WE LOVE RACING! On October 4-6 we attended the Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting clients in Group 7 (1968 – 1978 IMSA GT Cars), Group 8 (ALMS) and Group 5 (B-Sedan). This vintage racing event was just as fun for spectators with a friendly, immersive vibe. Enjoy our report from the weekend with photos and in-car video of the action.

The Corky Bell Trans Am 510 (Group 5)

 

Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored it back to its former glory with Trans Am livery and Corky drove it for the first time in 52 years at Velocity. It was a mad thrash to get the 510 prepared for the event and we will dedicate a separate blog post to the restoration and Corky’s story. Here are a few photos of the car during the revival:

 
It was surreal watching Corky drive his race car decades after he campaigned it in the Trans Am series. With a few sessions he qualified and completed the feature race with fellow B-Sedans in Group 5. Corky improved his lap times from 2:30s to a 2:07s and at 83 years of age he really inspired us all. Enjoy these on-track photos of Corky behind the wheel of his U2.5L Trans Am Datsun 510:

 

 

Enjoy this video of Corky Bell racing in Group 5 at the Velocity Invitational with in-car, paddock action and some great commentary from Rob at the end…

 

It was an emotional weekend filled with joy for the ZCG crew and Corky’s family. His daughter Stephanie:

Such a privilege to see my Dad race his last Datsun 510 yesterday and today. He stopped racing when I was 4. Seeing him race and enjoy something he loved so much made me cry. More than once. HUGE shout out and even bigger Thank you to Rob & Meghan Fuller at Z Car Garage in San Jose for making this a reality. They rescued the car from a field and fully restored it. Such a big full circle moment for Dad. Can you imagine getting back in a race car after 5 decades? So proud and amazed by him.

 

Icing on the cake…Corky’s Datsun 510 joined the ranks of greatness in Velocity Invitational’s 2025 promotional photo shoot! More photos in the gallery below.

 

Racing With Group 7 IMSA

Photo by Chris Constantine

Group 7’s IMSA cars were dominated by big-power Porsche 911 RSRs. Rob Fuller ran the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z and battled for P1/2 against Martin Lauber (red 911 #64) and Chet Taylor (blue 911 #55).

  

Rob fought hard, mixing it up with the two Porsche 911s but the feature race sadly ended with a collision. The Joel Anderson IMSA GTU will be rebuilt and it will return, faster than ever.

  We have in-car video from Rob in the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU 240Z and Group 7 with livestream footage and paddock action. Volume up and enjoy!

 

You can also see the full-length, in-car footage on Saturday and Sunday. Catch the Sunday livestream HERE and watch more of Rob’s racing adventures on his YouTube Channel.

Datsun + Porsche History

Photo by Josh Corwin

In 1981, Joel Anderson, Casey Mollett (280ZX) and Cary Eisenlohr’s Porsche were all pitted together at Sears Point. We had a unique opportunity to re-enact this historical moment at the Velocity Invitational, 44 years later!

 

Historic B & C Sedan

 

Photo by Alex Trang

Historic B&C Sedan partnered with Velocity Invitational to gather a collection of 30+ real historic B and C sedan cars for the Velocity Invitational! Thirteen cars among them have real Trans Am Under 2L and Two-Five Challenge history. This was the largest gathering of real historic sedans since the 2010 Monterey Historics. Amongst the real Trans Am cars were the Alfas of Horst Kweck, Gaston Andrey, Jon Norman, Charlie Thieriot, Dave Burns; BMW 2002s of Carl Fredericks, Jeff Kline; Porsche 911 of Walt Maas; Datsun 510s of Corky Bell and Bob Finn.

Z Car Garage Trackside Race Support Services

ROB: ZCG provided trackside support for 4 cars in the B-Sedan field and it was exciting to watch. Noah kicked ass in his Bluebird finishing 3rd and 5th in the second race. It was intense, glorious and fun. Kelvin drove the Dragonetti car until Sunday pm when brother Kenny took wheel, making it to 8th from the back. Corky went from 2:34s to 2:07 and Tom returned in fighting form with his freshly restored Balzer 510.

