More and more Z car owners are enjoying innovative products from Z Car Garage. Here is a quick update on two S30s getting our ZCG Big-Brakes for small wheels. Full report coming soon!

The Bring A Trailer Datsun 240z

The Bring A Trailer Datsun 240z is back at ZCG to replace the existing Wilwood brakes with our ZCG Big-Brake Kit.

 

   

Randy’s Z will also have a fully functioning parking brake now! We are excited to have have the car ready to rock on its next rallye at the Targa Baja California.

 

Bruce’s Series 1 Datsun 240z

We met Bruce L at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion . He has owned this Series 1 Z for a long time and he wanted it back on the road. Though he’s worked on his own Z for years, he was ready to hand it off to our crew at ZCG. We are restoring the fuel system and just finished up the suspension. Bruce’s Z got our ZCG Big-Brake kit and our ZCG CV Axles:

  

Both of these products are available now from Z Car Garage. Please email/call Rob!

 

Z Car Garage is featured in the current November issue of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine! Writer/GRM Live Host David S. Wallens visited our shop earlier this year and also dyno’d the new ND Miata with us. Grab a copy on newsstands now!

 

Classic Motorsports Magazine recaps the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in their November issue, showing Rob Fuller’s IMSA GTU Datsun 240z and Randy Jaffe’s #46 BRE Datsun 240z.

 

 

We are excited to see our customer James Stephens’ 1972 S30 Datsun 240z featured on Speedhunters. Check out the article with great photos by Naveed Yousufzai HERE!

Paolo M came to ZCG for a differential build on his 370z. The G35/350z and G37/370z cars all share the same diff bushing failure due to aggressive driving or simple wear and tear. From Nissan, the OEM diff bushing is filled with silicone, and will burst/leak this fluid resulting in a noticeable clunk when shifting.  Paulo’s Z34 had the tell-tale sign of the diff bushing failure, with visible leakage on the cover:

 

Nissan will not replace the bushing alone. By design, Nissan wants you to replace the entire rear subframe at a substantial cost.  Fortunately, Whiteline makes a really nice bushing that can be installed and it is a mandatory solution whenever we perform a diff job at ZCG. In addition to replacing the diff bushings, we replaced the bearings, changed the final drive and installed an OS Giken limited-slip unit:

 

The diff is removed from the Z and OS Giken LSD prepped:

  

We check the pinion depth by testing the wear pattern on the ring gear with paint:

   

For an added piece of security for the differential we installed a NISMO diff cover. Its extra oil capacity and finned design aid in cooling for hard driving. The unit was filled with OS Giken gear oil:

 
We finished with an engine oil change and Paolo was back on the road. He’s visited ZCG several times and we like working on his Z34. Enjoy The Ride Paolo!

 

We have been working with Mike M and his 2006 Z33 since last year. With every visit to ZCG this 350z gets upgraded in both power and chassis areas. In November 2017, with 111k miles on the VQ a Vortech supercharger was installed with supporting mods:

   

Chassis improvements: KW V3 coil overs, SPC front/rear control arms, Hotchkis sway bars and a full alignment. We also installed ART pipes to replace the factory cats:

 

Hotchkis front and rear sway bars:

   

ART Pipes:

  

Mike’s latest visit to ZCG included fueling, gauges and more power upgrades. The fuel system was converted to support E85/ethanol starting with a Walbro 485 in-tank fuel pump:

 

Next, a CJ Motorsports Stage 2 fuel return system help keep up with the Walbro pump:

  

Increased fuel demands of E85 require larger fuel injectors so we installed IDX 1050CC units. A Zeitronix ethanol sensor is critical for monitoring E85 content:

  

The brains to managing the E85 content is a Haltech Platinum Pro plug-in. A PLX Devices dm6 AFR/gen4 gauge pod also accommodates the Zeitronix ethanol sensor readout:

  

Final power adder was a 2.87 pulley for the supercharger and our ZCG air bypass for the race gate:

 

From the dyno charts below, having the ability to change the ethanol content of fuel allows for more hp/torque.  More smiles per gallon as well with E85 currently at $1.99/gallon

(left) Baseline before Haltech tuning: 331hp/286tq and (right) baseline to 91 octane tune with Haltech: 346hp/303tq to the wheels

  

Final 91 octane tune with the Haltech: 364hp/306tq at the wheels:

 

75% Ethanol tune: 421hp/345tq to the wheels:

 

To balance an extra 126hp power from the Vortech we installed a Stoptech Big-Brake Kit. Up front are 332mm ST40 calipers in red, with slotted rotors:

 

Stock vs Stoptech:

  

The new brake also look great behind the Enkei RPF1 wheels:

 

Enjoy the Ride Mike!