Mike's 92' 300zx Twin Turbo Canyon Carver

Mike has had this 92’ Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo for just over 20 years as of last month, and over the course of his ownership, has seen several high profile Z car events. ZCON, Branson Z Fest, and many other smaller Z Club of Texas and other affiliated local Z club chapter events. Having served as a long time board member of Cowtown Z Club based right here in Fort Worth, Mike is no stranger to the Z car culture, and everything that it entails.

Mr. Brunner purchased this beauty from the original owner bone stock, with 27,000 miles on the odometer. Over the next couple of decades, it has been driven over 120,000 miles to ZCON coast to coast, as well as hot summer track events that are commonly associated with ZCON. The car has also seen HPDE events at a prestigious array of race tracks, including Watkins Glen, Mid Ohio, Road Atlanta, MSR Cresson, and Texas World Speedway to name a few.

Toward the latter end of his ownership, he experienced the common oil burning issue associated with higher performance Z32s. It’s no secret that these VG30DETT engines have a weakness on Bank 2 for blown piston ring lands, and his engine was no exception. Over the previous 5 years, Mr. Brunner carefully planned his build, spoke with several people through-out the local and national Z car community, and ended up getting in touch with us about a year ago. After visiting with us a few times, Mike wanted to do his due diligence and make sure we were the right fit for this chapter in his Z car ownership. Through lots of scrutinization of our organization’s history, as well as several of our exiting Z32 clientele, our hard work, reputation, and precise attention to detail left a lasting impression on Mr. Brunner, and we felt honored to be selected for his build moving forward.

We outlined 2 major goals for this project, one was future proofing the engine for pushing it past it’s factory limits, but within reason. The second goal was no oil consumption, whether that meant burning or leaking, or both. We did our standard built VG30DETT package which included a host of new forged internals, as well as upgraded hardware, and some internal engine modifications to alleviate a few stress points that can surface with higher performance VG engines. We topped it off with a set of JWT cams, and a set of new Garrett GT2554R CHRAs to make sure we had no further potential for oil seeps and leaks. We also took this time to find a powdercoat that matched his factory paint. We tracked down a charcoal gray color that paired really well on all of his aluminum parts under the hood. We finished off the look with a polished aluminum powdercoat on his upper plenum. The very last step being in Texas was to make sure the A/C system was up to par with our 110+ degree summers, so we converted his system to R134a, and installed a brand new expansion valve.

Now that Mr. Brunner has taken delivery of his car with a freshly built engine, he has made several remarks on how impressed he is with the responsiveness of it, and it reminds him of the day he took delivery of it over 20 years ago. He was eager to get back to canyon carving, and enjoying local and national Z car events again, and now he can do it with the comfort of engine reliability, and ice cold A/C.

ENGINE SPECS

  • VG30DETT 3.0L Twin Turbo V6 Engine

  • 5 Speed Standard RS5R30A Transmission

  • Wiseco 88mm Forged Piston Set

  • Eagle Forged Connecting Rod Set

  • Cometic MLS Head Gasket Set

  • ARP Head Stud Kit

  • ACL Race Main Bearing Set

  • ACL Race Connecting Rod Bearing Set

  • JWT Wild Race Cams #400

  • CZP G5 Garrett Turbochargers

  • Z1 Motorsports Silicone Charge Pipe Kit

  • Fidanza Lightweight Aluminum Flywheel

  • South Bend Clutch Stage 3 Daily Clutch Kit

  • Z1 Motorsports Howe Aluminum Radiator

  • Nismo 740cc Fuel Injectors

  • Z1 Motorsports Chipped ECU

  • JWT Pop Charger

  • Extrude Honed Exhaust Manifolds

  • Z1 Motorsports Downpipes and Test Pipes

  • Z1 Motorsports Side Mount Intercoolers

  • Specialty Z Catback Exhaust Kit

  • BDE Rebuilt VCT Intake Sprockets

  • Greddy Profec B Boost Controller

  • Greddy Turbo Timer

SUSPENSION SPECS

  • Powertrix Street Coilovers

  • Powertrix Front and Rear Adjustable Upper Control Arms

  • SPL Adjustable Tension Rods

  • SPL Hicas Delete Kit

EXTERIOR AND WHEEL SPECS

  • Enkei PF01 Wheels (18x8.5 Front / 18x9.5 Rear)

  • Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Tires

  • StopTech ST-40 Front Big Brake Kit w/ Slotted Rotors

  • StopTech Slotted Rear Rotors

  • StopTech Stainless Steel Braided Brake Hoses

  • Factory Original Paint, Body, and Interior

Christopher Miller