Ty and Christine also joined us in their 991 Porsche:
Naveed has a cool collection of sports cars including an Nissan R32 Skyline and recently acquired this Fairlady Z:
He has been driving this S30 religiously and organized the day’s fun run, starting in Cupertino and heading up HWY 9. It was a gorgeous day to be driving Datsuns!
We stopped at a vista point just after the 9/35 junction and headed to Alice’s:
From Alice’s we drove down 84 and to the coast via Pescadero Rd. Though foggy it was quite warm and we had fun staging the cars for photos.
Naveed captured some great shots!
Naveed’s RHD S30 sported a triple-Mikuni carb’d L20A with a full Fujitsubo exhaust. Stay tuned as we report on the dyno performance of the Fujitsubo exhaust system on our shop S30:
Naveed’s Z sounded wonderful echoing off the forest-lined roads. Listen to the exhaust and watch a short sample of the fun run in the video below.
We had a blast, thanks for inviting us Naveed!
Enjoy more pictures from Naveed and us in the gallery below:
Each year the Historic Sportscar Racing association (HSR) organizes the largest and oldest event for Historic race cars on the East Coast. It’s called the Classic Motorsports Mitty and it took place at Road Atlanta, GA from April 27-29. We attended The Mitty to provide race support for Randy Jaffe’s #46 BRE Datsun 240z (driven by our hero John Morton) and Alex McDowell’s Datsun Bluebird Coupe and Hakosuka Skyline.
Nissan was the featured marque for the first time with John Morton serving as Grand Marshall so naturally every Datsun-fan was drawn to The Mitty. I took a Thursday night red-eye flight from San Jose with part of the ZCG crew and when we arrived at Road Atlanta our paddock was an absolute feast for the senses. Nestled primely across from the front-straight footbridge, we had an impressive display of West-Coast racers, from L to R: The BRE Datsun 240z, BRE 370z, Comedian Adam Carolla’s #44 Frank Monise Datsun 2000 Roadster and Bob Sharp 610, Alex’s Hakosuka Skyline and Bluebird Coupe, the Friselle GTU 240z, Dave Stone’s Frellsen B-sedan 510, Jim Froula’s (Racecraft) Datsun 260z, our friend Glenn Chiou’s VIPS/Loren St. Lawrence 240z and Bob Clucas’ IMSA GTU 240Z.
Take a Lap With John Morton
At 76 years of age John Morton is still formidable behind the wheel. Here he is piloting the #46 BRE 240z that we prepared around Road Atlanta; the very same track where he won the 1970 and 1971 National C-Production Championships!
Well, That’s Racing
The sweet smell of race fuel, frantic adjustments, checklists, and engines blaring to warm-up for the next session all reminded us how much we love racing! From the on-board video above, you can see the BRE 240z performed well with John Morton at the wheel but what it does not show viewers is the not-so-glamourous side of racing: part failures. The Z ran great in Thursday’s practice but when we arrived at the track Friday morning, Rob told us the engine failed during the first session. He needed all hands on deck. What followed absolutely humbled me; the ZCG crew went to work in a supreme effort to get the #46 BRE 240z alive again for Saturday/Sunday’s races.
John Morton Must Race
To get a first-hand perspective of the Z’s revival I asked ZCG Lead Technician, Josh Corwin, to give us the play-by-play of the heart transplant. Please read on to see a video chronicling the events!
1) How, when and why did the engine fail? It is still too early to know exactly what went wrong with the engine. A complete teardown will be performed to isolate the root cause. I can tell you that during Friday practice, John Morton was accelerating up Road Atlanta’s back straight coming up the hill before turn 10, in top gear at wide open throttle well over 100mph. That is when a major engine component let go resulting in multiple holes being punched through the engine block, affectively turning the engine into a boat anchor.
2) What was the plan to get John Morton back on the track? Get an engine, put it in the car, put John Morton in the car, and put the car on track. Simple enough, except finding an engine that could perform was the challenge.
As word spread through the paddock that John Morton needed an engine, the Datsun Community banded together, and offers of engines came swarming in. Multiple race engines and high performance street engines were all up for grabs. All were seriously built engines, but none of them felt right.
Rob’s ultimate plan to excavate a couple E.B. Parkinson motors, like dinosaur fossils, was crazy to say the least. But, going with his gut, the resurrection of a true vintage race engine was put in motion. Half of the crew went with Randy to his storage to look for a replacement motor, while other half, including myself, received the green light from Rob to began the task of removing the expired power plant in anticipation of the Datsun Relics arrival.
3) Technically, what was involved with swapping parts and prepping the 40-yr old parkinson motor?
The old engine came out quickly, as many hands made light work. It was then tucked away into the back of the trailer, to be disassembled at a later date, as we worked on getting the car ready for its new engine. Prepping the vehicle was pretty simple, but there were necessary steps and precautions that need to happen to make this a successful transplant. We only had one shot at this, so nothing was left to chance.
Below, (L): Gary Brizendine and BRE Engine Chief John Caldwell lend a hand and knowledge: Caldwell is confirming the jetting on the 50mm Mikuni carbs. (R) The original exhaust system from the 1970s is removed from #46. Morton had already blown apart the exhaust tips on the first session!
With any catastrophic engine failure, one of the concerns is metal bits getting stuck in the oil cooler and lines. So, first thing is to remove the oil cooler and hoses and flush them out. Any leftover engine material in the oiling system can destroy a fresh engine in minutes. Luckily, Road Atlanta’s used oil disposal shed also had 2 solvent tanks, which we used to back flush the cooler and clean the lines of any possible debris. While all the reusable pieces were getting cleaned internally, we moved on to cleaning the mess of shrapnel and engine oil that coated the engine bay. Just as we finished, the oil cooler system came back fresh and clean, and shortly after engines arrived. We could finally switch gears to the reassembly of the BRE 240Z.
The crew brought back two “long block” engines, meaning the cylinder head and engine block had already been assembled. At first look they were identical in every way and definitely appeared to have been sitting for 40 years. Looking closer, we found one of the engines did not have the timing chain installed which led us to use the one that was “more complete.” We put a wrench on the crank bolt and it rotated 720 degrees, smooth as butter. The next task was to take all the undesirable accessories from the old engine. The 40 year old water pump, alternator, flywheel, crank pulley, thermostat housing, oil filter adaptor, and valve cover were all tossed. We then tackled a quick clean up, removing years of dirt and grim that had built up while sitting.
With just 1 week to go before the 2018 Classic Motorsports Mitty April 27-29, ZCG has been preparing several Datsun race cars. We are very excited to participate in this event as it celebrates Nissan’s racing heritage. Make sure to view the race schedule to catch all of the Datsun/Nissan action and activities in the paddock! Here is the roll call for your West Coast vintage Datsun racers making the trip to Road Atlanta in Georgia.
Introducing SORABIRD
Alex McDowell is racing his Bluebird SSS Coupe for the first time since it arrived at Z Car Garage after winning from our friends at Bring A Trailer. Unfortunately, the Bluebird was never raced for several years under previous owner Adam Carolla’s ownership. This will change in 1 week!
While retaining the two-tone color scheme of the Bluebird we changed it from orange to our favorite color Sora (“Sky” in Japanese) Blue. This is a factory paint color from the beloved ZCG Datsun 2000 Roadster:
Jim Froula of Racecraft built and raced this Bluebird throughout the PNW with SOVREN so it is excellently prepared. We dyno tuned the Rebello L18 sporting twin 50mm Mikuni carbs and it is ready to rock! More information and pictures on the Bluebird can be found HERE.
The Hakosuka Skyline
Alex is also racing is 1971 Nissan Skyline. The L-series powered Hako received extensive dyno tuning and some chassis upgrades. Catch Alex piloting the Hako in group 5 Big Bore Production with Boss 302s and 911 RSRs!
The VIPS Datsun 240z
Our friend Glenn Chiou will be racing his Loren St. Lawrence 240z. Coming off a stellar performance at the 2017 RMMR Glenn will be back and faster than ever after some dyno tuning at ZCG.
All three cars can be seen on the dyno demonstrating their L-series power in this video, enjoy!
The Frellsen B-Sedan Datsun 510
Avid Datsun racer Dave Stone will be running his Frellsen 510 in the highly competitive B-sedan field. All of the car featured above will be joining Jim Froula’s 73 Datsun 260Z on board the RacecraftNW race-transporter for the journey to The Mitty!
ZCG will be ready to support all of our customer race cars:
The Rock Vest Datsun Roadster
Michael Anderson’s recently acquired Rock Vest 2000 is already on the way to The Mitty! We are stoked to see this historically significant roadster brought back to life winning at the race track!
The BRE Datsun 240z driven by John Morton at The Mitty
We are extremely thankful and stoked that owner Randy Jaffe invited us to The Mitty. John Morton is Grand Marshall of the event AND he is piloting the #46 BRE 240z once again! The entire ZCG crew will be running pit crew beginning 4/23 for testing through the race weekend ending 4/2. Following the 2017 Historics, we performed post-race maintenance to prepare #46 before sending it off to Atlanta:
For all Datsuns particiapting in the race you can view the entire Race Entry List.
We have more pictures in the gallery to enjoy. See you at the track!
For classic car enthusiasts across the globe, visiting the site BringaTrailer.com is part of our daily routine. Z Car Garage has been a big fan of BaT since its inception in 2007, having referred our customers and serviced several BaT auction vehicles. We happily obliged when they reached out to us for help in finding a Z-car to drive cross-country for a historic racing event.
Roadtrip to The Mitty
ZCG recently announced our participation at The Mitty April 27-29 at Road Atlanta in Georgia. Nissan is the featured marque at this historic vintage racing event, so naturally a Datsun would be the ideal driving partner, right? For BaT founder Randy Nonnenberg, taking a roadtrip to the Mitty in a Datsun goes further than just arriving in style:
“The Mitty has been an event I’ve personally been interested in attending for a long time. I love seeing new racing venues and meeting BaT community members in different parts of the world. I have never been to Road Atlanta so this seemed like a great opportunity to host a BaT Alumni Gathering at the track. The teams from HSR and Classic Motorsports run some very fun events, so we are thrilled to join.
As for the car, I have wanted a Datsun for a long time and even though I like the roadsters and 510s, the 240z has always spoken to me the most. Once we found out that both the Mitty and Monterey would be featuring Nissan/Datsun, it was clear that we needed to have one to help celebrate. It also seems like a very useable classic for a road trip and driving events, so we are excited to put it on the road and document its travels on BaT.”
Finding the right Z
A few weeks ago Michael Emery from BaT reached out to ZCG looking for a car to make the journey to The Mitty. Rob immediately had the perfect car in mind, our customer Kevin F’s 1973 240z finished in 112 Yellow and affectionately known as the “Gimlet”. This is a Z we have serviced, maintained and modified over several years.
After Randy and Michael visited ZCG to inspect the Z, a deal was struck. Kevin had passed the torch on to BaT for the Z’s next chapter in life. We asked Randy what brought him to Z Car Garage:
“We are lucky to have many Datsun fans in the BaT community, so we reached out to them to see who might know of a good 240Z for sale. We checked out a few cars, and the ability to buy one from a specialist clearly became the most attractive option. Rob at Z Car Garage knew of a car that was not only in great condition, but he had done much of the work on the car and knew the history and build very well. I tend to want to sort out some details to my liking on almost any car I buy, and his ability to make some key changes was a huge benefit. He had the wheels I wanted in stock, had the know-how to make some components swap quickly, and most importantly was able to ready the car for immediate use. All this plus the car was terrific in person!”
Preparing the Z for BaT
As Randy mentioned, he was particular about how he wanted the Z to be set up. We addressed his list of needs and performed a total vehicle inspection to ensure the Z was ready for the long journey from California to Georgia.
By request, the front valance was returned to stock, 16″ Panasport wheels mounted and stock steering wheel installed. Kevin had kept the original front valance parts making installation straightforward:
16×7 Panasport wheels with 225/50/16 tires:
A stock steering wheel replaced the aftermarket unit:
The car was mechanically sound needing only a new clutch M/C and slave. We flushed and replaced fluids with Stoptech 600f. The exhaust was adjusted to increase clearance near the larger R200 diff cover. A new windshield and stainless trim pieces were installed:
A few detail items like underbody coating and cleanup:
Finally, the Z’s ride height was adjusted and engine health confirmed on our dyno. Looking perfect! More pictures in the gallery:
On the dyno the 2.7L made a stout 191p/181tq to the wheels:
Listen to that triple-carb’d L-series sing in the video below! You can also see Randy driving off from the shop:
We were curious how Randy felt about his new Z car, asking him how it compares to his Euro/US cars of the same era:
“I drove the car away from the Z Car Garage shop and was instantly pleased with the purchase. The modified 2.7L in this car has great power and sound, and I like the low seating position and long hood to peer over from the driver seat. I’ve spend plenty of time in early 911s, BMWs, and muscle cars from the same era and with these modifications the S30 can run with any of them. I can’t wait to enter this car in some fast road events with my buddies who all drive European stuff. I think they will respect this car quickly.”
My last question for Randy was to see how Z fits into BaT’s very own car collection:
“Just like you can see on our website, we have very diverse (skitzophrenic?) tastes in cars, trucks, projects, and types of vehicles. We wanted to add a car that was turn-key, could run well on road events, was an iconic design, would represent BaT well, and was in impressive condition. This 240Z checked all those boxes. Plus we don’t currently have a fast 70s coupe in the stable, so our team was excited for this one to arrive.”
Follow The Z!
The BaT 240z has already begun its journey to The Mitty! Look for real-time updates along the way from Michael and Randy as they visit BaT buyers, sellers, and community members to hear their stories:
Pictures and videos will be posted on BaT’s main site, Facebook and Instagram accounts. We are looking forward to seeing BaT at Road Atlanta with fellow Datsun enthusiasts. Big thanks to Randy and Michael for letting us be a part of their trip.
LONG LIVE THE Z!
UPDATE
4/8/18: We are happy to report the BaT 240Z is now in Tempe, AZ attending the Copperstate1000 event on chase-car duty!
Z Car Garage is expanding to support our vintage, late model and motorsport work. We are seeking an experienced and skilled automotive technician to join our team.
This is not an average automotive job. The position is for a special candidate that wants to be part of a shop that is growing and always striving to set the bar a little higher. We offer competitive pay/benefits and the best working environment.
Requirements: Experienced with a good set of tools, willingness to learn, and be part of a team.
Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? Please contact rob@zcargarage.com or call us at (408)452-0350.
