Paul P recently relocated to Northern California from Texas and also brought along his cherished 1994 Nissan (B13) Sentra.  After the Sentra was brought over from Texas, he began researching for the best Nissan performance shop locally to perform an engine swap that he’d been dreaming about for years. Although Z Car Garage is primarily a Z-car shop, Paul’s passion, enthusiasm, and willingness to make his Sentra keep up with our Z’s 🙂 inspired us to take on the project.

  

Paul’s Sentra came from the factory with a GA16DE but his dream engine was the SR16VE found in the Japanese-market Sunny and Pulsar. The “VE” designation and “NEO VVL” badging on the cam cover indicate Nissan’s variable valve timing system. This allows independent engagement of both intake and exhaust cams for a flatter, more consistent power band. We installed the engine using JGY mounts, axles, and Nistronics tuning. Mishimoto radiator/fans handle cooling, while a Stage 3.5 Clutch Master clutch and lightweight flywheel put power through the 5-speed.

 

Here she is all buttoned up and ready to rock:

 

On the dyno, we saw peak numbers of 122hp/99tq at the wheels with power all the way to 7800rpm:

 

 

Paul  has been running the Sentra at SCCA autocross events and it makes us happy to see him having a good time while improving his times.

“Rob and his team at Z Car Garage did a phenomenal job in taking on this build and executing it to perfection. This project was well worth it and every time I am behind the wheel, a big grin always appears on my face and a rush of excitement overwhelms by body.”

 

 

His suspension setup consists of Tein superstreet coilovers all around, Tein pillowball camber mounts up front, Cusco front strut tower bar, Octotat Triangular rear strut tower bars, TWM short shifter and weighted knob and B14 SE-R wheels all around. We approve.

What’s next for the project? Paul wants to install bolt-on performance adders.

“One thing I like is to keep her all motor, no turbo, and continue to be that underdog/sleeper, for a 1994 Nissan Sentra.”

 

We are proud to report that the VVL swap has performed flawlessly from driving to and from track events and running errands. Go Get ‘Em Paul!

 

 

 

 

Jimmy V came to Z Car Garage with his 2012 Infiniti G37 Sedan, aptly named the “GNTLMN Z”. Jimmy and Rob discussed options for the best exhaust system, tuning and suspension. We got him dialed in with a Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust system using 18″ resonators and 2.5″ piping, Motordyne ART pipes, and Hotchkis sway bars:

   

Stock vs Fast Intentions exhaust system:

  

ART Pipes:

 

Jimmy wanted to see dyno results before/after with no tuning at this time. With Stillen Gen3 intakes already installed we baselined at 301hp/250tq and 315hp/256tq to the wheels with the new exhaust components:

 

You can watch a video of the dyno run (and see more pictures) of Jimmy’s G on his Instagram account linked below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHvaDxQDwHv/?hl=en

 

Here are the Hotchkis bars installed, front stock(Left):

 

 Rear:

 

We also installed a new battery in his key fob and GNTLMN Z was off to Enjoy The Ride. Thanks for coming to ZCG Jimmy, and we like how your G has progressed!

Our friend Patrick Chio continues to race in the US Touring Car Championship (USTCC) with his Nissan 350z that we’ve helped prepare. The events are televised on Final Drive TV with some great commentary and white-knuckle action! Check out Patrick’s report from the last three events here:

2016 UTSCC Report

You can see more of Patrick’s racing history and ZCG car prep HERE. Good luck Patrick you make us proud!

 

In 2011, the engine inside the “Gimlet” was tired. The owner, Kevin, wanted to keep the 2.4L block that came with his 240z so we built a 2.7L using his existing block. This is a Rebello specialty for customers that want to keep their L24 block.

 

The engine/transmission were removed and prepped:

 

We installed a JWT aluminum flywheel and HD clutch:

 

Engine re-assembly time!

  

 

The triple Webers were re-jetted for the 2.7L:

   

A new tach tach adaptor so his tachometer would work with new ignition items like the MSD box:

   

We bring up this build from 2011 because we recently saw Kevin for the first time and in the 5 years that’s elapsed he put 3500 miles on the Z. C’mon Kev, you gotta Enjoy The Ride and put some real miles on her!  Here is the 2.7L all buttoned up and back in the Gimlet:

 

This time we refreshed the clutch hydraulics, fixed a couple of things in the suspension and performed an alignment.  Long Live The Z!

 

We had a very impressive turnout of ZCG customers and friends at the Wednesday Night Fun drags 8/3! Rob was running his 300zx Twin-Turbo and despite very warm temps pulled a 11.5 @ 125mph with a 1.8 60-ft.

Josh and Andy drove their  VW Bug and Mazda RX-4 Wagon, respectively:

 

Phan ran his sweet NSX pulling a quick 14.2:

 

This RD Engineering R35 ran a 9.90 @ 149mph!

 

 

Rasheed B’s recently twin-turbo’d 2015 Nismo 370z ran a 12.8:

 

John T and his 300zx Twin-Turbo made it all the way to finals and won a trophy for Runner-Up! Way to go John!

 

 

This was Carlos S’ first time at the drags with his 2015 R35 GT-R. He made a fantastic pass of 10.74 @ 129mph run! Unfortunately this resulted in Carlos being kicked off the track:( Next time!

 

 

Come out with us next time for the Wednesday Night Fun drags as it is certainly an experience that all enthusiasts can appreciate!