Shop Talk for
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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!
Our customer Randy Jaffe’s 1970 Datsun 240Z is featured on the latest episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen. Rob Fuller and Larry discuss this historically significant, record-setting Z and take it for a spin. Enjoy!
Stay tuned for a full zcarblog.com feature where we will take a closer look at our revival of this wild race car.
LONG LIVE THE Z!
On Saturday I joined six other cars for a morning cruise through the Santa Cruz Mountains. The two S30 Z cars with us were running our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!
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:
“The most important aspect to me when it comes to braking on a street driven car is feel. Yes, stopping power is extremely important, but also is not that difficult to achieve on an early Z car that is naturally light to begin with. Feel, however, is something that has always managed to escape me and the ZCG brakes deliver. WOW, what a difference. The feel, modulation, power, sharpness was amazing. Hands down the best brakes I had ever driven on a Z car”
This is a direct result of working with engineers at Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel (and some 14″ wheels) and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few pictures of the Big-Brakes being installed on Glenn’s Z:
Glenn was having fun on the twistys on our cruise (see video below). Learn more about his Z in this Petrolicious video.
James is running our ZCG BBK (1st gen, 328mm) and Z Car Garage CV Axles in his turbocharged L-Series beast:
You can learn more about this 560whp Z on Speedhunters and see it in action on Hoonigan Autofocus. James also had a blast on our Saturday cruise:
We started our drive in Downtown Saratoga and made it to the coast via Bear Creek and Bonny Doon Rd. Here is a short video:
We were happy to enjoy the company of cool cars and cool folks, also joining us:
We’ve known Dustin and Courtney for many years. Dustin’s 510 4-door runs a KA24DE and sweet Longchamp XR-4 wheels. The side exit exhaust is loud!
Tony has had this RX-2 for many years. In addition to the full restoration it now has a full (S5) 13B drivetrain with a Ford 9″ rear end! It is mint. I haven’t seen Tony in many years so it was a joy to have him along:
Lloyd has a very cool collection of cars and this AE86 is the latest. Although it sports an F20C drivetrain (Lloyd promised me it’s not the same car as this one), it has numerous upgrades for a better drive. Gotta love TE37s:
Geoff’s no stranger to our Bay Area cruises and also owns a Lotus 7. He was the only German this time with his BMW 2002 on rare Campagnolo wheels:
I drove my SR-powered ‘67.5 Datsun Roadster and it was a great way to spend the morning.
Yes, that’s a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso flying by on HWY 1!
More pictures in the gallery below!
…[read more]
Affectionately called “Triple Six”, the Z arrived at our shop from the East Coast via Masney Auto Transport (Thanks David). David had not seen the Z in person yet since purchasing and it needed some attention, Z Car Garage style.
The car was not running upon arrival and Rob had many suggestions after the initial assessment. From David:
“When Rob called to tell me that my car had made it there I said ‘Ok great. Can I tell you what I want done?’ to which Rob replied ‘Nope’. He said ‘I want you to come down here, drive my car and then say to me, OK I want you to do to my car whatever it was that you did to yours’, and after driving his car I did say those exact words.”
Indeed, we had David test drive “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car with full suspension and our ZCG Big-Brakes:
“I drove Rob’s unassuming, Safari Gold 240Z, that he appropriately named Butters, and God damn was it fun! I was surprised when he told me it had 275 horsepower, not a small number for a car that’s so small and light, its just that it felt much more powerful than I ever thought a sub 300 hp car could feel.”
As fellow S30 owner/racer Glenn C mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with engineers at Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel (and some 14″ wheels) and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few details below:
Calipers: Stoptech ST42 4-piston front & rear race calipers (Alum 6061 mil-spec Type III anodized)
Rotors: 280mm x 20.6 with Alum 7075 hats
Pads: Stoptech 309 sport street pads
Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.
