Sung Kang's Dream Datsun Z, Built From The Ground Up

This is how the video is going to start. Mr. Song Kang just wiping down his own car. Must, you got to wipe it down. And she's happy. His 240z. 240z. 78 car. 78. Hey, we're going to have a lot of fun today. Huh? We're going to have fun today. You think so? Yeah. What's that mean for you? Um, hanging out with friends, doing car things, driving my R32. We're pretty lucky in California to be able to do this, huh Larry? This is the middle of winter. I know. And it's hot. I know. Look at this. Look where we are. It's so cool. This is like the car guy's heaven. Like JDM, like European. A car heaven. It's pretty awesome we get to be able to do this, huh Larry? It's cool. This is kind of like, it gives me like a JDM shop vibes where naturally over time, just things accumulate. Yeah. There's like a piano here. Where? Somewhere. There's like a bunch of old equipment from the sixties here. Yeah. Vending machines. It's kind of cool. It's timeless, man. It is. It's where old cars want to come and hang out and meet other old cars, right? And then hear each other's complaints. Like everything's kind of breaking, not working. It's nice to have a place to come to where people, first of all, they share a similar passion, but then they also speak the same language of cars, right? And if you're into JDM, you understand the trials and tribulations of having a vintage car. This is a 52 year old car. To have one of these, it's like having a horse. You got to really like be invested and be connected. And you know, this car, Larry, it's, I've never had an experience like this ever, Larry. This is the first car I've ever been connected to. You truly, I feel like an extension of my soul, Larry. It's not just like, oh, it's a car I'm a part of and it was built and I went to SEMA. It's none of that. It's all function, but function not just to get to A to B or to go fast or to participate in like track days or canyon days. It's a function of like where I am in my life today and what I strive to be like the best version of myself. It's like we're two different versions of cars. We're like our lazy kind of daily driver. We don't really pay attention to you. You're not really on top of it. And then you have your R32, your baby that you spend your whole life almost like this idea of ikigai, like searching for perfection, knowing that you'll never get there. Knowing that there's always going to be something better or new, but you're searching for that through a machine. And to finally like be at a place where it's not just an idea or a concept or it's a show car that you just get to talk about. But I personally, every day, get to drive from my house to Malibu, to to to Sawtelle, all the way to the 405 back to the valley, to the racetrack. Wait, you drove this to the racetrack? I drove it to Streets of Willow two days ago. How was driving it on track? I did see you, Larry, do that. The fact that, look, I'm not breaking records. I'm not beating the modern cars. But the fact that a carbureted 53 year old car that was had no business even being restored because it's like two different cars put together, Frankenstein together. And then to celebrate like two days ago on the track was a celebration of everything that I was betting on and hedging on in the 240z community in California. This car is a representation of our community that in L.A. we can keep a car like this on the road, but not just from just A to B to the store, but it can go on the racetrack. I was like just blown away that I get to participate in something like that. That's saying a lot because you've built so many cars. Not really. No, I mean, not so many. So many is like that's relative. Like I've been part of the experience of a car from A to A to, I guess, to show to SEMA, right? So it was really kind of my function or part of the equation of those builds was really the marketing, the movie star aspect, the Hollywood kind of narrative. So a lot of times I didn't feel even sincere about my contribution to the build because it was really about the aesthetics or the marketing. Hey, look at this car. It's like, hey, me, I'm Han from Fast and Furious. And that's about it. But getting down to the mechanics and the why and the ethos, and then also really not about likes, not about what other people think, about what is it really for some to be a car guy? What does that mean? What does it mean to be connected to a car? So in essence, this was the first build that you really had a hand in from beginning all the way to the end. It's the only car that I have in my world that I can tell you where every bolt is, where it came from, where even like the bolts are mismatching because we ran out of, we needed three, but we had two. And then we had to get another style bolt, like the level of OCD and precision, if you will, and