Z Car Garage is expanding to support our vintage, late model and motorsport work. We are seeking an experienced and skilled automotive technician to join our team. This is not an average automotive job. We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits.
Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn, and be part of a team.
Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion.
Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? Please contact rob@zcargarage.com or call us at (408)452-0350.
The Golden Week Kyusha Festival was held yesterday in Richmond, CA. We were proud to be a sponsor of the inaugural show with an impressive attendance and fantastic venue at the Craneway Pavillion. This was the site of the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in the 1930s, now a historic landmark.
While Rob and the ZCG crew were vintage racing at Laguna Seca I attended the show in my Datsun Roadster. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time checking out rows of Japanese Classics.
ZCG Customers
I was happy to see several ZCG customers attending the show. James Stephens’ Turbocharged L-series S30 has a few more upgrades since being featured in Speedhunters, expect a full report soon!
Our friends from Bring a Trailer brought their 1973 240z. This Z has seen some serious rally duty and wears our ZCG Big-Brake kit . We love that it is driven!
Nickhil’s S30 recently came in for our ZCG Big-Brake kit too! We are excited to share his story on zcarblog as well.
Neal D proudly displayed his freshly-restored concours 240z.
Datsuns!
Datsuns made up almost half the show with Z’s, 510 wagons, sedans and coupes. There was even a wild 1200 with a 13B!
Daniel Wu’s “Tanto” 510 (built by our friend and talented racer Troy Ermish) is always nice to see:
Andrew S’ RHD tribute 510:
Really cool wagons, my favorite wearing Devil Shadows:
GC10 and C110 Skylines:
Here is a short video of the show, enjoy!
Friends
I had fun seeing familiar faces and friends. Some go back to the days of the Mt. Shasta Meet! Our friends from Techno Toy Tuning showing off their latest parts for Z cars:
Francis Jr.’s S30 looked great with Watanabe wheels and Euro tail lights. Congrats on your award Jr.!
The Jervis family showed their bone-stock Datsun 510. The trunk was filled with nostalgic photos of Shasta/auto-x events.
The roadster was well-received, people had fun with it!
Toyota’s
Rad Wheels!
So many cool JDM wheels from Watanabe’s to Techno Phantoms!
Thank You!
The Kyusha Festival was a success. I loved the venue and look forward to next year’s event! Big thanks to Kia Shariloo and event staff for hosting. Enjoy the photo gallery below!
Z Car Garage is proud to offer a CV axle conversion kit for your Datsun S30 and 510. We have sold over 50 sets of axles, with customers installing and enjoying them on everything from street cars to full-blown IMSA racers. These CV axles will help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. Full details can be found HERE
We love to hear from customers that are using our products. John B comes from Florida and he sent us these pictures of his S30 project getting ZCG CV Axles:
John reports that the axles were easy to install and well-engineered. Thanks John, and nice work!
We are on our 3rd batch of CV Axles, please contact the shop to order your set!
ZCG Big-Brakes
Our ZCG Big Brakes have been winning Z-car enthusiasts locally and across the US. We are super stoked to hear from our friends at JDM Legends installing the brake kit on their customer’s 280z project:
The next run of Big-Brake Kits will be available in 3-4 weeks. We are also working on an installation manual so we can ship this kit worldwide. Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.
The 2019 Coastal Range Rally was held March 15-17 and we had an absolutely blissful driving experience. Hosted by Driving While Awesome, this 3-day event brings together interesting cars and their drivers sharing a common passion for enjoying the best driving roads in California. This year the rally began in Southern California heading back to the Bay Area and we participated with the Z Car Garage 1970 Datsun 240z. Here is our report from the weekend filled with open roads, seemingly endless stretches of curvy mountain passes and good company.
The ZCG Datsun 240z
Rob and I planned to run this event together but he had to race in Spec Miata at Thunderhill. He handed me the keys to “Ms. Butters”, a 1970 Series 240z that has become the shop demo car and I happily obliged. While this S30 deserves its own feature, here are a few details on the build:
Engine: Stroked L-series with triple Mikuni 44 carbs and special cam profile (full spec/dyno soon)
Suspension: Full KW coil-over suspension (ZCG-spec)
Brakes: Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels)
Drivetrain: ZX close ratio 5-speed, Z Car Garage CV Axles, OS Giken 4.11 LSD
Wheels: 16×7 Panasport with 225/50/16 Bridgestone RE71R
Interior: Recaro LXF seats
The Z performed admirably without a single problem over the 1200-mile event. This is a testament to thorough rally-prep (thanks ZCG crew) and the wonderful upgraded suspension/chassis. These modifications offered a great balance of ride compliance and stiffness for the canyons with a seamless transition between rough to smooth surfaces. The ZCG Big-brakes also delivered great feel and zero fade…truly confidence-inspiring. Enjoy this video of Ms. Butters with extended Fujitsubo exhaust footage and hear that L-series sing!
