Z Car Garage prepared and supported many race cars for last year’s Rolex Reunion and this year we are excited to attend once again August 15-18! The crew has been working diligently to prepare and tune three vintage race cars: Alex McDowell’s 1967 Datsun Bluebird and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald 280zx, and Doug Steven’s 1975 DeKon Monza. The team will be at the Pre-Historics this weekend so stop by and say hello! Read on to see and hear the three racers being dyno-tuned…

 

1975 DeKon Monza

This is a formidable vintage race car that we will be spotlighting in its own blog post. It is the second of its kind (Chassis #1002) with a unique history that is perfect for the IMSA feature at the upcoming Historics. For more information on DeKon, go here.

 

 

Listen to the Chevy-powered Monza on the dyno in the video below. Also shown is the Bluebird making L-Series music and the 280zx:

 

 

1967 Datsun Bluebird

Alex McDowell will be racing his 1967 Datsun Bluebird Coupe and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald Datsun 280zx at the RMMR.

 

Re-cap of these two in action from the 2018 event below:

 

Alex raced with notable 510 drivers Troy Ermish (#9), Jim Froula(#52), Dave Stone(#93), Glenn Chiou(#21), Taz Harvey (#51) and Datsun Roadsters Mike Anderson (#38) and Steve Link (#23). Watch this extended in-car video below of Alex piloting the Bluebird. Alex finished the race 12th/50 cars with a best lap of 1:48.1. Lots of action in this one!

 

 

 

Alex’s Datsun 280zx

 

Alex ran the Jim Fitzgerald 280zx in Group 7B: IMSA GTO, GTU with some wild rotary and Trans Am cars. He was having too much fun in the Bluebird so did run the car in the final race. The Z ran well throughout the Pre-Reunion and qualifying where Alex was running 1:44s. Here is a short video of the Z in action:

 

 

Get your tickets and parking!

You can get discounted tickets AND preferred parking through The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC). They are hosting a Nissan-only parking corral at Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway and it’s the best way to park and enjoy the event. For more details please see the ZONC press release below.

Datsun and Nissan Revisit IMSA at 2019 RMMR
By Ann Devor

Following on the heels of last year’s fantastic Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, twelve Datsuns and Nissans have been chosen to compete in three races in 2019’s RMMR at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. The 2019 RMMR is celebrating IMSA and will feature three classes of IMSA racecars over the four-day weekend from August 15 through August 18. David Martin’s 240Z, Alex McDowell’s 280ZX and Rob Morgan’s 280ZX will be racing on Saturday August 17 in Race 5A (1973-1981 IMSA, GT, GTX class). Almost equally exciting will be the IMSA prototype Race 7A on Saturday where you will see advanced racing performance and styling not seen in the production-based cars.

On Sunday in Race 6B (1981-1991 IMSA GTO/GTU racecars), Craig Bennett will drive a 1991 300ZX competing against John Murray in a 1989 Nissan 240SX, Philip Mendelovitz in a 1989 240SX and Michael Parsons in his 1990 300ZX. We’ll also see Datsun roadsters on Sunday in non-IMSA Race 5B featuring 1961-1966 GT cars under 2500cc including Alex McDowell’s 1967 Bluebird, Phillip Mendelovitz’ 1967 311 Roadster, Ross Merrill in his 1966 Fairlady Roadster and Steve Smargiasso in a 1966 Datsun 311 Roadster.

Here’s what we have planned so far exclusively for Datsun and Nissan fans:

• We have a private corral with 20 reserved paved parking spaces. Datsun-Nissan race fans who wish to park in our Datsun-Nissan special parking area must purchase their corral passes and admission tickets only from ZONC. If we sell out our 20 corral spaces we will try to get more, but there is no guarantee. Corral passes ($45) are good for the entire 4-day weekend.
• ZONC is again offering a discount on admission tickets.

Individual Ticket Pricing	Regular Price	ZONC Discounted Price
4-Day (Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun)	$170	$145
3-Day (Fri/Sat/Sun)	$150	$130
2-Day (Sat/Sun)	$120	$105
Thursday only	$ 40	$ 35
Friday only	$ 70	$ 60
Saturday only	$100	$ 85
Sunday only	$ 70	$ 60

 

For more information or to be added to our special mailing list for updated information, please contact me at anndevor@gmail.com. Don’t hesitate, don’t be late, and get ready to have a great time at the 2019 RMMR!

 

We have several exciting projects at the shop that will have full reports coming soon to zcarblog.com. Enjoy!

