Our client Randy Jaffe is selling this 1971 Datsun 510 B-Sedan Race Car. Extensive racing history over a period of forty years at tracks such as Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Nelson Ledges, Summit Point, and Savannah. Raced at Laguna Seca with the legendary John Morton behind the wheel in 2020. Dyno tuned and prepared by Z Car Garage.
Price: $95,000
Additional photos, video and details please visit our FOR SALE page
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.
Above: The 280Z prior to restoration in 2018. Let’s dive into the transformation…
Bodywork
Following the mechanical restoration in 2018 (below), Beau was ready to build his own custom Z car. As with most folks he started seeing these hot-rodded 240Z cars around, and a full cosmetic restoration started…
BEAU: I wanted the car to appear more like a 240z (which I could not find at a reasonable price) – so, Rob removed and replaced the bumpers and added 240z tail lights. For casual fans of Z cars – it is not easy to tell that my car is a 280Z.
ROB: We made a plan with William to modify the front/rear of car to run 240Z bumpers and side mirrors.Beau was really keen on our client Randy Jaffe’sRocketbunny Z, so the 280Z was finished the same color: Porsche Tangerine Orange:
With fresh trim and bumpers, it really is difficult to distinguish Beau’s 280Z from a 240Z:
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!
We met Kevin E through our client Randy Jaffe out in Georgia. Kevin was here in the Bay Area, Ca for work and wanted Z Car Garage to give his 2008 Nismo 350Z some love. We happily obliged by adding KW suspension and maintenance to an already superb supercharged platform:
KEVIN: I heard about Z Car Garage from a local friend, Randy Jaffe. I met him at Z Nationals down here in Georgia a few years back. Randy kept mentioning Rob when talking about his Nissan and Datsun collection, and after seeing Larry Chen’s videos about Z Car Garage I had no hesitation about Rob working on the car in the future. It’s funny because I was DM’ing Rob on IG about the car before pulling the trigger to ship it there in our earlier conversations!
History
Kevin is the original owner of chassis #1508. He wanted a manual car to drive and found the Nismo sitting in a lot..
KEVIN: This was when the 370z and R35 came out. The car I ended up stalling in the parking lot is the same car you see here today. Purchased new in 2010 and was my first manual car. It will always have a special place in my heart because my father taught me how to drive manual in it.
It’s truly been a car I’ve done everything in from my NASA events, first car I’ve taken to the drag strip, road trips including the drive up from NorCal back to Arizona, enjoying Zcon at Nissan USA back in 2018, and of course the rabbit hole of turning a vision into reality. There have been ups and downs, but the extraordinary experiences and people I’ve met along the way have made it all worth it.
Suspension
We addressed the suspension to attain Kevin’s overall goal of making his Z a double duty car: one that you can get groceries in and enjoy track/canyon driving.
KEVIN: Rob and the team did a full suspension refresh with KW V3s and the full SPL catalog. I’ve held off on it for quite some time because I didn’t feel the actual suspension was worn out or my skill level had surpassed the balance of the OEM ones. He also performed one hell of an alignment, which felt great the whole way back to Arizona. Taking it up the canyons driving through L.A., the car was a blast and Rob absolutely nailed the feel I wanted out of the car. The car was more communicative and had no more body roll! I felt way more confident pushing the car harder.
Full alignment service in-house at Z Car Garage:
Details
The small things are what we excel at. The interior was spiced up with some red Recaro RSG Japan seats to match the original Nismo theme:
KEVIN: I wanted someone that could roll the rear fenders without cracking the paint and handle small dents from the years. Been through paint and body work and wanted it to be done right from the beginning. After seeing the restoration of Randy’s BRE Datsun 240Z following the Daytona accident, I know the car would be in great hands. During my time in NorCal working, I had Rob install a set of JDM tail lights, which I was on the fence about. They came out fantastic and love how they compliment the whole car:
The Tomei titanum exhaust was replaced at Kevin’s request with a custom built Soho system. Tomei below:
New Soho exhaust, with more photos in the gallery below:
Maintenance
The last piece to address was maintenance (fluids/pads/supercharger belt check) and ensuring that the Zcar was ready for its voyage back to Arizona and later Georgia:
KEVIN: What fascinated me was how in depth Rob was with the car. Handwritten notes, small details during the install, and extra care taken during the whole process. That is why I have Rob listed as Dr.Datsun because he truly does take each car in, assesses anything that might need to be addressed, and everything else that the client wants to achieve just like a true doctor!
