Ray’s 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-X

Filed under: Parts,Performance,Skyline
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on March 11, 2022

We love to see owners installing our Z Car Garage CV Axles on their vintage Nissans and Datsuns. Ray H added a set to his 1971 Skyline that he acquired from our friends at JDM Legends. Ray also visited Z Car Garage for dyno tuning and alignment services which transformed this Hakosuka.

Ray has been a ZCG client for many years. We first saw his Skyline at the 2019 Golden Week Kyusha Festival where I spoke to him about visiting ZCG for some upgrades and tuning.

Fast forward to 2021 and I spotted Ray at the Driving While Awesome gathering. He pleasantly informed me that he was running our ZCG CV Axles (serial # 00356) and we are happy to report that he installed them himself!

“I have been wanting to go with CV’s for a while on my SR 510. I have been following a few suppliers since they first started showing up about 10 years ago. I did notice that people were having problems with them wearing out and also that there were a few redesigns. On my Hako, I desperately needed to a wheel bearing and half shaft u-joint replacement as it was making some awful clunking noises back there. So, when I started seeing your blogs about the CV’s I was immediately interested. Knowing Rob, I knew these had to be good!”

Ray sent us a few installation pictures of the ZCG CV Axles replacing the old CVs and the R180 STI LSD:

“It was just an optimum time to get these when I had my entire rear suspension out for a rebuild and upgrade. The installation was pretty straightforward.” So far all good, I don’t think my modest power has put these to the test but its nice to know something has been well engineered and its one thing I wont have to worry about, not mention they look bitchin!”

For more information on our Z Car Garage CV Axles please read below. Before we share the dyno tuning results, let’s take a look at how Ray found his Skyline…

Datsuns From the Beginning

It is worth noting that Ray is a die-hard Datsun (510) enthusiast with ties to the old Nor-cal 510 club from decades ago. In the groovy group photo above, Ray is in the back row, last 510 on the right! Here it is, his first Datsun 510 circa 1981 (below, left) and same car with flares and a Cartech turbo kit in the FAR Performance parking lot!

Ray shares the story of his Skyline:

“I have always loved the 510, my first car in high school and still own 3 currently. When the internet started to become a regular thing I noticed these awesome looking boxy cars by Nissan sold only over there and I think Europe. I eventually stumbled upon JDM Legends website about 10 years ago and started inquiring about how much they cost and how to get one. Erik at a couple different times offered me a chance to buy one, however timing was just not right for me at the time. Fast forward a few years and Velocity channel (now Motortrend) starts promoting a show with Hakos running around! I instantly got the bug again and thought “these things are going to explode in value, If I don’t get one now I never will”.

Much to my amazement, I got a call within a month. He said “I got a line on a couple in Japan, one sounds exactly what you looking for”. He sent me pictures and I think I agreed to buy it the next day, still remember July 4th, 2018! Took about 3-4 months to get to Long Beach, then immediately to Utah. Once it was in Utah, Erik and Josh went through the whole car so it was a ready to go.”

“I flew out to Utah after he had it for a month to go over additional upgrades. First off, he said this was one of the cleanest, most solid chassis he’d ever brought over! It really goes to show, you get what you pay for. I cant stress enough, pay the money up front, it is so worth it to get a solid car with everything on it! The additional work they performed included, flaring the front and ordering wider Watanabes, modern fuse block conversion, new spoiler upfront, Mauricio did the paint match! I picked up in November of that year and trailered it all the way home.”

Since picking it up from JDM-L, Ray has been driving the Hako frequently. Quick specs:

1971 Nissan 2000 GTX , finished in white as GTR tribute

Engine:
2.8 L series straight six, Late 5 spd transmission, N42 head, Triple Italian Weber 40’s, Headers with Fujitsubo exhast, All original mechanical linkage.

Suspension:
Watanabe 15×9.5 -26 rear 15×8.5 -6 front, Toyo RA1 225/50/15 rear 205/50/15 front, Modified rear crossmember with FotoFab camber/toe brackets (510), QA1 double adj.rear shocks, ZCG CV’s, Subie R180 3.9 LSD, Finned aluminum rear drums, New Nissan bushings, bearings, driveshaft U-joints, brake cylinders, T3 280ZX front strut with coilover and aluminum hubs and Koni yellow adj. struts.