investment and care, right? Why? It's really an exercise for you to challenge yourself to go, I could easily just make this like whatever car, go to eight, you know, just drives here and there, goes to a show. It's all show, no go. Or you go, doesn't matter what it looks on the outside. Is it, does this car, is it reliable? Is it functional? Is it safe? All the ideals that I've matured into now that have value over, oh, it looks cool. And what are people going to think? Or is it going to get likes? That is a byproduct of just doing like amazing things in life. And the car is an example. It's like every day that I want to give up on Hollywood, Larry, where I go, this place is not for me. My face, me being an Asian man does not belong here. Like, what are you thinking? You're delusional. Same idea of driving a 53 year old car. Why would you do that? Why? It's so difficult. The carburetors are hard to tune. Things break down. It's like you got to always like be paying attention. It's so difficult. But you know what? I will bet you today, we'll probably be, I'll be the only 240Z on the road that we'll see all day. Yeah. And that's just like following your dream to be an actor in Hollywood. That's why there's only a few. That's why you never see those like superstars because it's so hard. And having a car like this, it's so hard. Owning a car just for show is easy. You know, that's that's just a matter of spending some money, right? People, many people can make money. But to make a like a opus to like who you want to be, the best version of yourself through a car. First one that I can say that I understand that. Why is a Ring Brothers around? Why is Singer around? Why are these like Rod Emery's around? Why are these like Active Garage? Why are these like artisans or these like obsessive people that you kind of go, you're putting your soul into this object? Why? And now I understand it's like, oh, it's not just about going fast. It's not just about the car show. It's I can do. I can bring the best of me into a machine. And then when you experience it, and if I give you the keys, because you know the Z, you know the 240Z, you know the new Zs. You appreciate like all aspects of different type of NA, turbo, supercharged. And then you're going into one of these and it's almost like I can say and share who I am on such a personal level just by giving you the keys. That's where I'm like, I can't wait for you to drive this. That's awesome. All right. Let's talk about what we're doing today. All right. Sorry, I went on this. No, no, it's OK. It's fine. Yeah, very deep, very passionate. And that's what we love. But today we're here for a reason. We're going to do something that's I wouldn't say a little bit out of my comfort zone. It's something that I just don't normally do. I just don't. We're going to shoot a magazine cover and spread today. GQ. For GQ, which is crazy. Yes. That is freaking awesome. Yeah. You know, hey, Asian representation, man. GQ, baby, right here. So, so stoked on that. The gentlemen have arrived. Never thought I would be doing something like this. But you know what? This is the crossroads. This is where cars and fashion and just pop culture, cool pop culture. Yeah. Friendship. All of it. Like the blessing of our life to be able to like be part of car culture in Southern Cali and then be able to like, you know, leave that in a magazine when we're not here, like to commemorate like our friendship, our time, our shared passions in something that, you know, we grew up with that kind of defines part of my pop culture. GQ was like a big deal when I was growing up. You know, it's like I would look at that and it'd be, how do I become a person of merit to have an interview in GQ where people are actually asking me like real questions that are sincere to my craft or to who I want to be? Like, you know, it's like it's a different level of representation. And to be able to mix that, right, Larry, with you, somebody that is, you know, pioneered the idea and this, like, I think, modern notion of capturing the spirits of a car, right? And where the sincerity for the passion for car culture is already there. And then it's a lesson. It's like, look, it doesn't seem like Larry even works. He's just hanging out with his friends all the time. I mean, yeah. It's not a job, right? Because you love what you're doing. Yes, 100%. And then everything else is a byproduct, right? Like, you know, you're able to, like, buy a home and take care of your family, have cool cars, travel the world if you follow this thing that you love. And who knew you could do all of this by taking pictures, right? And so you are an example of what, like, you know, Asian-American, like, positive representation. I think, you know, anyone who's interested in photography or visual arts is like to look at you and go, yeah, the craft you