Zenki's First Feature

[Dave] A big congratulation must go out to Nick for getting his first feature with Zenki on the web. Its on the Downshift website and went live last month. Click through for some great photography of a great car. Here

Happy Australia Day Long Weekend

(Nick)


As Dave will tell you I have been very slack with blog posts of late. So as QLD gets smashed by wild weather this Australia Day long weekend I thought it would be a good opportunity to let our small but growing group of readers what I will be trying to achieve for 2013.

As I have never really featured any of my cars on here before I thought I would do a small time line of the progress of my S14. I have owned this car since 2009 and it is slowly progressing into the vision I have had for the car for many years.

This how my S14 looked like when I picked it up. Virtually standard apart form the 'Sydney spec' wheels. As this car was to replace my 180SX, which was a bit of a beater, I really wanted a clean base on which I could modify to my taste. At the time I had my heart set on an S15, but these were far out of my price range, even series 2 S14's at the time were fetching decent coin. I settled with this series 1, at the time I was not a big fan of the series 1. Dave still reminds me of it's Camry like resemblance. But it has grown on me immensely and I would not trade it for any other S-Chassis.

It also had a factory black leather interior which is very rare in an S14.

It did not take long before I got rid of the chromies,

bought a set of standard wheels, lowered it slightly

on coilovers, fitted a full set of Cazman Industry adjustable arms and began to have some fun in it.

It also copped a Jim Berry clutch and a full CES exhaust system. I also changed to kouki tail lights.

As i was building this car on a apprentice mechanic wage, it was a slow process.

 

In 2010 I bought some Ray's TOM'S tune C7R's. These were 16x8 +30, the same spec as R32 Gtr wheels. It was a bit of an impulse buy as I had not seen any on another car.

They did not look bad on the car but I soon decided that they looked too small on the S14. The wheels on a car can really make or break it.
It took me a couple of go's to get it right ;)

Not long after this I crashed into the barriers on the QR skidpan. Damaged the front bumper so used it as a perfect excuse to search for the kit and look of the car I had always wanted. I had soon put together a Navan front bumper and skirts, S2 jap rear bar and pods. It is the same combo the team Zoom Up Zenki's use in japan and I believe is the perfect bumper combination for S14. I also did a clear headlight lense conversion which really transforms the look of the Series 1's Camry style headlights.

           

2011 was a fun time, racing my mates around Queensland Raceway for powerplay events.

This was also the year that I started to care less about the legality of the car, i had soon found some R33 GTR wheels powder coated in white, lowered it substantially more.

One of my mates found the number plates ZNK11 (zenki) for sale. I snapped them up quickly. Must have been a good combo as the car became very popular overnight. Every car meet/event I attended i would be tagged in photos for weeks after. JDMST @ Carseldine below.

Photo credit: J K Smith Photography

I did numerous track days with this set up including Powercruise, a couple of Friday night drift practises and a the first Hardtuned.net track day at the Holden Test Track at Norwell.

Late 2012 was the next transition for the car. I found a very good deal on a brand new set of Work Meister's, my all time favourite wheel which i could never afford. Leo at JDM Concept managed to turn my dream into reality. I put a deposit on the Work's and sold my GTR wheels to a mate. The car then lived in the shed for the last few months of 2012 as I did not want to take it out with stock wheels. In this time I lowered the front a little bit more and changed to Jap front guards.

A few weeks before Christmas my new wheels arrived =D and i had them wrapped in new Federal 595 rubber just in time for the end of the world December 2012.

So this is how my S14 currently sits in January 2013, I have been in contact with 2 photographers and will be having some shoots done in the coming month. 

The S14 will then take the backseat for a little while as I have purchased a 90 Mazda MX5.

I want to build something that i can take to the track and push my limits, learn how to control a car and not be worried if I prang it.

I have big plans for the MX5 and will feature it on the blog in the coming months.

Have a good wet long weekend!