#72 Tom Dockery

We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. Unfortunately the car was wrecked at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage rebuilt the 510, making a triumphant return to this year’s Velocity event with a cool period-correct livery change.

 
TOM: The Velocity weekend was truly magical in so many ways. The car came together perfectly in the end with the support of the ZCG team. I also want to give a special thanks to William, of William’s Autobody and John at Landmark Grafix. I’m thrilled with the new mid-70s-inspired livery and graphics. The race weekend was incredibly memorable. Not only was it the debut of the rebuilt Balzer 510, but my whole family—Matt, Sarah, Nick, Lucy, and my brother Jon—was there to experience it. I felt great, and the time spent with Corky Bell made it even more special. We shared many stories, and I got the chance to share my insights about Sonoma Raceway with him.

 

We have in-car video from Tom Dockery in the Ex-Norm Balzer B-Sedan Datsun 510, volume up and enjoy!

#9 Noah’s Bluebird Coupe

 

Noah’s Bluebird Coupe in action:

 

Enjo this in-car video from Noah’s Bluebird with livestream and paddock action:

#64 Kelvin Tse

Kelvin is a steady ZCG trackside support client, running the Ex-Ted Gruner 510.

 

Kelvin and Kenny shared the Dragonetti car over the weekend

KENNY: The 911 that I was driving didn’t run on Friday or Saturday. Kelvin was driving the Dragonetti on those days. Saturday was the qualifying race. Kelvin was stuck in a lot of traffic but he was trying to make his way through it to get a clean lap. However, he hit a patch of oil exiting the carousel which caused him to spin. After the spin, the car wouldn’t start and all of the cars that he had cleared earlier passed him back. He finally got the car restarted, but by that time the session was almost over and never got a clean lap. He ended up qualifying 20th.

Sunday morning, we thought the 911 might be able to run the race- so we gridded and started the race. We had a good start, but the car started to have issues in turn 2 so I shut it down and brought it in. After that I was pretty bummed that I had only able to drive two turns during the event! At that point, Kelvin, being the awesome brother that is he, offered to let me drive the feature race- which I jumped at the chance to do! The feature race was fun. I started 20th and was able to get to 8th place by the middle of the first lap. The Dragonetti was working great and eventually made it up to 5th place behind my friend Cary Einsenlohr in a 911. I was super stoked to get to 5th after starting from 20th.  The car ran great and it salvaged an otherwise frustrating weekend in the 911.

 

Catch Kenny racing in Group 5 via livestream: HERE and watch the feature race HERE

Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (Group 8)

This very special Porsche is the 2006 FIA European GT3 Championship winning car that was driven by Sean Edwards. It is a 997 GT3 Cup S Prototype and our client Kenny Tse raced it in the Legends of Endurance group at the Rolex.

 

As Kenny mentioned above, the 911 fought us with oiling issues, but we will resolve them for the next season.

 

Exotic cars

 

There was no shortage of rare and exotic cars from well-known and upcoming supercar marques. More photos in the gallery below!

 

Privateer Spirit

The Historic B and C Sedan race was one of the most exciting run groups and Race car driver/Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced his Ex-Bob Finn U2.5L Trans-Am Datsun 510:

 

This car features our Z Car Garage CV Axles

 

We also provided dyno tuning services for the fresh Rebello L18 with Solex/Mikuni 44phh induction and BRE intake:

 

It’s worth noting that not unlike privateers of the period, Glenn builds his race cars, maintains and manages racing efforts himself. Not an easy task so we applaud his work ethic. Glenn builds some beautiful Datsuns and we thank him for organizing the Historic B&C Sean group to keep the spirit of Trans Am racing alive.