eventually learn, right? Right, just be consistent. But it's like you can't learn passion. And that's something that's always consistent with you, Larry. So being able to, like, join forces with you to combine, like, you know, your artistry, your passion with our shared passion with these E's, right? Because you have a 240Z, right? Orange Bang, that's what you call your car. A KA swap, right? SR. Yeah. That's an homage to the 432. When I saw that, I was like, he knows his Z's. He knows the prominence of what is relevant. A, have you seen my 432 Checkman steering wheel? No, no. Come on, you as a 432 appreciator, go sit down, Larry. Okay. I just put this in yesterday. Whoa, okay. That is a period correct Checkman steering wheel. It changes the whole, like, substantialness of the car when you're driving it. From the wooden, like, faux steering wheel to, like, some racing steering wheels. Checkman was, like, the creme de la creme maker of aftermarket race parts for the Hakos, the L Series, the 240s, the 432. So, this was in the 432R, like, you know, I think Sotheby's or some auction car that sold for a whole bunch of money. This was the actual wheel? Well, it's the brand. Oh, okay. So, then- So, there's, like, a Mach 1 version of it that's kind of like this, and then this brush material. So, if there's a picture of an orange and black 432 with, like, these type of, like, racing seats with this type of fabric, right? And has the center, like, ignition, but they use Checkman. So, that's what all the 432R race cars had, Checkman steering wheels. Different versions, Mach. And this one came from a guy in Inglewood, James, who is building his homage of the 432 if, like, Datsun had all the, like, components available today. And then the best of the best of what a 240Z, 432, you know, he has, like, the 10,000 RPM gauge cluster from the 432 that only came in the 432. Did you know that they had a separate RPM cluster for the 432? Because it makes sense, because that S20? Yeah, S20. S20? Yeah. So, that needed 10,000 RPM opposed to the L24 that, hey, 8, right? This is really neat, too. I really like this detail. Yeah. So, this is Lonely Driver makes that. Yeah, that's super cool. Kind of Japanese thing. And then I painted the factory thing with gold barbecue paint. This is in really good condition. It almost looks brand new. Was this redone? There's a guy that, it's a dude in the East Coast. He works on shipping containers, and he hoards 432 parts. So, they do, like, you know, like, barters and sales to one another. So, James has, like, if you're looking for, like, the creme de la creme 432, like, Datsun, rarest of rarest parts that were period correct and authentic to that car of that era, James has that. And this is, and look at the seatbelt, like, he made that. This is from the 432 race car. That's so cool. And so, he made replicas of this, because this usually goes on a harness, right? I just, I love these seats, the story behind these seats about the previous owner being allergic to vinyl, right? Yeah. And then, so then, that's why she, was it a she? She. She had to get cloth seats instead. She did. She ordered, she was 72, she went and bought it at the San Diego Datsun, a 240. Amazing. Allergic to the vinyl. Asked for a fabric alternative. They sent these, so this fabric is supposedly from, like, factory somewhere in Datsun or Nissan at the time. But it still has vinyl. So, she covered it with, like, sheepskins, because it still gave her allergic reactions. That's why they're in perfect condition. This is so cool. You got your, your phone holder, you're modernizing this. Yeah. Love, love the, the pedals are cool too. Lonely driver. Pretty, pretty modern. Yeah. Man, now I'm looking, I'm shopping right now. I'm seeing what I need. I need stuff for my car. I'm seeing all the cool stuff. The motor, there's more cool stuff. I love driving my 996 Turbo, but after a few weeks, the battery always goes dead. When it needed a jump start using the lead acid battery, I had to pop off the cover for the keyhole, open the door with a key, pop off the fuse cover, plug in the jump starter to the vehicle to open the front, take off the cover for the battery, then jump start the car. I can skip all of that with built-in wireless jump start. All I have to do is press this button on my anti-gravity key fob, and then I'm off enjoying my car. I like the lonely driver strut bars, the rear and the front. Yeah. He makes jewelry. I call it like jewelry for the 240 S30. It's really cool to see all of them. You know what makes me happy? What? Like you said, 50 year old car, still new parts. People are still making parts. All of this is new. People make this. Everything on this car, even these little fasteners, somebody has to duplicate. Without these, the car rattles. It doesn't look correct. Every little thing, man. Even this, the