No, dear readers your eyes aren’t deceiving you! That is a 1972 Chevelle coming out of Turn 9 at Laguna Seca and here is the story behind this icon from the 70’s. Owner Dave T was scouring the internet for dyno shops when he found Z Car Garage. With an endorsement from his co-worker an e-mail was sent and we happily obliged to dyno the Chevelle. We love muscle cars!
Dave had assembled this engine entirely by himself and wanted to see the difference a new exhaust system made. The stock exhaust consisted of OEM cast-iron manifolds, dual pipes w/o crossover and generic turbo mufflers. Baseline numbers were 277hp/326tq to the wheels. The new exhaust system included Hooker SBC headers, Pypes X-pipe and Race Pro mufflers. This helped produce 330hp/356tq to the wheels!
Here is a video of the dyno run:
What we love most about the car is that it was meant to be a ‘grandma’s sleeper’ that could work at the road-track, the drag-strip and as a daily driver. It still has its original bench seat and column shifter. Dave has logged over 11,000 miles on the motor and recently completed a track day at Laguna Seca!
A few details on the engine build:
383CI
Intake Manifold-RPM Air Gap
GMPP Hot Camshaft
COMP Cams Valve Springs
GM Bow-Tie Vortec cylinder heads
Compression ratio 9.543
TH-350 (TCI)
3000 rpm flash stall converter (TCI)
3.08 rear, Eaton posi
Dave actually built the engine before he found the car. After the successful engine run on the stand, his dad encouraged him to find a car for it:
“He said, why don’t you get a Chevelle like you had in high-school- that was the best car we ever had. I had received a 1972 Chevelle Mailbu from my parents at the age of 16. It was blue with a white vinyl top. I had an accident in it and some time after that the cam/timing gear let go and although I tried to replace it the engine never ran right and we ended up donating it to the high-school auto shop class.”
He then found a ’72 on Craigslist in un-modified condition, shown above in the original owner’s driveway. The car has been repainted it’s original shade of green, and that’s it. In went the new motor and he’s been driving like mad.
Here is Dave putting the Chevelle through its paces at the Sear’s Point Drags (Sonoma Raceway). His first time out he ran low 13’s!
Thanks for bringing your Chevelle to us we enjoyed working with you Dave!
Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 11:37 pm on May 2, 2015
The Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place last weekend. Now in its 28th year, this gathering continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. I drove my roadster down from San Jose and arrived Saturday morning to a very wet downtown Solvang. Despite the showers we had 77 Datsuns in attendance and eventual sunshine.
For the last 3 years The Solvang Roadster Show has been organized by the great folks of SoCal Roadster Owners Club. They have carried the torch well, providing a fun time for all and keeping things interesting like creating show categories with sponsors. This year the new “race” class was sponsored by the popular historic driving group SVRA, and the display was pretty epic!
This 1962 Fairlady SPL212 was given a full transformation into a road-racing beast. The man behind this one-off roadster is Jeff Silvey, a long-time Solvang show attendee and talented fabricator. He’s known for his bright red, L-series powered hot-rod SPL212 and sweet turbo-diesel powered NL320 truck. The latter was actually the tow rig for the racecar, how cool is that?!
Back to the racecar…from the outside there are a few subtle mods like the front air dam, “gills” and speedster cover that catch the eye. Add the 16″ vintage Volk GT-U wheels and you know this isn’t the stock, 48hp Fairlady from the factory. With red/white paint somehow it all works very well. Then you peek underneath that tiny hood and see an S15 SR20DET sitting almost a foot back and a myriad of custom fabrication takes over. From the full Silvia rear suspension to custom a-arm setup up front Jeff went bezerk with this build. We dig it, see more detailed shots in the gallery:
Other notable race cars included our friend Ron Carter with his 1967 2000 race car and Gary Wasserman’s factory lightweight SRL. Ron recently got accepted to run at the Monterey Historic Races coming in August!
The show brings roadsters lovers from all over the world including British Columbia and Mexico. For those hardcore Datsun enthusiasts that insist on Enjoying The Ride this means towing a small trailer!
I have a soft spot for Datsun 1500s (I have a 1500 grille on mine), especially these ’63-64 3-seat models. This year we had four beautiful examples, including an original owner who was a Solvang resident. He even showed me the original purchase order spec’d with the factory hardtop!
Solvang showcases everything from highly modified to pristine stock examples of roadsters. John Baker’s ’69 2000 and this ’67 SPL were great examples of stock roadsters, right down to their stock steel wheels:
Speaking of stock, Mike Young brought this fantastic 67 2000 for display showcasing his great restorative skills. White/red is one of my favorite combinations and really got the stance right on this SRL with the slightly larger Libra-style wheels:
A few more 1600s, including Mike’s stroked and Mikuni-carb’d hot rod. Watanabe wheels, EMPI steering wheel and red/black interior are great choices. Eagle eyes may notice the 2L gauges, shift plate and trim ring. Watch the video to hear it run!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJIVRqm8Pfo
A pleasant surprise was this “short-nose” Skyline coupe or “hakosuka”. These cars were powered by G-series 4-cylinder engines unlike their larger L-series 6 cylinder brothers that we are starting to see stateside. Sitting nicely on Hayashi Techno Phantoms this classic J-tin ticked all the right boxes with pillar-less windows and a proper surf line left intact! Check the gallery for other “non-roadster JDM” finds.
An incredible amount of high windshield 2000’s inhabited the show this year with very diverse examples. Solex, SU and even motorcycle quad-carb induction setups hooked up to U20s. Scoville/BRE stripes, fresh paint jobs and custom interiors worthy of Pro-Touring muscle cars were also seen:
A properly executed engine swap into a Datsun Roadster is always nice to see as the bar increases each year. These (for lack of a better word) “resto-modded” roadsters blend modern drivetrains with vintage lines while adding personal touches from the builder/owners. Here are three examples that stood out:
Looking for more power but wanting to stay NA, Mike Anderson’s ’68 SPL sports an SR20VE. Using Nissan’s version of VTEC, this VVL combination is good for 200hp NA. With help from Kevin Desirello of KRD it dyno’d at 215wrhp! Limited production Volk TE37v SL wheels are one of my all-time favorites. Mike took me for a spin and this engine in such a light car is phenomenal.
Jon Frampton’s 1967.5 SPL stole the show with a total frame-off restoration and SR20VE-T/6-speed drivetrain. That’s right, a turbo was added to an already ballistic engine! Another one of Kevin Desirello’s creations, this roadster came to him needing only transmission work and suffered an extreme case of “Hey, while we’re there”…
It’s hard to believe this car was once candy red and decked out in 90’s era style. Beautifully applied #531 Beige Grey Metallic paint and a very subtle but custom interior by Bill Dunn (Overhaulin’) helped win Best of Show. Jon himself is famous for restoring and “modernizing” roadster gauges…his work is sensational! Check the gallery for more shots…there are plenty of neat details to see!
Finally, Ted’s 1966 SPL is a familiar, though still impressive roadster. Built by Michael Spreadbury of Spriso Motorsports, this S15 SR20DET powered beauty glistens with Plymouth Prowler paint:
Sitting perfectly atop 16″ Watanabe RS-8 wheels with a massive dish out back on a 225-width tire, this one oozes cool. Ted is currently driving her thousands of miles on a Southwest tour!
We had a blast at Solvang and always look forward to next year. Big thanks again to SoCalROC for putting on another wonderful show!
If you didn’t attend please watch this excellent drone footage of the show from fellow roadster owner Mike Anderson. Don’t forget the picture gallery after the jump and…
Dwane has been customer since the opening of Z Car Garage in 2004. We installed one of Vortech’s earliest supercharger kits on his ultra low-mileage ’03 Brickyard 350z circa 2005 and he has been enjoying it ever since. Almost a decade later forced-induction tuning and support has tremendously advanced and many boosted applications are abandoning the old Split-Second and FMU-based systems.
At ZCG we love the UPREV tuning platform and it allowed us to maximize gains from a new GT MAF, larger injectors and upgraded fuel pump. We also installed ART pipes on the exhaust side and nice cosmetic addition of LED-based headlights:
On the dyno we picked up 9hp/13tq with smoother delivery throughout the rev range. Mid-to-high gains were significant:
Taka Y visited us in 2012 for some maintenance on his pretty 1972 S30. Originally the classic orange in color, we love this metallic red shade as it shifts from burgundy in the shade to a brilliant ruby in direct light.
In addition to sorting out the SU carbs we added Pertronix electronic ignition, did minor suspension work and cleaned up the fuel tank and all associated hoses:
After a few years of enjoying the Z Taka came back to ZCG for more suspension upgrades and clean-up work. Starting with the suspension we chose new rear lower control arms from TechnoToyTuning (T3), Eibach springs , KONI classic shocks and f/r sway bars:
Here are the original rear control arms and new T3 adjustable parts:
Both lower control arms installed:
The rear end also got treated to new mustache bar bushings:
Up front the lower control arms and T/C rods were cleaned, primed and rust-proofed:
We installed a new clutch master cylinder and clutch slave followed by full hydraulic system bleed with Stoptech 600 fluid. New hoses shown below (L): On the right, Taka’s L-series oil pan gasket was seeping oil so we replaced it with a new competition piece:
Here is the pan coming off and new comp. gasket applied. A new oil pressure sending unit was also installed:
We replaced the old, worn motor mounts with new pieces:
New vs old motor mount isolators:
With the chassis, engine and hydraulics sorted we improved aesthetics by changing the wheels. We really do love the Panasport wheel and over the years they improved their casting/design. The latest offering is stronger and lighter with stunning finishes. Below (L) it’s easy to see the difference in tire dimensions…
Taka’s 80’s era 280zx 14″ wheels were mounted on gargantuan 235/60/14 tires. The new Panasports are sized 16×7 (11mm offset) and shod with 225/50/16 Bridgestone RE760Sport tires. Taka’s Z now has a sportier, updated look with performance to match thanks to this wheel/tire combo.
At Z Car Garage we love to help enthusiasts by installing customer-supplied parts. Eric R purchased these hot rod goodies online and came to us for installation on his 2014 370z:
Stillen Gen 3 Intakes are a proven way to increase mid to high-range power on the VQ37HR:
Install showing filter location:
The 370Z has been discovered to suffer from high oil temps when exposed to extended periods of spirited driving. Once oil temps reach a specific temperature, the vehicle’s ECU will put itself into a “Limp Mode” cutting the power to the engine. The solution? An engine oil cooler, this one is a great unit from Z1 Motorsports:
Stainless steel braided brakes lines can also help with pedal feel compared to the stock, rubber lines:
The perfect balance to improved intakes is to upgrade the exhaust side. Eric chose the TDX cat-back system from Fast Intentions. Aside from the power gains this carbon fiber muffler option also saves weight:
And yes i does look great too!
UPREV tuning maximizes power gains from these bolt-ons. The Stillen intakes and FI exhaust pushed power past the 300whp mark to 307hp/258tq at the wheels:
With UPREV tuning we extracted 10hp more to the wheels for total of 317hp/258tq, noticeable improvements in mid to high range hp and torque:
How can we help you add power and performance through bolt-ons on your Z or G?
