job Fred.

As for the turbo kit, it will be going on a built 3.8L VQ in a customer’s car that is from Tennessee.  It formerly had a custom built supercharger but we knew from the beginning that it would be getting turbos.  The car now features a fully built automatic transmission, rear end, and axles to accompany the rest of the drive train.  It was meant to be a brutal daily driver that will stand up to the abuse of back to back runs down the drag strip and it already features a nice set of Volk Racing SF Challenges for street duty and a four-wheel Rotora big brake kit.

The first two pictures below are of the car with the old supercharger setup.  The last one is of the engine running normally aspirated this morning before it was taken apart for the GRreddy twin turbo system.

…and finally this “morning”….

We should also be receiving the carbon fiber hatch back from our paint shop back today for a really trick twin turbo 350Z that we work on.  This car, seen above, was featured in D Sport magazine last year and it is truly something special.  Look for a full rundown on this car once this stage is completed.

More updates to come today.  I have a lot more to write about.  ZCG

I’m going to start this off with all the photos that somehow relate to ZCG and what we do here.  The next set of photos after the “read more” are going to be of other cool and not so cool things that were seen.

The show seemed to be smaller this year but maybe it was just the sense of imminent doom in the auto industry.  Spectator turnout was lower than normal for the weekend but Saturday afternoon was absolutely packed, maybe everyone carpooled?

Overall the event was a great sucess for us.  All of the stickers and most of the flyers would dissappear everytime we bent back to check on the cars.  We are spreading the word of the Z.  Thanks again to all the owners who loaned us their beautiful cars.

Click below for way more pics

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This car belongs to one of our good friends.  The accident happened this last weekend while out for a normal drive.  The owner stated that the back end just stepped out on a freeway on ramp.  The car then ended up rolling over and hitting a tree which caused the main damage to the roof and C-pillar on the driver side. The side curtain airbag did deploy and probably prevented more serious injuries.  Thank you technology.

I just want to note that the owner of this car is a very experienced driver and has years of track time under his belt and was not driving irresponsibly when this occurred.

We are all very thankful that our friend came out of this uninjured.  Hopefully he will pursue a new car in the future that he will allow us to modify for him.  There are more pictures after the “read more.”  Drive safely

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We received a large delivery of factory Nissan and one off custom parts from the owner a few days ago.  There is no doubt in my mind that this will be the nicest Z on the face of the planet when it is completed in early ’09.  Here’s a rundown on the newest arrivals:

New dash: The dash has been customized with a “Behemoth” badge to pay respect to the animal that this car is going to be.  The first of the three gauges in the center of the dash has been changed out to house a vintage looking boost gauge.  Two very nice touches in my book.
New door panels: These are one of many hard to find new interior parts, not cheap either.
New side markers and lenses: new in box and super clean
Switchgear for the steering column: new, doesn’t get any better
All sorts of relays and unseen parts: all new unseen parts that make all the difference in a build like this.

AND…. Finally….all the way from Japan….

TOMEI CAMSHAFTS!!! It’s always a good feeling when you open a box and see tons of crumpled newspaper that is entirely in Japanese.  We have been waiting on these for some time and will now be able to finish the stroked RB28 for this build.  You can see the specs by clicking on the photo below.  Please hold the applause because I will post some more photos of the engine when it is completed.  Thank you for your patience.

We should be expecting a paint update sometime next week once the after-new-year’s reality check rolls in.  Check back.

There are a few more pictures after the read more…

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Unfortunately the Z Car Garage twin-turbo G35 was hit while at a dead stop on US 101 last Tuesday night.  Please do not talk (or text) and drive. The damage to the bumper is obvious but what is underneath is far worse.  As you can see from the photos the main bumper crash structure is completely destroyed along with the bumper support.  The car was hit hard enough that the exhaust was pushed forward and a few of the brackets were broken.  Now we have an exhaust leak and we are hoping that the turbos and manifolds are not damaged.

Don’t worry though, this is somewhat good news!!  We have been wanting to get rid of the tiny 2.25″ Injen system for a long time now and we finally have a reason (and someone else to pay for it!)  Now the plan is to make our own custom system out of 3″ stainless steel.  As far as downpipes are concerned, we were going to use the 3.5″ APS units but there is a chance that we will be making something of our own design here too!!

No decision has been made yet on what rear bumper we are going to run yet (stock or aftermarket) so if you have any suggestions leave a comment and I will look into it.   Hopefully this will be a blessing in disguise and the car will be returned to it’s previous glory as soon as possible.  I’ll put up another post when repairs/mods begin!!