Z Car Garage is excited to participate in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 23-26 at Laguna Seca. We will be driving and supporting several vintage race cars, including this special 1979 Datsun 280zx raced by Jim Fitzgerald. “Fitzy” is the winningest driver in SCCA history with an astounding 350+ wins in his career.

  

He was never afraid to trade paint to get the win: in 1980 at the C Production Runoffs at Road Atlanta he was seen slamming doors with Freddie Baker in his E-Type on the front straight, on the pace lap! Video of the action can be seen in this HERE. Following this race, the ZX became known as the “Designated Hitter” car.  Fitzgerald died in 1987 after crashing his 300zx Turbo in the Trans Am series race.

 

  

Comedian/Paul Newman fan Adam Carolla purchased the ZX in 2009, and put it up for sale with our friends at Bring A Trailer last July. Our customer Alex McDowell won the auction and Rob and I visited Adam’s shop in Los Angeles to pick up the car. The Fitzy car was awesome to see in person, from the livery to wide Panasports it got my heart racing. We loaded it up onto a trailer courtesy of expert Datsun-restorer/historian Les Cannaday:

 

  

Before leaving, Adam’s crew was kind enough to let us peruse his car collection.

 

This place just might be Xanadu for Datsun nuts:

  

Adam is a big Paul Newman fan and it shows! Bonus points for a poster showing our #49 IMSA GTU 240z RMMR!

 

The ZX arrived safely at Z Car Garage (thanks Les) :

 

 

Fast forward to 2018, the Jim Fitzgerald 280ZX gained acceptance to race at the RMMR with Alex McDowell behind the wheel! ZCG began race preparation.

  

Rob dyno-tuned the L-series beast and it sounds fantastic. See the dyno and unloading in this video below:

 

We will have another feature for each of the race cars running at the Historics! Don’t forget to purchase your tickets for Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 8/23! Enjoy more pictures in the gallery below:
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Mike H is a Bay Area professional and car guy owning some very cool vintage rides. He has been a Z Car Garage customer since he purchased this 2004 350z and shortly after we met in 2008 it came in for a supercharger.

 

Mike’s Z is a Track model with Brembo brakes behind those slick forged Rays wheels. Over the years Mike had outgrown the brakes and waante to upgrade to the 13″ Stoptech Big-Brake kit. This is a popular, effective upgrade for Z33s that have more power over stock and/or see regular track duty.

 

Here is the 13″ Stoptech BBK with red calipers and slotted rotors:

 

Installation (front)

 

The rear, OEM Brembo calipers were treated to Stoptech Aero rotors, to replacing the heavy stock units:

 

The Stoptech kit fits perfectly behind the Rays wheels:

   

We see this Z once a year so we performed a few routine maintenance items like an oil change and general inspection. Mike’s Z has been running strong even after supercharging over 60k miles ago!

 

Jose N is the owner/operator of JB Mobile Detailing and he has been detailing ZCG’s fleet for many years. One of the reasons why he’s our detailer is because he is a Nissan/Datsun enthusiast. This is Jose’s turbocharged 260z running a fuel-injected 3 liter L-series backed by a 240sx 5-speed, R200 rear end, full suspension and 3-pc Panasport C8 wheels…but what was he lacking?

He had a Porsche 993 Turbo brake-kit installed over a decade ago at Scott Performance in Santa Clara. Although this kit worked well, it required a master cylinder change:

 

This was common with many big-brake kits on the market: a host of custom pieces, aftermarket proportioning valves, items needing infinite adjustment, and no parking brake.  That’s where ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels come in:

  

We replaced Jose’s 993TT brakes with the ZCG Big-Brakes and parking brake option:

   

We also installed a set of ZCG CV axles.

 

The CV axle installation is straightforward, Jose’s existing CV axles were replaced with ZCG units L and R:

   

Jose is Enjoying The Ride with the ultimate brakes and CV axles on his boosted Z!  You can see more ZCG customer cars running our Big-Brakes and CV axles below:

ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels

Erich C

 
Glenn C

Sam C

  

Z Car Garage CV Axles

Randy Jaffe’s #46 BRE Datsun 240z

 

Frank B

  

The Bluebird SSS Coupe and Hakosuka Skyline are both running ZCG CV axles on the race track:

   

Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running ZCG axles in several of his cars:

Set #246 – installed May 2018 on the “Harry Stewart #52” Datsun 510:

  

Set #247 – installed April 2018 on the 260z

  

Gary’s 430whp LS3-powered 280z:

  

Scott W’s EFI stroker L-series:

  

James S’ L28ET:

  

Finally, Gary’s “Behemoth”  OS Giken TC24B1Z powered S30:

Interested in a set of ZCG Big-Brakes or CV Axles? Contact Rob at the shop or send him an e-mail robATzcargarage.com

 

Rick B lives over the hill in Soquel, CA. He’s pined for a 350z and finally got a 2003 model waiting to be modified. Rick visited us to discuss taking the car to the next level and ZCG obliged. We set him up with the tried/true combo:  JWT pop charger, Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer, Bassani cat-back exhaust and UPREV flash. He also opted for the ARC license, allowing Rick to have adjustable launch control, flat-foot shifting and left foot braking, if needed.

Motordyne plenum spacer:

 

We also installed our favorite Hotchkis sway bars front and rear:

  

Bassani exhaust:

 

OEM vs Bassaani:

  

Exhaust tip detail and JWT Pop Charger:

 

  

On the dyno the mods alone produced gains of 11hp/2tq to the wheels over baseline:

 

With UPREV tuning, further gains of 9hp/13tq were achieved:

 

From a baseline of 245hp/237tq to 267hp/252tq at the wheels there is a significant improvement in power throughout the entire rev range!

 

We also handled some maintenance items including: changing the transmission/diff fluids, and replacing A/C and fan belts. Rick was so stoked he sent us a wonderful e-mail.

—–Original Message—–
From: —– [mailto:——]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 11:01 PM
To: rob@zcargarage.com
Subject: Thanks again!

Hey Rob, I just wanted to thank you and your team once again for all the work you did on my 350z over the last month or so. The experience I’ve had as a new customer of yours has been extremely fun!  I’m absolutely amazed at how much better the car feels and sounds. I feel exactly the same way I felt after I first bought the car, I’m in love all over again. As far as I’m concerned you’ve gained a new customer for life. I don’t ever plan on selling this car, if anything, I just plan on making it better and better and your the guy I’m gonna take it to you from now on. Anyway I know your a very busy dude so I’ll let you go but expect to see me again soon and thanks again!
-Rick 

 

It was a pleasure working  on your Z and we look forward to your next mods Rick!

 

 

 

When we last saw Erich C he visited Z Car Garage for some sorting on his 1973 Datsun 240z, reported in our blog post here. The Z was fresh from a restoration by fellow racer and Datsun 510 specialist Troy Ermish, sporting a Rebello 3L with triple Mikuni carbs and many hot rod parts:

 

  

Erich’s Z made an impressive 261hp to the wheels on our dyno and he felt the need to have brakes to match that power. We recently installed our ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels on Glenn’s Fairlady and his review was positive:

“WOW, what a difference. The feel, modulation, power, sharpness was amazing. Hands down the best brakes I had ever driven on a Z car”

As Glenn mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments, etc. After Erich drove Glenn’s Fairlady with the Big-Brakes, he was a believer. Erich returned to ZCG to have the brake kit installed on his S30.

 

The existing new Wilwood brake setup was removed and replaced with the ZCG Big-Brake kit at all 4 corners.

Up front:

 

Rear:

  

Erich was really stoked about the parking brake assembly, and now he has a fully functioning parking brake, utilizing the factory hand brake lever and linkage. This was another key request for our customers when creating the Big-Brakes.

 

  

A few more detail shots of the brakes:

 

 

And of course, the brakes fit easily under Erich’s sexy 15×8 zero offset Watanabe wheels:

 

For great stopping power, feel and bolt-in convenience, look no further than ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels! Stay tuned as we bring you more Z’s getting the kit installed, joining our customers Frank, Sam, and Glenn. Erich is really happy with the brakes and we loved working on his Z, Enjoy The Ride!