Ty and Christine also joined us in their 991 Porsche:
Naveed has a cool collection of sports cars including an Nissan R32 Skyline and recently acquired this Fairlady Z:
He has been driving this S30 religiously and organized the day’s fun run, starting in Cupertino and heading up HWY 9. It was a gorgeous day to be driving Datsuns!
We stopped at a vista point just after the 9/35 junction and headed to Alice’s:
From Alice’s we drove down 84 and to the coast via Pescadero Rd. Though foggy it was quite warm and we had fun staging the cars for photos.
Naveed captured some great shots!
Naveed’s RHD S30 sported a triple-Mikuni carb’d L20A with a full Fujitsubo exhaust. Stay tuned as we report on the dyno performance of the Fujitsubo exhaust system on our shop S30:
Naveed’s Z sounded wonderful echoing off the forest-lined roads. Listen to the exhaust and watch a short sample of the fun run in the video below.
We had a blast, thanks for inviting us Naveed!
Enjoy more pictures from Naveed and us in the gallery below:
This Cherry Red Pearl 1992 Z32 Twin-Turbo is owned by our customer Kevin B. Z Car Garage has maintained and modified the Z since Kevin purchased it in 2006 from the original owner. It has an extensive list of exciting upgrades as well as total maintenance records. The Z passed smog, has a clear title and is ready to be enjoyed. More information, a video and pictures can be seen on our For Sale page HERE.
Lou S is no stranger to Z Car Garage, having built several cars with us since we opened our doors in 2004. Although the red Z shown above is the focus of this blog post, let’s spend a moment recalling Lou’s 1973 Fairlady Z . You might recognize this RHD Z from local Bay Area fun runs and car shows over the years. What started out as a fairly stock car evolved into a canyon-carving street machine as we began modifications in 2011:
The Z featured a 250whp Rebello 3.2L engine, 240sx KA24 5-speed, Recaro seats, LSD, full-suspension, our ZCG Big-Brake Kit and Panasport C8 wheels.
Enjoy this short video showing the mellifluous sounds coming from the 3.2 engine:
The pretty triple Weber carb setup on the 3.2L was pictured on SpeedHunters and the Z was a feature car in JNC’s booth at the highly-successful Bayline show:
Enter The Monte Carlo
Lou enjoyed his Fairlady Z for many years and after ZCG’s 2nd SEMA build in 2016, Lou was inspired to take his car to the next level. The 3.2L drivetrain was sold to our customer Tim Ng to be used in his ’72 S30 build. We are currently building an IMSA-flared body Fairlady Z featuring wider Panasport C8 wheels and a stroker RB engine backed by either a close-ratio 5-Speed or 6-speed.
While Lou’s Fairlady Z was being torn down, Rob had been daily-driving his Monte Carlo Red (#905) 1970 Series 1 S30. Rob had this car for a few years and every time Lou saw it he would hound Rob to sell it to him. Here is the low vin (6143) S30 back when Rob acquired it, before a cut and buff, stock hubcaps and refreshening:
Lou finally acquired Monte Carlo from Rob. While the Fairlady Z sat in storage Lou was driving around in the bone-stock Monte Carlo. We thought, why not take the pieces in storage and upgrade Monte Carlo? ZCG went to work and transferred all of the suspension, wheel/tires and Big-Brakes from the Fairlady Z to Monte Carlo:
Z Car Garage Big-Brakes
Lou has our ZCG Big-Brake kit. Not to be confused with our current Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), this Big-Brake kit was our initial setup from over a decade ago. This 328mm sized kit requires 17″ diameter wheels and the massive ST-42 calipers are finished in bright red. We actually did all the R&D in-house for this setup…using a 280ZX master cylinder and our own mounting brackets. Full suspension (Coil-overs) and ZCG Big-Brakes F/R replace OEM parts:
Another look at those massive ZCG Big-Brakes!
The 280z 2.8L engine received a 5-speed transmission with new clutch/flywheel.
5-speed transmission fitment required trimming the shifter area as early cars came with 4-speeds:
While the Z was on the lift we also addressed a few engine bay items like a new brake booster:
The interior also got attention with nicer, complete seats from our parts supply. The original seats were badly torn:
The resulting transformation is impressive. From a stock, early series 1 Z to a hot rod with killer brakes, suspension and footwork that is familiar to Lou. We know these upgrades to Monte Carlo will keep him Enjoying The Ride while his Fairlady Z gets built.
We love Lou’s passion for Z’s and he is a Z car fanatic. Thanks for letting us work on Monte Carlo!
Kassem L hails from San Francisco and he brought his 370z to Z Car Garage because he was having warranty issues with the dealership. After some some discussion and guidance we installed a new clutch and transmission. For piece of mind the troublesome internal slave cylinder was switched to an external unit using the CMAK upgrade from ZSpeed. We went through the car and fixed all the little things missed by the dealership when they did a warrantied replacement engine (replaced b/c of oil-burning issue). Minor items like re-learning the windows and parking adjustment were comped.
Kassem visited ZCG again for suspension upgrades. We installed HKS 4GT coil-overs, SPC F/R control arms, and a Hotchkis sway bar set:
SPC front/rear control arms. After suspension installation we aligned the car and changed the oil:
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Kassem was going for a very JDM feel/build and chose his modifications accordingly. We installed an HKS intake system and the Power House Amuse R1 Titan Extra STTI full titanium exhaust system:
Before and after:
More exhaust details:
HKS Racing Suction twin intakes replace OEM units:
After the coil- over suspension was installed Kassem came back in to have the car lowered just a bit more. We handled this for him as well and the Z looks fantastic sitting over pretty Volk Racing G25 wheels and Bridgestone RE-11 tires:
Each year the Historic Sportscar Racing association (HSR) organizes the largest and oldest event for Historic race cars on the East Coast. It’s called the Classic Motorsports Mitty and it took place at Road Atlanta, GA from April 27-29. We attended The Mitty to provide race support for Randy Jaffe’s #46 BRE Datsun 240z (driven by our hero John Morton) and Alex McDowell’s Datsun Bluebird Coupe and Hakosuka Skyline.
