PHOT This Twin-Turbo Vela Rossa is a Hard-Chittging Stallion

by JohnWashington

Denver-basedHankHeld

owns a geothermalenergy company, andhe's a major playerin the ColoradoHorse Park. Howev-er, he also has yearsof experience in the"factory-built" carworld, having been asenior vice presidentand corporate coun-sel for a major autodealership chain.Energy, horses, andcars are all topics that seem to go togetherwell in a paragraph!

To that end Hank has also done a bitof sportscar driving. He has received alot of assistance from Shawn Kennedy atKennedy Racecars in Englewood, Colo-rado with building his cars and preparingthem for racing.

Kennedy is a one-stop shop andhawn does everything from simple

chassis bolt-on modifications, to customframes, engine upgrades, custom electri-cal work, full-bore racecars, resto-mods,street rods, and drag cars, in addition tosportscars. Shawn says, "We finish whatwe start," and he's finished 267 cars overthe past 20 years and most of those arestill with the original owners.

As for Hank, with a couple of high-performance Cobras under his belt, a

Porsche GTI underconstruction, and aVelo Rossa in thegarage, "automotiveenthusiast" might bea bit of an under-statement.

Hank's VeloRossa, the subjectof this article, is arelatively inexpen-sive rebody kit forthe venerable DatsunZ. However, Hankwasn't interested inbuilding just anotherSunday driver. Hewanted a car with theability to back up itsbeauty with seriousmuscle.

The first generation (1970-1978)Datsun Z Car platform for which the VeloRossa body was designed has proven itselfover the years to be very receptive to per-formance modification. The "L-Series" in-line six-cylinder engines are very smoothand have tough bottom ends so they canrev all day. In full race trim, it isn't un-usual to see an L-28 pull north of 300 hp.However, at less than 200 cubic inches it

Kit Car Buil

takes a great deal of revving, which alsomeans extensive breathing modificationsare required. Triple "six-pack" side-draftcarburetion is standard for racing, but canbe finicky.

Those L-engine tweaks can be expen-sive, too. Many Z owners opt to transplantanother engine instead. The engine bay islong in order to accommodate the inline-six, and wide enough to allow for a snugfitting V-block engine. There have been Zswith transplanted four-cylinder turbo-charged JDM (Japanese domestic market,late model) Nissan engines, all the way upto Cadillac big-block mills. I've even seenMazda rotary engines and Jag V-12s (withminor radiator support modification).Engine swapping spawned one of the mostpopular Z websites, which is devoted toextreme transplants; www.HybridZ.org.

American V-8 engines are popular,as well. You can find a Chrysler swap ortwo, and a few more Fords. By far themost common modification, however, isthe universal small-block Chevrolet. Basicsmall-blocks, LT1 Corvette engines, andthe LS series span the range. They makerelatively easy, inexpensive horsepowercompared to almost anything else. How-ever, Hank wanted something even a littlemore different for his Velo Rossa.

In keeping with the Datsun/Nissanunderpinnings, and wanting somethinga little lighter and more high-tech, Hankchose a 300ZX Twin-Turbo V-6 power-plant from a wrecked 1990-1996, fourthgeneration Z car, the 300ZX (known to Zenthusiasts as the "Z32" platform). A littlemore than half the length of the inline-sixL-engine, the "VG30DETT" lump weighsconsiderably less even with all the turboand intercooler plumbing. It can be posi-tioned closer to the firewall, moving thecenter of mass of the car slightly rearward.It's also a little shorter so the center ofmass is closer to the ground.

The VG30DETT has many perfor-mance features as delivered from thefactory. These include dual overheadcamshafts, variable valve timing (VVT)for high horsepower without sacrificingtorque, twin Garrett turbochargers, anddual intercoolers. From the factory it wasrated 300 hp and 283 lb-ft of torque at theflywheel.

However, when Kennedy Racecarsgot through with the installation in Hank'sVelo Rossa, they tweaked out a massive417 rear-wheel horsepower on the dyno ...and that's at 5000 feet of elevation! Ofcourse, that's one reason for choosing aturbocharged power plant. They suffermuch less power degradation with altitudesince they make their own air.

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Shawn Kennedy accomplished thisboost above factory spec power by usinga stand-alone Motec engine managementsystem with sequential EFI. He set it upto run all the engine systems including theVVT and fabricated a custom cam sensorassembly, crank position disk, and crankposition sensor mount. Factory injectorsand exhaust manifolds were retained butShawn built custom intercooler plumbingto complete the install.

An adjustable module controls thevalve timing and the blow-off pressurelevel from the turbos, thus controlling themax power output with the turn of a knob.Given the light weight of the car, you canbreak traction in just about any gear whenyou have the knob set to "high boost."

The transmission is a stock Nissan300ZX unit with a Counterforce dual-material clutch and aftermarket shifter.Shawn says, "Love the clutch!" The rearend is the stock 280Z unit. Most folks do-ing V-8 transplants would use a larger diffbecause torque can be hard on the Datsunpumpkins if driven aggressively. However,this one has survived so far with the V-6.

Front and rear shocks are coilovers,but the Datsun suspension pieces wereretained. Since Hank wanted to use wirewheels with the Datsun bolt pattern,Shawn kept the OEM Datsun rotors and

brakes, but changed the pedal ratio to 7:1ratio. Toyota 4Runner four-piston brakesare a common Z car swap, though.

Shawn also did some minor unibody .work. The floor of the Datsun donor hadsome typical rust when Hank got it. SoShawn welded in some 1" x 2" steel tubesas doublers under the factory frame railsfrom front to rear, plus some additionalbracing.

The factory Datsun fuel tank wasmodified due to the awkward floor con-figuration in the back for OEM spare tire,and because of the need to make clearancefor the fuel gauge sender wire.

Though Hank refers to some of thebuild as "brain damage," he now has onefine, high-energy black stallion that turnsheads wherever it appears. KCB

Velo Rossa Spyder body kit byReaction Research, Inc.

Scottsdale AZ480/229-1831

wwwZTrix.com

Body installation, chassis fabrication,engine tuning by

Kennedy RacecarsEnglewood CO303/781-7278

www.kennedyracecars.com

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