Eric Straw is a long time friend of the shop and hails from Oregon. Last year he visited Z Car Garage on the way down to the JCCS show where he debuted his latest masterpiece, this 1984 Nissan Skyline RS-X. Most Americans are familiar with the classic 70’s Skylines and later GT-R series, but this 6th generation (R30) chassis remains unknown unless you are a JDM-nerd. In Japan the R30 sold well and had a great following with Nissan enlisting the famous actor/racer Paul Newman to appear in ad campaigns. The R30 also formed the basis for the insanely cool SuperSilhouette race car:

   

The details of Eric’s R30 are endless. I don’t want to reveal too much as it deserves a major media feature first. It would be easy to write thousands, if not ten thousand words about the character, the touches, and the simple uniqueness that make the “Straw30” one of a kind. Where I fall short of storytelling, I hope photos suffice.

To get an appreciation of Eric’s talent as a fabricator and his build aesthetic take a quick look at his other Datsuns, a 1969 Datsun Roadster and 1971 Datsun 510:

 

  

Both deserve their own feature but can you see a theme starting to build here? Eric has a penchant for white paint and red valve covers…and turbocharged Nissan powerplants!

 

Finding A Skyline

It all started with an ad spotted on our good friend’s site, Bring A Trailer for a 1984 Skyline without an engine. This appeared to be the perfect specimen with the distinctive Tekkamen or “Iron Mask” front end compared to pre-facelift models with a conventional grille. Fellow Datsun enthusiast/restorer Michael Spreadbury of Spriso Motorsports joined Eric on the trek to Washington to pick up the R30.

 

As with most of these vintage Japanese cars, rust was a hidden issue as Eric discovered:

“When I first saw the car I wanted to make a really fun driver with lots of power and for sure RB powered. I didn’t plan on restoring the body when I bought it. After digging in, it was obvious I had to do a complete restoration as there was a lot of rust.”

Chassis restoration

What begun as an engine swap turned into a full blown bare metal restoration. Eric’s work simply goes beyond an OEM restoration. There are so many areas of custom fabrication throughout the chassis. We simply have not seen this level of care and love executed on an R30.  Here is Eric putting in work:
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Our good friend Anthony S. is a hardcore Datsun enthusiast and owner of this sinister 510 wagon. We first met Anthony years ago at the All-Datsun Meet at Mt. Shasta. He started visiting the shop frequently, driving this wagon all the way from Oregon to San Jose, CA and we attended many events together. Anthony built this 510 from the ground up himself, and it has been constantly evolving. He started with a rather unorthodox inline-6 cylinder engine, the Toyota 7M-GTE:

 

This single-turbo setup spun the ZCG dyno to almost 400rwhp! Anthony is a track nut and the 510 has seen many days running hard at Portland Int. Raceway. Suspension and brake modifications include Brembo calipers up front, a linked Ford rear end and massive 255/35 tires in front with 285/35 rears.

 

The car has gone through some serious development including a full 2JZ-GTE engine, rear-mounted radiator setup and larger fender flares–all fabricated by Anthony himself!

 

In his quest for more power Anthony recently visited us again for BC cams and Haltech tuning.   We started with a baseline of 399hp/332tq to the wheels. After the cams it made 447hp/347tq:

 

 

With Haltech tuning final numbers were 461hp/362tq at the wheels:

 

More pics of Anthony’s fabrication work:

 

This Dime looks so sinister on the road with its gargantuan tires just barely contained by the fender flares, we love it!

 

Thank you Anthony for letting us be a part of your 510 build!

Interested in seeing more pictures of Anthony’s 510? Check the links below and Enjoy The Ride!

 

Anthony Gets Published
Happy510Day
America’sCoolestWagon

 

Just over a year ago Brian K visited Z Car Garage for several bolt-on parts on his 2006 350z including a JWT Pop charger, Motordyne 5/16″ plenum spacer, Bassani cat-back exhaust system and UPREV tuning.

 

 

As we all know it is hard to resist adding upgrades to your sportscar and after enjoying the Z with its new mods Brian came back to ZCG for full 60k services, Hotchkis sway bars and Brembo brakes.  The OEM Brembo calipers were sourced from Gabe V’s G35 coupe. Gabe upgraded to a Stoptech Trophy setup, full report on his build soon:

 

Brian’s stock calipers and the Brembo calipers front and rear. Two-piece rotors are from Giro Disc:

 

Looking good through the ’06 wheels!

 

Chris B is a long time ZCG customer and we have been with him through various stages of his build. Affectionately called “Lucy”, this beautiful G35 coupe has won numerous awards at shows including Hot Import Nights. Chris fanatically detailed the engine bay with polished and stainless parts abound. Even the Cosworth intake manifold was customized with candy-red carbon fiber to match the valve covers and huge Brembo calipers at all 4 corners.

 

 

Low compression in one cylinder and a feeling that he’d reached the limits of the Vortech supercharger sparked a call to ZCG. Rob and Chris discussed the next stage of boost for Lucy and it would be in the form of two turbos courtesy of a GTM Stage 2 kit! Parts arrived and the drivetrain was removed.

 

The built VQ was re-assembled with care and attention to detail considering how Chris insanely polished parts like the entire front end.

 

Behold the shine. Once you start polishing it is hard to stop!

 

With the engine buttoned down the GTM twin-turbo kit was installed. Note details like the manifold heat shields and insulation protecting oil/wiring lines near downpipes.  The fresh GTM stage 4 automatic transmission is a prudent upgrade to handle big power:

 

Twin-turbo VQ, welcome home!

 

Polished hot/cold pipes feed the GTM FMIC:

 

Rob’s conservative 91 octane tune yielded 450hp/421tq to the wheels. More power to come!

 

We love working with Chris and look forward to turning up the wick when the urge arises! Enjoy the boost and that wonderful engine bay!

Lots of pictures of Chris’ build in the gallery below so don’t forget to click after the jump!
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We enjoyed driving our Datsuns to the 2012 Japanese Classic Car Show despite blistering 100+ degree weather. This year we flew down to Long Beach to visit the 2013 JCCS near the Queen Mary.

The show started in 2005 with a modest following and over the years spectators have flocked in crazy numbers; this year was no exception and the crowds were a bit overwhelming at times.  We did appreciate the JCCS crew’s new, efficient ticket/entry setup! Weather was beautiful with an incredible array of J-tin from time-capsule survivors to wildly modified restorations.   So let’s get to the stars of the show….

Datsuns were well represented though scattered throughout the main grass and parking lot areas. I love seeing fresh cars as well as familiar faces.  This VG30 510 caught my eye with it’s clean aesthetic and sanitary engine bay:

Who can miss the die-hard Datsun Roadster owners and their beloved open-top sports cars! The SoCal Roadster Owners club lined up their cars with bone stock and modified examples. These guys drive their cars. Mike A has accumulated almost 40k miles in the last year with his S14 SR20-swapped 1968 SPL:

This red late-model roadster had a molded front end, flared bodywork and an interesting dash setup:

If you are a fan of S30s and Z-cars in general JCCS had almost every classic generation displayed.

There were several RB-powered Zs but this triple-Weber carb’d L-series was pretty:

Vintage Skylines abound! JDM Legends built this Prince Motor Company Skyline in race livery:

 Beautiful red Hakosuka,  KenMeri, GC10 and DR30 Skylines:

Z31 300zx’s made a strong showing and my favorite was this Shiro edition on DSM wheels(left).  S12 chassis cars also caught my eye especially this clean RB26DETT-powered hatch:

Datsun trucks might have been the most numerous with tasteful resto-mods and zany creations. I thought this little F20c-powered pickup was over the top until I realized it was also boosted!

Two of my favorite wagons, both sporting SR20DET powerplants but totally different build themes:

Datsun 1200s, Sunny’s and even a few large bumper GXs:

Every year I look forward to seeing JDM wheels both old-school and reproduction. I dub this JCCS as Year of the Mesh! Deep-dish or multi-piece the mesh style was in full-effect from SSR, Epsilon, Bahn, Volk, Work and others:

I spotted these ultra-rare Impul Hoshinos and Riverside Riverge wheels….ps those are replicas on the right, gotcha!

Toyota has always been a huge corporate presence followed by Mazda, and this year Honda even displayed their own rare vehicles. So you’ve probably heard about Nissan celebrating 80 years…why not display the collection at largest gathering on the West Coast? NISSAN are you listening?

Not one but THREE Toyota 2000GT sports cars were displayed, even a LHD model!

One of the craziest Toyota was Scott Kanemura‘s Toyota Hilux. Huge Project Mu brakes, VOLK TE37vs, Stack instruments, and the mighty  2JZ-GTE make this one insane truck:

There were so many cool Toyota Celicas, Starlets and Corollas to list! This TRD widebody Starlet was a very impressive build with 275-width Hoosiers!

Wild engine swapped Corollas? Check! AE86 with turbo F20C and a late ‘rolla with an LS1!

Sinister Crown(with “Yakooza” plates) and one of several Land Cruiser pickups. Many more Toyotas in the gallery!

Rotary fans unite as the RX posse had the largest showing of old-school cars I’ve ever see in one place. This year there were FC Rx-7s and even more stunning examples of first gen FBs…

Honda proudly displayed their own collection of rare cars like a Mugen CRX. Almost ten N600s were lined up against the pretty blue water.

This year late model Hondas(read Accords) were displayed. I’m a huge fan of the 1st through 3rd gen Civics, even EF-era and I’m all for showing off neat, tidy builds with personal touches.  Some of these cars looked simply unkempt and boring. That aside here were my favorites:

Spoon 3rd gen, Bisimoto’s EF wagon, and one of many ultra-clean CRXs:

My favorite car at the show was Garm B’s Subaru 360 microvan. Besides its tiny stature the van is packed full of details!

JCCS wouldn’t be complete without those stickers and vanity plates:

Let’s not forget to give respect to those parking lot warriors who made it down to the show in style. There were some real gems to be found outside of the show like this Dodge Colt and Toyota Corona sedan with a perfect stance:

Thanks to the JCCS organizers for hosting another fun event. It will be interesting to see what next year’s show offers J-tin lovers young and old!
Lots of pictures in the gallery below so don’t forget to click after the jump!
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