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Our client Randy Jaffe is selling this 2007 Nissan Nismo 350Z with only 31k miles. 1st Place winner ad Best of Show at ZCON, finished in Pikes Peak White with new Bridgstone tires (comes w/original tires), new battery and Onion Skin Certificate. Just serviced and stored in a climate-controlled building as part of an extensive Nissan/Datsun collection.
Price: $45,000
See the walk-around video and more photos on our FOR SALE page.
The Championship-winning 1988 Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo is at Z Car Garage. This iconic race car was driven by Geoff Brabham and John Morton, known for de-throning the Porsche 962 in IMSA racing with 8 straight wins. Enjoy the photos of chassis #8801 with a full feature coming soon to zcarblog.com!
Thanks to Dean Case and Greg Nelson of Nissan Motorsports for the opportunity to have this legend here at Z Car Garage.
It’s surreal to see the car that has been a poster on our wall actually inside the shop. Rob had to get out his R/C car and another poster from the front office:
Enjoy this video highlighting the epic 1988 IMSA season with Morton and Brabahm in the GTP ZX-T:
Nissan Motorsports will be coming to Northern California for the Pirelli GT4 America season opener on April 5-7 at Sonoma Raceway. Before they hit the track, they will be hosting an informal tech talk for SAE MidCal at Z Car Garage in San Jose on April 3 at 6pm.
This is an informal gathering with Greg Nelson (Nissan Motorsports Manager) and a couple of Nissan/NISMO engineers from Japan for an hands-on introduction to the NISMO Z. Recently appointed Nissan Motorsports Press Officer Dean Case will also be joining the discussion.
Location: Z Car Garage at 140 Archer St. in San Jose CA
Time: 6pm to 8pm on Wednesday April 3
Please confirm your attendance by clicking this link HERE
Our shop has limited street parking. Please refer to the map below for FREE PARKING on Wednesday, April 3. We have secured a section of the Bay 101 Casino parking lot right off N 4th St., highlighted by the red square on the map. From this lot it is just a short walk to Z Car Garage located on 140 Archer St. Please be courteous and do not loiter or park outside of the designated area Bay 101 Casino has provided us. We look forward to seeing you and share in the excitement of the 2024 Nissan Z Nismo. Long Live The Z!
We met Kevin E through our client Randy Jaffe out in Georgia. Kevin was here in the Bay Area, Ca for work and wanted Z Car Garage to give his 2008 Nismo 350Z some love. We happily obliged by adding KW suspension and maintenance to an already superb supercharged platform:
KEVIN: I heard about Z Car Garage from a local friend, Randy Jaffe. I met him at Z Nationals down here in Georgia a few years back. Randy kept mentioning Rob when talking about his Nissan and Datsun collection, and after seeing Larry Chen’s videos about Z Car Garage I had no hesitation about Rob working on the car in the future. It’s funny because I was DM’ing Rob on IG about the car before pulling the trigger to ship it there in our earlier conversations!
Kevin is the original owner of chassis #1508. He wanted a manual car to drive and found the Nismo sitting in a lot..
KEVIN: This was when the 370z and R35 came out. The car I ended up stalling in the parking lot is the same car you see here today. Purchased new in 2010 and was my first manual car. It will always have a special place in my heart because my father taught me how to drive manual in it.
It’s truly been a car I’ve done everything in from my NASA events, first car I’ve taken to the drag strip, road trips including the drive up from NorCal back to Arizona, enjoying Zcon at Nissan USA back in 2018, and of course the rabbit hole of turning a vision into reality. There have been ups and downs, but the extraordinary experiences and people I’ve met along the way have made it all worth it.
We addressed the suspension to attain Kevin’s overall goal of making his Z a double duty car: one that you can get groceries in and enjoy track/canyon driving.
KEVIN: Rob and the team did a full suspension refresh with KW V3s and the full SPL catalog. I’ve held off on it for quite some time because I didn’t feel the actual suspension was worn out or my skill level had surpassed the balance of the OEM ones. He also performed one hell of an alignment, which felt great the whole way back to Arizona. Taking it up the canyons driving through L.A., the car was a blast and Rob absolutely nailed the feel I wanted out of the car. The car was more communicative and had no more body roll! I felt way more confident pushing the car harder.
Full alignment service in-house at Z Car Garage:
The small things are what we excel at. The interior was spiced up with some red Recaro RSG Japan seats to match the original Nismo theme:
KEVIN: I wanted someone that could roll the rear fenders without cracking the paint and handle small dents from the years. Been through paint and body work and wanted it to be done right from the beginning. After seeing the restoration of Randy’s BRE Datsun 240Z following the Daytona accident, I know the car would be in great hands. During my time in NorCal working, I had Rob install a set of JDM tail lights, which I was on the fence about. They came out fantastic and love how they compliment the whole car:
The Tomei titanum exhaust was replaced at Kevin’s request with a custom built Soho system. Tomei below:
New Soho exhaust, with more photos in the gallery below:
The last piece to address was maintenance (fluids/pads/supercharger belt check) and ensuring that the Zcar was ready for its voyage back to Arizona and later Georgia:
KEVIN: What fascinated me was how in depth Rob was with the car. Handwritten notes, small details during the install, and extra care taken during the whole process. That is why I have Rob listed as Dr.Datsun because he truly does take each car in, assesses anything that might need to be addressed, and everything else that the client wants to achieve just like a true doctor!
We put the Z on our dyno for a health check, making a stout 491hp/356tq to the wheels:
Enjoy this video of Kevin’s Nismo 350Z on the dyno!
