Shop Talk for
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Steve S’ 2007 Infiniti G35 is for sale. This is a 500whp+ fully loaded sports coupe that has been built and maintained by ZCG. Interested? Check it out in our FOR SALE section:
2007 Vortech Superchaged Infiniti G35
Ken S’ 1991 300zx Twin Turbo is for sale. This is a beautiful, powerful and well-maintained Z32 with extensive upgrades ready for its new owner! Interested? Check it out in our FOR SALE section:
1992 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo
On Sunday we attended Cars & Coffee at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA. Hosted every first Sunday of the month since the New Year, turnout continues to be phenomenal with impressive cars. Our dear friend Ken P. has been a regular at this gathering with his supercharged Datsun Roadster but Sunday’s event would be his last one before moving out of state. As one last hurrah to Ken we assembled a bunch of Datsuns to park together.
We left the shop at 6am with a brisk pace headed to Danville. Enjoying the Ride in our eight-car caravan was Rob’s ’67 2000, Kurt’s ’70 Datsun SPL, my ‘67.5 SPL, Matt’s Datsun 510 wagon, Andy’s 1971 240z, Tom’s APS G35, Kurt I’s C5 Z06, and Lou’s R32 Skyline GT-R:
Arriving in Blackhawk just before 7am was indeed mandatory to secure parking as cars were already lining up at the entrance. Thankfully Ken and Dave P taped off a section just for Datsuns, and the showing was great with more roadsters, Z’s and 510s!
Francis ’67 SPL, Ken’s supercharged SRL, my ’67 SPL and Dave P’ ’67 2000:
Matt D’s 510 wagon and Matt G’s KA-T 510 two-door:
S30’s were in strong attendance, both in our corral and scattered through the lot. From mild to wild flavors it was great to see everything from Z32 TT’s to S130’s.
I spotted even more Z-cars lurking in adjacent lots, but this one really stood out with a freshly restored vibe and pretty white/red color combo:
Even more JDM gems hiding in the lots like this FD RX-7, first and third generation Toyota Celica’s:
Ultra-clean 2JZ powered Toyota SC300 and modded Genesis:
We were blown away at the variety of awesome machinery at Cars & Coffee. From exotics to muscle cars and literally everything in between we had a wonderful time perusing each aisle. Here were a few highlights for me, and don’t forget to cruise our extensive picture gallery below!
A Fiat 850 and 1200 Cabriolet, the latter shares some styling elements with a Datsun Roadster!
Craziest engine swap: A 1936 Ford Pickup with an insane supercharged 5.4 modular drivetrain:
The Aston Martin club was the featured marque with stunning examples:
We love muscle cars! Simply mouth-watering cars from GM, Ford and Mopar:
Movie cars like this “Bandit” Trans AM and two(!) Deloreans:
Oh, and lots of modern/supercars too, if you’re into that kind of stuff 🙂
Big thanks to CNC Blackhawk and Dave P for arranging parking for our Datsuns. We want to thank all of our friends who made the trip too, the ride back home was a blast!
Ken, we wish you luck and great Roadster weather in Seattle, “DATSTER” will be missed!
Dan J is the owner of this gorgeous 2015 GT-R. The numbers are impressive: Zero to 60 mph in under three seconds; a top speed of 196 mph; 545 horsepower courtesy of a hand-built 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 assembled in a clean room so high-tech that those fleeing scientists on the silver screen would kill to have one. This beast has also been finished in premium Regal Red paint embedded with 24-karat gold flakes! We think it is mesmerizing under varying light conditions:
Combined with an Ivory interior this R35 exudes a level of refinement and luxury not typically seen on earlier models:
Sidenote: I met Dan in December ’14 while helping his neighbor with a Datsun Roadster. Dan kindly let me park the 510 next his GT-R and I might have mentioned how we love them at ZCG 🙂
So what does one do with such a beautiful sportscar? Add more power, of course! Dan came to us for a full AMS Alpha 7 package installation.