A few closer detail shots of the calipers, rotors and hardware:
We removed David’s brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit. Up front:
At the rear, the aftermarket disc setup was replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes:
Complementing the new brakes on David’s Z are Panasport wheels! We replaced the generic aftermarket wheels with 16×7 Panasports and Bridegstone S007a tires in 225/50/16.
The new brakes fit nicely behind the new Panasports: We dialed in the spring set on the coil-overs and adjusted them for the best ride quality.
Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. We have over 100 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
David received axle set #324. Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units shown below with more pictures in the gallery:
To ensure that David could pick up his Z from us and start Enjoying The Ride immediately, we performed clean-up work on the interior and sorted the turn signals and headlights. Aesthetically he wanted to change a few things like the front end. We installed a Euro front bumper with Josh fabricating some brackets to make this 280Z look great:
David was blown away by the suspension and braking upgrades:
“I was completely convinced that Rob was not only the right one, but probably the only one that could bring my 1975 280Z up to its fullest potential. I say the only one because of the custom built Z car garage suspension and brakes that Rob uses. We agreed on a comprehensive upgrade to my Z that would be completed in two stages. The first stage was completed this past March. The 45 year old suspension was, to say the least, upgraded. Because Rob believes in a holistic approach, the suspension work also included the proper brakes, wheels and tires. All of the components were specifically chosen to work together in order to produce a car that handles phenomenally and almost unbelievably well.”
The triple-Weber L28 simply received an ignition timing set, making 161hp/160tq at the wheels:
Enjoy this dyno video below with sweet L-series music:
David reports that his Z went from junk to handling better than a 911. Here he is (above) Enjoying The Ride on Skyline near Alice’s Restaurant. What’s next for Triple Six? Full engine upgrade!
“The second stage, that we will be starting soon, will be the engine work. The goal is to get 300hp out of the old in-line six. Rob’s love the cars that he works on is evident in the quality of his builds. A true craftsman in every sense of the word.”
We look forward to working with you David, LONG LIVE THE Z!
More pictures in the gallery below:
We met Cece in 2018 when she contacted us for help with her 1977 280z. She had been a customer for many years at ND Autocare and when Joe Chester shutdown…she stopped driving, fearful that having a vintage car meant you were susceptible to breakdowns. With the right combination of parts and experience a 280z can be as reliable as (dare we say) Honda’s of the 80’s. Datsuns just can’t be killed. Cece’s Z was treated to a ZCG-style mechanical restoration including a new drivetrain, engine bay clean-up, total suspension rebuild and more.
She has owned the ’77 Z for 27 years, here is the story behind it:
“I was first introduced to the Z car in 1976 when I was in high school, a friend of mine drove a 1973 240 Z. I always liked cars and found the Z to be unique. In the mid 1980s, a Z car was not in our budget nor was it practical for a family with two young children. In the early 90’s while I was working full time and raising my family, I went back to school and earned my college degree. As a graduation gift to myself, I began my search to purchase a Z car. A friend who was a master technician for Nissan, suggested I look for a 280Z as they were fuel injected and had less problems than some earlier models. In 1993 I found an ad in Auto Trader for a 1977 280Z that was 16 years old, had low mileage ( for a car its age), for sale by the son of the original owner and at a price point I could finally afford. “
The seller gave me all the service records, original bill of sale from the dealer, the original service manual, etc. At least I knew where the car had been and what maintenance had been done on it. I felt fortunate that this car had been well taken care of. In 1999 I had the car painted, got new tires and wheels, replaced the faded interior carpet and had the seats recovered. I drove the car on weekends and tucked it under the car cover in the garage during the week.”
During the last 5 years Cece did not drive the car as much since it was becoming less mechanically reliable. She heard about ZCG through the Z Owners of Northern California Car Club and made an appointment with us in January 2018.
The tired engine was removed and we built an L28 with mild cam and clean-up work on the head.
With the engine/transmission removed we focused our efforts on restoring the engine bay. Everything was zinc plated and powdercoated. New parts included brand new injectors, all new fuel system, hoses, fuel filter and all the drive belts.
