Yes Zcarblog readers, even those larger Nissans get ZCG love! Here is Rob with the story on this FX45:
Thad N and his wife Dana are big Nissan fans. Thad found a really clean FX with all the right stuff for making his commute a pleasureable experience. Living in the Santa Cruz mountains with all of those curvy roads this FX certainly gets put through its paces.
Thad has added GTspec bracing to stiffen up the chassis and intake to let that amazing V8 sing its song going in and out of the twistys.

His FX still had too much body roll in and out of the turns, and was also lacking in the brake department.
Solution 1: Eibach Pro-kit. A slight drop with some added spring rate allowing the FX to feel more solid during cornering.

Solution 2:  STOPTECH Big-Brake kt( BBK) kit with matching rotors and 309 pads in the rear. The stock rear calipers were also color matched to the fronts in red.

The new stance and big-brakes peeking out of the stock wheels turn this FX into a sleeper:

This FX is born again. Thad’s impression after the upgrades:  “the FX was amazing!!!”  After Dana drove she called to tell me that her G35 sedan needed to be upgraded ASAP.
So stay tuned this Nissan family has more upgrades on the way 🙂

 

Ken P has been a Datsun roadster owner and enthusiast since the early 90’s. He’s an original member of the Bay Area Datsun Roadster Owner’s Club (BADROC) and owns this highly modified 1969 2000 Datsun roadster, affectionately called “DATSTER”. Ken brought his car to ZCarGarage to get tuned, but let me share a little history with you since it has a special place in my roadster heart.

 

I met Ken at the Solvang Datsun Roadster Show back in 2001 and remember seeing all of his modifications for the first time. What really caught my eye was the paint and bodywork. Shaved door handles and side markers, no door or vent windows, and beautifully applied BMW Technoviolet paint really turned this into a hot rod. The interior was simple with no center console, re-uphostered seats, and a roll-bar. Over the years Ken kept adding his own touches and personality to the car including a trick hidden antenna and HID Xenon headlights adapted from a late-model BMW.

 

Under the hood lay Nissan’s mighty U20 drivetrain complete with several period go-fast parts like Mikuni-Solex side-draft carbs and a hotter camshaft. 14″ Panasports on sticky A032R tires and a full NISMO competition suspension made for a very fun little roadster.
I almost bought his car from him about 8 years ago but fate and the fact that Ken just can’t leave things alone led him to the next level of the DATSTER’s evolution. He removed and sold the U20 setup and with the funds(and money left to spare) purchased and installed a Nissan KA24DE drivetrain from a 240sx. Ken did the installation himself and added a few more custom touches like a metal dashboard color-matched to the body that houses the 240sx gauge cluster and S13 (of course!) seats.

 

Ken continued to drive and enjoy the new KA setup by doing fun runs, autocrosses, and even drag race events.  He wasn’t done yet though and decided to add boost to the motor in a rather unorthodox way: supercharging! A supercharger setup was sourced from a race car and Ken made numerous modifications to make it work in his engine bay.  The blower is mounted just above the frame rail but hidden under the intake runners. A custom throttle-body and pulley system were necessary.

 

Rob and the crew at ZCarGarage have worked on many roadsters, from bone stock to modified. Ken came to ZCG because he wanted to make sure his supercharged engine was tuned correctly for longevity and power. Baseline numbers were 159hp/156tq, and it was definitely in need of a proper tune. Rob and Clark Steppler tuned the roadster using a JWT ECU to safely boost at 8lbs and make some great power: 180hp/171tq at the wheels!!! The dyno plot reveals the beauty of a roots-style supercharger: a broad torque curve with over 150tq available from 2000rpm to 6000rpm! We think Ken is happier now 🙂

 

So with all of the ingenuity, modifications and big power is Ken finally “done”? Nope. He is currently engineering stronger brakes that will fit within those classy 14″ Panasports. Datsun owners are truly one of a kind!

