One of the best parts about ZCG is the opportunity to perform multiple builds for a customer. We met Mike J in 2008 when he brought his G35 Coupe in for some modifications:
Mike added some tasteful HRE wheels (one of his signatures) and we did a full build on this car including a Vortech supecharger with ZCG supporting mods. He enjoyed the G for a few years and sold it to a friend. The friend brought in the G for service, mentioning that Mike had acquired a 2013 R35! Sure enough, Mike called us up and said it’s time to spend another chapter together.
From past zcarblog posts we know the R35 GTR is a wonderful sportscar that blends in despite its impressive performance out of the box. Mike wanted a boost in power so we started with a host of Alpha bolt-ons from AMS including their downpipes and Y-pipe w/muffler:
Stock vs AMS 90mm catted mid-pipe:
Finishing the exhaust upgrades with an Akrapovic titanium slip-on exhaust system:
Our plan for more power included a complete flex-fuel setup for E85 tuning. Shown below are 1300cc Injector Dynamics injectors, DW300 drop-in fuel pumps, SpecialtyZ 3″ Intakes and SpecialtyZ Flex-Fuel kit:
Flex fuel installation:
Rob utilized Ecutek for tuning on both 91 octane and E85.
91 octane: 554hp/509tq
E85: 629hp/616tq
On E85, the dyno reveals huge gains from low rpm to redline. Mike we know you are Enjoying The Ride, thanks for bringing your GT-R to ZCG!
We are fortunate to work with fantastic clients and as a result they are the best form of advertising. Carlos H and Scott C met at the same gym. We supercharged Scott C’s G35 several years ago, and he was kind enough to refer ZCG to Carlos for work on his 2016 Nismo 370Z. When we first met Carlos he came in for some bolt-ons: Stillen G3 intakes, Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust, and a UPREV flash:
FI cat-back exhaust:
We also installed FI long tube headers:
On the dyno immediate gains of +12hp/16tq to the wheels were seen with the intake and exhaust:
The best way to maximize gains from bolt-ons is perform an ECU tune. UPREV tuning yielded further gains for a total of 323hp/266tq to the wheels:
Carlos came back for suspension upgrades and we all know Rob loves the KW V3 coilovers:
Front/Rear:
Next, we installed our favorite sway bars from Hotchkis:
Front/Rear OEM vs Hotchkis:
Carlos is Enjoying The Ride…and we have to say the 2015+ Nismo Z34s look so good!
Rob and the crew realized that all six of these S30s were being worked on and a brilliant photo ensued. Great shot Josh! Expect full stories on these Z’s coming soon to the blog. From left to right we have Glenn’s 1972 RHD 240Z-L, and Art’s 1972 240z:
Ben’s 1974 260z:
Rob’s 1971 240z (aka Butterz)
Erich’s 1973 240z
And Steve’s 1972 240z (white)
Rob couldn’t help but add some Van Halen moves. He’s got it bad for Z cars!
It’s official! ZCG is going to the 2018 Classic Motorsports Mitty April 27-29 at Road Atlanta in Georgia. This year, Nissan is the featured marque!
Road Atlanta has been home to The Mitty event for over 30 years where Datsuns dominated the racing scene. Names like Bob Sharp, Walter Maas, Jim Fitzgerald, Kirk Allegro, Don Devandorf and of course our hero John Morton have all won at this historic race track. RA was also the location of this epic Datsun commercial with John:
The BRE Datsun 240z driven by John Morton at The Mitty
We are extremely thankful and stoked that owner Randy Jaffe invited us to The Mitty. John Morton will be piloting the #46 BRE 240z once again! The entire ZCG crew will be running pit crew beginning 4/23 for testing through the race weekend ending 4/29. Somebody pinch us, we are running pit crew again for #46 with John Morton…our last race event with the legendary driver was the 2017 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca. Following the Historics, we performed post-race maintenance to prepare #46 for its trip back home to Randy in Georgia.
He showed the Z at several shows including ZCon 2017 and Atlanta Festival of Speedand now it’s time for it to be on the track again with Morton at the reigns!
Our tent will be in the paddock alongside Nissan and their fleet of historic race cars! Please stop by and say hello, we will have refreshments and love chatting about Datsuns.
Datsun Racers Making the Trip
Sweet historic Datsuns/Nissans will be racing at The Mitty. We will be transporting the Jim Fitzgerald “Designated Hitter” car (full story in a future post) and Bluebird Coupe with help from the good folks at RacecraftNW:
We are very happy for our friend and fellow racer Glenn Chiou. He is making the trek to Road Atlanta to race his VIP’s Z:
We also hear that a large contingent of West Coast Datsun Roadsters will be attending: Bob Studdard ’67 2000 (owned by Phil Mendelovitz), Ron Carter’s ’67 2000 and Michael Anderson’s recently acquired Rock Vest 2000:
Bring Out Your Nissan/Datsun!
This year the Classic Motorsports Mitty is showcasing Nissan as the featured marque. That means the track and infield will be bustling with historic examples. Bring yours out and enjoy the weekend at Road Atlanta. We were impressed with the showing of Datsuns back in 2010:
Speaking of history at Road Atlanta, when we spotted this blue KA24E-powered Datsun 510, Rob recalled an inspiring story about its creator, the late Tom Wyatt III (Turbo Tom).
Tom entered his turbocharged L-series Datsun 510 at The Mitty where he consistently outpaced much more powerful sports cars. By the end of the day he was racing with the Corvettes and Cobras. He beat a Porsche 930 on a lap by nine seconds, and a race prepped 427 Cobra by 3 seconds. The race staff didn’t know what to do, so they gave him a custom made trophy and told him not to come back next year! That is how you DO IT IN A DATSUN!
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in the Bay Area, perfect for a quick drive in our Datsun Roadsters. Our destination was Uvas Reservoir and I joined Rob and his family in Sora while I drove my ‘67.5 SPL. Leaving our meeting point of 76 on Foxworthy/Almaden:
Z Car Garage shop dog Kane loves riding in the roadster!
Despite being only 25 miles from the heart of Silicon Valley, the landscape near Uvas Reservoir is entirely different with farmlands, rolling hills and idyllic bridge crossings:
At the reservoir we flagged down this Datsun enthusiast, also out Enjoying The Ride! It was none other than David Carroll in his beastly 1975 280z:
You might recognize David’s Z as a contestant in the Optima Batteries Ultimate Street Car Competition and numerous road course/autocross events. Dubbed “570Z” when he initially ran a LS1, the Z now sports an LS3 with over 500whp. Those are 315/30/18 tires at four corners! He gave us a nice fly-by check out the video below:
We snapped a few more pics of the cars and headed back home, it was fun to “exercise” the roadsters:
More pictures in the gallery below and remember, Datsuns Are Driven!
