Sleek Z

gramercyjam "GOOD ONE !" I loved your observation and comments. Nice to see that someone is tracking the historical importance of 20" wheels on the earliest s30s.

Tim, No, No, you weren't reading the timeline in my remarks carefully enough. Business pressures got in my way to coming down this year and I did not make it. Instead, overflow of international Z enthussiasts that flew into the MSA show all ended up at my parts shop for several days starting on Monday. If I'd been there you would have had a lawn guest parked out front for 40 days and 40 nights while I photographed your custom car and tailights and every other custom Z within 100 mile radius of there. Ask anyone that has made the mistake of agreeing to let me take "a few" shots of their car. They'll tell ya that once I start, the shoot never ends. If I can keep a lighter or a candle lit at midnight, I'll still be shoot'in your Z. Well, anyway, I was truely disappointed that I could not make it because your car was one of the newly finished Z projects at the top of my list to photo document. Care to drive it up here for a week end? Guiness and Burgers will be on me! Well.........? btw, I was checking out your V8 project pages today and the last 2 photos showed the right rear of you painted car kind of dinged up. Total BUMMER. This just happened? At the MSA Show? Very sad to see the crinkles in the long hours of primo body work and paint you worked so hard on. "BUMMER", again.

Quick comment to call everyone's attention to something possibly working against the Jakarta Z you see in the preview photo. As a photographer, I immediately cringed when I realized that the photograher shot the car close up in a tight in space and was forced to use a wide angle lens to squeeze the entire length of the car into one pic. This results in noticable "bowing" and distoration of the body lines plus a wide angle lens always distorts car body proportions causing parts of car closest to lens to look excessively large comparted to the far side of the body. With such large wheels so close to the lens, they are bound to appear even more "ballooned" in size compared to overall car size and appear to be cartoon like. Give me the right light and focal lehgth of lens on a camera and let me choose the angle view of my choice and I'll make those 20" wheels appear to "fit" the car much nicer than they appear in the preview photo you'll are seeing in the first preview shot released.

The "Z CAR CONVERTIBLE" topic! Just My Cup of Tea I was wondering why I have been getting so many inquiries lately about the Z Spyder Convertible kit I sell at ZPARTS.COM link = http://zparts.com/ads/zspider/zspider_index1.html Maybe it is because of this thread? So, OK, here's a bit of info to add to this thread. 1. I have personally run across over 25 convertible Z cars, completed and not, many of which I have photographed. Also, I have seen photos of another 10-15 around the NET, some of which are featured on my website. Below are links to a few Z car convertible conversions that may interest readers of this thread. As some of you may know, I have had a long standing interest in creating a one off 2+2 Z based convertible car with a body reform of my own design. My preliminary design sketches and first project car effort are documented at http://zparts.com/showcase/sleekz/szconcepts/2_2project/2_2intro.html Due to my 2+2 convertible interest I have been frequently notified about a beautifully finished red 260Z 2+2 convertible located somewhere in Australia. That car recently went up for sale on eBay. Link to the auction (item # item=2475776565 ) and photos is at http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2475776565&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1>http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2475776565&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1 2. Pierre Z's nicely finished green car. Mike Perrot, son of the owner, tracked me down at the 2002 MSA show to ask me to photo document his green car after we hit it off so well chatting about the design of his silver custom Z that Pierre'Z featured at the 2001 show. 2 hours after the show was over and everyone else gone I was still shooting that car from atop a ladder borrowed from MSA office while aprox 10 employees of PierreZ and MSA sat along the curb waiting for me to finish so that they all could go home. Here's some links to the Pierre's Z car. (sorry, some of the best have not been published yet) http://zparts.com/events/wcn2002/promo/image/DCP_3551.html http://zparts.com/events/wcn2003/display2/pictures/dcp_8897.html http://zparts.com/events/wcn2002/promo/image/DCP_3458.html 3. Michael Johnson's black convertible with one off body kit and Mazda Miata windshield transplant http://zparts.com/events/wcn2003/display2/pictures/dcp_8918.html 4. Red car from east coast with unique Jaguar F type head buttresses http://zparts.com/showcase/taillight_showcase/pictures/dcp_3347.html 5. The "Silver Shadow" of Kevin Wallace, featured exclusively at my my website at http://zparts.com/sidebars/sb_kw2/kw2preview1.htm http://zparts.com/sidebars/sb_kw/kwrdstrv8_main.html 6. Z Roadster with Corvette tail lights and Lexus 32 valve V8 engine swap "kept hidden by owner" in the Livermore, CA area http://zparts.com/sidebars/taillights/corvette_zrear_m.htm 7. Assorted Tomahawk Z re body kit cars. Most do not run with tops, but recently, the designer has created a most unique 4 piece removable Targa and T-top option that some of you may have seen for the first time on Vincent Hudson's "Purple Candy" Tomahawk this year at MSA show. Tomahawk Showcase is at http://zparts.com/showcase/tomahawk/index.html Preview of new 4 piece hard top option http://zparts.com/showcase/tomahawk/images-lg/DCP_0251rw1.jpg 8. John Hunter Dailey, long term member of of a major East coast Z car club and the US correspondent for the Z Car Club of UK's slick look, glossy Z car magazine, contacted me a few months ago to ask for assistance in tracking down documentation and photos related to Z car based convertibles, past and present, as part of his research leading to writing a multi installment article on the subject for publication in the UK's Z car magazine. Those of you really interested in this subject I'd advise to get ahold of his detail articles on subject when they are published. Based on cc's from John Washington to both John Hunter Dailey and myself, it appears that John and his efforts are going to be featured in these articles. Lastly, if I get enough requests, I will arrange with the Z Car Club of UK to stock enough issues with John Hunter Dailey's convertible Z documentation articles to accommodate those of you that would like to buy them for your Z car literature libraries. To see how professional looking this full color, glossy European Z magazine looks like, you can see covers and background info on the older issues that I presently sell at ZPARTS.COM. Link to those is at http://zparts.com/literature/zclubmagfs/index.htm OK, that's a enough to choke a horse. Hope it assists some of you and your convertible Z passions.

