Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 5:15 pm on May 17, 2015
On Sunday we attended a private screening of the new movie “Winning” about actor/driver Paul Newman. The venue for this event was held at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA. Our crew of eight cars met at the shop but before we departed a friend offered us a ride in a new Tesla Model S “P85D”. This is the one with two electric motors, 690hp and the fabled “insane mode”.
The Tesla lived up to its hype. With 4 adults on board Rob launched the car and our heads abruptly hit their headrests. We couldn’t resist weighing this marvel and it tipped the scales at 4,920lbs. With that experience checked off the bucket list, we proceeded to Apple:
When we arrived the parking lot scene was surprisingly like a Cars & Coffee meet with high-dollar/exotic machinery everywhere, like this $1.6 million Mclaren P1:
An entire section was taped off just for our Nissans/Datsuns! It was great to see enthusiasts appreciating the mix of cars, both vintage and modern. Here a few Datsuns that caught my eye, starting with Dave Stone’s 610 on Watanabe wheels:
This Datsun 240z (S30) also sported Watanabe wheels and a striking red interior. Loved the fender mirrors too!
Before watching the movie we admired some amazing cars from all marques. There was a large turnout of Ferrari’s, more new than classic like the 458, FF and F12:
This Dino and familiar Lusso of course will always be the pinnacle of Ferrari’s design:
I really dig the interior on the new Mercedes Benz AMG GT S:
Cool muscle cars too like these Mopars and Shelby GT350:
We enjoyed the movie and it gave us Datsun geeks a chance to shine as Paul Newman piloted everything from 510s to 900hp Nissans on famous road racing tracks throughout his career. “Winning” is a must see documentary for every automotive enthusiast. You can catch it in theaters May 22 and on demand through iTunes. Cheers to Adam Carolla! Please check the picture gallery for even more wonderful cars from the Apple parking lot.
Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 11:37 pm on May 2, 2015
The Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place last weekend. Now in its 28th year, this gathering continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. I drove my roadster down from San Jose and arrived Saturday morning to a very wet downtown Solvang. Despite the showers we had 77 Datsuns in attendance and eventual sunshine.
For the last 3 years The Solvang Roadster Show has been organized by the great folks of SoCal Roadster Owners Club. They have carried the torch well, providing a fun time for all and keeping things interesting like creating show categories with sponsors. This year the new “race” class was sponsored by the popular historic driving group SVRA, and the display was pretty epic!
This 1962 Fairlady SPL212 was given a full transformation into a road-racing beast. The man behind this one-off roadster is Jeff Silvey, a long-time Solvang show attendee and talented fabricator. He’s known for his bright red, L-series powered hot-rod SPL212 and sweet turbo-diesel powered NL320 truck. The latter was actually the tow rig for the racecar, how cool is that?!
Back to the racecar…from the outside there are a few subtle mods like the front air dam, “gills” and speedster cover that catch the eye. Add the 16″ vintage Volk GT-U wheels and you know this isn’t the stock, 48hp Fairlady from the factory. With red/white paint somehow it all works very well. Then you peek underneath that tiny hood and see an S15 SR20DET sitting almost a foot back and a myriad of custom fabrication takes over. From the full Silvia rear suspension to custom a-arm setup up front Jeff went bezerk with this build. We dig it, see more detailed shots in the gallery:
Other notable race cars included our friend Ron Carter with his 1967 2000 race car and Gary Wasserman’s factory lightweight SRL. Ron recently got accepted to run at the Monterey Historic Races coming in August!
The show brings roadsters lovers from all over the world including British Columbia and Mexico. For those hardcore Datsun enthusiasts that insist on Enjoying The Ride this means towing a small trailer!
I have a soft spot for Datsun 1500s (I have a 1500 grille on mine), especially these ’63-64 3-seat models. This year we had four beautiful examples, including an original owner who was a Solvang resident. He even showed me the original purchase order spec’d with the factory hardtop!
Solvang showcases everything from highly modified to pristine stock examples of roadsters. John Baker’s ’69 2000 and this ’67 SPL were great examples of stock roadsters, right down to their stock steel wheels:
Speaking of stock, Mike Young brought this fantastic 67 2000 for display showcasing his great restorative skills. White/red is one of my favorite combinations and really got the stance right on this SRL with the slightly larger Libra-style wheels:
A few more 1600s, including Mike’s stroked and Mikuni-carb’d hot rod. Watanabe wheels, EMPI steering wheel and red/black interior are great choices. Eagle eyes may notice the 2L gauges, shift plate and trim ring. Watch the video to hear it run!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJIVRqm8Pfo
A pleasant surprise was this “short-nose” Skyline coupe or “hakosuka”. These cars were powered by G-series 4-cylinder engines unlike their larger L-series 6 cylinder brothers that we are starting to see stateside. Sitting nicely on Hayashi Techno Phantoms this classic J-tin ticked all the right boxes with pillar-less windows and a proper surf line left intact! Check the gallery for other “non-roadster JDM” finds.