strut goes bad. Here's the guy who makes this. People make carbon fiber tail light covers. This is the Japanese spec with the amber. Oh, okay. These are repops. These are replicas because you can't get the new ones. America was just red, right? So it was red, red. And then this amber at the bottom is the Japanese spec. You guys did such a good job with this shave because sometimes it looks a little weird without the bumper, but I actually like it. I think it looks really good. It's very cool. This was a happy accident. You know, if you look at this, I left this bumper indentation because if you go back, I remember when we were building the Fuguzi, this guy had come visit a Kenji at the garage and the car was on a lift. And he was like, hey, look at that line, that bumper line. It's like offset. It looks like the car is grinning. And I was like, you know, I think I'm going to make that my trademark. I'm going to shave the bumper holes. So no bumper, but then keep that indentation. So the car's kind of like grinning at you, you know? Interesting. And so it's super clean, but then you know that I left it there on purpose. Because most people would cover it because it's offset, right? It's not even centered. But it kind of, you know, this, these little things make the car like unique because. Yes. Why is this car different from yours? Right. It's because of these little things. It has LSD now. Oh, LSD. Changes the game because I was having trouble even getting up the driveway. Oh, yeah. So we'll start here. Suspension made by Z Car Garage, like totally conformed and designed for the 240z by Rob, our mutual friend Z Car Garage, a guru, I would say. I call him like, you know, one of the masters. And it has the brakes too, right? Yes. So stop tech. It's got to stop so good. So good. It's like, it sounds like a modern day car. Yeah. Those certain elements, like you want modern specs, brakes, safety, right? You want these things that, that, that will help you like, you know, have more of a positive like driving experience. And it's got to be, it's got to handle so well. With the KWs? Well, and with the Yokohama tires. Yoga, sticky, the perfect size. This was like trial and error. Perfect size for a non-cut fender. Non-cut is 15 by eights, not eight and a half. 15 by eights with 205s is I think the perfect like aftermarket, like upgrade wheel. If you go big, you go to the eight and a halfs or the 15 by nines, you got to start cutting things. I'm trying to not cut these old cars to keep it as pure OEM, right? But still modernizing it, updating it, but with still with the carbs. Carbs. Love the little gold accents. Love the updated cover. Oh my God. That looks so cool. So let's go with this. This carburetor set up is a Makuni, a 44s. They were given to me by Mira-san from Rocket Bunny Pandem. They came out of his Cedric. He got in a car accident like 20 plus years ago. They've been sitting in his front, uh, like display in it at his shop. And so I asked him if, you know, he knew where I could get some vintage Makunis to have Taka-san from Kyusha House Restore. He had. So he gave me a matching number because he took them out of his Cedric. So you got three 44s and a Harada Gen 1 manifold. So this was all made for the L motor. So it just like, it felt like it belonged in there. And then Taka went and did his magic. So it looks brand new. You have number seven, um, linkage arms, like, you know, these carbon fiber to just give it that little extra, right? You see the lonely driver spark plug wire brace. So you can kind of, you can tuck in the wire. So it's not all like over spider webbing. So everything is a more like symmetrical display of the motor, right? So I think when it's displayed like this, you're instantly given information. You don't have to like, like move things around to get the information. If there's something wrong. It really cleans it up. Having electronic fuel pump here. Yeah. Instead of just blocking off the mechanical pump. Yeah. Love this cover so much. Lonely driver designed this for me. Nana Korobe Yaoki, 78. Fall down seven, get up eight times. This lonely driver's logo. Number seven gave me this see-through gas oil cap that can't see through once you put the sticker. But, you know, number seven, number seven linkage arms. But look at the quality of this. Yeah. It's so good looking. I mean, you want to talk about trial and error because this is like, you know, I'm really about function these days. And, you know, you hope that when these things are made, it's actually better than the original. And that's kind of like finding the balance. It looks great, but, you know, let's see. Let's see. Right. I do love the way it looks. Look at the battery, though. Even this is like a piece of art. You can kill switch here. Yeah. From BB Boys. It's really clean. A lot cleaner than the stock