Tim I was pretty sure that lots of US Z car customizers would "ding" the large, chrome wheels as "Gawdy". Personally, I'd share your reservation, if I saw such cruising a US car show, but keep in mind, culturally, Jakarta, Indonesia is probably somewhat distanced from Western interpretations of what makes a customized car a "cool" ride. Side Note: Here, in Richmond, CA there are tons of massive SUV's. mediocre sedans and econoboxes running around with 3 story high, "Chromed to the MAX" wheels that would cause even Steve Wonder to shield his eyes from the glare as they cruiesed by. My term for them is "Ghetto Wheels". ps I hate to mention it, but there was a clean Aero body equipped 240Z at the 2003 West Coast Nationals last year that I believe won best in some class that actually had virtually the same chrome spoke design "ant crusher" wheels on it (16 or 17" I believe). The guy exitedly came to me during the show to ask if I'd photograph his car so it could be featured in Sport Z Magazine after one of the editors apparently encouraged him to ask me to shoot it as a pre-requiste for considering to feature the car in some later issue. However, after one look, I headed for cover, because I saw the wheels on the car as totally inappropriate to an S30 body, no matter how much one tried to rationaliize the owner's sense of aesthetics. However, our US sensibilities aside, you gotta admit that, as a total package, the Indonesian car does have a kind of "cool" put together that is constistent and well executed, that makes a pretty strong statement, whether the owner's aesthetics agrees with US customizer's tastes or not. Once you see the inside and extensive attention to detail around the bumpers and other unique custom features not often seen on a Z, such as the power steering setup, you may come to a highened respect for Mr. Wong's unique hyrbridZ vision. Besides, imagine what it must have been like to successfully fitted 20" wheels and tires up under the almost stock looking body lines of the car. Quite a feat, I'd guess, whether you like'um or not. Ball's in Somebody Else's Court. Whose got an opinion? Remember, I am ".....just the messenger". Don't shoot at me.

Hi, Gang. It's Show Time, AGAIN ! I've been receiving quite a few photos of fasinating and unique Z cars of late, from all over the world, but just haven't had the time to publish any of them. However, one set of photos of a "Totally RAD" Z car, located in a relatively uncommon area of the world for Z cars to appear in, particularly took my fancy. Since HybridZ.org is my favorite place to share creative ideas and feature unique Z cars, I put up a sneak preview of this one for all of you to check out prior to featuring the car sometime in late June? Read the owner's brief description of his car below and if interested, click on the link below his comments to go to a hidden preview page at ZPARTS.COM to check it out further. Preview Page at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/hybridz/jakarta_z/preview.html This one is definitely not "Your Grandfather's stock 240Z!" Chou for Now,