 

Here are a few clips of Ken’s supercharged roadster in action and many more pictures in the gallery, enjoy!

more photos in the gallery:
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In 1990 Nissan changed the Japanese sportscar world by introducing the Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. James L from San Francisco was ready to find out what all the excitement was about and purchased this gorgeous Red Zed. That’s right, he is the original owner!
Fast forward to fall of 2010…James kept this Z in amazing shape driving his machine only when the weather was right. No rain for this Z. It had been 20 years and there were 60k miles on the clock. He was reading about the new and improved Corvette and how this American sportscar was the end all be all. James even went to the extreme of renting one for a few days to see if he liked it. After 20 years could he really turn his back on the Red Zed?
No way!

After doing his homework on some Z32TT modifications, James found Z Car Garage. We met and he told me he had this Z since new and was finally ready to take it to the next level.
We performed a full inspection from top to bottom and found James’ Z suffering from common issues at his mileage. The clutch was slipping badly, as evidenced by the baseline dyno:

The transmission was removed and a JWT HD clutch with lightweight flywheel were installed:

The factory pre-catted downpipes are restrictive and large power gains can be found here so 3″ fully divorced downpipes from SpecialtyZ along with a full stainless exhaust system were installed.
Fully divorced downpipes:


The exhaust system consists of a 3″ mid-pipe with resonators ending with 2.5″ dual tip mufflers. Note the rusted factory resonators and restrictive piping:



The final before/after and how the Zed will look as it blows by those ‘Vettes 🙂

A common performance upgrade on the Z32TT is the air intake. Dual JWT POP chargers help in the breathing department, and look pretty cool too. Look how clean that factory airbox is!


The factory ECU was sent to JWT to get fuel/ignition re-mapping(Stage3) and boost raised from 7psi to 13.5psi. The revamped ECU, new exhaust/downpipes, and intake help put down an impressive 356hp/369tq to the wheels!
Whoa is just as important as go, so a full Stoptech sport/street brake package was installed. This inlcudes stainless steel braided lines, new rotors, pads and MOTUL brake fluid. The clutch hydraulics were also freshened:

Corvette Summer is on hold…its cold outside and as well all know turbos love the cold.

Enjoy the ride James!!!

This car needed some serious love and boy is it getting it!!  Many people would have written this car off due to the extensive repair it needed but Z Car Garage and William’s Autobody have been given the job of saving it.  You can see from the photos that every area of this car needed some form of repair.

The frame rails on both sides needed rust repair but the passenger side needed to have the entire frame rail replaced.  The problem with this is that only the frame rails are available from the aftermarket.  ALL the other metal work must be hand formed.

This is most noticeable in the battery box/firewall repairs.  Many many hours of work have been spent getting these parts to look and fit just right, and it is nowhere near finished.  Another tough area of the repairs are the joints between the roof section and the A-pillar and rear quarter panel.  I’m sure many of you have seen rust bubbles that start here after an accident repair of restoration, this will NOT be happening here.  All of the welds were redone to ensure proper alignment and strength.

Other places that received some love were the lower and upper radiator support, the quarter panel just under the rear quarter windows, and the door jams and rocker panels on both sides.  All of these areas had rust holes that needed varying states of work.  The rocker panel just below the battery box had it the worst.  It has now been filled in and will continue to be reworked until it is perfect.

Finally you will see that there is major pitting on the top of the windshield frame.  This too will need to be cut out and replaced with new sheet metal and then blended into the original roof.  Again, this will not be easy.

We do all of this to keep the Zs on the road and in the hands of the people who love them.  This will be one of the most extensive rebuilds that we have done, and we won’t rest until it is done right.  I will update again as more progress is made.

Long Live the Restored Z

All the photos after the ‘read more’.

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The Z Owners of Northern California are hosting the Z Car Corral tomorrow at Laguna Seca for the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races.  That was a mouthful.  We will be meeting at Z Car Garage tomorrow morning at 8:00am sharp to form up the caravan and we will be leaving shortly afterwards.

We ask you all to show up as close to 8:00am as possible so that we can leave on time.

You can email me here at ZCarBlog@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Thanks!!  See you tomorrow!!

Link: ZONC Website

Link: Official Monterey Historics Website

And just to get you all a little more hyped up about tomorrow, here are a few more pictures from last year.  These are just a few of the vintage Trans-Am cars that attended last year, this race group was great to watch.  Enjoy the pictures.  (more after the ‘read more’)

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