It seems like we have been getting quite a few long-term project cars out of the door recently, and there are more on the way!!  This car has been in our family for a long time now and we have released it back into the wild to gain a few break-in miles before it comes back for its final tune.

This beautiful white 300ZX Twin Turbo is bound to make some huge power in the near future with it’s freshly rebuilt and upgraded engine.  I’m not going to spill any more details until I have a final post ready with dyno runs so you will just have to wait a little while longer, sorry.  If I recall correctly this car made a healthy amount over 600 wheel horsepower with the last engine, I’ll try to find a dyno print out in the next day or so.  Enjoy the new pictures and the suspense for the time being.

HERE is another post with some more photos of this car.

Rumors of a GT-R saloon (Infiniti Q45 successor?) have been in existence even before the original R35 was released to the the public, and it appears that they are gaining momentum again.  The details seem to be the same as mentioned in the past: 4.5-5.0L V8 engine (probably out of the FX50), same GT-R twin-clutch gearbox, four-wheel drive, and a higher level of luxury in all areas.

Performance numbers are speculated at around 420hp, 0-60 in around five seconds, and a top speed somewhere around 170ish.  All are guesses of course because who actually knows if there is even a car in testing right now.  I just figured I would share this in case any of you will be in the market for a high-end Nissan/Infiniti sedan in the near future.

Source:  AutoBlog, AutoExpress

Photos:  AutoBlog, LeftLaneNews

Here is the Original ZCarBlog post about this car.

The problem with hanging around all of us at ZCG is that you get the urge to modify your car whenever you see something else cool in the shop.  I’ve probably heard it a hundred times, “Yeah I think I’m just going to put a pop-charger on it for a few extra horsepower and then I’ll be happy.”  This sentence is usually followed by a chuckle from everyone within an ear shot.

Inevitably it begins to snowball.  “Hey Rob I bought some wheels (VOLK SF Challenge in gold), can you guys install them?”  Followed by, “Wow the wheels look great but what can we do about the stance now?” (Tein FLEX coil-overs with Hotchkis swaybars) Everyone continues to chuckle because we know where this is heading… FORCED INDUCTION.

That is exactly how this build went, well in a little different order but you get the gist of it.  This Rev-Up Equipped (2nd gen VQ35 engine with dual variable camshafts) G35 has come back to us one more time to receive the final phase of its build, maybe.

The owner of this beauty has chosen to do one HUGE final step, everyone gets a little impatient when they can see the end in sight.  Here is the rundown on what we have just completed:

Jim Wolf Technologies Camshafts

Stillen Headers

Bassani cat-back exhaust system

ZCG Custom Oil Cooler

ZCG Custom Cold Air Intake

Defi Gauges and custom mounting for the controller

Tein EDFC (Electronic Damping Force Controller) with custom mounting, the car already has full Tein Flex coil-overs and Hotchkis sway bars

Sillen Series Two Front Bumper with splitter

Oh yeah…

and a Vortech Engineering Polished Supercharger kit

Even after all these years of installing Vortech supercharger kits we can still be caught off guard by the power they produce and the high quality of their product.  The fit and finish of the product is top notch witch goes a long way in a highly involved build such as this one.

From the dyno graph here you can see the tremendous jump in both horsepower and torque thanks to the exhaust, camshafts, and supercharger upgrades.  417 horsepower at the wheels is nothing to joke about, in fact we ended up pulling a couple degrees of timing after the 417 run in the best interest of reliability.  The car was delivered to the customer making just over 400 when all was said and done.  High numbers are great, but making them last for years to come is better.

Oh one more thing, It made this power through the stock cats!!!  So there is more power to be had if we switch to high-flow cats or test pipes, if he decides it is necessary.

You may have also noticed our new mounting locations for both the Tein EDFC controller and the DEFI gauge controller.  This new install is super clean and has almost a factory feel to it.  Pretty sweet.  We also decided to change the mounting of our ZCG oil cooler on this build to maximize airflow from the new Stillen bumper and to improve the overall aesthetics of the front end, this too turned out really well.

Other than that there isn’t really much to report, that is if you think that tire shredding power isn’t news worthy.  My prediction for this customer’s next upgrade is a new set of rear tires in a month.  See you soon friend (chuckle).

ZCG

More photos after the ‘read more’.

…[read more]

Things are progressing with the build as we speak and I was able to grab a few shots of the suspension while it was being mocked up for the final time before being sent out for powder coating.  Hopefully I will have the finished suspension shots for you shortly.  These are just a teaser.  RB power for life!!

Many of you know the huge impact that Mr. K has had on our lives.  For those who don’t, Mr. K is the person responsible for the both the original Datsun 240z and 510.  Holding those credentials makes him a very important person in my book.  So when I came across an article on Autoblog the other day I was astonished to read that he preferred driving his Nissan Versa over the 350z that he owns or even the new 370z!!

Most of his feelings seem to stem from the fact that modern day sports cars have gotten too heavy and are now overly controlled by computer systems.  At one point he goes on to mention that the Mazda Miata is more of what a modern 240z should be like.

Another point that he makes against modern Z cars is that they have gotten too expensive.  The high price point really drives away the customers that the Z was initially designed for.  The original 240z had an MSRP just over $4,000 back in the early seventies before options, now the price can regularly top $40K!!  I can see his point.

The article goes on to mention that he would like to see the “Datsun” moniker return to future sporty cars from Nissan.  I haven’t really thought of Datsun ever coming back, but why shouldn’t it!?  It would be a great way for Nissan to branch out and offer cars at a lower price point in the future, sort of like what Toyota did with Scion.  Seemed to work pretty well for them.  Maybe we will see a lightweight sedan come back to the market and channel some vintage 510 styling.  I’d buy a couple of those, rear drive of course.

Thoughts?

Side note:  Mr. K’s 100th birthday was on the 15th of this month, so happy belated B-day to him.  He’s still a feisty old dog isn’t he!?  Good for him.

Source:  Autoblog.com by way of Autonews.com

Image source:  Chicago Sun-Times