We always appreciate seeing our customer cars in the media. Recently Speedhunters had a “carbs only” theme for January and featured cars/engine bays with everyone’s favorite vintage mechanical car part. In their latest installment of the carb theme they featured our very own Lou S’ RHD S30 engine bay showing off its tantalizing triple-Weber carbs. Check out the Speedhunters article here.

 

Stay tuned for an update on Lou’s Fairlady as it now sports a late-model(240sx) 5-speed transmission and lower gears for brisk acceleration.

 

Here’s a short teaser video of the 300hp Rebello L-series stroker in action. Enjoy the carburetor sounds!

 

We are pleased report another Z Car Blog success story!  Anthony K recently acquired this Datsun 240z that we built and featured in our FOR SALE section. This powerful, tastefully modified S30 was seller Scott W’s creation and it was well-received by viewers. A day after we posted it for sale on the blog it was featured by our friends over at Bring A Trailer!

  

Here is proud new owner Anthony K sharing his journey from picking up the Z in San Francisco and driving it all the way home to Vancouver, B.C. Thank you for these beautiful pictures and Enjoy The Ride!

This is my first Z. In fact it’s my first “second” car solely for pleasure driving. I used to ride sport bikes (most recently a yellow Ducati 748) until a near fatal accident. I’m lucky to be alive. I figured some steel around me was in order, so I wanted to get a car with a “pure” driving experience, without much of the insulation, refinement and weight that come with modern cars. Then I came across this great video on Petrolicious.com. I had somehow completely forgotten how much I like the original 240Z. The styling takes so many cues from the Ferrari 275GTB and Daytona, two cars I think are among the most beautiful ever made. Everything clicked. I wanted a beautiful, classic driving car with good power, great sound, and (relative) reliability. The original 240Z with a Rebello engine fit the bill. I started my search.

 

I searched craigslist along the West Coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, as well as ebay motors for a finished car with a Rebello engine. As you know, they’re hard to find. I found Scott W’s Z on craigslist and the Z Car Blog. He is a class act and was very helpful throughout the entire purchase process. Together with the detailed photos of all the work done on the car by you on the Z Car Blog, it was easy to learn everything I needed to know about the car.

My wife and I drove from San Francisco to Vancouver BC over about 5 days. We don’t have a car in San Francisco, so Scott very generously drove the car from Cupertino to San Francisco on Tuesday for the sale. We talked a while, and it was very clear how much he was going to miss the car he spent so much time making his own. It’s nice to purchase a vehicle that’s very personal to someone because of the care that went into it.

 

We drove up to Sonoma county and spent Wednesday to Friday afternoon wine tasting in Glen Ellen/Sonoma. That period was the test drive for my wife.  I’m sure my driving would have been more spirited without her, but taking such a great trip along the beautiful Pacific Coast was so much better with her as my companion.

 

We headed to the coast late Friday afternoon and drove up to Mendocino, where we ate a great dinner and spent the night. That first day of driving was just awesome: endless 2nd and 3rd gear turns, sweepers and bends from Sonoma, over the hills to Gualala and up the windy coast to Mendocino. That’s where I became addicted to the Z’s great handling, power and raw, intoxicating sound.

 

Monday morning, we did some shopping in town and then drove West to the nearby Willamette Valley wine country. It was mid afternoon by the time we finished wine tasting and figured it would be dark by the time we hit the still foggy and rainy coast. At that point, we would either stay in Salem or Portland for another night so we could head to the coast the next day and enjoy the drive, or just hit I5 and plow through.  We fueled up at Stumptown Coffee, my favorite coffee shop in Portland, and kept going till we hit the border. Droning along the highway isn’t the Z’s natural habitat, but we steadily made our way back to Vancouver by ~1am Tuesday morning.

 

We’re both grateful for the awesome, fun, safe, and mechanically event-free road trip. Special thanks to Scott W and Rob and crew at the Z Car Garage for the great work, turning an already great car into an awesome one. Looking forward to making the trip back down to San Francisco. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to Google “best roads around Vancouver.”

