Part 2 in a series: ZCG also supports vintage cars of non-JDM origin!
Tuning The Datsun 510’s Rival
Alfas and BMWs have long been rivals of Datsun 510s. Fighting against both BMW and Alfa for the 1971 Trans Am 2.5 Challenge, a certain red, white and blue liveried BRE 510 coupe took the championship that year and in ’72/’73. So, at the shop it’s no secret we LOVE 510s and know for a fact that they are much cooler than their Euro counterparts 🙂 Tom H. is a gearhead and ran a 280zx in the 24hrs of LeMons last year with some help from Z Car Garage. Tom recently came to the shop to help tune his beautiful, modified BMW 2002 and we readily accepted the challenge.
The 2002 is a 1973 non-Tii “roundie” in Sahara paint with very subtle exterior mods for a clean, pre-’72 Euro look: shorter chrome bumpers, no lower trim on the doors, deleted side marker lights and basic BMW steelies. A great stance and handling comes from Ground Control coil-overs up front and Ireland Engineering Stage II springs in the rear with Koni shocks all around. Tom turned the ’02 into a total sleeper by modifying the motor with a ported head, custom 9:5:1 CR pistons and Megasquirt EFI. He recently converted to TWM 45mm throttle bodies which complicated tuning so ZCG came to the rescue!
We enjoyed working with Tom and his very pretty(and potent!) 2002. Enjoy the Ride Tom!