Z Car Garage is excited to go vintage racing two weekends in a row! On April 21-24, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) will host the Trans Am SpeedFest at Laguna Seca. On April 28 to May 1, SVRA will host the Sonoma Speed Tour at Sonoma Raceway.
Details for the Trans Am SpeedFest at Laguna Seca are HERE.
Details for the Sonoma SpeedTour at Sonoma Raceway are HERE.
Z Car Garage Racers
Z Car Garage will be racing and supporting several client cars at both events:
Kelvin’ Datsun 510
Gabe’s Datsun 510
Ed’s Ex-Walt Mass 1965 Porsche 911
Rob Fuller in the Bay Area Datsun Dealers Datsun 510
Racing into 2022!
Z Car Garage is amped for this year’s race season. Here is list of events we will be attending. Please join us!
April
4/1-3 Sonoma with CSRG (Finished, report soon!)
4/21-24 Laguna with SVRA
4/28-5/2 Sonoma with SVRA
May
5/21-22 Laps for Laguna with CSRG
August
8/13-14 Laguna with HSR Pre Reunion ( NOT CONFIRMED)
Filed under: Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 6:37 pm on June 1, 2021
Twenty years in the waiting, but the Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is returning to Laguna Seca this weekend, June 5-6! They are hosting a (FREE) car corral in the paddock of Laguna Seca with a limited number (30) of parking spots available for your vintage car. This event is not open to the general public, only parking corral participants! To get your car corral parking spot please contact Geoff at CSRG: race.director@csrgweb.org
Get ready for some B-Sedan Racing action!
Here is a map of the paddock with car corral parking area and race schedule. You will need to fill out the following form HERE
This info will be provided to Laguna Seca for use on the gate list. NOTE: One driver and one passenger per car, masks on, and no pets please. This is all part of Laguna’s COVID-19 protocols.
Z Car Garage will be racing and supporting our clients. Rob Fuller, Kelvin and Tom will be racing their Datsun 510s in Group 9:
Rob will also be racing the #49 Mazda Miata in Group 8:
Z Car Garage wishes you a Happy 5/10 Day and Happy Mother’s Day! We enjoyed driving our 1971 Datsun 510s on a beautiful day in San Jose. Turbo6, our 80’s revival, is back on the road and running great with its turbocharged 6-cylinder L-series. Look for a full report soon:
Rob was in the SR20DET-powered 510:
Enjoy The Boost in this video of the 510s in action. You can also see more on our Instagram story. We hope you can Do It In A Datsun today too!
Matt A bought his first Datsun 510 at the age of 14 and he’s been hooked ever since. Having owned around ten 510s in various stages since he was a teenager it’s safe to say Matt is a die-hard Datsun enthusiast. We’ve known him from the days of the famous All-Datsun Meet at Mt. Shasta (over a decade ago) and now he’s got this beautiful 510 that we are really impressed with.
Matt visited Z Car Garage earlier this week to dyno his KA24-powered Dime. Before we show you the results let’s take a brief look at the car’s interesting history. In 2010 Matt purchased the 510 from Marty Smith (of 510garage.com fame) and it was a nice shade of teal. Matt loved the car but couldn’t get the Rebello 2150cc and Mikuni’s to run at their best.
Wanting all the benefits of a modern driveline Matt decided to swap in a KA24DE and go through the entire car from paint/body to chassis/interior. The car was completely re-wired with a new fuse block and the KA was rebuilt before installation. Matt finished the interior himself and he is now going through the suspension and brakes to freshen things up. Car has a few goodies like coil-overs on all four corners, full cage, 4:11 LSD with CV axles, and Wilwood brakes.
Here is the Dime on our dyno followed by a short video:
The stock KA with intake/exhaust/header made great power! 156hp/162tq to the wheels with over 140tq from 2500 to 6000rpm:
We wonder how much power could be gained from a tune as the KA runs a bone stock ECU. Matt is on the fence about leaving it NA or going turbo. Either way but we look forward to seeing his 510 again soon. Enjoy The Ride Matt and thanks for making our day!
We love the Datsun 510. We also want to see these cars driven and road-worthy instead of sitting. Earlier this year Rob got in touch with a friend from Georgia to help keep this yellow 4-door Dime from a rusty, idle future. Almost two decades ago Rob and Steve met for the first time under true, Datsun-geek circumstances…Steve was driving the 510 in traffic when Rob spotted him while moving in the opposite direction. Rob stepped out of his car and ran all they way back to catch Steve and introduce himself as a fellow Datsun fan, thus beginning their friendship.
When Steve purchased this car in the early 90’s it had already been setup for autocross duty with Carrera coil-overs and a roll-cage. Steve even muscled a rear seat in between the roll bar so his kids could enjoy the ride with him. At one point in time Steve scored a set of Mikuni carbs from Rob which are still on the car to this day! This Datsun has got character.
Steve enjoyed the 510 for many years and it was a big part of his life. Unfortunately it had been sitting for awhile and he decided to pass the car on his brother-in-law Jonathan who then sold it to Rob as its next steward. I joined Rob the day the 510 arrived to ZCG from Georgia via transport. The little Dime fired right up though it was smoking heavily. The head was pulled:
The stock bottom end was left alone but it was time to send the head to Rebello to work their magic!
Before/after:
Port/polish with fresh valvetrain:
With the Rebello head, dual Mikunis and 91 octane the L20b made an impressive 147hp/130tq to the wheels. Over 100tq from 3k to 7krpm. Great, NA L-series power:
I drove the 510 with it’s freshened motor and I was amazed at the power delivery. It rips, listen to this video clip:
The car is an absolute blast to drive. It can be chucked into corners and there is plenty of power to leave a grin on your face. The suspension is really the highlight of the car but now has an engine to match it!
Since the foundation and history of the car is so great we didn’t do anything radical. Rob’s plans are to make the car comfortable enough for daily driving yet capable and fun at open track events. The extensive roll cage wrapped in hot pink nerf padding had to go as it was intrusive. Nissan 350z seats on factory rails are a welcome addition to the interior with the cage removed:
Crystal-clear outward visibility courtesy of a new windshield. She is now sporting 14 x 6 Panasports (+15mm) from the ZCG Datsun 2000. We like the look compared to the Italian 15s:
What’s next? A factory tach install, minor cosmetic restoration and some wiring cleanup. The car is sweet. Yellow 510 just got a new exhaust system and Porterfield R4S pads to do a track day at Laguna Seca. Thank you Steve for keeping the 510 in the family!