The package includes:
Let’s start with the exhaust and a closer look at the new mid-pipes and down pipes:
OEM vs Alpha downpipes:
Mid-pipe:
Completing the system is the HKS Legamax exhaust. Fresh from the box, compared to the OEM system:
Great, OEM-like fit with factory underbody Aero:
Looks fantastic here and sounds even better!
Underhood, better breathing is achieved through larger intakes and K&N air filters. Stealth black tubing is nice touch:
Rounding out intake mods is a larger Alpha front mount intercooler. It boasts 75% more internal flow area over stock and direct bolt-in/no cutting fitment! It doesn’t hurt to have the “Alpha” logo peeking through the front bumper too:
Fueling demands are met by larger 1000cc injectors:
How do all these mods add up to increase power? To find out we strapped the red beauty to the dyno:
Utilizing the CobbAccessPORT V3 for tuning we saw peak gains of 80hp/86tq for a total of 577hp/562tq to the wheels. The dyno plot reveals tremendous gains from 2500rpm to redline. For example at 4000rpm the GT-R is now making 560tq vs 460tq stock!
Dan’s GT-R was already blindingly quick from the factory and now it has even more power to enjoy while maintaining its Regal composure. Thank you for bringing your R35 to Z Car Garage! More pictures to enjoy in the gallery below.
For folks that live in the US, it’s hard to imagine a bigger piece of forbidden automotive fruit than the Nissan Skyline. The Skyline has never been sold in the United States, yet it’s still managed to develop a fanbase and aura that can easily rival the best foreign or domestic metal. Most of us are familiar with classic Skylines and modern GT-Rs, but the DR30 you see above is still relatively unknown among non-JDM lovers. Reid B. scored this lovely red Skyline 2000 RS-Turbo almost four years ago.
The pillarless windows, angular body shape and killer graphics package create an unmistakable 80’s vibe. We love it!
Soon after Reid purchased the DR he started making it his own while preserving the classic OEM goodness. He brought the car to us initially for a dyno and tune after noting that the Skyline had a flat spot in mid-range power delivery. When we inspected the car we found the front suspension was severely rubbing on the tires and this was addressed first. We installed Techno Toy Tuning (T3) coil-overs with custom springs, RCA’s, Energy Suspension T/C rod bushings and AGX shocks:
Although Reid was hoping to fit a 215-width tire up front the DR now sports 225/50/16 Yokohama S-Drive tires at all four corners with great clearance. Watanabe wheels look so right on these!
This being a 1983 model, it sports Nissan’s legendary FJ20ET powerplant underhood. Reid was concerned about potential fuel delivery problems and our A/F monitoring revealed lean conditions under load. We discovered a failed fuel-pressure regulator and our solution was to replace and modify a 280zx fuel pump and FPR to fit. A new oxygen sensor was also installed.
Further inspection revealed over-boosting so we lowered the base boost rate with a lower pressure spring in the external wastegate. Dyno results were great and we’re happy to report the DR makes more power at less boost now! Baseline numbers were 160hp/177tq and after 201hp/197tq to the wheels:
We liked working with Reid as he is the type of owner that wants to bring the car back to life the best he can. Z Car Garage lives for reviving Japanese classics and hearing our customers satisfied with their cars keeps us going. Listen to Reid’s impressions after picking the DR30 up:
Rob,
So the drive home was awesome. I still cant believe it. I didn’t get to drive it to work today but tomorrow for sure. I could drive 80 and then roll on the gas and it would just go and not want to stop. The new front suspension makes the car drive so much better, it doesn’t feel like it rides on cut springs. I drove the car from Newark to Roseville and it was awesome going from 75-95. I could roll on the gas it would start boost and just keep going. I feel like when I am driving now that I am holding the car back cause it just wants to go and go. I am still in awe.
Reid
Enjoy The Ride, Reid and thank you for giving us the pleasure of working on your Skyline!
