At Z Car Garage we love to help people find the right Z. When our friend and fellow Datsun nut Eric G asked if we could help advertise his Z and find a good home for it, naturally we obliged! Eric owns several Japanese sports cars including a nice Datsun Roadster and this 1973 S30 was his autocross/drift daily driver:

 

This isn’t an ordinary Z though as it hides a complete 280ZX Turbo drivetrain swap including the L28ET, BW T5 tranny, R200 rear end and full disc brakes!

 

Old school Recaros inside the clean interior and a straight, metallic blue body make it a great driver. Rob thought this was a great fit for his friend in Georgia,  James A.

 

Before shipping the car across the country Rob modified the old-school wastegate acuator to allow a modest increase in boost. This resulted in +20hp/19tq to the wheels:

 

Loaded up…Georgia bound and ready to stay in the Datsun family!

 

We are happy to report the Z successfully made it to Georgia and James is already Enjoying The Ride!

 

 

Alan E is a long time customer of Z Car Garage and started his boost habit in 2009 by Vortech supercharging his G35. It wasn’t long though before he realized that stopping this relatively heavy, 500hp beast with tired stock brakes may not be the best idea.  As you readers may notice, we have installed several  OEM 370z/G37 Akebono-based brake kits on older chassis Z/G cars. This setup is a great alternative to the existing BBK players out there like Stoptech/Brembo/AP, etc.

 

Larger than stock, vented Stoptech rotors help shed heat for repeated fade-free braking. Stoptech vs OEM G35 rotors (rear) shown:

 

The calipers look great behind Volk SF Challenge wheels:

Better braking capacity to reign in that grin-inducing power plus good looks!

 

 

Jaques G was referred to Z Car Garage his co-workers at Apple. Last month he visited us for suspension/wheels and came back for Stillen intakes and an UPREV tune. Handling was improved with a few common upgrades like stiffer Eibach springs, Hotchkis sway bars and SPC control arms to keep alignment in check:

 

A nice braking upgrade is the OEM G37 S caliper setup. We installed these Akebono units on Stoptech rotors all around:

 

Front OEM vs big calipers:

 

Absolutely beautiful 19″  WedsSport SA55M wheels encase the calipers well.

 

These wheels are finished in matte grey have a more concave face for the rear…very handsome additions to the G.

 

Jacques wanted a little more power so we installed Stillen intakes followed by UPREV tuning.

 

The intake alone was good for +10hp but no significant gain in peak tq. Note, however nice gains in low and high rev ranges. UPREV tuning yielded an additional 4hp/6tq for total of 298hp/240tq to the wheels. Shown below are the gains from baseline to intake to UPREV:

 

 
Finally, the G was up for smog and it passed with flying colors. Jaques’ G37 is now a sharp looking corner-carver!

 

James Z (seriously, “Z”!) is a new customer and came to Z Car Garage while searching for a shop to install all of his bolt-ons purchased through the web. We installed an ARK exhaust and Stillen intakes on his 2013 Z34:

 

OEM vs ARK GRiP cat-back exhaust system:

The road view showing the “burnt” tips:

 

Stillen Intakes:

 

To make the most from intake/exhaust additions Rob UPREV tuned the Z with gains of +15hp/8tq resulting in 315hp/258tq to the wheels. Note the flatter torque curve in addition to increased hp all the way to redline:

 

We also installed a personal touch to the interior with these lighted “Z” kick panels:

 

More power and an enjoyable sound…thanks for coming to ZCG James!

 

Herb came to ZCG for a full Koni dampers install and new T/C rod bushings followed by an alignment. Does your G’s tired suspension need updating?