Z Car Enthusiasts I am looking to contact other Z car owners that have successfully completed early 240Z or custom bumper mods to their 74.5 - 78 Z car bodies. This topic has come up often over the years on the Net and I am frequently contacted by owners asking to buy necessary parts to pull off the conversion, but because there is so little documentation on the Net (TMK) I have been unable to give them good advise. Hence, I have decided that it would be a good swap for me to document with both photos and write ups, to publish on my website, ZPARTS.COM Anybody here care to share more info on their bumper swap or lead me to others that have come up with documented solutions? If so, please contact Eric at or send first photos to photos@zparts.com I now know of and have decent photos and some written material on 3 bumper conversions, 2 with 260Z stock bumpers and collapsed mounts and one with 240Z style bumpers using a combo of altered stock and custom made mounting brackets. To see a beautiful example of the last one mentioned plus others in the near future, you can find my first announcement and previews of such an article on my "Coming Attractions" page at http://www.zparts.com/indexes/inprogress.html Thanks much, Sleek Z

OK, just received a trickle of updated info from Yuki Komiya, the builder of the dual turbo Nissan V8 swap. I will publish it all in a more organized fashion at ZPARTS.COM in a few days, but here are a few highlights, as I understand the builder to be claiming. Yuki Komiya was the designer and builder of the entire dual turbo, VH-45 V8 car project, including engine upgrades, suspension, body mods and interior. He had some backup help from his 2 car business fellow workers with some of the welding and paint, but he claims that he was "the man" that did virtually all the work. He said his project took 5 years to complete. Mr. Komiya is 30 years old. His profession is "building custom cars" He and two others run a "tuning shop" in Japan called "RISING" which appears to me, from what he says, to be very active in campaigning super dooper modified, older Nissan based "drag cars" at the main tracks in Japan. He claims the following for his 450Z HP = 720 hp ! (Not sure what type or what measuring method or calculation was used, but I will work on getting that clarified) Torque = 100 kgm weight of car = 1080 kg estimated 1/4 mile time = aproximately 10 sec "goal drag time: 9 sec flat!!" --Can anyone here convert the metric units above into US measure for me to publish? Send conversions to eric@zparts.com And about the Rising LS Sunny car that I mentined in a previous post that Mr. Komiya reported at the track last weekend, here is what he had to say. My boss owned that SUNNY. make:Nissan base model:1976 B110 Sunny engine: L6 3.2L without turbo & NOS body:original full pipe frame made by my boss 1/4 mile time last week = 9.883 secs His closing comment about the Rising LS Sunny car, in broken English, was, "9.883 sec is fast right!" OK, gang, there's your "daily dose" of hybridz "tales of wonder" Who's gonna go up against this guy next for the ultimate 2004 HybridZ Project of the year award?

Plainswolf Thanks for the excellent effort on posting all that GEN III engine info. I saved it to read tonight. Metro. That is the same car that I photographed last year, but those aren't my photos. I asked the owner and engineer to drive it out from under the yellow tent canopy it was under into the sunlight for me to take photos. Unfortunately, the harsh sun over exposed the white paint on the car so badly that the engine seemed to float within a washed out wasteland. Anyway, I reviewed my photos of the same engine swap, that reside on my hard drive only and I don't think any are much better that what you posted except that mine show many angles of the engine in the car plus the front half of the car and unique wheels on it so I'd say yours are plenty good for this discussion. Thanks much for rounding those up to share.

I photographed, (but never published photos later), a completed and running Vortec swap (just completed the night before) at MSA 2003 show by a specialty auto parts importer from Japan. I chatted with the manager of the import company and the chief engineer of the project for awhile. 3 things that most caught my attention was how nice the engine idled in the car, the obvious fact that they had not yet figured out how they were going to get the stock hood to close and the comment that the Japanese company intended to take the car back to Japan to use for promoting their company's auto enhtusiast roots by showcasing it at events in Japan instead of in the Us. Someday I'll get the photos published at ZPARTS.COM also.

The last few observations and comments have been pretty interesting. I've pasted the chief questions into the questionaire I have been preparing for the owner. Speaking of what's up with the owner, I have been recieving a daily comment or two from him almost every day. Tonight I just got one that, although a bit cryptic, may intrigue some of you. Read it carefully. What car do you think he is referring to with the 9.883sec time? Anybody here know of Japanese racing crew campaigning a "RISING LS SUNNY" car? If he is referring to a Nissan "Sunny" model with times like that I can't imagine what engine may be in the car because I was under the impression that a Nissan "Sunny" model was a rather small econobox type of car? Anybody?