 

A Fan-Friendly Race Event

 

Formerly known as the Sonoma Speed Festival (2019), the Velocity Invitational re-imagined the vintage race experience with a Goodwood-inspired vibe that we enjoyed at the 2022 Velocity Invitational. One of the best experiences for spectators is the paddock and organizers made access to drivers and their machines seamless. Fans could get up close and personal with race cars without the typical ropes or 45-foot RVs in the way:

 

ROB: “First time running at Sonoma for us with VI, since we missed the inaugural event in 2019. Jeff O’Neill ‘s event is first class and reminds us of what the Rolex RMMR. So much excitement in the air…when you drive in people would be everywhere. Thanks to Jeff, Ryan Turri and Ardelle Lind for accommodating our needs.”

 

If you want to see action from the event in its entirety, check out Goodwood’s live streaming coverage of Day one and Day Two. Huge thanks to Meghan Fuller for capturing photos/videos for ZCG. More photos in the gallery below from from Alex Trang, Chris Constantine and Nick Dockery

ZCG Race Crew

  

Huge shoutout to the Z Car Garage race crew including Josh, Meghan, Nick and Cooper. We are grateful for your support, keeping us safe and on the track!

 

Racing into 2025!

 

Thank you Velocity Invitational for an incredible event. We look forward to running with you again. Join us for the 2025 race season and stay tuned for our CSRG Finale report from Thunderhill. LONG LIVE THE Z!

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Our good friend Anthony S is a hardcore Datsun enthusiast and owner of this sinister 510 wagon. We first met Anthony 20 years ago at the All-Datsun Meet at Mt. Shasta. He started visiting the shop frequently, driving this wagon all the way from Oregon to San Jose, CA and we attended many events together. Anthony built this 510 from the ground up himself, and it has been constantly evolving. He started with a rather unorthodox inline-6 cylinder engine, the Toyota 7M-GTE:

 

This single-turbo setup spun the ZCG dyno to almost 400rwhp. Anthony is a track nut and the 510 has seen many days running hard at Portland Int. Raceway. Suspension and brake modifications included Brembo calipers up front, a linked Ford rear end and massive 255/35 tires in front with 285/35 rears.

 

The car went through some serious development including a full 2JZ-GTE engine, rear-mounted radiator setup and larger fender flares–all fabricated by Anthony himself!

 

In his quest for more power Anthony visited Z Car Garage in 2016 for BC cams and Haltech tuning. We started with a baseline of 399hp/332tq to the wheels. After the cams/tuning it made 461hp/362tq at the wheels:

 

More pics of Anthony’s fabrication work:

 

Version 2

Let’s hear about Anthony’s latest modifications leading up to the dyno tuning session in 2022…

Anthony: During COVID I had a lot of extra time and money and had stupidly run my prior 2JZ out of oil after hitting the oil pan on a pavement cut. It appeared to be down on power despite not smoking or knocking, I decided to bite the bullet and go with a new engine. Toyota still sold the 2JZ GTE short block brand new, and they also sold new bare heads. Obtained both over a period of several months. I snatched up the last short block in the Portland area and got a new head through OCD Works who did the head work including a custom CNC port job, GSC S1 cams, shimless buckets, and Supertech valves.

 

In addition to the engine upgrades, the 510 received larger wheels and tires BBS RS sized 18×10 F 18×11 R with 295/30F 315/30R Toyo tires. The brakes were also changed to Stoptech ST-60 calipers with 14″ custom Coleman rotors and C5 hats:

 

Anthony: I went with a Borg Warner EFR 8474 for the turbo and a quick spool valve from Diesel Pump UK (more on that later). The quick spool valve can help with boost onset by as much as 500 RPM so I was pretty excited to see what would happen on the Dyno with this bigger turbo. The goal being to run pump gas and get 500 plus at the wheels without horrible lag. I tuned the car well enough on the Haltec 2500 ECU to get some testing in before I went to California and to make it drivable. A key to the drivability was the ability of the Haltech to control a drive by wire Bosch throttle body. The road trip down with my wife went well and we arrived in San Jose excited to get the car on the dyno and see what Rob could do. I really tried to do everything right on this build with no shortcuts so I was pretty confident things would go well… Famous last words.

