Steve M lives in the North Bay and has a really sweet collection of cars. His favorite car has always been this one-owner 1972 Datsun 240z with 50k original miles. Before we describe how Z Car Garage brought it back to life, let’s hear the history from Steve:
Back in mid-70s I was a car-crazy teenager already working on cars, buying and selling them, and always dreaming of my next sports car. With all the money I had saved from my paper routes I purchased my first car for $500, a red 1965 Ford Mustang and later a 1964 Triumph Spitfire. Shortly after I acquired these two cars, my parents moved. Our new next-door neighbor, Bob, had an amazing 1972 240Z that was white with a red interior. Other than an early E-Type Jaguar, I thought that the 240Z was the most beautiful car I had ever seen. Bob had bought it new, driving it mostly on weekends. I wanted a Z of my own.
Eventually I bought a midnight blue 1971 240z and Bob and I started to figure out ways to make our cars faster. We did everything ourselves from headers to suspension work. We even took a trip down the peninsula to FAR Performance to see if they might sell me a race engine for my Z. Bob was an avid sailor and he had the “240Z” of sailboats: A 505. These dinghies were really fast but they needed a two-man crew and he asked me if I wanted to learn to sail. I said yes, and it wasn’t long before Bob and I had become the best of friends. I went through high school and college. Racing sail boats with Bob on the weekends, cars on the street and vintage cars on the track. I kept buying, fixing up, and selling cars. But in the early 1980s I sold them all, including the Z, an old vintage race car, and even an old E-Type Jaguar, to move to Europe for a few years.
When I returned, I started my own business and it went well enough that I was able to start another with Bob. Unfortunately, soon after it was evident that our first venture was going to be a home run, Bob was diagnosed with a very rare neurological disease. Within a year he had passed away, leaving his widow and two young sons. In his will, he asked that I take his sons out on my sailboat, to the spot in the San Francisco Bay where he taught me how to sail, so they could spread his ashes there.
Then one afternoon I received a call from Bob’s wife, Susan. She called my office to ask if I would be there that day and I looked out of my office window to the street below, as a flatbed truck was hauling Bob’s 1972 240 Z to my home. Bob and Susan’s boys had grown, married, and had kids of their own, but they all graciously decided that Bob would have wanted his Z to go to me. Over the next few of years, I managed to get it up and running, but don’t have the time I once did to tinker with cars, so never got it running as well as it deserved because it had been sitting for decades.
Making Steve’s Z a well-sorted driver
Steve brought his S30 into Z Car Garage in December 2015 and we essentially went through the entire car top to bottom to make it a good driver. He expressed his goal for the restoration and we worked with him to achieve it:
Rob seemed to be able to do miracles with my limited budget. Our plan was something akin to my plan in the 70s. Suspension and exhaust came first, then carburation, tranny, wheels/tires, then a bigger better engine, and a replacement of the Webers with Mikunis. Suddenly, the monster is back… only this time, it is under the skin of a totally stock 1972 Datsun 240Z.
We performed a full engine tune-up and got the car running after many years of sitting idle. The Z received a suspension refresh with 5-way Tokico struts, Eibach springs and a sway bar set from MSA. All bushings were replaced including T3 lower control arm bushings and new ball joints. The exterior was treated to Paintless Dent Removal and a new PPG windshield was installed.
Completing the vintage look are a set of 16×7 Panasports with 225/50/16 Yokohama S-drive tires. At Steve’s request we also installed a BRE spook.
That lovely red interior was revived with new seats and a carpet kit:
The engine bay and drivetrain needed some attention as well. Cooling system issues were addressed by correcting several leaks, installing new hoses and a Koyo race radiator. The L24 was mated to a 280Z 5-speed transmission and clutch. New triple-Weber carbs were installed and fed by our ZCG fuel line. A ZCG heat shield protects the carbs from a new MSA exhaust header that was finished with our custom exhaust system:
Despite the new Weber carbs we did not make power we were hoping for since the L24 was tired. All the work that was performed on the entire car made Steve happy, and he enjoyed the Z for a few years knowing a more powerful engine upgrade was in the works:
Everything about the form and function of this car is beautiful, and you have made it even better than originally intended. The smells, the sound, the feel, are all just right. The throttle response, the smooth shifts, the braking, and especially the handling are awe inspiring.
Time for more power
Fast forward to early 2018 and Steve had been enjoying this wonderful Z car since we worked on it. Over the last year Rob had been collecting parts and found a nice L28 engine that would be perfect for Steve. We removed the L24 engine:
Steve’s old L24 (left) and the refreshed L28 (right):
We gave the L28 a little refresh with a small cam and nice bottom end parts. The engine block was cleaned and painted Nissan Blue. A Mallory Unilite distributor and 280zx starter were installed:
A key change was switching from the new Weber carbs to triple phh44 Mikuni’s. This set was sourced from customer Tim N’s 240z as he is getting EFI.
With the new Mikuni’s and everything reinstalled the engine bay still looks great:
The Z ran extremely well with the Mikuni’s and combined with Rob’s tuning this Z had a dramatic boost in power. On the dyno the old L24 with Webers made 141hp/147tq to the wheels. The new L28 with triple Mikuni’s carbs put down 205p/200tq to the wheels:
I had a chance to take Steve’s Z out for a spin and it blew my mind. This is the kind of Z that makes me (a hardcore Datsun Roadster fan) want one for myself. It is the embodiment of just enough power, solidness, and vintage feel. Listen to this Z:
What more can I say? I really love my Z, and consider myself to be one of the luckiest guys on earth, to have found artists like Rob that help me keep my own dreams alive, running; well; and still ripping up the roads.
Thank you Steve, for sharing your story and letting us bring your Z back on the road. Tune in for the next chapter as Steve gets ZCG big brakes for small wheels!
Long Live The Z
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