This 1971 Nissan Skyline has been in the Z Car Garage family for several years and currently resides in Georgia with owner Randy Jaffe. Randy has built a few notable cars with ZCG including the Rocketbunny Series1 240Z and #46 BRE Datsun 240Z driven by John Morton:

How did he end up with this JDM beauty? Randy has always loved the stance and looks of these early, “Hakosuka” Skylines and wanted to experience right-hand drive (RHD). Timing was perfect as our customer Alex McDowell was willing to part with his 2000 GT-X:

 

Under Alex’s ownership ZCG maintained the car for many years. It did not need much to prepare for delivery to Randy. We performed a full tune-up, sync’d the triple carbs, changed the fluids, handled minor cosmetics (like straightening the bumper) and it was shipped off to Georgia:

 

Randy’s Way

 

If there is one thing about Randy we admire, it’s his attention to detail. Ok, we like his sense of style too Upon arrival he mounted fresh set of chunky Toyo tires on those iconic Watanabe wheels. Inside, he removed the carpet and replaced it with original style GT-R vinyl covering. The tan seats were reupholstered to red.

 

The car was originally a white GT-X and when I asked Randy of any future mods he replied:

“I am thinking about dropping one of the Parkinson race motors in it to give the car more power – the original 2.0 is sluggish compared to what I enjoy driving. If I do that I will pull all of the A/C parts off of it and clean up the engine bay. To be continued!”

Randy applied the Hakosuka racecar-inspired livery:

 

Here is a walk-around of the Hako, with more pictures in the gallery below.

 

We are happy to report that Randy is Enjoying The Ride and even won an award at the local Caffeine and Octane show:

 

More to Come

 

You may have noticed some really cool cars in the background. Randy has several Nissans/Datsuns in his collection that we are excited to share with you in upcoming blog posts! For now, LONG LIVE THE HAKOSUKA!

 

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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:

 

Jay H has been our customer since the beginning. He has a Datsun 240z, Mazda (FD) RX-7 and this 1990 Aztec Red 300ZX Twin Turbo that he’s owned for many years.  Living in a rural, wooded area the Z’s wiring got chewed on by rodents. We fixed the wiring and got the car running again but more issues surfaced. Jay loves this Z so much and it had 122k miles so he decided it was time give it some serious attention.

 

Z Car Garage was happy to oblige as we think the Z32 is one of the best Japanese sports car of the 90’s.

Engine Bay and Drivetrain

 

The engine bay was in need of major cleaning and restoration. First, we performed a compression/leakdown test and the Z passed. With the engine out now we could focus on cleanup:

 

We installed a new engine room wiring harness. Every coolant hose, bypass hose, vacuum hose was replaced. A new underhood insulator with clips replaced the torn oem piece.

 

All p/s hoses were replaced and we modified the p/s steering pump to reduce clutter and eliminate the HICAS completely:

 

The engine was treated to full reseal and timing belt services, more pictures of the engine build in the gallery!

 

With a clean bill of health we installed several performance upgrades including JWT sport 500 turbos, BDE billet half moons/motor mounts, Ashpsec inlet piping, Selin dual-MAF with HR  low-profiles filters/two Z32 MAFs and Nismo 740cc injectors:

 

No turbo upgrade is complete without the Mike Smith turbo manifolds with EGR ( to pass emissions). Unfortunately we will install the last set of these on Felix C’s 300, and that’s it!

 

BDE motor mounts:

 

Nismo 740cc injectors:

 

Ashspec inlet piping:

  

Selin dual-MAF with HR low-profile filters:

 

Before the engine went back in we installed a new JWT HD clutch and aluminum flywheel:

 

The drivetrain was re-installed with numerous items like a new fan and engine cover:

  

Exhaust upgrades included a full SpecialtyZ 3″ exhaust with 3″midpipes:

 

Finally, a GReddy Profec boost controller was installed in the super tidy interior:

 

Rob dyno tuned the Z, making 384hp/348tq to the wheels:

 

Exterior

 

With the engine bay and drivetrain sorted we turned to the body and and exterior trim. Jay wanted to do a full repaint on the car so we had it had it towed engine-out to our man William. Some before shots showing the faded paint and cracked/peeling tail light panel:

 

At William’s the body got some choice parts to make it look like 1990 again: Wings West Pre-’94 rear wing, JDM front fascia (with shaved license plate mount) and Jspec tail lights. With the freshly painted Z back at the shop we tackled re-assembly of new cowl panels, mouldings and various trim. All of these parts really make this Z pop:

 

Extensive moulding/trim replacement: T-top trim before/after shown below

 

Door and window trim:

   

Jspec rear and front looking sharp!