We had a tremendous week racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 14-17.  More commonly known as the “historics” at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this epic vintage race is part of several events occupying the week-long Monterey car festival leading up to the Pebble Beach Concours.  Our friends over at JNC were lucky to experience the Pebble Beach scene in all its opulence and excitement. From the multi-million dollar auctions and surprising Japanese classic entrants check out their coverage HERE.

If it’s the smell of 110 octane, straight-piped exhausts and wheel-to-wheel action you desire than look no further than the historics. Typically I would cover this event from a spectator’s point of view. This year, I was fortunate to be part of the Z Car Garage race crew and bring you, dear readers, a perspective from the pits as a first time participant.

 

Joel Anderson and Restoration of the #49 IMSA Z

Z Car Garage was thrilled to team up with original owner, builder and driver Joel Anderson to bring the IMSA Z back to life after being stored for 25 years.  Restored to late-70’s spec as it was raced, this IMSA GTU-prepped Z does not have new “trick” parts.  Parts from Joel’s collection were re-used and common wear items were refreshed. Below:  Original race seat and MOMO Prototipo steering wheel. Original suspension parts were plated.

 

Our man William applied Joel’s bespoke striping:

 

More detailed restoration photos and our full interview with Joel can be found HERE. We were very pleased with the engine bay…plenty of Joel’s engineering remains intact:

 

We applied the vinyl livery, took a step back and pinched ourselves…are we still dreaming?

 

With all of the vitals checked, #49 rests before heading to Laguna Seca on the original trailer Joel used decades ago at Road Atlanta:

 

Racing at Laguna Seca

For the Friday practice session we drove the ZCG Datsun 2000 to Laguna Seca and parked alongside some fellow roadsters owners in the paddock. Arriving at  ‘Seca early morning with the track enshrouded in fog is surreal.  Despite the moisture and most high-dollar machinery still under car covers, a few brave souls were on course for their practice sessions.
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You might remember this stunning S30 we featured a few years ago on our For Sale page that later made its way to our friends at Bring A Trailer. The metallic green color, tan interior and Appliance mesh wheels really give the car an irresistible 70’s vibe.

Several years ago we worked on the Z with previous owner Zack L prior to its sale. You can imagine how happy we were when new owner David J brought “THE 73 Z”  back to ZCG recently. It was running rough and David also wanted to tidy up the engine bay as well as a few other items. While sorting the driveability issues we found the crank pulley dampener was slipping making it hard to set timing. A new factory piece was installed:

  

The carbs were gone through and dialed in. A full tune-up was performed including NOS OEM spark plug cables and intake/exhaust manifold gaskets. This Z is so gorgeous on the outside that we wanted to make it just as nice once the hood is opened. The engine bay was treated to full powdercoating and zinc plating services, new clutch hydraulics and a refreshed radiator.

 

Here is a look before and after…an engine bay worthy of its shiny exterior!

 

We replaced the factory exhaust manifold with an MSA ceramic-coated header followed by our ZCG custom 2.5″ exhaust system with stainless resonator and slash tip:

 

Old twice-pipe setup:

 

Our ZCG upgraded door seals were installed and door fitment sorted to eliminate that “tinny” sound S30 owners commonly experience:

 

The fuel recovery system needed attention so hoses were replaced and tidied up:

 

Wheels undoubtedly make or break a car’s aesthetics. The dealer-optioned Appliance wheels originally fitted definitely look just right and maintain that vintage feel. David chose a set of Rota RB wheels to add a little modern flair and more rubber to the road:

 

With a freshened engine bay and new shoes David showed the ’73 Z at the Brisbane car show:

We loved working on your Z so thank you David for coming back to ZCG!

Check the gallery for more pictures!
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We enjoyed driving our Datsuns to the 2012 Japanese Classic Car Show despite blistering 100+ degree weather. This year we flew down to Long Beach to visit the 2013 JCCS near the Queen Mary.

The show started in 2005 with a modest following and over the years spectators have flocked in crazy numbers; this year was no exception and the crowds were a bit overwhelming at times.  We did appreciate the JCCS crew’s new, efficient ticket/entry setup! Weather was beautiful with an incredible array of J-tin from time-capsule survivors to wildly modified restorations.   So let’s get to the stars of the show….

