Today, April 7th, is Z Car Garage’s fifth birthday.  We couldn’t be happier with where we are at right now and we have so many people to thank for it.  The ones who have given the most know who they are and we were lucky enough to have a few of them come down to the shop today.  Our customers and friends are some of the kindest and most giving people on the face of the planet and we wouldn’t have our current success without them and you.  From ZCG to you,  THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

I’ll try to find some old photos of when the shop first opened and I’ll share them with all of you in the next few days.  There are some pretty funny ones.

On a side note, Rob and Fred are pulling late night shifts at the shop right now to finalize the longest build in ZCG history, the red 1982 280zx 2+2 non-turbo restoration.  After years of sourcing impossible to find parts and dealing with strange circumstances this car will be completed in a day or two from now.  This car is unbelievable.  It’ll put any car rolling off of an assembly line to shame.  We rule, happy birthday to us.

Thanks again to all of you,

Z Car Garage

Here is the video that can be seen at www.Nissan370zNY.com that was filmed before the unveiling to the press tonight in New York city.  It contains a quick overview of the convertible 370z as well and the new 370z NISMO edition.

To me it really seems like Nissan has finally realized that owners want a bit more luxury in the convertibles that they have purchased.  This is apparent in the fact that they have made the coupe’s entire buffet of options available in the roadster version.  They also made the top 100% automatic by getting rid of the semi-annoying manual cowl latches on the 350z.  Another nice touch is the option to lower the top using only a button on the key fob.  After all isn’t real luxury having other people, or your car in this case, doing tasks for you?

There is no word yet on structural rigidity numbers or anything of that sort but it looks like Nissan has really taken its time with this car so the performance and solid feel should come close to matching that of the coupe.  I’ll let you know as soon as I get behind the wheel, hopefully headed somewhere sunny.

As for the NISMO edition, most speculators were predicting that the US car would resemble the S-Tune 370z that has been released in Japan.  They weren’t far off.  Luckily for us Nissan has toned down the styling a bit from the JDM S-Tune and thrown in some traces of the outgoing NISMO 350z styling cues.  The wheels look to be a slimmed spoked Sport Package wheel that doesn’t really knock my socks off, but who will really keep the stock wheels and tires on these things?

Now, onto the power.  Nissan claims in the short video above that the new NISMO is putting our 350 crank horsepower, some 27 over base.  Wicked.  I’m thinking that most of this new found oomph is found through refined “cam” timing and possibly small intake or exhaust modifications.  The word “cam” is in quotes because as you may know the new 370z engine, VQ37HVR, carries Nissan’s new VVEL technology which replaces standard camshafts with solenoids that car computer controlled to allow the car to have infinitely variable cam timing and lift.  A rundown of this technology can be found on 370z.com. Interesting stuff.

I’ll have more information for you on both models as it becomes available so keep coming back to ZCarBlog.com for your Z fix.  For now you’ll have to simply enjoy the pictures that I’ll be putting in the TWO posts above this one.  ZCG

EDIT: I put up our Birthday post above this one so that we could enjoy it for the rest of the day.  Happy Birthday ZCG.  WE LOVE YOU.

The photo and spec posts for the 370z and 370z convertible will be up tomorrow.  Have a great night.

EDIT 2:  Yes, I took the video on this post from our friends over at GTRblog.com’s Viddler channel.  There was no point in uploading it again.  Enjoy their watermark in the video and their awesome GT-R website.

The new convertible looks amazing.  There I said it.  It is being released in conjunction with the New York International Auto Show tonight at 7pm EST, 4pm PST. Nissan North America will be hosting a web cast for those who can’t make it to the live event.  The web cast will take place on www.Nissan370zNY.com for anyone interested.   Check it out and enjoy the new convertible!!

Hot Import Nights (HIN) is amazing.  That is obviously my opinion but if you are into tuner cars or the ‘import’ lifestyle how could you disagree?  The cars featured at the HIN events are straight off the covers of today’s hottest magazines and the energy in the cars and surrounding crowd rival that of a Slayer concert.  To up the ante even more is the blaring music of all genres, gorgeous women dancing to said music, AND top drift stars from all over the world destroying tires and whatever else gets in their way!!

We have known the HIN crew for quite some time and even traveled with them on the “Follow the Nissan Z” tour from our shop in San Jose, CA all the way to Las Vegas, NV.  They never disappoint…. good times indeed.

At this event in San Mateo I was caught off guard from the moment that I walked in because there were Zs and Gs everywhere.  It seems that we (ZCG) cater to the most popular cars in the import scene for the time being, good for us!  Modifications ranged from wild to mild as the old saying goes, everything from simple lowering springs and an intake to full-on one-off wide body kits with turbos and nitrous equipped to every possible orifice!  Oh my.

The other half of the show cars included Supras, Audis, Evos (VIII-X), Scions, S2000s, and even the occasional Mustang(?).  Engine swaps abounded throughout the show with the all-conquering 2JZGTE engine (Supra) being swapped into everything under the sun (FD RX-7, 350z, IS300, etc).  There was also a really clean Mazda RX-7 with an LS-x engine swapped under the hood.  Many of you know that we have performed one of these swaps and they are simply a blast to drive.  Do yourself a favor and get a ride in one.

The drifting competition was great, but with it comes my only beef with the entire event, no grandstands of any sort.  I had a tough time seeing on my tip-toes and I’m 6’1″ without shoes.  The skill these drivers possess is something not of this Earth, car control to the Nth degree.

When it was time to head home the ZCG crew was more than impressed with the entire event.  So impressed in fact that we have been in contact with the event organizers and we will be making our presence known at the next bay area stop in Pleasanton.  We have a few crazy ideas that we hope to pull off between now and then so make sure to mark your calenders for the HIN event on July 18th.

Please support HIN and ZCG by visiting their website and events, and make sure to tell them that ZCarBlog.com sent you!

Now onto the photos!!!  There are almost a hundred pictures after the “read more” so make sure to click at the end of this post to continue!!  (you can also click on the main post title at the top to take you to the full post)  ENJOY!!!!!

Post script:  a few of the shots look dirty and hazy due to all the tire smoke and burning chunks of rubber in the air from the drifting, wicked.

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The little touches that no one notices at first are sometimes the coolest modifications.  In this case a customer wanted the blinking side-marker lights off of the new 370z on his 350z.

Okay, no problem.  Well one problem.  The stock 350 “Z” non-flashing side emblems only use two small clips to locate the plastic part.  The new 370z flashing marker has cylindrical extrusion that is about 1.5 inches tall with a 1.5 inch diameter that needs to go through the fender and be wired to work properly.  We used a small hand saw to make the cut and everything turned out perfect.  The electrical connections simply required us to source which wire was the running light and which was the blinker and then the simple wiring changes were made.  All connections are a quick release style so that the new bulbs can be serviced when the time comes.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about how we secured the light because we need to be able to offer this as a service to customers.  I will mention that we used a couple of custom brackets to make sure that nothing moves around.  This modification is quite simple after all is said and done and I think that it bridges the gap between the new and old car nicely.  Added safety and style are always a good combination.

Please be careful if you are thinking about attempting this yourself because a new fender is not cheap from Nissan.  Feel free to contact us if you would like ZCG to handle it.  rob@zcargarage.com

See the video of the new parts flashing below!