Henry Read you message and question and sent you a reply Sunday pm ps, All, ZPARTS.COM appears to be on the fritz today, Sunday. I have a small, but excellent web hosting company for my website that does not have live network admins on dute durng the weekend so I will not be able to alert them of the problem until Monday. Sorry for any inconvenience to those attempting to view the Q45 engine swap photos today.. Eric Neyerlin - owner of ZPARTS.COM

Glenn I won't be sending off my questions to Mr. Komiya until mid next week. I'll be happy to include yours. Good ones that are mine as well. The design of the induction plenums is certainly fascinating to study, isn't it? I like them as well. Also notable is how they the design allowed the builder to close a stock hood over top that big engine. One small detail about them that I wish had been attended to, might be the grinding down and polishing of the exterior weld beads. I know that may sound like a trivial concern and possibly, not a wise one related to the structural integrity of the welded plenum, but I would have liked to have seen some of the weld bead work cleaned up and blended into the welded units as a cosmetic finishig touch to a very clean looking, show quality engine swap. Lots of extra work that would not improve performance, I understand, but an extra touch that would have really been a crowning touch to the throne the car appears ready to sit on in the future. btw, Gleen, I think it was your car with the V12 in it at a Canadian car show that I was sent photos of aprox 3-4 years ago. The photographer at the event, his buddies and I all looked for the owner of that car for the longest time to no avail. If your car is the same white S30 car with a Jag V12 and Jag rear suspension setup in it, I'd like to discuss obtaining better photos and specs on your car for my archives. If interested, please contact me at photos@zparts.com SLEEK Z

EvilRufus Your question, which also is being asked at other forums where these first photos are being discussed, is now on the list of questions being prepared to be sent to Yuki Komiya. At this point I do not know the answer. Interesting that you picked up on the unusual Space Odyssey "ambiance" of the room in which Yuki's car is being displayed on special stands with cut outs that say "Rising" Based on spacing of few cars that appear to be in that room, it's utter non car show like set up and some other persons sitting at tables with bare heads displayed with literature and the like, I am leaning toward the possibility that this event may be some kind of SEMA like gathering in Tokyo or showcase for vendors and manufacturers rather than for the public? Sleek Z

DavyZ Glad you found the pics useful and interesting. Almost every day I'd walk by that red Pantera at that Z repair shop during my business rounds of the day and think to myself, ".... there has just got to be shot here somewhere needing to be taken that the HybridZ gang can make use of?" Then the "Arizona Z sells Pantera kits again" topic came up and wah lah, I knew what needed to do. Now, one extra thought about the Pantera hatch kit insert for a Z. Each time I see one of those sharp inter edged kits installed on an S30 body, I keep thinking that something just does not look quite right, design wise? Some how I don't think the sharp inner trough lines of the insert harmonizes with the S30's curvature of roof line and rounded slope of tapered hatch line. Nor does the kit echo any other sharp edged design elements anywhere else on an S30 body. Now you may say, "...but, it acts as a design counter point to the S30's lines?" if so, then I'd disagree. The change I'd make to the present Pantera kit would be to remove all the abrupt inner edge bends and 90 degree side walls and smooth them out in to more rounded and tapered transistions of line back to the tail lights while keeping with the basic look of a side buttressed rear side roof line and upright flat rear window. Ball's now in somebody's else's court. Any comments or other ideas? Sleek Z

EvilRufus Haven't had any other reports of viewing problems. there are now 12 photos at bottom of page at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/engines/pages/q45v8z-testfit.html that you can click on ot see larger ones. I checked the page with another browser on my OSX Mac and all displayed properly, but not on a Win box yet. Refresh your browser once you load the page in case something in your cache is blocking your view or let me know what OS and browser you are using if you still have problems write me at photos@zparts.com SLEEK Z

For all following this thread, I now have all key new photos published that owner first sent me on Monday. Some are not the sharpest, but the interior shots are sure to intrigue Z customizers. The owner is certainly up to something beyond merely taking his wife out for a movie. URL for all project updates and photos is at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/engines/pages/q45v8z-testfit.html Be aware that link to Yuki Komiya's entire featured project display may change within the next month, but for now the above is the main URL to check. Glenn, now's the time for you and others to ask your "builder" and Tech questions of Mr. Komiya because I will be forwarding along as many as I can to him within the next couple of days. Sleek Z

Scottie I've been wondering the same thing about why the builder seems to have gone on a welding rampage when building all the ducting? Almost seems like it chose to do it that way for decoration purposes, crazy as that sounds. I run a 3" , custom designed & welded up, stainless exhaust system on my 240Z turbo car and the builder of that system obviously used mandrel bent sections as often as possible as he built and installed that system. I have no experience with welding aluminum nor stainless, but can anyone tell me if all that gold and blue color along stainless steel ducting on the dual turbo Q45 car could have been caused by some other tube forming process other than heat from seam welding? Does welded stainless always look like that after the heat process?

Hate to 'break this to ya'll", but I know a very frustrated Z owner and enthusiast in Detroit who works for a major performance exhaust system designer/manufacturer which numbers Lamborgini, Ferrari and few other "notable" marques as major clients. This company maintains a secondary support and design facilities in Italy to which this poor chap must travel to frequent as a "head honcho" in the design dept. What frustrates this fellow Z compadre so badly is that at this secondary facility in Italy, there is a back room wherein the company has mothballed aprox fifteen V12 and V8 engines supplied them over the years as "test mule" engines for custom exhaust system design projects developed for Ferrari and Lamborgini. Everytime this poor man visits this facility, the manager there reminds him that he could have his pick of any of these older, but outragously exotic powerplants cheap for the taking if he so desired to ship one back to the states to swap into his favorite classic sports car, a 240Z. So, anyway, year after year goes by in the same fashion with the guy returning home with a longer face each time and every time I ask him, "Hey, Tom what's it gonna be a Ferrari or Lamborgini V12 in your Z next year?" For some reason he just doesn't seem to find my question as inspirational as I hoped! Decisions, decisions ......... End of Story, Good Night

Tim Glad you think that the pics may serve someone a purpose. When I saw everyone discussing Arizona Z Car's reemergence back to the market place with the Pantera kit I thought it would be a great idea to shoot a bunch of comparison shots using the Pantera and then re order my old record shots into one display, but frankly, it's been a hectic and active week online this week (Dual turbo Q45 swap being the "big one" for sure) so I just ran out of time to pull it all off in a nice neat one display format. Anyway, I agree with your one objection about the web photo display format you comment on. I love the basic gray theme, with a little bit of new ZP logo color added later on, of course, but I don't like the numbered transition links at the bottom and way the page has to reload for each image. I'd like to create a similar display formant with frames and ver small thumbnails always visible at the bottom of main photo and retain the expandable light grey descrption box on the right side in such a way that only change would be a new large photo loading. Oh, well , back to the drawing board. thanks much for the helpful comments. Constructive critiques are real helpful when trying to work out graphic design and visual communication solutions like web photo displays.

Gang, I've been noticing how often the subject has come up in the past year about those Pantera hatch "bath tub" inserts that used to be seen frequently on Z cars in the 70s and 80s. I've photographed and shared photos of two of them on my ZPARTS.COM website for several years, but now that some are all excited about Arizona Z Car once again offerring their version for sale, I thought I'd serve ya'll up with a different photo comparison, that of a real Ford Pantera parked side by side with a 280Z at the Z DOCTOR repair shop in Richmond, CA. The Pantera is owned by the owner of the shop, Dave Vanek, and just sits there all day gathering dust so I said, "Hey, why not?" Link to 3 comparison photos with 2 distint angles of view of the Pantera is at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/bodykits/pantera_hatch/web2/index.htm More shots of the aftermarket Pantera hatch kits installed cleanly on Z cars can be found at the following links Silver Z with kit http://www.zparts.com/events/wczn20/pages/00r10f09a.htm Many shots of Deep Blue Z with Pantera kit from many angles http://www.zparts.com/events/zfest2002/index.html Hope this post and the photos serve as good references for those thinking of purchasing a Pantera style Z kit. btw, I'd like to know what everyone thinks of the web photo display format used with the red Pantera shots. I am thinking of fine tuning that design and using it more often to create Z Car and Tech Photo displays. Does it work for most of you? Like the informantion box on the side of pic? Please comment if you have time Thanks,

