Today’s post concerns another meaningful 280zx restoration that we are undertaking right now.  This car started it’s life as a normal ZX but was put under the knife to receive extensive modifications almost immediately.  It is now a collector’s item and a truly special car to the Z faithful.

This car runs a vintage “blow through” turbocharged and intercooled 3.1L engine that breathes through Mikuni 44mm carburetors.  It is truly a unique setup that allowed Jim Cook to make great power even with the limited technology available at the time.

This car is soon to be under attack from the ZCG assembly crew as we have just received a slew of parts from our powder and ceramic facilities.  Expect to see some posts on this project in the next few weeks as things come together.

There are more pictures and more background info on the 280zx Turbo after the “read more.”  The owner was also gracious enough to gather some information on the car and Jim Cook himself and send it in to us here at zcarblog.com

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We do quite a few restorations here at Z Car Garage but this one holds a special place in our heart and I would like to share it with all of you.  This 280zx has been a few years in the making and will be coming to a close soon once a couple of the nearly impossible to find parts are sourced.

Most of the parts that we are still searching for have been out of production for a decade, so you can see why this has taken some considerable effort to close out.  Almost all of the interior pieces needed to be repaired and redyed to match the new dash and the newly upholstered seats, but no expense has been spared to get the highest quality items available.  As these parts slowly trickle in from around the country (and world) the car is being re-assembled to better than original condition.

I have over a thousand pictures that have been taken over the course of this project so here are a few of the significant ones that show what lengths we have gone through to make it one of the cleanest restorations around.   It has truly been a labor of love to restore this car and it will be a sad day when it gets delivered to its owners once again.  I hope that they will enjoy it once completed as much as we have while building it for them.

Click on the pictures for the full-size and click the read more for more…

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We were up at the paint shop today and I grabbed a few photos that Rob took while there.  As you can see the entire engine bay is being smoothed out to match the paint quality of the exterior of the car.  All unnecessary holes have been filled in the entire engine bay along with the battery tray on the passenger side of the engine compartment.  All welds that weren’t critical were smoothed as well to complete the look.   Bodywork is due to be completed in the next couple of weeks with paint beginning to be sprayed after New Years.  I really wish these pictures could show how sharp our paint shop has made the body-line,  words don’t due it justice.

I’ll try to get some pictures of the RB 2.8L engine up soon so that you can drool over that too.  Wheels and camshafts are on the slow boat from Japan and should be here fairly soon as well.   We can’t wait to see this car come together.  BOOOOOSSSTT!!!!

I’m also going to throw in some pictures of the car before it was torn apart and sent to the fabrication shop for the roll cage and then to paint.  (The roll bar in the photos is an old bolt-in.)

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I was finally able to go to the powerder-coater today to pick up the remaining parts for the Kurtzee RB project.  All of the parts were done in a high gloss black to make all of our hard work stand out.  The struts were shortened and we added a Ground Control coilover kit with custom spring rates to handle the added weight of the turbo RB.

Also seen here are some new pictures of the suspension that belongs to the Fairlady RB car.  It is done in a “near chrome” finish to pay respect to the silver suspension of the almighty Skyline GT-Rs of the past.

The black “Behemoth” 2.8L is set to come out of paint after the first of the year so get ready for some new photos of it in the near future.  These cars are going to start coming together really fast so expect to see some more updates relatively soon.  Z Car Justice!!

There are a few more photos after the jump.

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WOW!!  What can I say about this event?  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G…  period.   The cars were a huge hit with the entire crowd and it all went off without a hitch.  I am sure that 370Zs were sold to a few of the enthusiasts in attendance, WAY TO GO NISSAN for stepping up to the plate for such a great car.  The crew that travels with the cars were on top of their game the entire afternoon and were more than happy to answer questions as pose for pictures throughout.    What a great time.

There was always an activity going on to keep us entertained with the 370Z and we were able to dyno a few past and present Z cars to display the vast improvements that Nissan has made over the years.   I can’t wait to get our hands on one of the new 370Zs to experience the car in all of it’s glory.

There was great food and music all day and to cap it off some amazing prizes were raffled off to the lucky Z misfits in the crowd.  This is just one of the first stops of this cross country tour so I will encourage any and everyone to attend an event in their area, you’ll have the time of your life with the new 370z.

The Z Car Garage crew and our faithful friends will be making the trip to the next two stops and we would love it for all of you to join us.  We are leaving the shop around 8am tomorrow (Saturday) and are headed to Elk Grove Nissan in the Sacramento area.  Please meet up with us and share these great cars and good times.  See you soon!!  Keep rockin and LONG LIVE THE Z!!!

I will be on the next two legs of the tour in the ZCG twin-turbo G35 so expect loads more photos and probably a whole new gallery section of the blog to spring up very soon to handle all these images.  I have soooo many photos!!!   Check back often so that you don’t miss anyZthing!!

Below is a print out of the directions we will be taking tomorrow, click to enlarge and then JOINS US!

www.FollowTheNissanZ.com