After 3 amazing years of ownership, my relationship with my RX-8 came to an abrupt end. 60mph into a palmtree, abrupt. This was the result of a drunk driver cutting me off on wet roads.

I walked away without a scratch on me... a testiment to Mazda's saftey.

It was time for a new project. I decided to go in a different direction this time. I went for a car I had wanted my entire life. I hunted down a true gem, my dream car to be.

A garage kept, mint body and interior 1971 Datsun 240Z. As if finding a 240Z in this good of condition wasn't enough for me, the real party piece was in the engine bay.

The previous owner had just finished stuffing a Nissan Skyline RB20DET engine under the hood. With the RB20 transmission, and a Electromotive TEC-3 standalone engine management system to go with it. It was a perfect starting place for a very sweet project. I immediatly went to work, and after a few weeks the above picture showed some of the results.

New fans and a new aluminum racing radiator were installed  to take care of the cooling.

New custom intercooler piping was welded up, and the procharger intercooler was polished. The short piping length makes for very quick spool. The pipiing well be cleaned up and painted shortly.

The stock turbo is still on, but that will be replaced soon by a Holset HY35 turbo off of a Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel truck. The internal wastegate will be taken off and a Turbonetics Evolution wastegate will be welded into the custom 3in exhaust.

In order to push higer boost with the new turbo, a new fuel system was installed. The gas tank was swapped for a 280ZX Turbo has tank for better pickup. A MSD High-flow fuel pump was installed with a Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator. 525cc injectors and new plugs were installed as well.

The head will be pulled off to be ported, polished, and decked. A Tomei metal head gasket will be installed, and the head will be bolted back on with ARP hardware, and a Greddy timing belt will be installed.

Boost is controlled by a Greddy Profec B Spec-II electronic boost conroller. New Autometer Z Series gauges were installed including a tachometer, speedo, water temp, oil pressure, and an AEM wideband O2 sensor. All of the gauges are mounted on custom brackets, and the center dash and center consol are custom cut stainless steel. The seats will get a restain and a fresh coat of paint will go on the car. The rear bumper will be shaved and cut to better fit the exhaust.

Past that, a custom 4point roll cage will be welded in with racing harnesses and sparco seats. Porsche brakes on all four courners for better stopping power and new rims with stickier tires to frame them. Full coilover suspension will replace the Eibach springs and struts that are in there. New sway bars, endlinks and bushings. Im sure after not too long i'll need a new clutch and flywheel to hold up to the bigger turbo. A R200 differential from a 300zx turbo will replace the stock open diff to properly put down the power. New speakers, head unit, and a 10in sub will go in the back for some tunes. Thats about it for now. Im sure at that point I'll find more stuff to modify, but for now thats the plan.