It is always great to hear stories from original Z-car owners. Joe A came to ZCarGarage to restore his 1974 260z after 36 years of ownership! He had become familiar with ZCG through our local club, ZONC.  After carefully inspecting the car, Rob and Joe sat down and discussed several procedures that would update and improve the car. They decided on a complete engine rebuild with tuned exhaust, and removing all smog devices since the car was over 35 years old.
Here are a few pictures of the engine bay after removing the drivetrain:

The engine was rebuilt with a mild cam and dyno results showed  nice gains of 23 rwhp and 13tq!

The engine bay and underhood had to look just as beautiful as the body so William painted everything back to the original exterior color. ZCG provided zinc plating and powdercoating services under the hood and all wiring harnesses were redone:

Here is Joe with a few words on how the Z became part of his life:

“It was January of 1969 and I had just been discharged from the Air Force. …[read more]

Bryan Feldman has been building and modifying some amazing Datsun 510s since the early 80’s and if you are not familiar with his work check out his website . One of Bryan’s creations was this 1971 510 4-door with something a little unorthodox under the hood: a turbocharged straight 6-cylinder engine from a Z-car!  “Turbo6″ on the license plate gave folks a hint of what powered this sleeper 🙂  Inside is a very extensive roll cage with a custom dash and the car still rolls on the 15” Panasports.

Bryan built this car over 30 years ago! Amazingly the car looks just as it did and still runs. With help from a few friends in Georgia “Turbo6” was found and should be arriving at ZCG later this week, stay tuned for better pictures and video!
More pictures below
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This G35 sports a built engine with a complete Vortech Supercharger kit and SI-trim upgrade.  A full supporting cast of components were installed by ZCarGarage including:

• Stillen headers
• Stillen exhaust
• Berk Hi-flow cats
• 600CC injectors

Rob and the ZCG crew extracted significant power gains using the UPREV software and PMAS MAF. A solid 20rwhp and 18rwtq were gained bringing total output to 456rwhp and 364tq!!!  Gotta love how the Vortech blower delivers a smooth ramp-up of power as rpm rise.

Jim’s G35 is a powerhouse but braking and traction were two items that needed attention.

We spent a lot of time making a decision about the look and size of the wheels. No offense to Jim but the chromed out Foose wheels were destined for a slammed Chevy Silverado! Take a look:

It is amazing how a wheel/tire combo can transform a car’s aesthetic. 19″ SSR Professor SP3 wheels look absolutely brilliant on the G and allowed us to install much needed larger tires. Icing on the cake was the Stoptech 14″ ST60 front brakes with ST22 13″ brakes in the rear:

Front:

Rear:

The combo is incredible!
Rob

More pictures in the gallery, enjoy!
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***ATTENTION DATSUN FANS***
There are TWO exciting Datsun events this weekend!
Saturday, 4/30    
The Solvang Datsun Roadster Show is being held in beautiful downtown Solvang, CA.

Sunday, 5/1
A record number of Datsuns will be racing at Laguna Seca with HSR on Sunday, 5/1

If you are a Datsun fan and love vintage racing come out to Laguna Seca this weekend! On  5/1 the Historic Sportscar Racing group is bringing an exciting event with plenty of historic race cars and several notable Datsun racers! If you can’t make the Solvang Datsun Roadster Show (held on Saturday) this is another way to get your Datsun fix! We will do our best to attend on Sunday afternoon where the Datsuns are running in group 3. We also want to be there to cheer on our favorite Datsun Roadster racer, Ron Carter!

So just how strong will the Datsun showing be? At least TWENTY 510s, Zs, and Roadsters! Come on out to ‘Seca and watch these Datsun vintage racers mix it up with exotics and other wicked metal 🙂

No, this is not a Nissan. It is not even a Z. This is a 2011 Ford Mustang GT, and it’s wild with plenty of horses. How many? The 5.0L engine is rated at 412hp from the factory, but the ZCG dyno reveals it’s true output! Rob tells the story of how this GT gets a serious boost in power from an already potent powerplant:

Michael L lives in Santa Cruz, Ca. He was referred to ZCarGarage by Vortech engineering in Southern California. ZCG is a top tier installer of Vortech products and we have performed several non-Nissan installs. You might remember the 2010 Camaro from last fall. Michael and I spoke and decided to meet. I told him we would love to add boost to his new ‘Stang as long as he didn’t mind that all the other horses in this stable would be Zs. Once again Vortech delivers with an amazing product. The kit parts and installation are as if Ford designed it to be a dealer add-on. This is a limited edition kit to celebrate Vortech’s 20-year anniversary in the performance aftermarket and most of the components are finished in matte black.

Back to the car… this Mustang marks the return of the 5.0. Rated at 412 hp at the crank this pony put down some strong baseline numbers: 376hp/364tq. So the 5.0 is really making close to 440hp at the crank!

ZCG’s Josh C comes from a Ford background. Growing up his Dad’s pride and joy was a 1970 XR-7 Cougar ‘vert. Only 1700 were made in the 351 and 4 speed set up. We hope to help Josh’s father restore this car someday. During his younger days Josh owned a ’69 Mustang and a ’65 Ranchero so he was excited to add his touch to the late model Mustang. The Vortech kit is intercooled and is going to be completely smog legal delivering its 8 psi. Post-install dyno numbers are very impressive: 496hp/436tq! The car starts and drives like a stock car until you press the go pedal. Great job Vortech! Enjoy the ride Michael and may your second car be a Nissan.
-Rob
Here are a few more pics of the install, enjoy!
Intercooler, very low-key:

Blower install: