The car gods have a twisted way in screwing us over, and if you’re easily discouraged after a couple of downfalls then they may get the best of you and end up turning you toward collecting Pokemon cards instead of building the car of your dreams. For the young Austin from Asheville, NC, his discouragement came much earlier than planned. His first major build-up was an old 280Z, which he equipped with a turbo, suspension bits, and Panasports at all corners to name a few. But on one unfortunate day his rare Z had a crash party with a wet tunnel and a few other brother Z cars. All that hard work of building a classic gone in a few short agonizing seconds… But hell, when a tunnel eats your pride and joy, give it the middle finger and build another one that’s better than ever.
Austin found his next jewel resting on the side of the road, of all places. Owned by an old lady, this ’71 Z, like any other 30+ year old car wasn’t in the best condition, but it looked like the perfect shell for his second project Z. Upon further inspection rust had built a mega-metropolis on his fabled project. Austin thought about taking the classic clunker to a cliff and giving it a farewell, but instead he saw this as an opportunity to heighten his custom fabrication skills. The firewall, engine bay, subframe connectors, floor pans, dog legs, and fenders were riddled with rust, and meticulously patched with slabs of metal and welds. The old chassis was stiffened with a custom 6-point roll cage that would keep even the finest parrot happy as a fraternity at a strip club.
The body wasn’t the only part of the car that was overhauled. The 71 engine had to go, and in it’s place Austin decided on an L28ET from an ’83 280ZX which is popular with the older Z cars. The engine was snatched from a junkyard and built for complete domination. The bearings, timing chain, valves, valve springs, and many other parts were changed to make way for bigger power. A T3/T4 turbo coupled with a FMIC and GReddy Type RS BOV give the Z the indistinguishable ‘pssshhhh’ that intimidates even the loudest V8s.
Finding bolt-on suspension parts for a 71 240Z isn’t exactly as easy as surfing eBay and clicking a few buttons. Instead Austin had to custom build many of his suspension pieces. Ground Control coilovers wraped around Tokico Illumina struts keep all 4 Hancook Ventus tires flat on the road. With the ride height and handling Austin wanted to achieve, he needed to adjust the camber. So to address this problem he built his own custom lower control arms (see build-up link under modifications for this impressive documentary). To put the cherry on top, the brakes come from a C4 Corvette, with Wilwoods on the rear, and the elusive genuine Wantabe RS Type R wheels. This setup is definately not old school by any means.
His Z commands attention with it’s speed, style, and glorious sound from it’s straight six turbocharged engine. No bolt was left un-turned, and no turns cut short. With a lot of help from his friends, and a lot of personal ambition, Austin created one of the finest Z’s in the world. Did we mention Austin is just entering his second year of college?
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