 

Dyno Tuning at Z Car Garage

 

Before getting on the dyno, Anthony and Rob went for a test drive and they were not impressed with the power. The car was previously tuned at 460rwhp back in 2015 on the old engine so he was familiar with the car and the speeds it would go. In that trim the car hit 147 MPH in the half mile which is pretty much on par with a Porsche GT3RS from that time (2016). Once back at the shop the car was put on the dyno and the results confirmed their concerns…

 

Anthony: The car was definitely down on power. Rob asked if I had synced the timing with the Haltech. I was confident it was correct, but I had not actually done that. So we pulled the plugs to confirm that the crank pulley was lining up with the number one piston at top dead center and it was. So issue number one was ruled out. We also thought it might be something to do with the drive by wire throttle not opening all the way, but that wasn’t the case either. Several runs were made and it was hitting a little over 400 at the wheels but the boost was 18 PSI or so. I knew that was way down on power because with the old engine it was hitting 400 plus at 11 or 12 PSI. And I had a better turbo, a better head better cams, etc, so at this point things were pretty disappointing. It was also quite hot that day for San Jose reaching the upper 80’s. To add to the fun the plastic drive by wire pedal that I had modified with a plastic welder ended up breaking on Rob leaving him with no way to move the throttle other than by hand (he was not having that…)

 

Luckily superstar Josh was able to pull the pedal repair it. Coolant was found under the car and traced to the heater core failing. Anthony disconnected the heater hoses and looped them, but still no solution for being down on power.

Anthony: Somebody had the idea of looking to see if the quick spool valve was operating properly. It turned out it was not. It is supposed to open and allow exhaust gas into both sides of the turbo after a certain PSI and it was not opening. So all of the exhaust was going through one portion of the turbine instead of both. A brief discussion was had about how much this would matter, we all determined it probably mattered a bunch since we were only utilizing half the turbo. Despite all my efforts to hook everything up properly I had made an error in supplying boost to the quick spool valve.

 

Once this was corrected the horsepower significantly increased. We decided to replace the new boost controller with a Greddy Profec with Josh and Anthony wiring it in so Rob could focus on tuning. After a few runs it was determined that the quick spool valve was putting a weird bump in the torque curve and instead of tuning it more with that device we ended up safety wiring it wide open.

 

Anthony: So what had started as a day that I thought would go very smoothly had many, many hiccups. But once all were solved, the horsepower really started to skyrocket. There are a lot of numbers thrown around about these engines, but if you do your research anything over 500 at the wheels on pump gas is quite good. I’ve always wanted to run this engine on pump as I don’t have E85 near me and we use it on a lot of road trips and I’ve never wanted to be restricted on fuel. Yes I could use flex fuel… but given the lack of E85 it’s never seemed worth it. My dad had always joked that it would be cool to have 510 horsepower in a 510 and we did hit exactly 510 at one point, then 536, then up to 546 at the wheels on 91 pump. Rob had Josh also adjusted the cam timing a bit as I have Titan adjustable cam gears. Needless to say I was pretty ecstatic getting nearly 550 horsepower and over 440 ft lbs at the wheels on 91 pump gas. The boost was 21 PSI for those runs with a red line near 8000. Now the car really was as fast as I thought it should be…

Enjoy this video of Anthony’s 510 Wagon in action and on the dyno:

 

Enjoying The Ride

  

Anthony was stoked on the dyno tuning results:

Driving back to Rob’s that night on the freeway he had me down shift into third and nail it and it broke the tires loose on the freeway. Keep in mind these are 315/30/18 Toyo R888r’s. That’s plenty of power for me… Thanks to Rob, Josh, Nick and everybody else at Z Car Garage for their patience and help that day and for working through the issues on this home built POS! You’re the best!