Day 1: Palmdale to Ventura
This year the rally was dubbed CRR “Rewind” as the starting point was in Southern California heading north through the Central Coast. I joined fellow enthusiasts Glenn (R32 Skyline) Naveed (Porsche 911) and Gen (E30 M3) Friday evening to blast down to the starting point in Palmadale, CA. Instead of taking the highway we took an exciting route through HWY 25:
The next morning all rally participants met just outside of Palmdale to grab their swag bags and rally maps. The DWA organizers encouraged us that CRR isn’t a race, and to enjoy the roads at our own pace. I can’t emphasize enough how great this group of folks is. A good portion are 3rd-time CRR rally drivers and the positivity was contagious.
I hopped in the Z and joined Naveed and Gen on this stage towards Agua Dulce. Gen led us on a slight detour through Angeles Crest and it was exhilarating. We stopped at a lookout, realizing our cars represented the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s icons!
Lunch in Agua Dulce and back on the road to Ventura. Mandatory Datsun content: I was happy to see 2 other Z cars (grey is Lloyd’s) and a special ’69 Datsun Roadster (Kevin and Heather). Sporting engine/suspension upgrades this little roadster surprised many with its performance:
Lake Castaic overlook heading westward:
The Ventura hotel parking lot was a car show representing a great feature of CRR: diversity. So many cool cars from all era’s and marques! This was a fun time chatting with fellow rally’ers followed by a DWA hosted dinner:
Day 2: Ventura to Paso Robles
The second day (3/16) was my favorite stage of the rally. Our destination was Paso Robles, with a stop in Taft. I had no idea how breathtaking the scenery would be on this stage as it was filled with Alpine scents, pastures, desolation, oil fields and small sleepy towns. Truly a feast for the senses, and EPIC driving. The kind of driving that makes your arms fatigued!
Through Ojai via HWY 33, in the sky through Frazier Mtn. Park:
Lockwood Rd. had several streams we had to drive through. Ali Javidan took some really cool shots of cars fording through!
After lunch in Taft, Naveed spotted an oil field. Carb’d inline 6, EFI flat 6, and a 2.5L 4-cylinder:
Our next stage was HWY 58 heading to Soda Lake. This stretch of freshly paved road was so much fun that many of us turned around to do it over again! My absolute favorite part of CRR. The Z was such a joy to drive through here:
At the junction of 58/7-mile Rd. was a super bloom. We definitely stopped to take it all in after the brisk drive. Erich in his modified EVO:
Glenn let me drive his R32 to Soda Lake and he took the Z, thanks for the picture Matt!
View from the overlook revealing Soda Lake. It was also reached via an optional dirt Road if you dared!
Don’t let the perspective fool you 🙂
A breather just before reaching our hotel in Paso Robles
It is difficult to describe the driving experience through photos, so please enjoy this video I made of Day 1 and 2 of CRR!
Day 3: Paso Robles to Laguna Seca
I decided to join Glenn and conclude our CRR with a visit to Laguna Seca to see our friends vintage racing. Dave Stone was in his B-Sedan 510 and the entire Racecraft crew was also participating:
It was a beautiful day check out the gallery below for more pictures! Here is a video from ‘Seca:
Thank you DWA!
The Coastal Range Rally was a surreal experience. I am still day dreaming about those incredible roads that we travelled all in one weekend. I’m not alone, as many participants are also suffering through “CRR withdrawals”. See what I mean by all of the #CRRRewind posts on Instagram. The event was that good. Big thanks to the crew at Driving While Awesome and old/new friends met during the rally. We are definitely signing up for the next CRR! Enjoy the picture gallery below and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Neal D brought his 1972 Datsun 240z to Z Car Garage after being restored by a shop in SoCal last summer. He wanted us to get this 918 Orange beauty running correctly and double-check the workmanship performed so we happily obliged.
The Z had several issues that we resolved after a thorough inspection. Starting with the braking system, we corrected and re-routed all hydraulic lines. The front and rear circuits were swapped on the brake master cylinder, we corrected this as well. The pin from the brake booster to the M/C was adjusted to enable a good initial “bite” from the pedal. Our usual ZCG brake services included Stoptech 309 pads. Finally, we bled the system and adjusted the rear brakes correctly.
The transmission had to be removed to correct issues in the clutch area. We found stripped bolts, a mis-adjusted clutch pedal, and incorrect T/O bearing collar hardware:
Moving down the drivetrain, we found and corrected improper hardware on the half shafts:
We nut/bolted the entire car, correcting all suspension issues like improperly lubed bushings. More detail work: the wiper system beneath the cowl was setup incorrectly being 180 degrees out.
A critical part was missing from the fuel system: the vapor tank. We removed the fuel tank and replaced all vapor lines with our ZCG aftermarket hose kit:
The missing vapor tank was re-installed and the entire system was smoke tested to confirm proper sealing. A full fuel tank was also included in our testing:
Neal wanted the car back on the road in top driving condition. We installed an O2 bung into the exhaust and street tuned the Z after adding a Pertronix ignition. The Z was dialed-in and ready to rock:
Neal has owned this Z for many years but also loves his Porsche 911. When we met at Rennsport we gave each other that look: P-car or Z-car we both Enjoy The Ride! Thanks for bringing your Z to us!
