The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) is one of the oldest Z car clubs in the nation. In its prime they had over 600 members with close ties to Yutaka Katayama (“Mr. K”) and Nissan USA. We had a wonderful time attending their Meet and Greet event at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Ca on June 11, 2023.

 

We left Z Car Garage in our 2023 Nissan Z, 1971 Datsun 510 Wagon and  Randy’s 1972 Datsun 240Z (For Sale). Joining the caravan were Alex in his 1968 Datsun 510 Wagon and our friend Geoff in his BMW 2002. Despite some morning fog the turnout was impressive for a relaxed gathering. No judged car show or awards, just Z-Car fans catching up with old friends and meeting new enthusiasts.

Highlights from the show

Still to this day, 240Zs are the most represented model in the club. Expansion over time currently includes all recent Z models and the GT-R, but also reaches back in time to include the Datsun Roadsters and 510s. Both upper and lower parking areas were packed with cars and people having a great time.

  

The New Nissan Z!

 

Linda Williams’  proudly displayed her 1 of 240Z special edition Nissan Z “Proto Spec” in the upper Museum area. Our RZ34 was in the lower lot and we will have a full report on the recently installed Fast Intentions exhaust system!

 

Z’s, 510s, Roadsters and More!

 

Here are a few of my favorite S30 Z cars from the gathering, starting with this flared beauty on custom 17″ early S30 hubcap-inspired wheels. This is the creation of Hoover Chan from Turbohoses R&D and it sports an L28ET. Rob and Hoover go way back many years!

  

We were pleasantly surprised to see many Z Car Garage clients so let’s take a look at what they drove. Garrett drove his 1972 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles combined with a suspension rebuild improved the chassis. Power comes from a Rebello 3L with our Z Car Garage Heat Shield  and in-house dyno tuning to make it sing. His latest addition are new Recaro leather seats!

 

Ken’s 1970 Datsun 240Z also has our Z Car Garage CV Axles:

  

Stoked to see Hazel’s 1970 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles. Looks like Hazel just added a mint set of Watanabe R-Type wheels to her Z!

 

 

It was great to see Steve and Kevin’s Nismo Z33s. Full reports on both coming to zcarblog.com!

 

Here is a video from the event, enjoy!

 

Blow-thru Fantasy

 

We met Francisco and his S30 had a really neat HKS blow-through turbo system. Rob was impressed with his enthusiasm and love for the Z!

Twice the Beauty

  

Joey Bautista drove two of his immaculate Z cars.  The engine bay on this blue car looks factory right? A closer inspection reveals a bespoke factory-style triple carb  air cleaner, complete with OEM-style emissions stickers! The B-speed “LY” vintage valve cover was a nice touch as well. Really love d the aesthetic.

 

 

The silver S30 also sported triple carbs with a vintage SK air box and “triple” emissions stickers:

 

Z32

 The Z32 300ZX was out in full force with both NA and TT examples. We enjoyed seeing familiar faces like Kevin Neely’s TT with fresh TE37 wheels and Joe’s show-winning red Z32:

 

Z33 and Z34

Strong showing of Z34s including V1 and V2 Nismo models:

     

510s

 We love to see Datsun 510s and there were many examples of both stock and modified. Andy’s SR20DET-powered 510 was my favorite with Gotti wheels and rear-mounted A/C system. This was another creation from Hoover at Turbohoses!

 

SSS Bluebird was the only RHD 510 model at the show:

 

 

Jay’s 510 Wagon on Longchamp XR-4 wheels. Jay also has a 510 2-door featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles.

  

Matt’s 510 with turbocharged KA24DE:

   

Alex’s 1968 Datsun 510 Wagon is a total sleeper with an LS3 V8 drivetrain!

 

Roadsters

The lone Datsun Roadster was John Baker’s ’69 2000. This is a Concours-level restoration with lots of rare, NOS Nissan Competition parts like passenger foot rest and oil cooler.