 

The 2JZ-powered Wagon returned back to Oregon where it continues to live the daily-driver life. The list of activities includes many track days at PIR, work commutes, camping trips and even lumber runs for home projects:

 

We loved to see Anthony and his wife Jessica at the epic 2018 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion where Nissan was the featured marque. In true #doitinadatsun from, the couple made a roadtrip from Oregon in the 510:

 

Speaking of road trips, Anthony recently visited us again for the 2024 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and made the 2000-mile journey from Portland. Check out his pre-flight checklist:

 

He made it home without incident, because Datsuns are Driven! Follow Anthony’s 510 adventures on his Instagram.

 

Thank you Anthony for letting us be a part of your 510 build! Interested in seeing more of Anthony’s 510? Check the links below and Enjoy The Ride!

Anthony Gets Published
Happy510Day
America’sCoolestWagon

 

Our client Greg’s 1977 Datsun 280Z is now on display at the LeMay-America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington. This Z was treated to a ZCG-style mechanical restoration including a new drivetrain, engine bay restoration, total suspension rebuild, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and our Z Car Garage CV Axles.

 

The exhibit, called “Shinka”, is an immersive Japanese Automobile Exhibit featuring everything from classic models that laid the foundation to legends of the ’90s and their modern-day successors. The year-long display will showcase both JDM and US market vehicles from a variety of manufacturers, with new cars rotated into the exhibit, so plan to visit frequently!

 

Thanks for the heads up Greg, we are stoked that you are still Enjoying The Ride! See more of Greg’s Z HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Z Car Garage we love keeping Z’s on the road. From concours-level restorations to light refurbishments, making a client’s goal a reality is our passion. Beau brought his 1976 Datsun 280Z from Castro Valley, Ca for a full cosmetic and mechanical restoration, ZCG-style.

 

Our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles along with a new drivetrain, full suspension and body restoration transformed this S30. Before we explore the work performed, let’s take a look at how Beau found the Z car of his dreams…

Z Beginnings

 

BEAU: I am the second owner of the car – the original owner passed away and the children decided to sell the car. I saw it posted on Craigslist and knew immediately that this was the car for me. My brother-in-law took it on a test drive and it performed great, appeared to be in good condition – no rust, dings or signs of being mistreated. The owners told us that there were several interested buyers but the first person to show up with cash would get the car. We scrambled to quickly find cash at 6 PM in the evening and headed back to purchase. 

 

The Z Car Garage Touch

 

Shortly after acquiring the car in 2018, Beau joined the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) and asked for recommendations on a mechanic.

BEAU: Everyone that I spoke with recommended that I connect with Rob. He is an artist – not just a mechanic. As such, the process takes time and involves patience. That patience is rewarded with a car where all of the details are considered and thought through. Rob listened to all of my requests – a car that looks like it came off the factory floor in 70’s but with performance, handling and upgrades that reflect what is possible today. 

    

 

BEAU: I wanted to note that we’ve named the car, “Orange Julius”  – somewhat inspired by Larry Chen’s Ole Orange Bang and Randy Jaffe’s Rocketbunny Z  which I saw at Z Car Garage and was floored by the color. The process took nearly 3 years and I endured a lot of questions from friends and family about when the car would be done – my patience was rewarded! Thank you Rob!

 

Drivetrain

 

Beau acquired his 280Z from the original owner with 50k miles. We started a mechanical overhaul so he could enjoy driving it. A 4-core radiator upgrade is something we do anytime a car has an automatic transmission along with cooling line replacement. Beau wanted more power so the stock L28 was bored and stroked to 3.0L by Rebello with forged pistons and light port work:

 

With the engine/transmission removed we focused our efforts on restoring the engine bay. Everything was zinc plated and powdercoated. New parts included brand new injectors, all new fuel system, hoses, fuel filter and all the drive belts. The 3.0L still utilizes the factory EFI and intake manifold that was cleaned up and powdercoated:

 