battery mount. Oh, yeah. Love the bracket boys there. Nino and Justin are also 240z like fanatics. They look at the wiring. This is from Nino from Nizno. Nizno Tech. Look. So you see here all this M-spec wiring. So in case I want to do an engine upgrade to, let's say, like a stroked out like L30 or L31. Right. You just unplug this and it's like engine out in like 20 minutes, opposed to all the wiring. So this is planning for the future as well is that there's so many options with motors, like twin cams that are coming out. Like, you know, with the L6 project, you have the OS Gaikin twin cam, like all these things before I die. I want to experience and I'm like, I would love to do it in a car that I'm familiar with. Not do a whole build. So just take the motor out. This has the 6-speed Nizmo S15 Nizmo R transmission. So it's so smooth, Larry. That's what, that's why. Oh my God. I'm so jealous. That's why I put the Nizmo RPM gauge. So then that's why you're able to cruise pretty nice on the highway in 6th gear. Easy. That's so cool. At about 90, I'm about like 30, 600, you know. But there's good resolution all the way through. Always. Yeah, that is really cool. You're dancing with the car the whole time. There's never a moment where it's like, oh, it's lagging. It's like, you can keep it happy all the time. That's why you feel like, you feel like you're dancing. And even my shoes, like I like these, I cut these out so I could get better response to the throttle. That is amazing. Right. So then what kind of LSD did you put in? OS Geiken. And then, so it doesn't clunk? No, it clunks if you just kind of, you know, it took a while. You have to break it in for like a week, but you just be gentle with it. And I haven't drifted it. I'm not drifting this car, but it's nice that now I can get up driveways because before I'm like spinning out. That element. And then I just basically took my stock, it's 336, right? Final drive, stock differential. And then this place that does like a lot of truck LSDs basically took all the OS Geiken parts and rebuilt them. We just like plopped it in. It works great. So to have the LSDs, what a great option, right? That's so cool, man. I love it. Thank you so much for walking us through it. We got a whole shoe today. I know. Let's do it. Sweet. I feel like I can share. Yeah, I know. I'm so glad. I could talk about this car all day, Larry. I love it. I'll wait till you drive it, Larry. I'm going to drive it. Like driving it is like the Fuguzi was, Fuguzi was like going in a, if I said, come on over and let's go take a ride in my like stagecoach. And then we had like a, like a, you know, like a, not a stagecoach, but like a, like a horse and carriage. That's the Fuguzi and like a fast horse, like a strong horse, right? This is like going on a thoroughbred Kentucky Derby winning horse. I'm not kidding. It's like you're dancing, dude. But even though the Fuguzi makes so much more power, it don't matter, huh? We don't need that. You know, it's not about, it's a lesson. Also the car's teaching is that power is unnecessary. If you have no place to put that energy. What's the point of it? It's like, like it equates to like money. What's the point of having money? If you're not going to do anything positive with it, experience something beautiful with it. It's up to you, right? It's like people are all like infatuated with power. Like I got to have all this power, but for what, what is it you're trying to do? Just go fast. And then why is it the thrill or is it to show off all that? So this car is like a evolution of who I am today. And I don't need to go fast. I don't need to be the fastest. I don't need to be the most this and that. I don't need rewards. Like I want to go out and dance every day and say that, Hey, I get to actually get out there and, and, and participate in this, this idea. And this, this, this dream of being part of car culture in LA and a car that you built to dance with the car, Larry, very few. I mean, it's taken me like I'm 52 first time. Anytime I get in this car, dude, I'm dancing. It's like a dance partner. We're doing the cha-cha-cha. I love that. It's awesome, man. So good. It is. So absolutely epic day shooting the GQ cover of sun Kang in the canyons. We had the Z1 Motorsports 600R with us and it was just cool to kind of have a compare and contrast new and old. He has the first Shanzi. And then we have the latest and greatest had my R32 and then our buddy Chris with his 86, just epic shoot. Just so much fun. We kind of have a car meet going on here without trying. Everybody just kind of came and they're hanging out. Even the cops are here hanging out. So yeah, that's a wrap. It was a great shoot. As always, if you guys like what we're doing, please, please subscribe. We would love to get to a million subscribers soon and see you guys in the next video.