 
Rare Everwing fog lights and day/night mirror:

R32 Row

 

R32 Skyline GT-Rs in a variety of colors! Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou displayed his recently acquired Crystal White R32 on BBS LeMans wheels:

 

A familiar R34 GT-R also showed up!

 

 

R35

A handful of R35 GT-Rs

 

People

It’s why we keep coming back to ZONC events. Thank you to everyone that took the time to say hello!

 

Thank You ZONC!

We had a great time spending the day at the ZONC Meet and Greet. It reminded us to (in the words of the late Mr.K), ” Love cars. Love people. Love Life.”  This is a club that keep the Z community together year-round and we are excited for their next events. Don’t forget to check out our picture gallery below!

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Join us this Sunday, June 11 for the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) gathering at the Blackhawk Museum! See flyer below for more details:

 

Z Car Garage will be attending with our new 2023 Nissan Z, 1972 Datsun 240Z (for sale) and 1971 KA24-powered Datsun 510 Wagon:

 

We had a blast at last year’s ZONC event (their 50th anniversary) with a fantastic turnout:

 

You can see our report from the 2022 event HERE, and Z you this Sunday at Blackhawk!

 

Tony H acquired this 1971 Datsun 240Z through our friends at Bring a Trailer and visited Z Car Garage for mechanical sorting. We are big fans of BaT and despite not winning the auction outright Tony still ended up with the Z…

 

“I bought my Z directly from a seller on Bring a Trailer after being the high bidder but not reaching the seller’s reserve. I drove down to SoCal to pick up the Z car with my friend. We test drove it and it seemed ok but I knew it definitely needed a good tuning. We made a deal and on the trailer it went.”

 

 

Z Dream Car

Tony’s Z story is simple: “My Dad had a body shop when I was growing up. I saw tons of cars come through but the one that wowed me the most was the 240Z.  I remember wishing I could own one of these cars one day. The rest is history!”

 

The Safari Gold ’71 was on display at Dublin Nissan before coming to Z Car Garage and it isn’t the only Datsun 240Z in Tony’s stable. His silver S30 was also on display in the showroom, right next to our 2023 Nissan Z!

 

Spotlight with Nissan

 

Making this Z even more special was its role in a 2021 Nissan commercial with actress Brie Larson featuring the debut of the 2023 Nissan Z. The previous owner kindly provided Tony with media containing outtakes from the commercial (see video below) filming:

 

Mechanical Sorting at Z Car Garage

 

As Tony mentioned, the Z was in great cosmetic shape but needed some mechanical work to be enjoyed. Starting in the engine bay we installed a new battery hold down with frame and new cables.  All cooling hoses were replaced and we replaced the existing brake booster vacuum hose with a braided unit:

 

We installed an MSD coil, dialed-in the the SU carbs, adjusted the valves, corrected issues with the choke cables, added a ground to his Pertronix install and set the timing. More photos of the engine bay work in the gallery below:

 

The exhaust was replaced with our ZCG exhaust system using a Magnaflow resonator/muffler and slash-cut tip:

 

Dyno Tuning

We dyno-tuned Tony’s Z with a baseline of 136hp/138tq. After Rob’s tuning the Z made 143hp/148tq at the wheels:

 

Enjoy this video showing the dyno runs, walk-around and the Nissan commercial this Z was featured in:

 

Chassis

 

The braking systems was overhauled with new hoses and brake lines. Rotors were roughed-in with chamfered pads, lubed all suspension parts and poly bushings and bled the brakes. All 4 struts were replaced and we installed Tony’s springs, trimmed for best fit with urethane MacPherson bump stops and full in-house alignment services:

 

We also replaced all of Tony’s fuel vapor hoses in the back of the car. Z Car Garage developed a small kit as these vapor line pieces are NLA.  This will help eliminate fuel small that can enter the cabin when filling up your Z.  We always fill up the fuel tank to ensure our vapor hose kit works perfectly:

  

Enjoy The Ride

 

Tony was happy with the work Z Car Garage performed, and we loved to hear his feedback:

“When I brought Rob my car it was was not running right. It felt lethargic. It was miss firing and most of the time wouldn’t start up. When I got to Rob he pointed out some issues with the engine bay set up. He said he would take care of all the issues and did just that! When I picked up my Z it felt like a totally different car. I remember thinking to myself that this must be the way it felt when the car was first driven off the dealership lot. Rob did an amazing job tuning and cleaning up the engine bay! Z Car Garage is great!”