 

Icing on the cake are Jay’s super cool set of old WORK Equip 05 wheels.  We re-finished and polished/painted them running Bridgestone S-04 tires.

 

Wheels make the car and this Z looks incredible standing still and on the road:

Suspension

The chassis received a few upgrades including Stillen sways and SPL titanium HICAS delete We also replaced ABS module the clutch and brake master cylinders

 

One Z Car…Coming Up!

 

Jay didn’t have a car for the duration of the revival and he was on foot running errands near his home.  We handled all of the DMV fees foe him and Rob and Alvin delivered the Z to Jay at his residence.

 

It was a great experience to pull up in the 510 and Z to present it to Jay, he was all smiles:

  

Thank you Jay for bringing your 300zx to Z Car Garage. We admire your love for the Z and passion to keep it on the road in top form! Z32s ROCK! Enjoy the extensive photo gallery below:

LONG LIVE THE Z!

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We had a great time at the 2019 Norcal Skyline Matsuri held on Saturday in San Francisco. Over 25 Nissan Skylines gathered for a fun drive through Lombard St., Japantown and capped it off with scenic Fort Baker. I am not a Skyline owner but I was lucky to attend this meet behind the wheel of Z Car Garage customer Alex McDowell’s 1992 R32 GT-R. If this Skyline looks (and sounds) familiar, it was the same car driven by Jason Cammisa in the this episode of Motor Trend’s “Ignition” TV series. Alex has continued to enjoy this Skyline at many track days.

   

On Saturday morning I joined our friend Glenn in his Nismo R32 GT-R to meet with the other Norcal Skylines near the first photo op: Lombard St.

 

GT-Rs after GT-Rs from R32 to R34 came pouring in to the crowded neighborhood. Amazingly, the SFPD was on site to help guide traffic so we could all drive down Lombard together.

   

The goal was to have all of the Skylines driving down the famous curvy street. For such a chaotic task it was accomplished so well. Thanks to drone photographer Eddie this epic moment was captured beautifully. Stay tuned for video and high-res pics!

  

From Lombard we met in Japantown for lunch. The underground parking garage turned into a Skyline car show:

 

I was happy to see and meet several R32 owners that have visited Z Car Garage!

 

We had plenty of time to admire each others cars and chat. After lunch we drove to our final photo spot, Fort Baker. It was a gorgeous day with the SF Skyline clearly visible and the Golden Gate making the perfect backdrop. Each car got it’s own photo professionally taken!

 

So. Many. Skylines.

Matt’s TH1 R32!

  

Chad’s R33 and an R32 on Blitz 03 wheels:

 

Congratulations to Todd Lappin and the organizers from Norcal Skylines on a successful Matsuri. Enjoy this video from the day and many more pictures in the gallery below.

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Paolo M came to ZCG for a differential build on his 370z. The G35/350z and G37/370z cars all share the same diff bushing failure due to aggressive driving or simple wear and tear. From Nissan, the OEM diff bushing is filled with silicone, and will burst/leak this fluid resulting in a noticeable clunk when shifting.  Paulo’s Z34 had the tell-tale sign of the diff bushing failure, with visible leakage on the cover:

 

Nissan will not replace the bushing alone. By design, Nissan wants you to replace the entire rear subframe at a substantial cost.  Fortunately, Whiteline makes a really nice bushing that can be installed and it is a mandatory solution whenever we perform a diff job at ZCG. In addition to replacing the diff bushings, we replaced the bearings, changed the final drive and installed an OS Giken limited-slip unit:

 

The diff is removed from the Z and OS Giken LSD prepped:

  

We check the pinion depth by testing the wear pattern on the ring gear with paint:

   

For an added piece of security for the differential we installed a NISMO diff cover. Its extra oil capacity and finned design aid in cooling for hard driving. The unit was filled with OS Giken gear oil:

 
We finished with an engine oil change and Paolo was back on the road. He’s visited ZCG several times and we like working on his Z34. Enjoy The Ride Paolo!