ZCarGarage may be known for working magic on Nissans/Datsuns both new and old but they also build/modify cars of different marques. This 1967 Camaro had a colorful history with it’s previous owner Tony F, a long time friend of Rob’s from Georgia. Adolfo recently purchased the car this year and plans to build it Pro-Touring-style, with some ZCG touches of course 🙂
The car is in fantastic shape an the interior was also freshened up. Stock, inline-6 cylinder will be replaced with one of GM’s LS-series V8 drivetrains
Check the blog for more updates on this resto-mod!
Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 1:21 am on July 28, 2010
The 24 Hours of LeMons race at Thunderhill usually features wild and zany cars like these, seen at the May 8 event. Zcar owner/racer Wade W is entering a tasteful BRE-style 240z for the upcoming August 8-9 race. Wade is an accomplished road racer with 6 previous Lemons events completed and a top finish at 18th place.
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The ZCG crew is helping build  the car with drivers Scott S, Mike O, Josh C, and Wade. The chassis with no drive train, interior and a broken suspension was donated. In order to save money, the drivetrain, suspension, wheels, tires, gauges,  and seat is coming from the 280ZX Lemons car that met it’s untimely end at the Thunderhill event in May this year.  The roof was cut off the 280ZX to remove the cage then Paul Moor cut the roof off the 240Z to re-install it. Almost everything from the dead 280ZX was used to resurrect this rusty basket case of a 240Z!
Our good friends at William’s Autobody threw some paint on the car with left-over paint in the classic BRE pattern for free and saved time by not prepping the body for spray beforehand 🙂
Josh at ZCG helped remove the interior, every bit counts in the weight reduction process.
The license plate is a bit optimistic, a proper L-series will fill this engine bay
Stay tuned for more updates on the build-up and let’s wish the team good luck on race day!
For the last few years I have been organizing “Fun Runs” throughout the Bay Area. A fun run consists of  several Datsuns/Nissans getting together simply to enjoy driving on twisty roads. Pretty scenery, good food and company follow. Events typically last about 3-4 hrs and mileage can be anywhere from 90-200miles roundtrip. We went on a fun run last Saturday, and it was a blast!
We had 5 Datsun Roadsters, 1 RHD Datsun 510, a 350z, and a Miata(more the merrier!) show up in the morning in San Jose, CA. Â Our driving route (see map ) took us through the Uvas and Calero Reservoirs, a brief stop at Mt. Madonna Inn, then down to Capitola for lunch, through Santa Cruz, and back up the twisty HW9 up to Skyline Blvd(35), and finally down 9 to Downtown Saratoga.
One of the roadsters had a supercharged KA24DE drivetrain, listen to the blower whine below:
Filed under: Events,Performance
by Alvin G @ 1:33 pm on July 22, 2010
If you are an avid track day junkie or even a beginner it doesn’t hurt to have a seasoned instructor ride along with you. These generous folks can help you shave seconds off lap times, smoothly negotiate turns, and even instill confidence. Fellow Z owner Bill N. describes how in-car instruction helped him. Thanks for the report Bill and good luck at the LeMons!
I finally did it. I signed on with a 24 Hours of LeMons team for the August 7-8 event at Thunderhill. It will be my first time driving in an actual race. Z Car Garage will also be in the race with a 240Z. Should be a blast.
With the upcoming race in mind, I approached my recent track day wanting to improve my driving skill. We occasionally see new drivers at the track who have a lot of natural ability and advance very quickly. I’m not one of those drivers. The good news is that, with the right attitude and good coaching, anyone can improve their performance.
Enter the Hooked on Driving coaches. These men and women are volunteers who come to the track to share their skill and knowledge. They go through a rigorous evaluation, selection and training process. I like that they are very encouraging and coach a turn only during the approach and execution. No after-turn discussions to distract from the next turn. Coaching is included in the event price and is available to drivers at all levels.
I sought the help of Jeff, one of HOD’s senior coaches. I had worked with him earlier in the year when we were paired for a lead-follow session on a very wet track: 5/28 Fun in the Rain
Jeff helped me a lot. Check it out:
6/20 Session 1 Part 1
6/20 Session 1 Part 2
Thanks, Jeff!
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Filed under: Events
by Alvin G @ 7:11 pm on July 21, 2010
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This is a great group to run with if you are interested in taking your car out on the track. The organizer, Patrick, is a Z owner himself and we have had a blast driving our cars together. Check below for the 7/30 event at Buttonwillow.
Location:Â Buttonwillow Raceway
24551 Lerdo Highway,
Buttonwillow, CA 93206 Â
Thank you everyone for supporting our last event at Thunderhill Hill. It was a great success. And now, we have confirmed another track event. This time at Buttonwillow Raceway. This is a super fun track, a little bit futher than Thunderhill, but it is well worth it. I hope to see everyone out there!!!We are running the same configuration: 3 Run groups, 20 minutes session, Beginner, Intermediate, Advance. That is seven sessions for those of you who are counting.