Nissan was the featured marque for the first time with John Morton serving as Grand Marshall so naturally every Datsun-fan was drawn to The Mitty. I took a Thursday night red-eye flight from San Jose with part of the ZCG crew and when we arrived at Road Atlanta our paddock was an absolute feast for the senses. Nestled primely across from the front-straight footbridge, we had an impressive display of West-Coast racers, from L to R: The BRE Datsun 240z, BRE 370z, Comedian Adam Carolla’s #44 Frank Monise Datsun 2000 Roadster and Bob Sharp 610, Alex’s Hakosuka Skyline and Bluebird Coupe, the Friselle GTU 240z, Dave Stone’s Frellsen B-sedan 510, Jim Froula’s (Racecraft) Datsun 260z, our friend Glenn Chiou’s VIPS/Loren St. Lawrence 240z and Bob Clucas’ IMSA GTU 240Z.
Take a Lap With John Morton
At 76 years of age John Morton is still formidable behind the wheel. Here he is piloting the #46 BRE 240z that we prepared around Road Atlanta; the very same track where he won the 1970 and 1971 National C-Production Championships!
Well, That’s Racing
The sweet smell of race fuel, frantic adjustments, checklists, and engines blaring to warm-up for the next session all reminded us how much we love racing! From the on-board video above, you can see the BRE 240z performed well with John Morton at the wheel but what it does not show viewers is the not-so-glamourous side of racing: part failures. The Z ran great in Thursday’s practice but when we arrived at the track Friday morning, Rob told us the engine failed during the first session. He needed all hands on deck. What followed absolutely humbled me; the ZCG crew went to work in a supreme effort to get the #46 BRE 240z alive again for Saturday/Sunday’s races.
John Morton Must Race
To get a first-hand perspective of the Z’s revival I asked ZCG Lead Technician, Josh Corwin, to give us the play-by-play of the heart transplant. Please read on to see a video chronicling the events!
1) How, when and why did the engine fail? It is still too early to know exactly what went wrong with the engine. A complete teardown will be performed to isolate the root cause. I can tell you that during Friday practice, John Morton was accelerating up Road Atlanta’s back straight coming up the hill before turn 10, in top gear at wide open throttle well over 100mph. That is when a major engine component let go resulting in multiple holes being punched through the engine block, affectively turning the engine into a boat anchor.
2) What was the plan to get John Morton back on the track? Get an engine, put it in the car, put John Morton in the car, and put the car on track. Simple enough, except finding an engine that could perform was the challenge.
As word spread through the paddock that John Morton needed an engine, the Datsun Community banded together, and offers of engines came swarming in. Multiple race engines and high performance street engines were all up for grabs. All were seriously built engines, but none of them felt right.
Rob’s ultimate plan to excavate a couple E.B. Parkinson motors, like dinosaur fossils, was crazy to say the least. But, going with his gut, the resurrection of a true vintage race engine was put in motion. Half of the crew went with Randy to his storage to look for a replacement motor, while other half, including myself, received the green light from Rob to began the task of removing the expired power plant in anticipation of the Datsun Relics arrival.
3) Technically, what was involved with swapping parts and prepping the 40-yr old parkinson motor?
The old engine came out quickly, as many hands made light work. It was then tucked away into the back of the trailer, to be disassembled at a later date, as we worked on getting the car ready for its new engine. Prepping the vehicle was pretty simple, but there were necessary steps and precautions that need to happen to make this a successful transplant. We only had one shot at this, so nothing was left to chance.
Below, (L): Gary Brizendine and BRE Engine Chief John Caldwell lend a hand and knowledge: Caldwell is confirming the jetting on the 50mm Mikuni carbs. (R) The original exhaust system from the 1970s is removed from #46. Morton had already blown apart the exhaust tips on the first session!
With any catastrophic engine failure, one of the concerns is metal bits getting stuck in the oil cooler and lines. So, first thing is to remove the oil cooler and hoses and flush them out. Any leftover engine material in the oiling system can destroy a fresh engine in minutes. Luckily, Road Atlanta’s used oil disposal shed also had 2 solvent tanks, which we used to back flush the cooler and clean the lines of any possible debris. While all the reusable pieces were getting cleaned internally, we moved on to cleaning the mess of shrapnel and engine oil that coated the engine bay. Just as we finished, the oil cooler system came back fresh and clean, and shortly after engines arrived. We could finally switch gears to the reassembly of the BRE 240Z.
The crew brought back two “long block” engines, meaning the cylinder head and engine block had already been assembled. At first look they were identical in every way and definitely appeared to have been sitting for 40 years. Looking closer, we found one of the engines did not have the timing chain installed which led us to use the one that was “more complete.” We put a wrench on the crank bolt and it rotated 720 degrees, smooth as butter. The next task was to take all the undesirable accessories from the old engine. The 40 year old water pump, alternator, flywheel, crank pulley, thermostat housing, oil filter adaptor, and valve cover were all tossed. We then tackled a quick clean up, removing years of dirt and grim that had built up while sitting.
