Are you ready for Z Day 3/18?!
The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) are running a caravan down to Atascadero for the event on 3/17:
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Shop Talk for
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“Love cars. Love people. Love life”
-Mr. K
Here is a memorable throwback that inspires us at ZCG, enjoy!
To Rob and team of Z Car Garage,
Thank you for being a big part of reuniting me with my 1971 240Z on my 50th birthday.
I’m not sure whether you know, but this was my very first car, purchased for me by my father when I was 16 years old. Did I have a cool dad or what? He paid $4700 for the car in 1978. Although it was about 7 years old when I got it, it was in great shape and probably the most awesome car I could have had during high school. After a year, the seller experienced seller’s remorse and actually contacted my Dad to buy the car back. Of course, there was no way I was giving that car up, and over the next 20 years, my 240Z was my pride and joy.
Besides being a reliable means of transportation, I have numerous fond memories of this car, most notably proposing to my wife in this car 19 years ago. On that night, we had dinner in SF and afterward, I drove to the Marin headlands. With a romantic view of the City, Golden Gate Bridge and some champagne and strawberries, I proposed to my then girlfriend, who might very well have said yes because the car made me so cool.
But, after 20 years, I unfortunately started to notice exhaust fumes seeping into the car, and by this time, it was no longer my primary mode of transportation (more of a weekend car). With the exhaust issue and the fact that I didn’t have room at my new home for three cars, I decided to store the Z at my father’s place. My plan to temporarily store the car until I had time to address the exhaust issue turned into a 12 year separation between me and my 240Z.
For my 50th Birthday, my cousin, Trent coordinated with my wife to get my car running again and secretly moved the car from my dad’s place to your garage. Along with many assorted relatives, they planned to surprise me with the restored car during a party we held at my house. Of course, it was a HUGE surprise to walk out my front door and see the Z sitting on my driveway after 12 years in storage! It’s amazing how good it looks, and I especially appreciate how the restoration is not “over-the-top”- as close to stock as I maintained it.
Everywhere I drive now, someone comments on how good it looks. Besides looking great, it also runs great. The carburetors are perfectly tuned, the clutch is tight, and the suspension has greatly improved the handling. And it’s not bad for my ego either.
It’s great to have my 240Z back and I can’t help but smile whenever I get in it.
Thank you again to you and your team,
Ken M.
As you can imagine we were very eager to help Ken’s family bring the Datsun back to life and back on the road. ZCG focused on making this car sharp looking with an emphasis on driver enjoyment. Cosmetic upgrades included re-chroming and straightening both f/r bumpers with fresh OEM rubber trim:
Requisite 16×7 Panasport wheels shod with Bridgestone Pole-Position Re760(225/50/16) tires are at all four corners:
Underhood the engine bay received some serious attention with a full clean/detail, all new coolant bypass hoses and upper/lower radiator hoses:
The intake manifold was removed, cleaned and de-smogged. New intake/exhaust manifold gaskets installed along with a new header and full exhaust system. Driveability being a priority Rob and the crew tuned the carbs to perfection: steady idle, crisp throttle response, and smooth power delivery in all gears. I drove the car briefly to take photos and even I fell in love with it 🙂
The chassis also got some serious love with a complete front/rear suspension rebuild that included new bushings throughout, 5-way Tockicos, Eibach springs, sway bars, and new steering rack bushings. The interior on this 240 is incredibly clean. We added a Kenwood head unit and an MSA rear speaker box: Nothing flashy in this handsome cabin!
Thanks to Ken and his family for letting ZCG be a part of their Z Car passion. This is what we live for!
Please view more pictures of the restoration in the original gallery HERE
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Our friend Patrick Chio has been racing his Nissan 350z competitively for several years and we’ve had the pleasure of helping him tune/maintain the car for events. Last year he campaigned the Z in the USTCC (US Touring Car Championship series) with impressive results.
The final race of the season was a double header weekend at Thunderhill Raceway and Patrick won both! The last race on Sunday was won by just a bumper:
Congratulations Patrick we are proud of you!
For past updates on the Z and Patrick’s race results please follow the links below:
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***Dear Customers and Friends, Z Car Garage will be closed from 12/23/16 to 1/2/17***
We want to say thanks to our customers, friends and the crew at ZCG for making 2016 a wonderful and productive year!
Read further to enjoy a few highlights from the year and Z you in 2017!
(Click on links to read the full blog post)
Z Car Garage featured on Hagerty
Our OS Giken Powered Datsun 240z on Speedhunters
ZCG-built Datsun Roadster on Speedhunters
Gary’s Hakosuka Skyline on Speedhunters
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What Happens in SEMA . . .
2016 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. Every year, people from around the world arrive in Las Vegas to look at the astonishing display of automotive tuning and customization.