Datsuns were well represented though scattered throughout the main grass and parking lot areas. I love seeing fresh cars as well as familiar faces.  This VG30 510 caught my eye with it’s clean aesthetic and sanitary engine bay:

Who can miss the die-hard Datsun Roadster owners and their beloved open-top sports cars! The SoCal Roadster Owners club lined up their cars with bone stock and modified examples. These guys drive their cars. Mike A has accumulated almost 40k miles in the last year with his S14 SR20-swapped 1968 SPL:

This red late-model roadster had a molded front end, flared bodywork and an interesting dash setup:

If you are a fan of S30s and Z-cars in general JCCS had almost every classic generation displayed.

There were several RB-powered Zs but this triple-Weber carb’d L-series was pretty:

Vintage Skylines abound! JDM Legends built this Prince Motor Company Skyline in race livery:

 Beautiful red Hakosuka,  KenMeri, GC10 and DR30 Skylines:

Z31 300zx’s made a strong showing and my favorite was this Shiro edition on DSM wheels(left).  S12 chassis cars also caught my eye especially this clean RB26DETT-powered hatch:

Datsun trucks might have been the most numerous with tasteful resto-mods and zany creations. I thought this little F20c-powered pickup was over the top until I realized it was also boosted!

Two of my favorite wagons, both sporting SR20DET powerplants but totally different build themes:

Datsun 1200s, Sunny’s and even a few large bumper GXs:

Every year I look forward to seeing JDM wheels both old-school and reproduction. I dub this JCCS as Year of the Mesh! Deep-dish or multi-piece the mesh style was in full-effect from SSR, Epsilon, Bahn, Volk, Work and others:

I spotted these ultra-rare Impul Hoshinos and Riverside Riverge wheels….ps those are replicas on the right, gotcha!

Toyota has always been a huge corporate presence followed by Mazda, and this year Honda even displayed their own rare vehicles. So you’ve probably heard about Nissan celebrating 80 years…why not display the collection at largest gathering on the West Coast? NISSAN are you listening?

Not one but THREE Toyota 2000GT sports cars were displayed, even a LHD model!

One of the craziest Toyota was Scott Kanemura‘s Toyota Hilux. Huge Project Mu brakes, VOLK TE37vs, Stack instruments, and the mighty  2JZ-GTE make this one insane truck:

There were so many cool Toyota Celicas, Starlets and Corollas to list! This TRD widebody Starlet was a very impressive build with 275-width Hoosiers!

Wild engine swapped Corollas? Check! AE86 with turbo F20C and a late ‘rolla with an LS1!

Sinister Crown(with “Yakooza” plates) and one of several Land Cruiser pickups. Many more Toyotas in the gallery!

Rotary fans unite as the RX posse had the largest showing of old-school cars I’ve ever see in one place. This year there were FC Rx-7s and even more stunning examples of first gen FBs…

Honda proudly displayed their own collection of rare cars like a Mugen CRX. Almost ten N600s were lined up against the pretty blue water.

This year late model Hondas(read Accords) were displayed. I’m a huge fan of the 1st through 3rd gen Civics, even EF-era and I’m all for showing off neat, tidy builds with personal touches.  Some of these cars looked simply unkempt and boring. That aside here were my favorites:

Spoon 3rd gen, Bisimoto’s EF wagon, and one of many ultra-clean CRXs:

My favorite car at the show was Garm B’s Subaru 360 microvan. Besides its tiny stature the van is packed full of details!

JCCS wouldn’t be complete without those stickers and vanity plates:

Let’s not forget to give respect to those parking lot warriors who made it down to the show in style. There were some real gems to be found outside of the show like this Dodge Colt and Toyota Corona sedan with a perfect stance:

Thanks to the JCCS organizers for hosting another fun event. It will be interesting to see what next year’s show offers J-tin lovers young and old!
Lots of pictures in the gallery below so don’t forget to click after the jump!
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