 

Three ZCG Big-Brake Installs

Three S30s are in to get our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!

 

Jim H has a great story behind this Series 1 S30. We know the previous owner through Datsun Roadsters from over a decade ago. Jim’s kids actually found this Z for him! Full story soon. The Z received an upgraded cooling system, ZCG Big-Brakes an CV axles and 16″ Panasport wheels with Bridgestone S007a tires. He will return in the fall for a new engine and much more restoration work. Tomorrow (Saturday) Jim will take this Z to visit friends and his kids!

 

Greg M brought his 240z from Reno, NV. He and his wife drove the Z here for carb work, Big-Brakes and  CV axle install. We handled a few other items before he takes it back home for Hot August Nights. He will return in the fall for another big project.

 

Triple Mikuni carbs and 16″ Panasports!

 

Watch the video below to hear this Z run!

 

Greg H’s 280z came in for engine bay restoration and it turned into a full-blown build with ZCG Big-Brakes/CV Axles, full suspension, Panasports and tuning:

 

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles:

 

Robert C’s G35 Coupe. He purchased all of Erik M’s parts when he sold his G. It’s  getting the entire E85 setup, KW V3s and upgraded LSD.  This G will be mainly for tracking with a gutted interior and race seats.

 

Eric K has an Ethanol-powered Z32TT with a stock engine on stock turbos. Now he is getting a built engine identical to Rob and Gary’s, now using BB700 turbos making 650-700whp:

Race Car Tuning!

We are stoked to be preparing and supporting this DeKon Monza for the upcoming Monterey Rolex Motorsports Reunion. This is chassis #2 and it is an amazing car. You can hear it in the video below. More to come watch for updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages!

Panasports For Your Z!

We only have a few sets left before our next shipment. Contact the shop to order yours!

 

R35 in for brakes!

 

 

Enjoy the video of our shop update below and

LONG LIVE THE Z!

 

 

 

On this #ThrowbackThursday we were happy to see this discovery from our friends at Classic Motorsports Magazine. They found these archived photos from the NOPI Nationals in 1997 and pictured is Rob Fuller auto-crossing his 1971 Datsun 510!

 

Almost a decade later and to this day Rob has not changed much. He still races Datsuns and here he is in the very same 510 auto-crossing at the Mt. Shasta All-Datsun Meet.

GO GA 510!

 

 

Nickhil’s beautiful 1973 240z needed some love. He acquired it a few years ago and took it to another shop since ZCG was backlogged. They tried to fix the ignition system and the car came to us barely running.  We performed a full inspection, compression/leakdown test, cleaned up the engine bay and handled some interior items at his request. He would return for full suspension and chassis upgrades!

 

The main culprit for poor running was the timing being set incorrectly and very retarded.  We removed the existing ignition setup and installed the factory distributor with correct advance curve. The coil was replaced and we got it running really well:

 

New door window glass replaced scratched units. We also installed his newer center console:

 

Outside, the body was treated to our favorite side mirrors, the Nissan OEM #E4600:

 

Those groovy louvers were removed:

   

Nickhil visited us to drive his Z and he was so impressed that he signed on to do more work with us. We handed him the keys to “Mrs. Butters”,  our  1970 Series 1 240z shop demo car and he was sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles! Butters has a way of doing this to our customers

 

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles

     

As fellow S30 owner/racer Glenn C mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few details below:

Calipers: Stoptech ST42 4-piston front & rear race calipers (Alum 6061 mil-spec Type III anodized)

Rotors: 280mm x 20.6 with Alum 7075 hats

Pads: Stoptech 309 sport street pads

Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.

A few closer detail shots of the calipers, rotors and hardware:

 

We removed Nickhil’s stock brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit. The Z also received entire full coil-over (Koni) suspension from Techno Toy Tuning. New parts included adjustable T/C rods, rear control arms, new bushings, rack bushings, steering coupler, ball joints and more. 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.

 

ZCG Big-brakes and T3 coil-overs replacing stock setup up front:

 

T3 T/C rods:

 

Suspension Techniques sway bars. Front installed:

 

At the rear, the factor drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality retained! T3 coil-covers also installed:

 

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. Nickhil’s Z received set #285. We have over 60 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

 

Stock half shafts and control arms (L):

 

S/T rear sway bar and T3 control arms installed. Also visible is the ZCG exhaust system using 2.5″ piping to a stainless resonator and Magnaflow muffler with slash-cut tip:

Panasport Wheels

What is the perfect companion for Nichkil’s Z, now that it has full suspension and wicked brakes? Panasport wheels! We replaced the old-school Western wheels with 16×7 Panasports and Bridgestone’s killer new S-007a tire in 225/50/16:

 

We kept in touch with Nickhil and he has been out Enjoying The Ride. We even spotted him attending the successful Golden Week Kyusha Festival in May:

 

Thank you for entrusting us with your S30 Nickhil. We are so fortunate to work with owners that appreciate the Z and believe in our ability to make them better! LONG LIVE THE Z!

More pictures in the gallery below

 

We might be biased but we feel the Z32 is the best Japanese sports car of the 90’s. Keeping them on the road is our passion and even in 2019 there are still some real gems out there. Felix C brought his 1996 300zx Twin Turbo in to ZCG under dire circumstances and here is how we met him.

 

While we were at the Spring Classic event at Laguna Seca a customer was trying to buy a ’96 Z32TT from SoCal. Rob informed this customer to hold off buying the car until inspected by our friends at SpecialtyZ. When we got back to the shop at night to unload our cars from the race weekend…that ’96 Z32TT was sitting in front of Z Car Garage!

 

The following morning a gentlemen named Felix called to say he had purchased this car in SoCal and on the way home it broke down. With 96k miles the odometer, this Z32 from came to ZCG with a busted fan clutch. When the fan clutch failed it made a mess of the radiator and front end. The first visit for Felix was a full inspection with a plan to remedy all problems to get him back on the road. We installed a new Koyo race radiator, our one-step colder plugs and performed full timing belt services:

  

 

Power Upgrades

Felix returned after feeling the need for more power and we also knocked out a few more items from the initial inspection. Power upgrades included a SpecialtyZ 2.5″ exhaust with resonated x-pipe and dual tips, 740cc injectors, Ashspec massive intercoolers and Greddy boost controller:

 

On this visit we also got the A/C working with a new condenser and drier. A new fuel pump and all fuel hoses on top of the plenum were replaced:

 

The engine bay was cleaned up, including oil cooler lines:

 

More power upgrades: Selin translator dual MAF and BDE Performance motor mounts to allow for ASH-SPEC inlet piping. Massive IC from Ash shown below:

 

Dyno Tuning

We dyno tuned Felix’s Z with each power modification. It came in with a failed knock sensor, causing the low baseline power levels of 220hp/223tq. The knock sensor was fixed:

 

Great gains with the SZ exhaust system for 313hp/334tq to the wheels:

Ash-SPEC intercoolers:

 

Rob’s final tuning really woke the Z up, yielding 357hp/351tq to the wheels on 91 octane, dyno video below:

 

 

Interior

Felix wanted us to sort out the interior. During this visit we installed some weatherstrip, fixed an ABS sensor code and eliminated a few door panel rattles.

      

Felix added LED lighting:

 

The highlight of the cabin: we had the seats re-finished to OEM spec!

 

Big-Brakes and Chassis

 

As every Z32 owner knows, the stock brakes just aren’t up to the task. More power exacerbates the issue and you know how we feel at ZCG:  It’s Stoptech Or Don’t Stop At All.  Felix’s car had larger than factory wheels allowing us to install the 332mm Big-Brake Kit using red calipers and rotors.

 

Stock vs Stoptech

 

At the rear, stock Z32 calipers were paint-matched to the Stoptech red up front.  Sport kit slotted rotors with 309 pads and SS lines throughout:

  

In addition to their function, the Stoptechs look nice too!

 

Stillen sway bars front and rear and we replaced all of the power steering hoses:

 

The Z had outgrown its suspension and it was 40th Felix’s birthday. We delivered icing on the cake with KW V3 coil-over suspension:

 

Installed front and rear:

 

More birthday goodness: super sexy SSR GTX-01 wheels in 18×9.5 with Bridgestone S-04 tires:

 

Wheels/tires being mounted:

 

Notice the J-spec tail lights, one of our favorite aesthetic mods and it looks so good on the black Z32s. Of note is the license plate “AUDREYH”…Felix wanted to pay tribute to his Mom’s favorite actress, Audrey Hepburn:

“aka Fairlady Z since the designer named it after the classic movie My Fairlady. The actress in the movie is the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. Hence I chose AUDREYH.  I figured a classic lady should have a classic name with relevance.”

 

The 300 is now well-sorted and Felix is loving it. He did his first track day at Sears Point (Sonoma Raceway) and had a blast hustling the Z:

 

“Rob and the team is a high energy team that takes their work seriously while having fun.  I’m happy what they have done to the car and also ecstatic that they share equal appreciation of the Z32”