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Mighty Car Mods | Marty and Moog breaking down the S30's journey

Street Racing Illustrated | Mighty Car Mods’ RB26-powered S30

The guys at Mighty Car Mods get ready to transplant the heart of a beast into a legend.

Story | Phillip Pratt

 

Mighty Car Mods | The MCM S30

Photo courtesy of Mighty Car Mods

 

With well over 2.6 million YouTube subscribers, you’re probably aware by now that the guys, Marty and Moog, over at Mighty Car Mods recently got their hands on a beautiful Nissan S30 (or Datsun 240z… or Nissan Fairlady Z, whatever you like best). After purchasing it online, they flew to Japan to check it out, whip it around on a track and ship it back home to Australia. I think there are a lot of folks out there that would have been fine to leave it in its original gorgeous form, but like many great things in life, there was a catch. The original motor that rested within the Fairlady held components that weren’t allowed in the country due to some of the materials they were constructed of, mainly asbestos. Trying to get it in the country legally would have, in their words, potentially costed ‘tens of thousands of dollars’. That doesn’t sound like much fun, at all. Not letting little things like importing regulations stop them, they stayed true to their names and decided to swap in another power plant. Namely, an RB26 sourced from the S30’s relative, the almighty GT-R.

 

Mighty Car Mods | Putting the car through its paces in Japan

Photo courtesy of Mighty Car Mods

 

The original engine that was removed from the S30 was a 1,998 cc, inline 6-cylinder, single overhead cam, and sported a casted-iron block with a 12-valve, alloy head. It was good for about 143 HP or 107 kW of power. Not bad for the engine size in its day. However, the guys will be bumping up the power, as we all know the RB26 out of the GT-R was substantially more powerful. Like the L20 that this S30 formerly owned, the RB26 is an inline 6-cylinder engine. But outside of also having an iron block, that’s about where the similarities end.

 

Mighty Car Mods | The first of several test fits for the RB26 transplant

Photo courtesy of Mighty Car Mods

 

The RB26 is a 24-valve, dual overhead cam, twin-turbo heart of a legend. It pumped out about 276 HP (206 kW) from the factory but it’s been known to do a whole lot more than that once modified, even if just turning up the boost on the stock set-up.

 

Mighty Car Mods | The RB26 that will power the MCM S30

Photo courtesy of Mighty Car Mods

 

If you’re not indeed caught up with the guy’s current endeavor, you’ll be happy to know that there is not one, but two episodes up on their channel at the writing of this article. So go carve out a nice 40-minute chunk of time from your busy day and enjoy!

 

Mighty Car Mods | Test fitting a plenum from Hypetune on the RB with Turbo Yoda

Photo courtesy of Mighty Car Mods

Street Racing Illustrated | Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne 2.24.18

SRMS, CLRDHOT and 4×4 Alliance team-up to bring you Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Peter Castle

Cars and Coffee

Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne | 4×4 Alliance reppin’ what their culture is all about.

 

The name “Cars and Coffee” has become something of an international tradition. You can deduce the nature of the event merely by its name. To boil it down to it’s simplest definition, it’s a type of morning car meet. Typically, if not exclusively, held on weekends. If done right, it can attract hundreds of enthusiasts for miles around. The largest in the nation is held monthly in West Palm Beach. A great event but it can be quite a ride for most of South Florida (45 minutes to more than an hour for some). That’s where SRMS, 4×4 Alliance and CLRDHOT come in. With the breathtaking views of Miami’s waterfront at their backs, combined with the historic and famous site of the Seaquarium, “Cars and Coffee Key Biscayne” was built. While it’s not the first event to bare the name, with these three entities working together, it has the potential to challenge any other meet in the tri-county area. Either way, we win.

 

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Brought out cars from all walks…

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Got to love a clean Z

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Proof that we all can co-exist

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | This is Key Biscayne, after all

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Lamborghini distracting from the Miami Beach backdrop.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Beautiful Lotus melting into the morning sky.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Super-ill Wide-body Bimmer

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | SRMS CEO, Mario, brought out his slick ST

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Glimpse of a unicorn.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | The original bug-eye.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Stangs of South Florida with a strong showing.

Cars & Coffee

Cars & Coffee Key Biscayne | Yosdany’s Supra stole the day.

Street Racing Illustrated | Wekfest Florida 2017

Wekfest Florida 2017

Event coverage from the Wekfest show hosted in West Palm Beach

Story | Phillip Pratt

Photos | Phillip Pratt

 

If you’ve ever been to a Wekfest car show, you know it’s just that. A car show. Not a 2 – step competition, B-boy contest, freestyle rap battle or a “fashion show” (which inevitably involves bottles of water. Cold bottles of water). It’s an event that puts the cars at the center of attention at every step of the way. It’s become a yearend show in South Florida that brings in cars from all over the state, and from each subculture within the hobby. Enthusiasts break themselves for days in preparation and it shows as each vehicle on the floor is lovingly and meticulously detailed until the convention center’s LED lighting fixtures blindingly glisten off fresh paint and the well-oiled surfaces of low-profile tires. This year’s offering wasn’t anything less than awe-inspiring as the room was crammed wall-to-wall with some of Florida’s (and beyond) best.

 

Toyota Supra

Ultimate Performance EG Hatch

Wekfest merch table and DJ

BMW

Nissan Z

Disruptive RX-7

S2000

Old School

Skyline GTR

RB26DETT

Nissan Silvia S14

DC2 Integra

Lexus IS300

Lexus Row

Aisha’s 97 Hatch

Blob-eye STI