PHOT This Twin-Turbo Vela Rossa is a Hard-Chittging Stallion by John Porsche GTI under Washington construction, and a Velo Rossa in the enver- garage, "automotive based enthusiast" might be Hank a bit of an under- DHeld statement. owns a geothermal Hank's Velo energy company, and Rossa, the subject he's a major player of this article, is a in the Colorado relatively inexpen- Horse Park. Howev- sive rebody kit for er, he also has years the venerable of experience in the Z. However, Hank "factory-built" car wasn't interested in world, having been a building just another senior vice president Sunday driver. He and corporate coun- wanted a car with the sel for a major auto ability to back up its dealership chain. beauty with serious Energy, horses, and muscle. cars are all topics that seem to go together chassis bolt-on modifications, to custom The first generation (1970-1978) well in a paragraph! frames, engine upgrades, custom electri- Datsun Z Car platform for which the Velo To that end Hank has also done a bit cal work, full-bore racecars, resto-mods, Rossa body was designed has proven itself of sportscar driving. He has received a street rods, and drag cars, in addition to over the years to be very receptive to per- lot of assistance from Shawn Kennedy at sportscars. Shawn says, "We finish what formance modification. The "L-Series" in- Kennedy Racecars in Englewood, Colo- we start," and he's finished 267 cars over line six-cylinder engines are very smooth rado with building his cars and preparing the past 20 years and most of those are and have tough bottom ends so they can them for racing. still with the original owners. rev all day. In full race trim, it isn't un- Kennedy is a one-stop shop and As for Hank, with a couple of high- usual to see an L-28 pull north of 300 hp. hawn does everything from simple performance Cobras under his belt, a However, at less than 200 cubic inches it Kit Car Buil takes a great deal of revving, which also means extensive breathing modifications are required. Triple "six-pack" side-draft carburetion is standard for racing, but can be finicky. Those L-engine tweaks can be expen- sive, too. Many Z owners opt to transplant another engine instead. The engine bay is long in order to accommodate the inline- six, and wide enough to allow for a snug fitting V-block engine. There have been Zs with transplanted four-cylinder turbo- charged JDM (Japanese domestic market, late model) engines, all the way up to Cadillac big-block mills. I've even seen rotary engines and Jag V-12s (with minor radiator support modification). Engine swapping spawned one of the most popular Z websites, which is devoted to extreme transplants; www.HybridZ.org. American V-8 engines are popular, as well. You can find a Chrysler swap or two, and a few more Fords. By far the most common modification, however, is the universal small-block Chevrolet. Basic small-blocks, LT1 Corvette engines, and the LS series span the range. They make relatively easy, inexpensive horsepower compared to almost anything else. How- ever, Hank wanted something even a little more different for his Velo Rossa. In keeping with the Datsun/Nissan underpinnings, and wanting something Shawn Kennedy accomplished this brakes, but changed the pedal ratio to 7:1 a little lighter and more high-tech, Hank boost above factory spec power by using ratio. 4Runner four-piston brakes chose a 300ZX Twin-Turbo V-6 power- a stand-alone Motec engine management are a common Z car swap, though. plant from a wrecked 1990-1996, fourth system with sequential EFI. He set it up Shawn also did some minor unibody . generation Z car, the 300ZX (known to Z to run all the engine systems including the work. The floor of the Datsun donor had enthusiasts as the "Z32" platform). A little VVT and fabricated a custom cam sensor some typical rust when Hank got it. So more than half the length of the inline-six assembly, crank position disk, and crank Shawn welded in some 1" x 2" steel tubes L-engine, the "VG30DETT" lump weighs position sensor mount. Factory injectors as doublers under the factory frame rails considerably less even with all the turbo and exhaust manifolds were retained but from front to rear, plus some additional and intercooler plumbing. It can be posi- Shawn built custom intercooler plumbing bracing. tioned closer to the firewall, moving the to complete the install. The factory Datsun fuel tank was center of mass of the car slightly rearward. An adjustable module controls the modified due to the awkward floor con- It's also a little shorter so the center of valve timing and the blow-off pressure figuration in the back for OEM spare tire, mass is closer to the ground. level from the turbos, thus controlling the and because of the need to make clearance The VG30DETT has many perfor- max power output with the turn of a knob. for the fuel gauge sender wire. mance features as delivered from the Given the light weight of the car, you can Though Hank refers to some of the factory. These include dual overhead break traction in just about any gear when build as "brain damage," he now has one camshafts, variable valve timing (VVT) you have the knob set to "high boost." fine, high-energy black stallion that turns for high horsepower without sacrificing The transmission is a stock Nissan heads wherever it appears. KCB torque, twin Garrett turbochargers, and 300ZX unit with a Counterforce dual- dual intercoolers. From the factory it was material clutch and aftermarket shifter. Velo Rossa Spyder body kit by rated 300 hp and 283 lb-ft of torque at the Shawn says, "Love the clutch!" The rear Reaction Research, Inc. flywheel. end is the stock 280Z unit. Most folks do- Scottsdale AZ However, when Kennedy Racecars ing V-8 transplants would use a larger diff 480/229-1831 got through with the installation in Hank's because torque can be hard on the Datsun wwwZTrix.com Velo Rossa, they tweaked out a massive pumpkins if driven aggressively. However, 417 rear-wheel horsepower on the dyno ... this one has survived so far with the V-6. Body installation, chassis fabrication, and that's at 5000 feet of elevation! Of Front and rear shocks are coilovers, engine tuning by course, that's one reason for choosing a but the Datsun suspension pieces were Kennedy Racecars turbocharged power plant. They suffer retained. Since Hank wanted to use wire Englewood CO much less power degradation with altitude wheels with the Datsun bolt pattern, 303/781-7278 since they make their own air. Shawn kept the OEM Datsun rotors and www.kennedyracecars.com Idtcardub. com 35