Rob and Kevin discussed ideal suspension settings and the result was a balanced car:
KEVIN: The Z feels so good. As soon as Rob gave me a ride, I could immediately tell. The back end was so planted taking a corner on Rob’s test track, lol. It wouldn’t kick out like it did on the OEM Nismo suspension taking the roundabout corner even with a Nismo GT Pro LSD. Just the right amount of stiff, but also very compliant soaking up the bumps like a cobblestone surface. Rob truly is a magician with suspension, evidenced by his driving background. Before the suspension, it just felt a little dull and sluggish in response. After having more seat time in the car, it just feels very connected and direct.
We knew that Kevin wanted a bit more feel, without sacrificing comfort and decided to use poly bushings in the suspension for street use.
KEVIN: Driving through LA, all the bumps were not as harsh as I thought and when the road was smooth, it was like silk, but you could feel the changes in the road surface through the steering wheel. I’m glad I listened despite me wanting to put Clubsports on the car. I spoke to a few people that had Rob install the same setup and they all had nothing but positive feedback. Rob takes his clients in steps rather than large leaps not only to get acquainted with the car again, but also to improve as a driver and become more confident.
While he was out in NorCal, we were lucky to see Kevin Enjoying The Ride at local events like the ZONC gathering ZONC Gathering:
KEVIN: All the videos I’ve seen of Rob, he just has so much passion in what does! I thought I was OCD about my car, but Rob is such a perfectionist and wants it to be more than 100 percent when the client picks up the car. It not only has the power, but has the footwork now, which was the missing piece of the puzzle. On a side note, Rob has not only been another caretaker of my Nismo, but he has become like family to me along with the rest of the team at Z Car Garage. Rob, I want to personally thank you again for all the advice and life advice you’ve given me during my stay there! I’m eternally grateful for everything!
Kevin’s Nismo 350Z came out really nice and we love his passion. Icing on the cake was seeing him so stoked on having his Z worked on by Z Car Garage. Thanks for letting us be a part of your build. See more of his Nismo Z33 on Instagram and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Mike R acquired this gunmetal (KH2) 1991 Skyline GTR from Toprank International Vehicle Importers in 2019. Z Car Garage is familiar with the Norcal Skylines group and fellow R32 owner Kurt W referred Mike to us in addition to an endorsement from Top Rank. Mike’s first round of upgrades included a Project Mu Big-Brake kit, Ohlins coil-over suspension, Haltech ecu, Greddy FMIC, sorting and dyno tuning. All of this work is documented in our 2020 blog post:
Following that initial visit, Mike 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 (265/35/18). A Haltech IC7 digital dash was added to monitor vital engine parameters, tying into the CAN box of Elite system:
Mike was 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 ZCG 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.”
(Below)Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod and Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold:
Remade in USA throttles and Nismo plenum. Fully built cylinder head with GSC S1 cams, SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides:
PRP crank trigger kit, Radium Dual Catch cans, Custom Intercooler piping with Tial q50 bov and Nismo oil cooler:
HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust:
Mike’s R32 came back to ZCG in 2022 for a few more items including:
ATS Carbon twin disk clutch (shoutout to @wubbs18)
New oem timing belt and pulleys
PRP alternator kit
Kansai Service Towhook
OEM Valley cover powder coated with R34 ornament plate
Mines Alcantara shift boot, parking brake handle and boot
Enjoy this video of Mike’s R32 GT-R in action with dyno runs, in-car and drive-by footage. Volume up!
Several dyno tuning sessions were performed during the upgrade period. 515hp/437tq on 91 octane was achieved with significant mid-range gains:
Mike was pleased:
“Big thanks to @zcargarage for seeing this project through to the end and making the car come to life. We had a lot of headaches and setbacks over the past 11 months, but they did an incredible job end result speaks for itself! Couldn’t be happier. 🤘”
“Ethanol delivery is handled by a full Radiumengineering fuel system. Fuel hanger surge tank using twin 525lph to feed the rail and a 340lph to feed the hanger. All new hoses with a -8 feed line. Radium fuel rail with Rail mounted adjustable fuel pressure regulator. All feeding Injectordynamics ID1700XDS injectors. Haltech Flex fuel Sensor and Bosch Fuel pressure/temp combo tied into Haltech Elite to bring it all together.”
On the dyno with E85 the R32 put down 624hp/479tq at the wheels, and Mike continued to enjoy the car:
“So the car has been on flex fuel for a few months now. Made 600 whp and 480tq. Still just keeping the boost around 20psi. Tons of room left in the setup. Been enjoying the shit out of the car is it currently sits. Maybe some minor cosmetic stuff in the near future, but for now….just drive.”
We were happy to see Mike Enjoying the Boost and spotted his R32 in action at the Tokyo Calling and Breakfast Club Rallies in Northern California:
Catch more of Mike’s R32 on his Instagram. Overview of major work is below with more photos in the gallery. Thanks for your support Mike!
. Custom 4” intake
. Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold
. Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod
. Turbosmart gen4 twin port IWG
. Custom Intercooler piping
. Greddy 29f Intercooler
. Tial q50 bov
. Nismo plenum
. @remade_in_usa_ restored throttles
. Radium fuel filter, fuel rail, afpr, and pulse damper
. ID1050x injectors
. Hellcat fuel pump
. Fully built cylinder head
. GSC S1 cams
. SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides
. Greddy adjustable Cam gears, timing belt
. PRP crank trigger kit
. Fluidamper
. Two six engineering power steering pump kit.
. RHD Auto power steering reservoir
. Nismo Oil Cooler
. PWR radiator with Samco hoses
. Haltech Elite 2000 pnp
. Haltech WB1 canbus wide and 02sensor
. Haltech IC7 digital dash
. Haltech 3 port boost solenoid
. Radium Dual Catch cans
. HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust
