Happy New Year! Today we kicked off 2022 the right way with a New Year’s drive on a beautiful California day. Our friend Geoff assembled a group of cars and we were pleasantly surprised to see several Z Car Garage clients and friends in attendance! Thank you to everyone that braved the chilly morning temperatures and truly showed that Datsuns Are Driven! Enjoy photos and video from the cruise below.

 

I drove my 1967.5 Datsun Roadster and it was a cool 36F at 8:30am as I hit the freeway for the meeting point in San Jose. It was so good to see familiar faces and cool cars. Geoff briefed the group and we rolled out 16 cars strong heading up HWY 17 to Bear Creek Rd. Let’s take a look at the group:

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

 

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z is now sporting a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake, Recaro Specialist seats, CD009a 6-speed transmission, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!

 

Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

 

Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240z is back on the road with a fresh engine,  Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles and Silvia 6-speed transmission. Full report coming to zcarblog.com

Glenn’s 1972 Nissan Fairlady 240z-L

 

Glenn Chiou drove his RHD Fairlady Z sporting our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels). He is an avid vintage race car driver/restorer and found our brake kit offers incredible brake feel and performance all fitting behind his favorite 15×8 zero offset Watanabe wheel:

 

Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

 

Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240z is Enjoying The Ride with our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles.  He scored this Z from our friends at Bring a Trailer!

Mrs. Butters

 

Rob and Meghan Fuller drove Mrs. Butters, our Series 1 shop 240z. This Series 1 S30 features a 3.2L with triple-Mikuni induction, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, ZCG Heat Shield, 6-speed transmission and full KW suspension (releasing soon).

 

Jose’s Z

 

Jose M was happy to join us in his Z. After 8 years, Rob and Jose re-connected at our  2023 Nissan Z Viewing.

 

Felix’ 1996 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo

 

Felix joined is in his 1996 Z32TT. This 300 will also get an updated feature on zcarblog.com.

 

Pall’s Nissan Skyline GT-R

 

Pall’s R32 recently visited ZCG for Haltech ECU and dyno tuning.

Datsun 510s

 

We had three Datsun 510s in Wagon, 2-door and 4-door models!

Mark’s 1972 Datsun 510

 

We upgraded Mark’s 510 with our Z Car Garage CV Axles. These CV axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to standard half shafts, while eliminating the need for aluminum adapters.  Mark got ZCG VV Axle set #320 and he loves them:

Nick’s Datsun 510 Wagon

 

Z Car Garage’s very own Nick F drove his L-Series powered 510 wagon with SSR mesh wheels.

Dustin’s Datsun 510 4-door

 

We’ve known Dustin and Courtney for many years. Dustin’s 510 4-door runs a KA24DE and sweet Longchamp XR-4 wheels.  Hagerty produced a video featuring the local Bay Area Datsun couple you can see it HERE. Dustin also installed our Z Car Garage CV Axles himself on his 510!

 

Kurt drove his Subaru GC8 with full STi drivetrain. We’ve got more updates on his R32 Skyline GT-R soon! Eric drove his Infiniti FX35 and Henry brought his Stillen Supercharged 370Z. Ben also attended in his 1974 Datsun 260Z.

 

Our fearless leader Geoff in his Lotus 7 and my Datsun Roadster. Also joing us was William in his (964) 911:

 

Enjoying The Ride

 

Bear Creek Rd. up to HWY 9 to the look out was surprisingly traffic-free. At the lookout we could see clear across the Santa Cruz mountains to the coast. A few late-model Porsche’s stopped by.

 

Enjoy this video of the drive and all cars particiapting:

 

 

From the lookout we drove up Skyline (35) and down Alpine Rd. Recent rains have made lush forests:

 

After a short re-group we took 84 up to Alice’s Restaurant and chatted for a bit. It is always busy here and the eye-candy endless. My J-Tin radar was treated to Mark 3 and 4 Supras, S14 240SX, R35 GT-R, MR2 and DC2 Integra:

 

This Model A had a hot-rodded 4-cylinder Flathead. It’s a small world and through Geoff we were introduced to the owner, John B. John races a Jaguar Special with CSRG!

 

Thanks to everyone that came out. We hope you get to the Enjoy The Ride this year, let’s make 2021 amazing. DO IT IN A DATSUN!

More pictures in the gallery below!

 

 

It is always great to see friends over the holidays. Gary Savage stopped by Z Car Garage from Florida and shared these photos from his visit, enjoy!
(above) Randy Jaffe’s BRE Datsun 240Z.

 

Our 1971 shop demo Z, Mrs. Butters, featured on Petrolicious. In addition to a 3.2L, triple-Mikuni engine this S30 proudly wears Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, ZCG Heat Shield.

 

Joel Anderson’s IMSA GTU Z.

 

Ryan’s LS3-powered Z proudly wears our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles. Full report soon!

 

Shop office and front parking. Stay tuned for more project updates and features on zcarblog.com!

 

 

Kevin M visited Z Car Garage for Stillen intakes, test pipes and dyno tuning on his 2013 Nismo 370Z.

 

He found this V1 Nismo Z34 in September 2020 at a Nissan dealership that was not yet advertised. Being a rare Magma Red model he jumped on it quickly.

 

A common issue on the 370Z is the internal slave failing due to heat. Thankfully Z Speed Performance makes a kit to convert the internal slave to external (CMAK Upgrade). In January 2021 on his first to ZCG we performed the CMAK upgrade. Since the transmission was removed Kevin opted for a Z Speed Stage 1 Quiet clutch with steel flywheel:

“When I first got the Nismo I was worried about the infamous csc going out. So I looked up for any shops that dealt strictly with Nissan and I was lucky enough to come across Z Car Garage. Transmission work included the Zspeed Performance Stage one quiet clutch kit with C MAK. My Nismo felt almost brand new compared to when I drove it off the dealership.” 

 

   

We also installed Whiteline diff bushings on that first visit and discussed doing a tune and some hot rod stuff in the future.

 

In October 2021 Kevin returned to ZCG. We installed CWorks Test Pipes and Stillen GEN 3 intakes:

 

Dyno Tuning

 

We specialize in UPREV and EcuTek Tuning to maximize power gains from individual modifications like intake and exhaust upgrades. Rob UPREV flashed Kevin’s Z with the additional ARC license. Baseline power was 296hp/256tq and after tuning it made 338hp/275tq at the wheels, gains of 42hp/19tq. Kevin was happy with the power improvements.

Enjoy this video with dyno runs and exhaust system sounds!

 

Thanks for your support Kevin, Long Live The Z!

Contact us for tuning!

Z Car Garage offers the ARC (Advanced Racing Controls) license. This add-on service to the existing UPREV Flash allows you to have adjustable launch control, burnout mode, and flat-foot shifting. This is for cars with manual transmission, VDC/cruise control. Call Rob for more details and to schedule your Z/G tuning appointment.

 

 

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS From Z Car Garage***

 

One of the real joys this holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you and wish you the very best for the new year. From all of us at Z Car Garage we thank our friends, family and customers again for another exciting and productive year! Enjoy our 2021 recap and upcoming projects. Please note our holiday closure below:

 

ZCG will be closed from 12/24/21 and we will re-open for business on 1/3/22.

 

 

We had a busy year and though the shop will be closed, we won’t leave you hanging for the holidays. Many zcarblog features have yet to be published like our belated race report from the 2021 Velocity Invitational in addition to client stories.

Before we take a look back at highlights from 2021, here are several exciting projects coming along at the shop:

 

Jeff and Ryan B’s LS3-powered Z came to us for mechanical sorting. It’s now sporting our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles. Ryan successfully ran the Targa California Rallye in blistering summer heat. He recently got a new set of VOLK TE37V wheels full report soon!

  

The OMS Pace Car

 

This is a 1972 Official OMS Pace Car Duplicate. It is at present one of only two known survivors . Fifty were originally produced by Nissan Motors to commemorate the DATSUN 240Z being selected by the Ontario Motor Speedway to Pace the 1972 “U.S.A.C. California 500 Championship”.  It really is a small Datsun world, as the official OMS pace car is none other than our very own Joel Anderson #49 IMSA GTU 240Z .

  

This OMS duplicate belongs to our long time customer and friend Linda. She acquired it from a family in SoCal and tasked ZCG with making it a nice driver. Full report soon but it got loaded up today for its journey to Colorado!

  

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z returned for a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake and CD009a 6-speed transmission:

    

David’s 240Z

Long-time friend and client David attended a track day at Laguna Seca. This Z was built over 15 years ago and sill running strong. We prepped his Z for the track, full report soon!

Dyno Tuning your 350z/370z/Q/G

We have been dyno tuning your late model Nissan/Infiniti sports car daily. Bolt-ons, UPREV tuning. Our customers leave happy with more performance. Call us to schedule an appointment! Here are just a few cars:

Aaron’s Q50:

   

Randy’s 1970 Safari Tribute Z lived an eventful life this year. It was in Los Angeles to be filmed for Nissan’s commercials and also served as Randy’s ride for cruising around Monterey Car Week. We installed a new engine and made some suspension changes. Though it’s back at home in Georgia it will get a full ZCG-style feature.

    

One of many Z32s we are working on, Steve’s will get a full report soon:

 

 

Highlights from 2021

 

Even though 2021 was crazy year for all of us we still managed to have fun on and off the track. The shop made some really great progress as well.

Enjoy these highlights from the year and Z you in 2022!

Datsunworks

 

Z Car Garage is excited to collaborate with Datsunworks and develop their brilliant KN20 dual-overhead cam (DOHC) cylinder head designed for the Nissan inline-6 L-Series engine. You can read all about it HERE

  

2021 was a development year for this drivetrain setup. We continue to extract more power and run longevity testing with owner Gary who has the pleasure of living daily with this beast. More updates to come, but for now enjoy the music this KN20 head provides in the video below!

240Z

Click on each link to see the full features!

ZCG PARTS: Z Car Garage CV Axles on Brad’s IMSA 240Z race car!

Ole Orange Bang: Larry Chen’s 1970 Datsun 240Z

Stock is Good: Mike’s Series 1 Datsun 240Z

ZCG Big-Brakes, ZCG CV Axles and Panasports for Greg’s 1970 Datsun 240Z

ZCG Big-Brakes, 6-Speed and EFI for Khang’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

HISTORY: 1970 Datsun 240Z Salt Flat Racer Lives!

Panasport Wheels for Jay’s 240Z

Vince’s 1972 Datsun 240Z

TRIBUTE Z: Michael’s RB25DET-Powered 1972 Datsun 240Z

The Transcendental Racing Datsun 240Z

Friends for 50 Years: Richard’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

Kai’s 1972 Datsun 240Z

For Love of The Z Car: Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

SERIEZ 1: Wayne’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

PARTS: Z Car Garage Big-Brakes for Jeremy’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

PARTS: Z Car Garage CV Axles for Chris’ 1970 Datsun 240Z

PARTS: ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles for Hazel’s 1970 Datsun 240Z

The Well-Sorted Series 1: Rob J’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

Gary’s 1971 Datsun 240Z is Alive!

One Owner Time Capsule: Ed’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

Tony’s 1972 Datsun 240Z

 

260Z

  

TUNING: Glenn’s 1974 IMSA GTU Datsun 260Z

ZCG PARTS: Z Car Garage CV Axles on Glenn’s IMSA 260Z race car!

280Z

 

ZCG Parts: ZCG CV axles-For Peters 1977 Datsu 280Z

Trevor’s 1978 Datsun 280Z

Z Car For Generations: Gilberts 1978 Datsun 280Z 2+2

 

280ZX

  

 

300zx

 

Red Devil Z: Jas’ 1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo

Patrick’s 1994 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo

Arsia’s 1994 Nissan 300ZX Convertible

 

 510 and Fairlady Roadster

 

PARTS: ZCG CV Axles for V8-Powered Datsun 510

Happy 510 Day!

Happy 311 Day!

 

350Z

 

Datsun Destiny: Christine’s 2004 Nissan 350Z Roadster

Brad’s Stillen-Supercharged Nismo 350Z

 

370z

TUNING: Gordon’s 2010 Nismo 370Z

TUNING: Gentry’s Nismo 370Z

Henry’s Stillen Supercharged 370Z

 

R32

 

TUNING: Pall’s R32 Skyline GT-R

More Upgrades For Lee’s R32 Skyline

Racing

 

RACE REPORT: B-Sedan Datsun 510 Racing at Sonoma with CSRG

EVENTS: IMSA Datsuns Racing at the Velocity Invitational November 11-14

RACE REPORT: B-Sedan Datsun Racing at Laguna Seca With SVRA 5/21

 

 

Rallyes/Events

EVENTS: The 2023 Nissan Z Viewing at Z Car Garage Was A Success!

The 2023 Nissan Z Unveiled!

Z Car Garage visits Nissan Headquarters to spend time with the Z Proto

EVENT REPORT: Z Car Garage at SEMA 2021!

EVENTS: The 2021 Japanese Classic Car Show

EVENTS: The 34th Annual Z Car Convention!

EVENTS: DWA Morning Motors Cars & Coffee 6/13

EVENTS: Breakfast Club Rally Report 6/12

EVENTS: Super Drive Sunday

 

Media

MEDIA: Larry Chen’s 1970 Datsun 240Z on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: 1970 Datsun 240Z Salt Flat Racer Featured on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: ZCG’s 1971 Datsun 240Z Featured in Petrolicious

DATSUNWORKS: Road & Track Features the KN20 Cylinder Head!

MEDIA: Rob Fuller’s Datsun 510 Featured on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: ZCON With Rob and Larry Chen on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: 1970 Datsun 240Z Safari Tribute on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: Trevor’s 1978 Datsun 280Z Featured on Hoonigan Autofocus!

 

 

LONG LIVE THE Z! Check out our Instagram story for more updates!

 

 

Pall K acquired this Pearl Red (AH3) R32 from our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers. It goes without saying, if you are in the market for a vintage Skyline (or any JDM car) IVI is the place to go. We love the gorgeous paint color and Volk TE37SLs:

 

Pall brought the R32 to ZCG for a full inspection in 2019 and we have serviced it since. On that visit we found one of the CV boots torn and he had some Nismo stainless lines for us to install. We checked the timing, changed the engine oil, transmission fluid, installed the new brake lines front/rear and performed a full alignment. He visited us again for a new clutch:

  

Pall has driven the Skyline frequently since we met in 2019, and he does most of the work on his cars himself. We spotted him last summer at the 6/13 Morning Motors Cars & Coffee event hosted by DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) in Santa Cruz, CA:

 
I had fun chasing Pall in our shop Datsun 240Z (Mrs. Butters) on this earlier 2020 Drive:

  

Pall was experiencing some intermittent issues with car, so he purchased a Haltech Platinum Pro ECU from our client Kurt W since he’s going to an Haltech Elite box for his own R32 GT-R build.

“My car was pinging on 91 octane trying to run on the stock ECU at higher load / RPM. I purchased a Haltech Planimum Pro plug-in ECU to resolve the pinging issue and make the most of my modifications. Rob installed the Haltech with a wideband O2 controller and dyno tuned the whole setup. The pinging issue is gone and the car feels incredible. Smoother initial throttle tip-in and lower end, pulls hard all the way out redline. Extremely pleased!”

 

As Pall mentioned above, his R32 came in to Z Car Garage in Novemeber and Rob dyno tuned it using Haltech. It put down a very strong 381hp/320tq to the wheels on 91 octane:

This Skyline does have basic performance upgrades including: Apex’i intakes, boost restrictor removed (~14psi), Fujitsubo equal-length downpipe, HKS high-flow cat, Fujitsubo Legalis R-Type Evo exhaust, divided intake pipe, PRP R35 coil conversion kit. Despite the modifications, a subtle chop at idle and the dyno results may indicate aftermarket cams from Japan. Nevertheless it has great power, enjoy the dyno video!

 

Enjoying The Ride

We are happy to report that Pall is already back on the road in his R32, post ZCG-tuning. Just yesterday he attended the final Morning Motors in Santa Cruz:

 

Pall attended the 2021 Skyline Matsuri hosted by the Norcal Skyline Owners group, you can see Pall’s own photography from the event by clicking on the photos below:

 Can’t get enough of this beautiful Skyline. It doesn’t get any better than driving a Skyline on Skyline!

 

Pall is a wonderful client and enthusiast with a pretty serious E30 M3 in addition to the R32. The 90’s were good for iconic sports cars!

 

Thanks to Norcal Skyline Owners group we get to work with many cool cars like Kurt W and Mike R (here for timing belt, tuning and clutch job, report soon). Thanks for your support Pall and for trusting us with your R32!

More pictures in the gallery below: