Mike R acquired this gunmetal (KH2) 1991 Skyline GTR last August from our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers. It goes without saying, if you are in the market for a vintage Skyline (or any JDM car) IVI is the place to go.

Z Car Garage is familiar with the Norcal Skylines group and fellow Skyline R32 owner Kurt W. referred Mike to us in addition to an endorsement from Top Rank:

“One of my main concerns in purchasing a 25+ year old vehicle that was never manufactured in the US, was support. Who can work on this thing to perform maintenance and upgrades? I spoke with Top rank about it quite a bit prior to purchase and they had recommended Z Car garage. The car was in great condition and mostly stock when I got it. With the goal of being an all around fast street car, I started acquiring parts and placed a call to ZCG to start the first round of upgrades.”

Chassis

We discussed installing a big-brake kit, suspension, Haltech and a few others issues we handled for Mike. Here is the Project Mu 4-wheel big-brake kit:

We also installed the Ohlins DFV coil-overs, shown below are the stock R32 calipers:

With a few modifications the Project Mu kit was installed:

Some close-ups of the Project Mu setup:

We adjusted his coil-over setup and set the ride height followed by corner-weighting the car according to his weight. Further suspension mods included Whiteline Sway bars, Cusco strut bracing and SPL titanium HICAS eliminator kit. All interior panels were trimmed for a clean finish with full alignment services.

Performance

Mike was also interested in replacing the factory ECU so we upgraded to a Haltech Elite 2000 with the R32-plugin adapter. The full installation also included a wideband controller and smoke-testing the car in preparation for dyno tuning:

Greddy FMIC:

The Haltech combined with Apexi intakes, Nismo downpipe, Tomei Titanium exhaust, Greddy FMIC and PRP R35 Coil kit, netted 340hp/284tq at the wheels with Rob’s tuning on 91 octane:

Enjoy the dyno video below:

Since his last visit, Mike has added R34 GT-R Seats, and a sweet set of Volk Racing TE37 SL custom gloss black wheels (18×10.5 +15), wrapped in Michelin PS4S tires measuring 265/35/18.

Mike also relocated the battery to the trunk to make space for a Leaskspec radiator overflow tank and Radium dual catch can setup:

In addition, a Haltech IC7 digital dash was added to monitor vital engine parameters. The IC7 dash ties into the CAN box of Elite system:

More Power

Mike has been happy with the upgrades we made but like many of us the desire for more power inevitably hits:

“The car has been running flawlessly and the goal with these mods is to support the addition of a single turbo kit that Zcar will be installing this August. The turbo kit consists of a Full Race Twin scroll T4 manifold that will be mated to an EFR 8474 turbocharger.  Twin Tial 44mm external wastegates will bleed off the excess exhaust gasses.”

“All of the work performed at Zcar had exceeded my expectations so far (and I’m very picky). Looking forward to the start the build and make some power of the next few months.”

We really enjoy taking care of many Norcal Skyline owners.  Welcome to ZCG family Mike and thanks for trusting us with your R32! Enjoy The Boost until you return!
More pictures in the gallery below:

At Z Car Garage we enjoy working with late-model Nissans as much as earlier Datsuns. Our customer Eric R brought his Infiniti G35 Coupe to us back in 2009 and ten years later we helped him find a 2008 Infiniti FX35.  The FX got many upgrades to make it exactly the way Eric envisioned and he’s been enjoying it with his family as well as backroads.

The first generation (S50) FX-series models have aged rather well and we dig their combination of styling, power and versatility. Eric recalls how he became an FX owner:

“I’ve always been a car enthusiast.  My mom owned a 72 240Z back in the day and in 2007 my wife and I purchased a G35 Coupe 6MT and after a disappointing experience with the local Infiniti dealer, took the car to Rob and ZCG.  Needless to say, the knowledge base and Rob’s unique brand of engagement with his customers was refreshing. It was one of the best customer service experiences I’ve had and ZCG took exceptional care of our G35.  After a couple years of ownership, we had to give up the G Coupe with the onset of…kids.

Fast forward nearly a dozen years and the kids a bit older, I started my search for a new car. It needed to be sporty but still functional as a daily driver. It needed to haul mail and still haul the kids and the bikes and the gear.  The FX covered nearly every one of my criteria in one package, but fell a little short in visual cues and base line performance.

Timing worked out as our customer Chris’2008 FX35 AWD (Sport & Tech pac) was up for sale:

“As I searched for potential candidates, I was thrilled to reconnect with Rob and ZCG.  He helped me focus my search efforts and game plan what I envisioned for the car.   After a year of searching my FX came up for sale.  As luck would have it, it was a car already under the care of ZCG and a number of mods on my want list performed. Rob confirmed the quality and condition of the FX as well as the character of the seller.  It was, as they say, meant to be.”

Eric’s first visit with his FX focused on power and chassis upgrades. The VQ35 was treated to a Motordyne plenum spacer, JWT POP Charger and Uprev street tune providing more power throughout the rev range.

 

Keeping the FX glued to the tarmac are BC Racing coilovers and Stillen strut tower brace paired with a set of Nissan/Rays Eng GT-R R35 (CBA) rear wheels:

 

The wheels were refinished and we mount/balanced Michelin Pilot AS/3+ tires (295/45zr20) with new TPMS. We love the finish on these and they look right at home on the FX:

 

The stock brakes were upgraded to Akebono units from the G37/370z with a Stoptech sport brake kit (pads, slotted rotors, braided steel lines). This required changing the rear knuckle to a FX50 part.

Eric is all smiles with the upgrades and he’s been driving the FX everywhere:

“Rob and the ZCG Team worked incredibly hard to get everything on the car set in place so that I could immediately enjoy this family battle wagon and that’s just what I’ve been doing. Couldn’t be happier.”

 

We even spotted the FX at a local DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) Cars & Coffee event in Santa Cruz, CA:

 

Eric recently came back for a Nismo exhaust.

 

You can hear it in this driving video with Rob:

Thank you Eric for letting us improve your FX we look forward to seeing you at more events and keep Enjoying The Ride! More pictures in the gallery below.

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At Z Car Garage we are fortunate to be a part of our customer’s sports car journeys. Derek Y is a long-time customer and we worked on his 2005 Infiniti G35. Three years passed by and he visited us with his latest Nissan, this 2015 GT-R. The R35 visited ZCG with only 11k miles and received a host of power upgrades from AMS, EcuTek, SpecialtyZ, Turbosmart and more:

Here are the SpecialtyZ 3″ intakes and AMS front-mount intercooler being installed:

More engine bay work including the AMS crankcase breather setup, ID 1300cc injectors (plus DW fuel pump upgrade), Turbosmart BOVs and a SpecialtyZ Flex-Fuel kit:

AMS crankcase breather being plumbed:

Stock vs Turbosmart BOV:

On the lift, AMS cat-less downpipes are installed:

At first glance it is difficult to catch all of the power upgrades in the engine bay, Stock (L) vs Modified (R)

Derek also needed new tires so we mounted fresh Michelin Pilot Sport4S sized 245/40/20 and 285/35/ 20.

Dyno Tuning

Rob dyno tuned the GT-R using an EcuTek flash and Derek also received a USB dongle for datalogging. Baseline power was 495hp/446tq with final numbers of 612hp/604tq to the wheels on E85:

A few plots showing the tuning session: Baseline to 91 octane tune with gains of 65hp/93tq (Left), and the final E85 tune for even more gains of 52hp/51tq (Right):

Video of the R35 on the ZCG dyno:

Thanks for letting us work on your GT-R Derek and enjoy the 100+hp boost!

This 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R has ~86k miles and holds full California-emissions compliance. In fact, it was actually the first car to do so under the 25-year rule through Sean Morris and his team over at Top Rank Importers.

 

With up to date maintenance, a clear title and current registration this R32 is ready to be enjoyed. Extensive photos and history can be found on our For Sale page HERE.

Our customer James Stevens showed up with his turbocharged 1972 Datsun 240z, check out the Speedhunters article with great photos by Naveed HERE!

 

We departed up 84 to Skyline heading towards 9. There were so many cars in the group that we split up–some took Bear Creek Rd down through Felton and eventually we all met at Whale City Bakery in Davenport. Jeremy Gomez’ G-nose S30 was looking sharp sitting on Longchamps:

 

I was honored to pilot Rob Fuller’s S30, affectionately known as “Ms Butters Z”. This Series 1 240z has recent engine, suspension and further chassis upgrades we are very excited to share with you. I was impressed with its performance, stay tuned for a full report!

Reminiscent of Driving While Awesome Cars n Coffee, the parking lot was incredible with cool cars everywhere.

 

Our final leg of the trip was the best: HWy1 and 84 back to Alice’s Restaurant. Thanks Naveed for organizing the run it was a blast! More pictures in the gallery below, enjoy!

 
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