We finished the relatively easy task of putting a modified 350z back to stock for starters last week.  This car came to us from another shop with a massive oil burning and smoking issue.  The car was running a built engine, GReddy TT, full fuel system, and so on.  It turns out that the other place believed that the turbos were the issue so the original set was trashed and two new sets were installed before the owner decided to bring the car to Z Car Garage.

The engine was disassembled and the inspection discovered that it had been subjected to massive detonation and was no good.  It was torn down and all good parts were saved for later use.  A stock engine with low miles was sourced and was installed.  The car ran great when delivered and most importantly the owner was happy.  The car went from being on the lift with no engine, trans, etc. to being a runner in less than a day.  Nice job Fred.

As for the turbo kit, it will be going on a built 3.8L VQ in a customer’s car that is from Tennessee.  It formerly had a custom built supercharger but we knew from the beginning that it would be getting turbos.  The car now features a fully built automatic transmission, rear end, and axles to accompany the rest of the drive train.  It was meant to be a brutal daily driver that will stand up to the abuse of back to back runs down the drag strip and it already features a nice set of Volk Racing SF Challenges for street duty and a four-wheel Rotora big brake kit.

The first two pictures below are of the car with the old supercharger setup.  The last one is of the engine running normally aspirated this morning before it was taken apart for the GRreddy twin turbo system.

…and finally this “morning”….

We should also be receiving the carbon fiber hatch back from our paint shop back today for a really trick twin turbo 350Z that we work on.  This car, seen above, was featured in D Sport magazine last year and it is truly something special.  Look for a full rundown on this car once this stage is completed.

More updates to come today.  I have a lot more to write about.  ZCG

I’ve been out of town for a few days without internet access, so sorry about the lack of updates.

I’m working on quite a few new stories and have a couple of really cool car builds to share with all of you today.  Please check back in a little while to read what is going on with the one, the only, the ZCG.

Forbes

I’m going to start this off with all the photos that somehow relate to ZCG and what we do here.  The next set of photos after the “read more” are going to be of other cool and not so cool things that were seen.

The show seemed to be smaller this year but maybe it was just the sense of imminent doom in the auto industry.  Spectator turnout was lower than normal for the weekend but Saturday afternoon was absolutely packed, maybe everyone carpooled?

Overall the event was a great sucess for us.  All of the stickers and most of the flyers would dissappear everytime we bent back to check on the cars.  We are spreading the word of the Z.  Thanks again to all the owners who loaned us their beautiful cars.

Click below for way more pics

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Now that the auto show is over we are getting back to the usual work around the shop.  There are a ton of cars here now so I got on the roof this morning to take a couple of pictures.  Also, we’ve had a couple new customers come in and we certainly welcome the work and the new challenges they bring.  It’s always nice to be able to solve problems on a car that has been to a couple other shops before us and then to see the smile on the owners face when they drive the car for the first time after we are done.

We also had another GT-R stop in on Friday for a rear tire repair.  There were four nails in his rear tire so we just ordered a new one.  Luckily the car has low enough miles that we were able to replace just the one tire instead of all four.

I’m also going to sort out the rest of the Silicon Valley Auto Show pictures and post them for you in the next day or so.

I’m going to borrow a few pictures here from our friends over at GTRBlog.com and 370zblog.com for your viewing pleasure.  Make sure you check out their site for the entire story straight out of Japan.  The photos here are just a small taste of what they have.

Most of the cars are modified in the usual places, but there are a few standouts like the Power Enterprise Four Charger car (twin super AND turbocharged) and the Blitz D1 car that has been converted to rear wheel drive with a Hollinger sequential gearbox.  These are certainly questionable changes but it’s always nice to see innovation just to see what will happen.

I love GT-Rs.  Enjoy!

I’ve also put in a few pictures of the ZELE 370z that are from 370zblog.com.  The body kit is starting to grow on me but I’m not really a fan of the exhaust just yet.  We’ll have to see what a few other companies start bringing to market.

There are a few more pictures after the jump

Link:  GTRBlog.com

Link:   370zblog.com

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