Exterior:
Protec over flares and front spoiler
GTR front grill and badging
Complete chrome trim and new weather strip

Interior:
Power windows, GTR shift knob and emblem, Stock Seats, Nardi steering wheel, Coco mats, Stock radio. All functioning and complete switches and dash.

Ray also has several 510s including a ’72 510 2dr (S15 SR20DET) “SaRafina”, ‘72 510 4dr “Mossy” and ‘69 510 2dr “project Scotty”. Follow Ray and his Datsun adventures on Instagram.

Dyno Tuning

Ray was experiencing some driveability issues and considered changing his triple-Weber induction to triple-Mikuni to resolve it. We suggested bringing it in for Rob to diagnose, tune and also provide alignment services. Before hitting the dyno, Rob and Josh identified the major culprit-the throttle linkage was not allowing wide-open operation.

The throttle-linkage was fixed and Rob was able to dyno tune the L28 with the triple-Webers for best AFR/timing. The results were astounding: baseline was 53hp/83tq and after tuning 162hp/169tq to the wheels!

It’s not unusual to pick up 10-15whp with Rob’s dyno tuning of your vintage car, but Ray gained a whopping 109hp/86tq. After driving the Hako after ZCG tuning/alignment he was ecstatic:

“My experience at ZCG and the dyno – Freakin awesome! Way exceeded my expectations! I’ve already had many people ask me “can he get me in there, I need that”. It’s actually kind of a bummer, that he is so booked up, I’m sure there are many people that would love to get there car in there and unlock some potential! My Hako is so much more driveable now, tracks straight with the alignment and the power gain, amazing! Like I told you, my Solex 44’s are ready, but I just want to enjoy this now for a while.”

Enjoy this video we made of the Skyline in action: dyno passes, in-car testing with Rob and Ray’s first drive/reactions. Volume up!

Evening shots with Ray in amazement after his test drive…

Alignment Services

Z Car Garage offers full alignment services for your late model and vintage car. Ray’s Hako was fully-aligned by our lead technician Josh who has many hours of street and race car setup experience. Caster was optimized here for better steering/stability.

Enjoying The Ride

We were super stoked to see Ray so happy with the Hako and he continues to drive and enjoy it.

“As I get up here in age, it is very important that my collector cars run! I’m no longer interested in endless project cars. Now I just want to get out there and drive! This leads into my praise for JDM Legends, like ZCG they just get it. Erik Bizek, like Rob, has a crazy passion for these vintage cars which I love.”

Thank you for your support Ray, and for letting us be a part of your Hakosuka. We look forward to working with you again and seeing you on the road!

We have many more photos in the gallery and please read below for more information on our ZCG CV Axles:

ZCG CV Axles

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. These are 100% bolt-in replacing your half-shafts and does not use aluminum adapters commonly found in aftermarket units. We have over 200+ CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

For years we have used aftermarket CV axles that utilize an aluminum adapter prone to loosening up over time. Despite efforts to keep things tight (Loctite, hardware changes) we had to keep an eye on them. We developed a better solution that eliminates the need for aluminum adapters and remains 100% bolt-in like a factory half-shaft.

Designed and manufactured locally with KAD Models, the ZCG CV axle kit works in both R180 and R200 configurations.

These are the beefiest CV axles on the market. They have been tested on the track by our vintage racing customers and also in high hp* street cars (powershifting, clutch dumps, etc.). Each axle has a serial # for peace of mind:

The CV axle kit is available now from ZCG for 1595.00 + freight and they come with everything you need to install on your car. Contact us at 408-452-0350 or send Rob an e-mail rob@zcargarage.com to purchase. Installation is just like doing a half-shaft: there is even a marking that shows you where to line up bolts and special hardware:

The ZCG CV Axles in action

The video below demonstrates the “looseness” associated with aftermarket CV axles that use adapters compared to the ZCG axles without adapters. Several customer race/street cars running our CV axles are also shown. Enjoy!