Jon bought the M30 from Koji. He drove it a bit and kept it clean. He either sold it or traded it. That was pretty much it until 2019.
Jon sent me an email saying he had bought the Project Leopard (again) and his mission was to make it clean again. He said it was rough compared to when he had it before.
I told Jon to make a list of stuff that it needs and so when an M30 hits a junkyard, I can get him the stuff. I was honestly excited because I felt this car deserves
that second chance.
I asked Jon on how he found the car again. He said that someone told him an RB powered M30 was in his town (Tehachapi). When he went to check it out, he sar the R31 crossmember.
I didn't hear much shortly after. Jon then told me he had a business venture that he was exploring and that he needed to sell the car by the end of 2019. He would be moving and
couldn't hold the car.
He tried to sell it on CL and a couple forums.
Then there was no new news
I texted Jon just to get an update and then he offered the car to me for cheap. He also got the original engine and had taken it apart to determine what the issue was with it.
That is when he confirmed it was a blown #6 ringland. There were also many parts missing such as Greddy Intake manifold, RB25det tranmission and other bits. Jon tried to track
down every piece he remembered.
I felt that this is when he realized it was a big project. If he wanted to get it back to that quality when he had it, it was going to go the distance.
When I agreed to purchase it, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do honestly. I needed to figure a game plan and understand the logistics (Jon lives in the middle of California).
New Game Plan for Project Leopard
With time running out, I didn't know what to do. Jon said he would have to get rid of the car by the end of December. Luckily, Roger Vargas hooked me up with Robby (son of Marco of SR20 store) and Robby talked to Marco about it.
It was okay for the car to go to SR20 Store. So I relayed the message to Jon and we decided the date to go there. He would tow the car down, I would fly down and a few people would meet with us at the SR20 Store including Marco.
It was really an interesting day and it was good to meet Jon and Steven.