Within the 1 million+ square foot, 4-building Las Vegas Convention center there are hundreds of lowered imports, resto-modded muscle cars and those crazy lifted trucks. There’s far more to the show than that including celebrities, extreme demos, parties and general excess. Unfortunately, SEMA isn’t open to the public, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience what it’s like to attend the craziest show on the automotive calendar. Enjoy the following highlights from our visit to SEMA in Novemeber. We will start with our display car, the OEMs, Datsuns and move on to the wild stuff!
The OS Giken TC24B1Z Skyline
Last year at SEMA we debuted the legendary OS Giken TC24B1Z engine inside our ZCG-restored Datsun 240z:
The Z was well-received but very subtle (by SEMA standards) so this year we stepped out of our comfort zone and helped build a “flashier” vehicle for display…a 1971 Nissan “Hakosuka” Skyline!
This time the TC24 was treated to different induction: Jenvey individual throttle bodies and EFI. Aesthetics were livened up with a red valve cover and white coated exhaust headers. The entire car was wrapped in a metallic red replete with sponsor graphics and 17″ Volk TE37V wheels on Nitto tires. Our “show hood” mod was utilized again to highlight the glorious TC24.
We were flattered by all of the fan pictures and even received a miniature scale replica of the Hako from Shingo!
The Hako garnered attention from many social media outlets and drew significantly more traffic than last year’s display. Later in November it went on to be displayed at the Los Angeles Auto Show!
Speedhunters Day1 SEMA
OS Giken Hakosuka
Race Cars at SEMA
Japanese Nostalgic Car
SuperStreet
Huge thanks to the crew from OS Giken and Alex M. Stay tuned we will have a full feature on the build soon!
The Big Manufacturers at SEMA
As always, there’s a big presence from US manufacturers, but this year Honda and Toyota (among others) made an impact on the show floors. Here’s our round up of the big displays.
Ford
Ford had the largest display in the main hall with an extensive showing of their hottest cars and trucks. My favorite was the new GT supercar complete with battle-scars from a LeMans race. It even sat across from an original Ford GT40. Ken Block’s “Gymkhana 9” Focus and other tricked-out Foci below:
Honda
Honda announced its return to the Pirelli World Challenge series in 2017 with this NSX GT3…being towed by Acura MDX! Below, the new NSX looks great in white, the new Civic showed as body-in-white tuning platform and the new (for the US) Civic Type R:
Toyota
Toyota had a neat throwback-style displaying paying tribute to its heritage vehicles. They even brought out the entire generation of Corollas in celebration of its 50th anniversary! Below: 1951 Land Cruiser, 80’s Van and the “World’s Fastest SUV”: a 2,000hp twin-turbo’d v8 Sequoia
Datsun Domination at SEMA!
We begin our coverage of all the Datsuns/Nissans at SEMA, and there were plenty! Let’s start with our OS Giken booth neighbor, ENEOS. Their display car was none other than Ginash George’s C10 Skyline. Ginash is the founder of the successful JDM Chicago and also owns a beautiful NSX.
Ginash enlisted the expertise of JDM Legends to build this stunning Hako. All the right choices on this one! And he’s a wheel aficionado to boot as well. Super Street gave it a SEMA award!
FOUR S30 Z cars were at SEMA. If we had to pick a favorite it was the ChasingJs 280z built by Dominic Le. You might be familiar with his last SEMA creation, the Hakotora that was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage.
The build was based on a rendering from talented artist Jon Sibal…and built in Dom’s garage!
The clever John Player Special striping was hand-applied by Dom himself. Note the rare G-Nose headlamp covers. Power comes from a single-turbo 2JZ-GTE with 1,000hp as the goal. We love it!
The Liberty Walk Fairlady Z turned heads with its unmistakenable bosozoku style. Sporting their fender flare kit, “notchback” rear hatch, smoothed rear panel and small-ish 15″ wheels it seemed a bit out of place in the DUB nation booth, but still cool.
Chris Forsberg’s 280z underwent a total makeover for SEMA. The single turbo RB26 revieved a custom billet valve cover and the body showed off a new kit from Carbon Signal. The kit really flows well with the G-nose and front spolier. The interior was also finished by Amir and his team in the UAE.
The legendary Pete Brock displayed his personal BRE Tribute 240z in the Braille booth:
A lone Datsun 510 slammed via AirLift suspension and 13B rotary power. The BBS wheels were mint!
This Datsun Bluebird L320 pickup was a pleasant sight amongs the wild bodykits. You see those chunky rear tires on widened steelies? They’re probably necessary to reign in all the instant torque from the electric motor conversion!
Late Model Nissans
Steve Pham’s unorthodox turbocharged BMW N54 turbo. This Rocketbunny “Boss” kitted Nissan 240sx (S14) had new BRE-inspired livery for the show. Below, a JDM model S15 Silvia with a widebody kit:
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