MAF/hose/hardware detail:

 

Engine bay restoration, before/after:

 

We installed our full ZCG Exhaust system with slash-cut tip:

 

Dyno Tuning

Rob dyno tuned the Rebello 3L/Automatic transmission making 161hp/175tq at the wheels, a significant gain over the stock L28:

  Enjoy this video of Beau’s 280Z in action including the dyno run, test drive and drive-by:

Z Car Garage CV Axles

  

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. We have over 200 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback. Stock half shafts and Beau’s ZCG units shown below:

   

Suspension

 

A full suspension refresh was performed, including coil-overs (Koni), T/C rods and control arms from Techno Toy Tuning. T3 finishes the suspension in our signature color and we really appreciate Gabriel and his staff. They make some of the best suspension parts out there for Z cars.

 

All front and rear suspension parts were powdercoated:

 

We bagged/tagged every nut and bolt for plating along with fresh hydraulic lines for the chassis:

   

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

We are proud to have several of our ZCG products on Beau’s 280z. We installed our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) which have the been standard on numerous ZCG builds.

     

Stock disc/drum brakes  were removed and we installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit.

   At the rear, the factory drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. New OEM Nissan master cylinder and Factory handbrake functionality IS retained!

    

Panasport Wheels

Complementing the new coilover suspension on Beau’s Z are 16×7 Panasports with Bridgestone S-007a tires in 225/50/16. Our ZCG BIg-Brakes also look great behind the wheels!

 

Interior

 

With the Z back from paint/bodywork we installed the interior, door panels, windows and all new weatherstripping. A complete dash restoration was performed with full HVAC/ducting using a reproduction piece from Vintage Dashes. ZCG has done several Vintage Dashes installations and we thank Ivan Jaramillo for making a cost-effective product for Z cars.

 

Recaro Specialist seats in leather are our favorite upgrade to the S30 interior. Beau enjoys modern creature comforts like Bluetooth, back-up camera, power steering and full sound system:

   

Another upgrade to the interior of an S30 is our ZCG sound deadening package. The result is a less tinny sound and almost Germanic-like “clunk” when you shut the doors. All weatherstripping was replaced:

 

Details

The little things are what we excel at. Below, fuel cap plating with drip gasket, 240Z OEM mirrors and stainless window trim, microphone for hands-free Bluetooth mounted near steering column. Please check the gallery below for more detail shots, there are too many to list in this blog post!

The Transformation

Beau’s 1976 Datsun 280Z before and after:

 

Driving is Believing

ROB: This is a full ZCG-style restoration top to bottom and the best part is that Beau has been Enjoying The Ride. The Z has so many details/features in it and we are just happy to make his dreams come true. He comes back for a 1,000 mile checkup soon… and it’s back on the road again.

 

BEAU: From the exterior, I wanted the car to look as original as possible but I wanted better handling, more power, modern braking and some nice amenities like the back-up camera and power assisted steering. I wanted the car to be as original as possible – so, the engine was restored/upgraded by Rebello, many of the original parts were cleaned and re-plated and I stayed away exterior modifications like fender flares.

 

BEAU: Right now, I’m just enjoying the car. Nearly every weekend I go on rides with my 10 year old daughter and my son and I just attended the Tokyo Calling 3 and had a fantastic time taking turns driving the car and seeing what others have done to their Zs. At some point in the future, I’d like to replace the 3 speed automatic transmission with a more modern transmission.

We loved seeing Beau driving his Z on the Tokyo Calling 3 event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. He’s attended a few more of their drives as well:

 

BEAU: After the restoration was completed, I met up with the children of the original owner to have them see the car and they were floored by the work. It was great to drive in the car with them and hear their memories of growing up with the car. They were delighted to see the car have a new life with me and my family.

  
More good news…Beau purchased a 2023 Nissan Z to complement his 280Z!

 

Thank you for entrusting us with your S30 Beau it was a pleasure working with you. LONG LIVE THE Z!

 

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