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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We have several exciting projects at the shop that will have full reports coming soon to zcarblog. From Z32 Twin Turbo builds…

  

…To S30 Z’s getting our ZCG CV Axles and Big-Brake Kits:

 

Z34 on new Yokohama AVS F50 wheels:

 

Just a few S30s from resto-mods to OEM-level restorations:

 

Race car tuning! More to come watch for updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages!

 

It’s 90’s Monday at Z Car Garage! We had two R32 Skylines in from our friend Sean at IVI. The (AH3) Pearl Red Metallic GTR came in for stainless brake lines, timing adjustment and alignment. Kurt’s (KH2) Grey GTR will be getting wheels(though we dig the R33 setup!), Stoptech BBK, Haltech and more ZCG R32-specific upgrades.

 

The shop 300zx, representing our favorite 90’s-era Japanese sports car also got a set of Volk GT-C wheels:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt O is the lucky owner of this 1991 Skyline GTR finished in (TH1) Midnight Blue Pearl.  When we first met he wanted to bring the car in to ZCG for a quick checkup. We looked over it, ran a compression check and also made a plan for his next visit.

 

Matt acquired this California-legal R32 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.

   

In March of last year Matt came in for a Haltech Platinum Pro. We have installed many of these and it’s a great foundation for adding power to the R32.

 

We performed all the prep work and ran a the boost sensor to install the Haltech.  Whenever we take on these cars we always run a smoke test to ensure there are no intake leaks present.

  

On the dyno, results for the baseline run (left) followed by Haltech on 91 octane. Despite having a healthy engine/turbos the power levels were fairly low on this car. The culprit: weak actuators not allowing the car to hold boost. Matt will visit us again for new turbos and acuators so it will get a big jump in power. We are big fans of Haltech and now he’s prepared with the right engine management system.

  

Next, we installed a few suspension upgrades supplied by Matt followed by a full alignment:

 

Cusco T/C rods, rack bushings and toe-link/rear control arm setup:

    

T/C rods

   

The R32 had a set of SSR SP1 wheels and Matt wanted to change the look with a fresh set of new wheels: 18″ Volk TE37 finished in bronze.

  

We mounted/balanced his RE071R tires and the Skyline looks sweet:

Matt has been Enjoying The Ride in the R32. Here he is at Laguna Seca:

  

We even caught Matt out on a local drive! Here he is parked next to Naveed’s R32 (story coming soon):

 

Thanks for bringing your Skyline to us Matt. We look forward to more boost! Catch more of Matt’s Th1 R32 on his Instagram

 

“Great Drives” is a Zcarblog series highlighting scenic routes and destinations we have enjoyed from the past and present. Whether it is a nice cruise or thrilling adventure, we hope to inspire Bay Area vintage car owners to Enjoy The Ride! Have a great drive of your own that you want to share? Feel free to contact us on Facebook, Instagram or by e-mail.

 

Mt. Umunhum to Alice’s Restaurant, October 2018

There are several fun routes reaching Alice’s from San Jose. This drive was organized by Lotus 7 owner Geoff W and we all met in Almaden to begin:

 

The 11-car group was diverse with both vintage and modern sports cars with great Nissan/Datsun representation!

The cars:

Daniel’s Nissan 240s (S13) with an RB25DET swap. He is the man behind the lens of BayRoadsAP. Naveed Yousufzai’s R32 Skyline GT-R:

  

Lane Skelton of DrivingWhileAwesome in his Porsche 944. Eric in the 911 Targa

  

TWO Z cars! Michael’s Series 1 240z (with patina) and Andrew’s Series 1 Fairlady Z (RHD!)

  

Geoff (organizer) in his Lotus 7, featured on Petrolicious! Mike in his 993 Porsche:

  

Matt in his Subaru BRZ Performance Pack, Brendan and Drew in their Chevy SS sedans, and myself in the Datsun Roadster.

The route:

  

Driving through Almaden to Mt. Umunhum:

 

The climb up to the peak is filled with freshly paved road and switchbacks. At the top:

 

In the lower lot we had a few minutes to chat and check out the cars

 

I really dig Michael’s S30, it has a warmed-over triple-carb’d L-series:

 

We left Mt. Umunhum towards 17 and exited on Bear Creek Rd. for lunch in Boulder Creek. This was a fun stretch I haven’t been on.

 

Heading up 9 to 35. It was fun chasing Michael in the Z:

 

 

We had a little scare when his oil pressure gauge started reading low….it checked it ok and we were off again:

 

The route changed a bit and we took Alpine Rd. (lots of loose gravel) to Pescadero Creek Rd, then Stage Rd. After re-grouping we hopped on HWY 1N:

 

From 1 we turned right onto 84. This stretch was amazing. SO much fun connecting the turns and chasing Geoff in the Lotus. This is a road that made me love my roadster even more. Thanks Geoff for an exhilarating drive!

 

All of the Roadsters at Alice’s Restaurant. An “Aero Cycle” joined:

 

We also got a closer look at Geoff’s go-kart. One look at the driver’s seat tells all: this is a wild ride!

 

After drinks we departed. Alice’s never disappoints.

 

Here’s video I snapped showing the action, enjoy!

 

After drinks we split up for home, and i took 35 back down 9. I was treated to some great coastal and bay arae views:

 

 

Big thanks to Geoff for organizing the drive. It was a fantastic run with great company! More pictures in the gallery below.