Vortech Power
We put the Z on our dyno for a health check, making a stout 491hp/356tq to the wheels:
Enjoy this video of Kevin’s Nismo 350Z on the dyno!
Driving is Believing
Rob and Kevin discussed ideal suspension settings and the result was a balanced car:
KEVIN: The Z feels so good. As soon as Rob gave me a ride, I could immediately tell. The back end was so planted taking a corner on Rob’s test track, lol. It wouldn’t kick out like it did on the OEM Nismo suspension taking the roundabout corner even with a Nismo GT Pro LSD. Just the right amount of stiff, but also very compliant soaking up the bumps like a cobblestone surface. Rob truly is a magician with suspension, evidenced by his driving background. Before the suspension, it just felt a little dull and sluggish in response. After having more seat time in the car, it just feels very connected and direct.
We knew that Kevin wanted a bit more feel, without sacrificing comfort and decided to use poly bushings in the suspension for street use.
KEVIN: Driving through LA, all the bumps were not as harsh as I thought and when the road was smooth, it was like silk, but you could feel the changes in the road surface through the steering wheel. I’m glad I listened despite me wanting to put Clubsports on the car. I spoke to a few people that had Rob install the same setup and they all had nothing but positive feedback. Rob takes his clients in steps rather than large leaps not only to get acquainted with the car again, but also to improve as a driver and become more confident.
Enjoy The Ride
While he was out in NorCal, we were lucky to see Kevin Enjoying The Ride at local events like the ZONC gathering ZONC Gathering:
KEVIN: All the videos I’ve seen of Rob, he just has so much passion in what does! I thought I was OCD about my car, but Rob is such a perfectionist and wants it to be more than 100 percent when the client picks up the car. It not only has the power, but has the footwork now, which was the missing piece of the puzzle. On a side note, Rob has not only been another caretaker of my Nismo, but he has become like family to me along with the rest of the team at Z Car Garage. Rob, I want to personally thank you again for all the advice and life advice you’ve given me during my stay there! I’m eternally grateful for everything!
Kevin’s Nismo 350Z came out really nice and we love his passion. Icing on the cake was seeing him so stoked on having his Z worked on by Z Car Garage. Thanks for letting us be a part of your build. See more of his Nismo Z33 on Instagram and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Our client Ben’s LS1-powered 1993 Mazda RX-7 is up for auction on Bring a Trailer. This FD features a 6.2L LS1 V8 engine with T56 6-speed transmission, Stoptech big-brakes, 18″ ADVAN Racing wheels, dyno tuning and more. We have enjoyed being a part of this car since 2006 and watching it evolve. From track days to daily driving it does it all. More photos below and happy bidding! Auction listing is HERE
The 1/24 Scale Model
I built this 1/24th scale model to replicate Ben’s RX-7, including the LS1 drivetrain. Enjoy the feature HERE
Advan RS Wheels
In 2013 Ben got some gorgeous ADVAN Racing RS wheels. Enjoy the before/after HERE
This 1990 Diamond Black Pearl Z32TT has been maintained and modified by Z Car Garage since acquisition in 2008. With 50k miles, original paint and interior it is ready to be enjoyed. Price: $27k OBO SOLD
Performance upgrades include JWT clutch/flywheel, 550cc Nismo injectors, JWT dual intakes, Specialty-Z 3″ down/mid pipes and dyno tuning. Clean interior.
See the full listing on our FOR SALE page. For pricing and more details please contact Rob at the shop: 408-452-0350 or e-mail robATzcargarage.com
