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High Octane: Ray’s SMZ

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 2:32 am on January 19, 2015


Ray has been with Z Car Garage for several years and owns this limited production SMZ 300zx Twin-Turbo. In 2008 we did a fully built engine with 740cc injectors, JWT dual POP, full 3″ exhaust and mild porting.

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With 15k miles on the build, the intake cam sprocket was wearing out due to the Sport 500 cams. Luckily there is BDE Performance who specializes in improving Z32 parts. They have rebuilt VTC intake cam pulleys that are designed to eliminate the noise/wear that comes when running the stock units with aftermarket valve springs/hotter cams. BDE also offers a fully adjustable exhaust cam pulley for the first time.

Intake VTC(L) and adjustable exhaust pulley:


Stock(L) and after both pulleys are installed:

 

This was our first time using the BDE parts and dyno tuning was much easier with the new cam pulleys. On 91 octane we made 462hp/384tq to the wheels:


Ray’s SMZ also features beautiful VOLK GT-7 wheels, TEIN coil-overs, Powertrix T/C rods and Brembo brakes.  The Steve Millen aero really has aged well over time…We love it!

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Ray was enjoying his Z for many miles but like most of us he wanted even more power.  Since his SMZ wasn’t a dedicated daily-driver Ray was ready to make the jump to 100 octane! In preparation for more power we installed a Selin dual MAF translator, Ash-spec inlet piping, and BDE motor mounts.

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We dyno-tuned on 100 octane and made 563hp/506tq to the wheels at 19lbs boost. This was a healthy gain of 101hp/116tq from the 91 octane tune!

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This isn’t an ordinary SMZ. With 650hp on tap Ray should be very happy. Breathe in that 100 octane and Enjoy The Ride!

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A Different Z: Hilton’s Camaro ZL1

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:36 am on January 18, 2015

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John B referred his buddy Hilton to Z Car Garage for dyno services on his 2012 Camaro ZL1. Chevy’s latest and most powerful incarnation of the Camaro comes from the factory with 580hp/556tq at the crank from its supercharged V8.

How will she do on the ZCG dyno? Hilton’s ZL1 has only the following mods:  a Rotofab cold-air intake and SOLO high- flow cats. The beast was weighed in at our favorite trusty scale: 4160lbs! Yes, that’s significantly heavier than our beloved GT-R.

 

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The Camaro made 522hp/502tq to the wheels. Look at the power delivery with over 450lb-ft. of torque from 2500rpm to redline!

Hilton Camaro
Here is a video of several dyno runs:




Matt’s Datsun 510

Filed under: 510,Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 1:20 am on January 16, 2015

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Matt A bought his first Datsun 510 at the age of 14 and he’s been hooked ever since. Having owned around ten 510s in various stages since he was a teenager it’s safe to say Matt is a die-hard Datsun enthusiast. We’ve known him from the days of the famous All-Datsun Meet at Mt. Shasta (over a decade ago) and now he’s got this beautiful 510 that we are really impressed with.

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Matt visited Z Car Garage earlier this week to dyno his KA24-powered Dime. Before we show you the results let’s take a brief look at the car’s interesting history. In 2010 Matt purchased the 510 from Marty Smith (of 510garage.com fame) and it was a nice shade of teal. Matt loved the car but couldn’t get the Rebello 2150cc and Mikuni’s to run at their best.

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Wanting all the benefits of a modern driveline Matt decided to swap in a KA24DE and go through the entire car from paint/body to chassis/interior. The car was completely re-wired with a new fuse block and the KA was rebuilt before installation. Matt finished the interior himself and he is now going through the suspension and brakes to freshen things up. Car has a few goodies like coil-overs on all four corners, full cage,  4:11 LSD with CV axles, and Wilwood brakes.

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Here is the Dime on our dyno followed by a short video:

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The stock KA with intake/exhaust/header made great power! 156hp/162tq to the wheels with over 140tq from 2500 to 6000rpm:

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We wonder how much power could be gained from a tune as the KA runs a bone stock ECU. Matt is on the fence about leaving it NA or going turbo. Either way but we look forward to seeing his 510 again soon. Enjoy The Ride Matt and thanks for making our day!




Track Day: Laguna Seca 1/25 with SpeedSF

Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 12:55 am on January 9, 2015

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Our friends at SpeedSF are running another great track day at Laguna Seca on Sunday,  January 25. We love running our cars with these folks and they go above and beyond to make sure you get tons of track time! In addition to the road course they are also hosting an all-day Auto-X in the paddock for only $50!

Full Track :

  • Five 20mins Session , 4 Run Groups, (Advance, High Intermediate, Low Intermediate, Beginner w/ Instructor)
  • All cars welcome with different level of experience groups.
  • Optional Time Trail Series (Sunday Only): Speed SF Challenge, compare your lap time with other drivers in your class.
  • Single Driver $200 /day

Auto-X :

  • ALL Day Auto-Cross at MRLS in the Paddock, unlimited runs, (50 entries Max!)
  • 9am-4:30pm
  • 20-30min sessions
  • 2 run groups
  • All cars welcome, no suvs
  • No timing, this is a practice only event
  • 90 db Only
  • Single Driver $50

More details at SpeedSF.com!

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1,750hp Cruise: Fun Run Pictures 1/3/15

Filed under: Events,Featured Cars and Projects
by Alvin G @ 2:37 am on January 4, 2015

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How do you start the New Year off on the right foot? Drive your Nissan/Datsun! Today I joined Rob and Lou for a nice drive through the South Bay foothills. Rob and shop dog Kane drove the 820hp ZCG 300zx Twin Turbo, Lou drove his 470hp R32 Skyline GT-R and I drove the 460hp Datsun 510.

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Our route included stops at both Uvas and Calero Reservoirs with a nice mix of long sweeping curves and windy, single lane farmland roads with picturesque bridge crossings:

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At Uvas Reservoir we met a nice gentelman and his tubbed ’66 Chevelle:

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Before departing we made our final stop to admire just how “right” Lou’s R32 looks with the new VOLK TE37SL wheels. Amazing car!

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We hope you can enjoy driving your car in 2015. Follow the blog and Facebook for upcoming fun runs!

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Click after the jump for more pictures!
…[read more]




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