The Jeweled Fairlady

Pat Kono’s ’92 Z32

Words: Mark Waterman
Photos: Brian Jarocki & Pat Kono

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The early 1990s are arguably the greatest period to date for Japanese sports cars.  You had the Toyota Supra Mk IV, the R32 Skyline GT-R, GTO/3000GT VR-4, FD RX-7, and the NSX.  All twin turbo (with the lone exception of the NSX), 300+ hp (or 276 in Japan), rear wheel or all-wheel drive, excellent handling, and the technological pinnacle in automotive technology from Japan.  Today we will be taking an in depth look at Nissan’s other sports car, the 300ZX Twin Turbo.

This particular Fairlady is a 1992 model owned by Pat Konopka from Hoffman Estates, IL, and is the rare Sapphire Blue color which could be one of the nicest colors for the 300s.  From when he was a child, he has always had a fascination with sports cars.  Like the old 280ZX commercial (see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_E1S4vETJw) he would walk by the local Nissan dealership, press his face up against the glass and stare at the black twin turbo on the show room floor dreaming of the day one would be his.  Pat fulfilled his dream by finding and purchasing this one of a kind, pristine example in June of 2008 with a mere 48 thousand miles on the odometer.

Aside from the stunning color, on the outside this Lady some Stillen body components consisting of a louvered front nose panel, type 3 twin turbo front lip, side skirts and a type 3 rear valence.  Rounding out the body are some JDM lighting components, the JDM ’99 tail lights, and clear turn signals.  The outside badges and emblems have also been removed, keeping the automotive uneducated guessing what just passed them up.  Making sure the rear end stays firmly planted to the ground when the boost kicks in is a set of 17” alloy 6-spoke SSR competition wheels 8.5” wide in front and 9.5” wide in the rear and some very sticky Toyo R1R tires sized 245/45/17 in the front fenders and 275/40/17 filling the rear fenders.  Reigning in the beast is a set of upgraded 12.75” slotted rotors in the front and stock rotors in the rear, being compressed by a set of Hawk HPS high performance street pads.

Under the hood Pat has a pair of Jim Wolf Technologies POP chargers feeding the stock turbos.  After compressing the air to an impressive 16 psi, up form the stock 9.5 psi, using an HKS EVC IV, the air is fed through a massive pair of HKS side mount intercoolers to cool and condense the oxygen to be burned in the six cylinders.  After expanding to turn the crank, the burned hydrocarbons are sent to turn the turbine wheel, through a set of upgraded down pipes, catalytic converters, and stainless steel exhaust before being released to the atmosphere to the dismay of Prius drivers everywhere.  To reduce some rotating mass and free up some power, an Unorthodox Racing under drive crank pulley and RPS Clutch and flywheel have been used in place of the stock components. Keeping all this happening is and upgraded Jim Wolf Technologies ECU w/ EPROM chip.  The chip also has the added side effect of raising the rev limiter to 7750 RPM and removing the electronic speed limiter.  In the right conditions this 300ZX can make better than 165 MPH, but it is not recommended on public streets at all.

On the inside, the stock charcoal leather and suede interior remains.  But a 10 disk CD changer has been wired into the sound system, and tweeters have been added as well to play Pat’s preferred European trance music.  The shifter has been replaced with a shorter versions allowing for quicker, crisper shifting during hard pulls through the gears.  One of the biggest changes in the cockpit was with the instrumentation.  This past winter Pat decided to give the gauges and the lights a much more modern look by replacing all the dim, early 90s bulbs with new natural white LEDs.  The result was a brighter, much more modern look, while making the gauges and other lit up buttons much easier to see.  As an added touch, chrome bezels were added around the speedo, tach, temperature, and fuel gauges.  At the same time some more LEDs were added to the driver’s side foot well to illuminate the petals.

As a whole package, one would be very hard pressed to find a better kept and more tastily modified 300ZX.  Pat would like to thank the members of ChicagoZ.com and TwinTurbo.net for all their advice to help him create and maintain this master piece in automotive technology.  Even though Pat has loved the history, and design of the car, and not to mention the looks he gets while cruising with the T-tops off, it is regrettable to say that Pat is considering to sell the car if the right offer comes along.  Even though one day soon this car will be gone, the memories of the boost pushing his back side into his seat will live forever.

—JDM Chicago

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