An incredible amount of high windshield 2000’s inhabited the show this year with very diverse examples. Solex, SU and even motorcycle quad-carb induction setups hooked up to U20s. Scoville/BRE stripes, fresh paint jobs and custom interiors worthy of Pro-Touring muscle cars were also seen:
A properly executed engine swap into a Datsun Roadster is always nice to see as the bar increases each year. These (for lack of a better word) “resto-modded” roadsters blend modern drivetrains with vintage lines while adding personal touches from the builder/owners. Here are three examples that stood out:
Looking for more power but wanting to stay NA, Mike Anderson’s ’68 SPL sports an SR20VE. Using Nissan’s version of VTEC, this VVL combination is good for 200hp NA. With help from Kevin Desirello of KRD it dyno’d at 215wrhp! Limited production Volk TE37v SL wheels are one of my all-time favorites. Mike took me for a spin and this engine in such a light car is phenomenal.
Jon Frampton’s 1967.5 SPL stole the show with a total frame-off restoration and SR20VE-T/6-speed drivetrain. That’s right, a turbo was added to an already ballistic engine! Another one of Kevin Desirello’s creations, this roadster came to him needing only transmission work and suffered an extreme case of “Hey, while we’re there”…
It’s hard to believe this car was once candy red and decked out in 90’s era style. Beautifully applied #531 Beige Grey Metallic paint and a very subtle but custom interior by Bill Dunn (Overhaulin’) helped win Best of Show. Jon himself is famous for restoring and “modernizing” roadster gauges…his work is sensational! Check the gallery for more shots…there are plenty of neat details to see!
Finally, Ted’s 1966 SPL is a familiar, though still impressive roadster. Built by Michael Spreadbury of Spriso Motorsports, this S15 SR20DET powered beauty glistens with Plymouth Prowler paint:
Sitting perfectly atop 16″ Watanabe RS-8 wheels with a massive dish out back on a 225-width tire, this one oozes cool. Ted is currently driving her thousands of miles on a Southwest tour!
We had a blast at Solvang and always look forward to next year. Big thanks again to SoCalROC for putting on another wonderful show!
If you didn’t attend please watch this excellent drone footage of the show from fellow roadster owner Mike Anderson. Don’t forget the picture gallery after the jump and…
Nick P came to Z Car Garage to fix a blown head gasket on his 280zx. We decided on a full cylinder head rebuild with a revised cam profile from Rebello, otherwise it was built close to factory spec. Teardown pictures below indicate obvious failure:
The rebuilt cylinder head:
We added a new 6-2-1 exhaust header from MSA and finished it off with the ZCG exhaust system:
The intake manifold and associated smog/efi plumbing were cleaned up:
With the engine freshened we put the Z on the rollers…141hp/142tq to the wheels is healthy!
Next we turned to the suspension. Nick wanted us to install his TechnoToyTuning (T3) coilovers, RCA’s and T/C rods:
Old struts out and coil-overs in!
T3 camber plates up front:
After an alignment and fender roll the Z sits perfectly without rubbing or scraping. We dig the RB-Rs on this!
Dwane has been customer since the opening of Z Car Garage in 2004. We installed one of Vortech’s earliest supercharger kits on his ultra low-mileage ’03 Brickyard 350z circa 2005 and he has been enjoying it ever since. Almost a decade later forced-induction tuning and support has tremendously advanced and many boosted applications are abandoning the old Split-Second and FMU-based systems.
At ZCG we love the UPREV tuning platform and it allowed us to maximize gains from a new GT MAF, larger injectors and upgraded fuel pump. We also installed ART pipes on the exhaust side and nice cosmetic addition of LED-based headlights:
On the dyno we picked up 9hp/13tq with smoother delivery throughout the rev range. Mid-to-high gains were significant:
At Z Car Garage we love to help enthusiasts by installing customer-supplied parts. Eric R purchased these hot rod goodies online and came to us for installation on his 2014 370z:
Stillen Gen 3 Intakes are a proven way to increase mid to high-range power on the VQ37HR:
Install showing filter location:
The 370Z has been discovered to suffer from high oil temps when exposed to extended periods of spirited driving. Once oil temps reach a specific temperature, the vehicle’s ECU will put itself into a “Limp Mode” cutting the power to the engine. The solution? An engine oil cooler, this one is a great unit from Z1 Motorsports:
Stainless steel braided brakes lines can also help with pedal feel compared to the stock, rubber lines:
The perfect balance to improved intakes is to upgrade the exhaust side. Eric chose the TDX cat-back system from Fast Intentions. Aside from the power gains this carbon fiber muffler option also saves weight:
And yes i does look great too!
UPREV tuning maximizes power gains from these bolt-ons. The Stillen intakes and FI exhaust pushed power past the 300whp mark to 307hp/258tq at the wheels:
With UPREV tuning we extracted 10hp more to the wheels for total of 317hp/258tq, noticeable improvements in mid to high range hp and torque:
How can we help you add power and performance through bolt-ons on your Z or G?