 

Thank you Tony for trusting your Z with us, we enjoyed working with you and loved seeing both of your Z cars on display.  More photo of Tony’s 1971 Datsun 240Z in the gallery below:

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Today we took delivery of our 2023 Nissan Z at Nissan of Dublin, Ca. This is a 6-speed manual, Performance trim finished in Black Diamond Pearl with Graphite Leather interior.

 

Huge thanks to Dan Passe and Jonathan Buhler from Nissan North America for making this a reality! Our RZ34 has been waiting in Dublin Nissan’s showroom (next to our client’s Datsun 240Z) since December and we had a wonderful experience with Mario (General Manager) and Louis (Parts Manager).

 

Mario, Louis and the team at Dublin Nissan treated us like VIPs. If you are in the market for a new Nissan, visit their brand new dealership! They were kind of enough to let us be a part of the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) of our new RZ34. This included protective film removal, detailing, front lip/air deflector and center cap installation. It was a new experience for Rob and myself that we appreciated.

 

Enjoy this video of the Pre-Delivery Inspection:

 

Rob with Louis and Mario, great people at Dublin Nissan:

 

With 22 miles on the odometer we drove our new Z back to Z Car Garage in San Jose. I have driven the RZ34 several times last year and it still amaZed me. It was a great way to celebrate our 19th Anniversary (see below)!

 

Z Car Garage is excited to enjoy the new Z and begin tuning it with parts development following. Enjoy more photos from our delivery and read further about our RZ34 journey with Nissan. Long Live The Z!

From Prototype to Production

  

Our journey with the new Z began in May 2021, when Nissan invited us to their Headquarters in Tennessee to get up close and personal with the Z Proto. We thank Dan Passe and Jonathan Buhler for bringing ZCG along for the ride. Here are the past New Z events that we’ve been fortunate to be a part of:

In August we were guests at the 2023 Nissan Global Reveal event in New York:

  

In October we hosted a 2023 Nissan Viewing Event at Z Car Garage for the public to enjoy:

  

In September 2021 we were guests of Nissan at SEMA:

 

In June of 2022  Nissan kindly offered to lend us a 2023 Nissan Z for five days

 

Nissan lent us a 2023 Z in Ikazuchi Yellow for Monterey Car Week:

 

Yes, Nissan even lent us an RZ34 to be Pace car at the CSRG Vintage Races and on display at the Velocity Invitational in 2022!

 

 

Happy Anniversary:

Z Car Garage Celebrates 19 Years!

 

Today marks the 19th Anniversary of Z Car Garage. We thank all of our clients and friends for supporting us along the way. Your business and trust is greatly appreciated! It is hard to believe ZCG opened its doors in 2004. Enjoy these photos of the shop from today and 19 years ago.

   

2004 vs 2023

 

 

Front office 2023 compared to 2004, with a young Rob Fuller laying down the flooring:

 

Our (soon to be) dyno room in 2004 and 2023:

   

Z Car Garage is excited for another 19 years! LONG LIVE THE Z

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Z Car Garage is featured in Nostalgic Hero’s coverage of the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) 50th Birthday Celebration at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Ca. You can view the article HERE.

 

We had a great time attending the event and Rob Fuller displayed his #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z. Our client and fellow racer Glenn Chiou displayed his FAR Performance 240Z while Linda Williams displayed her 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate:

 

Z Car Garage also displayed the 2023 Nissan Z!

 

You can see our full report from the ZONC celebration with even more photos and video in this blog post HERE. Thanks to Hisahi Masui from Nostalgic Hero!