All new hydraulic lines, emissions plumbing and more engine bay clean-up:
Intake manifold cleaned up and powdercoated:
An MSA exhaust header was installed:
This was a 4-speed car, so we went ahead and grabbed one of the 5-speeds from Rob’s stash. This low-miles assembly was installed:
Oil pan detail:
With the new engine/transmission and a KOYO race aluminum radiator installed, more detail work was performed:
MAF/hose/hardware detail:
Engine bay restoration, before/after:
Rob dyno tuned the tired L28 and rebuilt engine. Baseline was 118hp/139tq and after tuning the new engine made 146hp/156tq to the wheels:
The goal of this project was to give Cece a Z that she could drive wherever and however she wanted, worry-free. We replaced all of the hydraulics and front/rear suspension assemblies to match the new driveline. All suspension was either zinc’d or powdercoated:
Before/after suspension refresh with T/C rod and steering rack detail:
As fellow S30 owner/racer Glenn C mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few details below:
Calipers: Stoptech ST42 4-piston front & rear race calipers (Alum 6061 mil-spec Type III anodized)
Rotors: 280mm x 20.6 with Alum 7075 hats
Pads: Stoptech 309 sport street pads
Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.
A few closer detail shots of the calipers, rotors and hardware:
We went ahead and got Cece dialed in with the ZCG big-brake kit for small wheels with parking brake and a new brake booster/master cylinder. More pics in the gallery!
Front brake installation:
At the rear, the OEM drums brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality IS retained!
Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. We have over 70 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
Cece received ZCG CV Axle set #255.
Our ZCG Big-Brakes also look great behind Panasport wheels in our offest allowing us to run 225/50/16 tires. We replaced the old-school wheels with 16×7 Panasports and Bridgestone S-04 tires:
We think the wheels are a huge improvement:
Cece was pleased with modifications and repairs:
” After having Rob go thru my car in detail and run a compression test on the engine, he suggested a mechanical restoration of the car, to make it more reliable and so that I would be able to drive it anytime and anywhere I wanted. I brought the car to Rob in July and he transformed my car into a mechanical work of art.”
We sorted a few additional items like repairing a past distributor issue, installing new motor mounts and alternator/starter assemblies. The little things are what we excel at though like a fully restored A/C system retrofitted to R134A (blowing 41 degrees out the vents!), battery cables, a Momo steering wheel and full stereo system:
Enjoy this short video of the Z:
Cece was super stoked on her Z and immediately started driving it everywhere. She was even spotted at Alice’s Restaurant after cruising on the famous twisty Skyline Rd. She also attended the ZONC Annual Nissan/Datsun car show in Brisbane, CA. Here is a message she sent Rob:
“—–Original Message—–
From: Cece B
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2018 3:59 PM
To: rob@zcargarage.com
Subject: Sunday ride – Alice’s RestaurantSteve & I took the Z on a nice long drive today down Highway 1 to Pescadero Road to Highway 84 & 35 to Alice’s Restaurant. The Z did not disappoint. It was an awesome ride & the Z performed excellently hugging the road.“
” Rob is very passionate about what he does and every car has its individual personality. My car turned out amazing! Now I have a vintage Z car that is fully restored and I am able to drive it without worrying about its reliability. From Nissan’s TV ad campaigns from 1996, “Any car can get you where you want to go, a special car can get you there with a smile on your face. Life is a Journey, Enjoy the Ride”. And as for Mr. Rob Fuller of Z Car Garage, he ends every communication he has with you with , “Long Live the Z”. Thanks to Rob and his staff at the Z Car Garage, these iconic Japanese sports cars are able to exist, and their owners are able to continue their journeys and thoroughly enjoy their rides. Long Live the Z!”
We really had a great experience working with Cece. We love that with husband Steve they are one of those couples that have been together for a long time and they’ll be together forever.
LONG LIVE THE Z!