Tim Yes, I believe I have that base covered well. My Datsun engine swap buddy goes to Japan once a year to buy up "half cuts" with RB engines in them to sell in the US. Both of his partners in his small performance engine import business are Datsun-Nissan car and engine swap freaks like my buddy. One of the partners is native Japanese citizen now living in Japan. I am first going to try to work to interview the Q45 V8 project owner through my buddy and his Japanese partner, if possible. SideNote, Tim, someone just showed me a picture of a 2001 Jaguar F prototype convertible that at last illustrates the key design philosophy of what I have been trying to explain to others about what I want my 2+2 Z based convertible concept project to start from as a basic. Can't believe I had never seen this prototype before, but because I could not realistically draw the concept in realistic 3d style I just could not manage to explain it to others here. Soon as I scan this picture I am going to post it in my 2+2 Z convertible concept section to help others get what I have been drive at for so long. Link will be at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/sleekz/szconcepts/2_2project/2_2intro.html Sorry for the unrelated topic aside, but this guy's project just got my design juices flowing again. SLEEK Z

OK, I just got a first reply from the owner of the car in Japan, Yuki Komiya Just as way of introducing him by his own wording, I have pasted a few of his first remarks, in part, so everyone can understand what we will both be up against as I try to interview him about specifics of his car and solutions he used and why it may take awhile to get everyone's questions answered and published. I believe I will have a Japanese translator available to me to aide us in communication while I assemble more facts and photos for everyone here. One last comment. "Gheez", you would not believe my website statistic numbers for the past 3 days since I posted the first pics of this guy's finished project. Totally incredible high numbers like I have never seen in the 6 years my website has been online. Somebody is really spreading the word around the internet, because I only announced the photos 3 days ago on 2 car forums and one mailing list. 3 days later, ZPARTS.COM is getting many hundreds (thousands from a few) of hits per forum per day from nearly 15 car forums so far and the number of referring websites and forums is doubling every day! AMAZING STATS ! Never have seen any #s like these before. OK Gang, Please start sending me all the kinds of questions you want answered about this guy's project because it is not going to be like I can ask him often. SLEEK Z

Guys I sent a request for more info about the car to the owner almost 3 days ago, but so far, have heard nothing from him. I am not quite sure what he does for living or how well he can read English, but I am working on finding out more about the technical specs and products used on the car. Here, in the States, I have a buddy with a baby brother version of the Q45 V8 engine sitting in his garage waiting to get transplanted into some old sleeper Datsun vehicle, possibly a 240Z. This engine is designated as "VH-41" I believe. The virtue of the VH-41 over the VH-45 is that it is still a large Nissan V8, but the width of the overall engine at the valve cover width is 1.5" less than the VH-45, I am told, which allows for a signicantly less snug fit between the 240Z's shock towers. What is holding back my buddy is the issue of what manual transmission can be adapted to the VH engine. As of last year, it was my understanding that Nissan had not produced a manual transmission for the VH engine series. Obviously, my friend and I interested to learn what this guy used. From fuzzy interior pics I have of the car, it seems obvious that the builder used a manual tranny with his Q45 engine swap. Possibly, by now, Nissan has produced a manual tranny for the VH that is available in Japan only. Anyway, myself and others in the States and Japan are working on finding the answers to both this guy's specific swap solutions and others. One further note that should be added here for everyone to appreciate. As of last year, to my knowledge, there was virtually no performance upgrade products in the market place, either in the US nore Japan, that would signicantly boost the HP of Nissan's current day VH V8 engines. Because of this, I am told, many potentail swappers have been turned off to explore the potential of the Nissan VH engines as a hot rod power plant for swaps. Frankly, I am not very current on this issue so, by now, maybe much has changed about that bottleneck issue. If others here know about performance engine upgrade products available anywhere in the world for these VH engines, I most appreciate you saying so here or writing directly to me at eric@zparts.com to tell me anything you know that is encouraging. In return I will pass it on to others looking into the VH engine as a promising swap. btw, in the past 3 years I have been contacted by at least 4 others, mainly based out of Australia and New Zealand, that tell me that they are (were?) working on a Nissan VH V8 engine swap into an S30 body, but so far none have reported complete with the exception of Yuki Komiya in Japan, the one I am featuring on my website right now. ps, one ambitious swapper was a young woman in Australia that told me she intended to race it on the track and that her father had an entire machine and fabrication shop to back up the project. Last I heard from her, she or friends were on their second trip to Japan to score an engine and related parts. OK, that's about all I know at this point except that I do have a few more photos to prep and publish at my ZPARTS.COM website when time and energy allow this week. Sleek Z

OK, Gang, I put up 4 more pics of the dual turbo, Q45 V8 car tonight. Link to page with 4 thumbnail image links at bottom is at http://www.zparts.com/showcase/engines/pages/q45v8z-testfit.html This time you get to see a bit more of the outside of the car. More tomorrow night after work and while I am watching Letterman. chou for now Sleek Z