There was a great turn out at the annual Monterey and Pebble Beach Z and Meet.   Even though the weather was less than favorable the turnout was very high with 40 to 50 cars showing up for the drive.  The meeting point was held at MY Nissan in Salinas, CA.  Zs and Gs packed the parking lot with a few other cars mixed in including an NSX, S2000, Pontiac GTO, Mitsubishi EVO, and a 60’s Ford Mustang.

The drive wound it’s way through the hills of Salinas, Monterey, and Carmel and continued onto 17 Mile Drive with the first leg ending at Bird Rock right along the famed Pebble Beach golf course.  From there the caravan conituned on to a buffet style lunch at Poppy Hill.  If you live in the Northern California are this is the end of the driving year event that should not be missed.  Without further delay here are a few pictures that I took of the drive.  Hope to see you all next year!!

See all the photos by clicking below…

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Here are the first set of pictures from the Historics that I promised.  These are mainly from the Z Car Corral on Saturday.  I will be posting more of the paddock, pits, and the race action as I get to editing them.  I hope these will hold you over until then.

The first track test of Z Car Garage’s own big brake kit took place last week at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. The brake kit was designed entirely in house and has gone through various stages of testing over the past few months since its creation. This initial kit was installed on a freshly restored 240z to ensure that the car would be able to handle it’s new braking capabilities.

After the owner of the car had a few sessions under his belt with the kit it was time to test the brakes under tougher race-like conditions. To do this the ZCG crew enlisted the help of professional racecar driver David Ray. David has won a San Francisco Regional championship (1994) in an ITS prepared 240z and again (2004) in a T2 class 350z.

With the Z Car team in the hot pits, Ray took to the track with instructions to make two hot laps to gauge initial feel and then return to the pits for inspection. He returned to the pits with a smile and a satisfactory report. The ZCG pit crew took temperature measurements and did a quick visiual inspection before sending Ray back onto the track. This time he was asked to stay out for the entire session or until he felt any change in the braking feel.  He stayed out for the rest of the half hour session with no issues.  Every other lap or so he would give a thumbs up to the crew as he went down the front straight.

When the session ended he pulled into the pits and the crew took their final “hot lap” readings. After all the data was logged Ray jumped out of the 240z with a huge grin on his face.  The first words out of his mouth were, “These are the best brakes I have ever felt on a 240z, including my race cars.”  He continued on, “These brakes are much better than the Brembos on my championship winning T2 350z, I even had to pump them (the Brembos) after a few hot laps.”

Now on to the specs. The rotors are 12.9 inches in diameter with custom machined billet brackets. The rotor hats were also designed from scratch in house at Z Car Garage. Other parts included with the ZCG brake kit are an upgraded master cylinder, brake booster, and braided lines. The caliper specs are under lock and key for now but rest assured that the braking bias is spot on with amazing pedal feel.

Due to the size of the rotor and caliper, wheel choice is very critical. Z Car Garage has worked extensively to get the brakes to fit under the current 16″ Panasport casting with a custom Z Car Garage offset.

More updates will be posted here as they happen.  ENJOY!!

Additional information can be had by contacting Rob@zcargarage.com

Here are a couple of teaser pictures from the Rolex Monterey Historic races at Laguna Seca a couple of weeks ago. I am working on getting a new gallery set up for this site as well as a new interface to enlarge the photos. I took over a thousand photos throughout the weekend so you will really be in for a treat when I finish the gallery!

Click on the images to enlarge.

The Nissan/Datsun community is beginning to feel the age of our much loved vehicles. Parts are becoming harder and harder to find including standard maintenance items. At Z Car Garage (ZCG) they have begun to reproduce parts that are no longer offered from Nissan.

Production has already begun on the spindle that connects the rear strut to the control arm on the 240, 260, and 280z. The stock piece is made from hardened ductile iron that has been zinc coated. These need to be replaced just about every time the rear bushings are serviced. The new ZCG design is machined from billet stainless steel to exacting specifications. They decided on stainless because the old zinc pieces were getting very corroded with age and are incredibly difficult to remove on occasion, now the problem should be solved.

Here is a photo of the factory spindle (this is the best one that I have seen after removal, usually the threads are pulled and it is covered in corrosion.)

As products disappear from Nissan parts shelves, Z Car Garage is going to step up and produce items that will improve upon the original wherever possible. This is exciting news for all Datsun/Nissan owners who keep up with their vehicle maintenance or anyone who plans on doing a full restoration in the future.

I will post again as they release more “new” products. Stay tuned!!