One of the best parts about ZCG is the opportunity to perform multiple builds for a customer. We met Mike J in 2008 when he brought his G35 Coupe in for some modifications:

 

Mike added some tasteful HRE wheels (one of his signatures) and we did a full build on this car including a Vortech supecharger with ZCG supporting mods. He enjoyed the G for a few years and sold it to a friend. The friend brought in the G for service, mentioning that Mike had acquired a 2013 R35! Sure enough, Mike called us up and said it’s time to spend another chapter together.

 

From past zcarblog posts we know the R35 GTR is a wonderful sportscar that blends in despite its impressive performance out of the box. Mike wanted a boost in power so we started with a host of Alpha bolt-ons from AMS including their downpipes and Y-pipe w/muffler:

    

Stock vs AMS 90mm catted mid-pipe:

 

Finishing the exhaust upgrades with an Akrapovic titanium slip-on exhaust system:

  

Our plan for more power included a complete flex-fuel setup for E85 tuning. Shown below are 1300cc Injector Dynamics injectors, DW300 drop-in fuel pumps,  SpecialtyZ 3″ Intakes and SpecialtyZ Flex-Fuel kit:

  

Flex fuel installation:

 
Rob utilized Ecutek for tuning on both 91 octane and E85.

91 octane: 554hp/509tq

E85: 629hp/616tq

 

On E85, the dyno reveals huge gains from low rpm to redline. Mike we know you are Enjoying The Ride, thanks for bringing your GT-R to ZCG!

 

We love to hear about Father-Son project cars! Liam O’s father has owned this ’72 S30 for many years and he wanted to restore it with him. They had the engine built by Rebello and a body shop perform final assembly of the the car. Liam was experiencing a heavy exhaust smell inside the cabin and it simply wasn’t enjoyable driving this beautiful Z. He contacted Z Car Garage and upon inspection we found several items needing attention.

First, we corrected some cooling issues and installed a Koyo race radiator:

  

Before we troubleshooted the exhaust/fuel smell in the cabin we fixed the exhaust system. This L-series cylinder head had square exhaust ports and the header that was installed on the engine had round ports:

 

We installed the correct, matching square port exhaust header (6 into 1) from MSA:

  

We replaced the exhaust system:

  

Next we tackled the cabin to seal out unwanted exhaust. The door seals were replaced:

 
The venting for gas tank and associated vapor hoses were all replaced. If they’re old and sweating fuel vapor you will smell fuel inside the cabin. If the car is not sealed up, you will smell exhaust. Sometimes it can be overbearing:

   

William painted hatch area to get a nice seal on the weatherstripping/seals:

  

We ended up going through the entire car, adding some nice ZCG touches along the way. The engine was treated to a major tuning session on our dyno:

 

The Rebello 2.8L street engine with SUs made 168hp/171tq to the wheels:

 

Engine bay all buttoned up:

  

More little things like painting the brake booster. We also went through the entire braking system:

 

  

It’s no mystery with the Z’s hatch design and aerodynamics that having no seal (or a compromised one) in that area will result in exhaust smell in the cabin. After we worked on Liam’s car we had reduced the smell, but it wasn’t totally gone. We have our own apparatus to run a smoke test inside the car to visualize leaks. We sealed it up and took it one step further by adding a high flow cat in the back of the exhaust system. Now Liam is driving this Z all over the Bay Area and he is tickled pink about it. So are we.

  

Long Live The Z!

More pictures in the gallery below:
…[read more]

 

Love is in the air this week with three Datsun 510s at the shop💘 Each one has a unique history with different powerplants and wheels! Expect full stories on the blog soon.

Ben W’s SR20DET-powered 510:

 

Larry Oka’s Far Performance tribute B-Sedan 510 racecar:

 

Kurt’s iconic VG30ET-powered 510, “The Strutless Wonder”

 

We are fortunate to work with fantastic clients and as a result they are the best form of advertising. Carlos H and Scott C met at the same gym. We supercharged Scott C’s G35 several years ago, and he was kind enough to refer ZCG to Carlos for work on his 2016 Nismo 370Z.  When we first met Carlos he came in for some bolt-ons: Stillen G3 intakes, Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust, and a UPREV flash:

FI cat-back exhaust:

 

We also installed FI long tube headers:

 

On the dyno immediate gains of +12hp/16tq to the wheels were seen with the intake and exhaust:

 

The best way to maximize gains from bolt-ons is perform an ECU tune. UPREV tuning yielded further gains for a total of 323hp/266tq to the wheels:

 

Carlos came back for suspension upgrades and we all know Rob loves the KW V3 coilovers:

 

Front/Rear:

   

Next, we installed our favorite sway bars from Hotchkis:

 

Front/Rear OEM vs Hotchkis:

  

Carlos is Enjoying The Ride…and we have to say the 2015+ Nismo Z34s look so good!

 

Rob and the crew realized that all six of these S30s were being worked on and a brilliant photo ensued. Great shot Josh! Expect full stories on these Z’s coming soon to the blog. From left to right we have Glenn’s 1972 RHD 240Z-L, and Art’s 1972 240z:

  

 

Ben’s 1974 260z:

 

Rob’s 1971 240z (aka Butterz)

 

Erich’s 1973 240z

 

And Steve’s 1972 240z (white)

Rob couldn’t help but add some Van Halen moves. He’s got it bad for Z cars!

Stay tuned!