We are extremely happy for our friend and fellow Datsun enthusiast Tom D and his newly acquired B-sedan Datsun 510. This is a historically significant race car built and run originally by Norm Balzer.  Here it is at Road Atlanta in 1977:

 

Tom brought the 510 to Z Car Garage to have it prepared for the upcoming race season:

“I bought the car rough three years ago from Steve Link with the help of Dave Stone. Since then I exchanged information with MaryLee Balzer (the original builder and owner’s widow) and Jon Koobation, the last guy to campaign the car. Both kept all the records and materials associated with the car.  They graciously gave me all of it, even Norm’s race jacket (so cool). My plans are (with Rob and ZCG support) to get the car track ready.  The car will be campaigned with its original livery and as much of the original equipment as possible, including the FIA prepped L18.”

 

 
The car was wildly successful on the West Coast.  Many, including Larry Oka referred to the car as the “other BRE car” since it was built with the help of Mac Tilton and hardware from the BRE garage as the Trans Am series ramped down.  Tom plans to run several events this year including CSRG April at Infineon Raceway, The HSMA Festival of Speed in Late May,  The Rolex in August and the CSRG Charity Event in October. We are currently breaking the car down for race prep. It is shockingly original and a treat to see!

 

 

Enjoy that twin-Mikuni carb’d L-series sing!

A Rich Racing History

Purchased from a local Datsun dealer in 1971 for a one dollar, Norm Balzer took this Datsun 510 which was damaged in shipping straight to the garage to create one of the most successful B Sedan race cars on the West Coast.  With help from Mac Tilton, many parts were sourced from the BRE garage.  Norm raced the car from in B Sedan from 1973 until 1979 and then later as a GT2 entry in 1980.

Willow Springs 1976 and RA in 1979:

  

Jon competed with the 510 in GT2, GT3 and IMSA/GTU Special Group 2 from 1981 to 1992, amassing a number of first place finishes including a win in IMSA SP2 at Laguna Seca in May of 1983. Together Norm and Jon took this Datsun 510 to the podium forty times with thirteen first place finishes and six Southern Pacific Division Championships. Overall they competed in eighty-six races between 1973 and 1992.

 

 

Stay tuned for an in-depth look at this historical Datsun race car!

 

Yesterday we dyno tuned Glenn Chiou and Taz Harvey’s B-Sedan Datsun 510 race cars. Both will be running at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in just a few weeks!

 

Glenn is an avid Datsun enthusiast having owned and raced several cars. You might remember his VIPS 240z vintage race car from the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion last year where he ran it alongside our hero John Morton. We also dyno-tuned the Z in preparation for race week. Look for #39 at this year’s RMMR!

 

Taz is a veteran Datsun racer, having completed the Carrera Panamericana in both a 240z and 510, built by our friend Troy Ermish. You might find the #51 510 familiar as the previous owner was Wayne McAttee!

 

Like all race cars that get dyno’d at ZCG, these 510s left with more power and peace of mind! Enjoy the dyno video below and listen to the L-series sing!

 

 

Glenn is an avid Datsun enthusiast having owned and raced several cars. You might remember his VIPS 240z vintage race car from the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion last year where he ran it alongside our hero John Morton:

 

We also dyno-tuned the Z in preparation for race week. Look for #39 at this year’s RMMR!

  

Glenn loves his vintage race cars and he recently added this B-sedan Datsun 510 to his stable. He plans to race it this year with SVRA, and it also got accepted to the 2018 RMMR event!

 

In preparation for the upcoming RMMR, Glenn visited Z Car Garage to have the B-sedan dialed-in with chassis dyno tuning.

 

Chassis dyno tuning is extremely beneficial for race cars. You simply can’t run your race car up and down a city street to emulate race conditions and “guess” how your engine settings are performing. In most cases our customers have their engines built and tested on an engine dyno, so it is prudent to confirm performance on the chassis dyno before heading out to the track.

 

We run a series of dyno tests for the customer, including fully heat soaking the engine to ensure it can perform throughout the rev range. Glenn’s 510 was optimized for drivability in his desired powerband and like all race cars that get dyno’d at ZCG, his 510 left with more hp/tq! Enjoy the video of a few dyno pulls and listen to that L-series sing:

 

 

We can’t share numbers as racers like to keep them close to their heart, but you can count on the 510 being ready to rock in the B-sedan group at big race. Thanks for letting us tune your Datsun, Glenn!

 

Scott visited Z Car Garage for dyno tuning of his Datsun 510. He had the engine installed by our friend Troy Ermish and wanted Rob to perform the final tune/sorting.

 

When you have a shop perform an engine install it is critical to have it tuned and confirm power/drivability.

 

On the dyno baseline numbers were 129hp/129tq at the wheels. With tuning we picked up 11 hp and 9lb-ft of torque for a total of 140hp/138tq to the wheels:

Scott is coming back to ZCG next month to get a larger exhaust installed as the stock exhaust is definitely limiting output.

 

Love is in the air this week with three Datsun 510s at the shop💘 Each one has a unique history with different powerplants and wheels! Expect full stories on the blog soon.

Ben W’s SR20DET-powered 510:

 

Larry Oka’s Far Performance tribute B-Sedan 510 racecar:

 

Kurt’s iconic VG30ET-powered 510, “The Strutless Wonder”