Tony H acquired this 1971 Datsun 240Z through our friends at Bring a Trailer and visited Z Car Garage for mechanical sorting. We are big fans of BaT and despite not winning the auction outright Tony still ended up with the Z…
“I bought my Z directly from a seller on Bring a Trailer after being the high bidder but not reaching the seller’s reserve. I drove down to SoCal to pick up the Z car with my friend. We test drove it and it seemed ok but I knew it definitely needed a good tuning. We made a deal and on the trailer it went.”
Z Dream Car
Tony’s Z story is simple: “My Dad had a body shop when I was growing up. I saw tons of cars come through but the one that wowed me the most was the 240Z. I remember wishing I could own one of these cars one day. The rest is history!”
The Safari Gold ’71 was on display at Dublin Nissan before coming to Z Car Garage and it isn’t the only Datsun 240Z in Tony’s stable. His silver S30 was also on display in the showroom, right next to our 2023 Nissan Z!
Spotlight with Nissan
Making this Z even more special was its role in a 2021 Nissan commercial with actress Brie Larson featuring the debut of the 2023 Nissan Z. The previous owner kindly provided Tony with media containing outtakes from the commercial (see video below) filming:
Mechanical Sorting at Z Car Garage
As Tony mentioned, the Z was in great cosmetic shape but needed some mechanical work to be enjoyed. Starting in the engine bay we installed a new battery hold down with frame and new cables. All cooling hoses were replaced and we replaced the existing brake booster vacuum hose with a braided unit:
We installed an MSD coil, dialed-in the the SU carbs, adjusted the valves, corrected issues with the choke cables, added a ground to his Pertronix install and set the timing. More photos of the engine bay work in the gallery below:
The exhaust was replaced with our ZCG exhaust system using a Magnaflow resonator/muffler and slash-cut tip:
Dyno Tuning
We dyno-tuned Tony’s Z with a baseline of 136hp/138tq. After Rob’s tuning the Z made 143hp/148tq at the wheels:
Enjoy this video showing the dyno runs, walk-around and the Nissan commercial this Z was featured in:
Chassis
The braking systems was overhauled with new hoses and brake lines. Rotors were roughed-in with chamfered pads, lubed all suspension parts and poly bushings and bled the brakes. All 4 struts were replaced and we installed Tony’s springs, trimmed for best fit with urethane MacPherson bump stops and full in-house alignment services:
We also replaced all of Tony’s fuel vapor hoses in the back of the car. Z Car Garage developed a small kit as these vapor line pieces are NLA. This will help eliminate fuel small that can enter the cabin when filling up your Z. We always fill up the fuel tank to ensure our vapor hose kit works perfectly:
Enjoy The Ride
Tony was happy with the work Z Car Garage performed, and we loved to hear his feedback:
“When I brought Rob my car it was was not running right. It felt lethargic. It was miss firing and most of the time wouldn’t start up. When I got to Rob he pointed out some issues with the engine bay set up. He said he would take care of all the issues and did just that! When I picked up my Z it felt like a totally different car. I remember thinking to myself that this must be the way it felt when the car was first driven off the dealership lot. Rob did an amazing job tuning and cleaning up the engine bay! Z Car Garage is great!”
Thank you Tony for trusting your Z with us, we enjoyed working with you and loved seeing both of your Z cars on display. More photo of Tony’s 1971 Datsun 240Z in the gallery below: