Z Car Garage prepared and supported many race cars for last year’s Rolex Reunion and this year we are excited to attend once again August 15-18! The crew has been working diligently to prepare and tune three vintage race cars: Alex McDowell’s 1967 Datsun Bluebird and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald 280zx, and Doug Steven’s 1975 DeKon Monza. The team will be at the Pre-Historics this weekend so stop by and say hello! Read on to see and hear the three racers being dyno-tuned…

 

1975 DeKon Monza

This is a formidable vintage race car that we will be spotlighting in its own blog post. It is the second of its kind (Chassis #1002) with a unique history that is perfect for the IMSA feature at the upcoming Historics. For more information on DeKon, go here.

 

 

Listen to the Chevy-powered Monza on the dyno in the video below. Also shown is the Bluebird making L-Series music and the 280zx:

 

 

1967 Datsun Bluebird

Alex McDowell will be racing his 1967 Datsun Bluebird Coupe and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald Datsun 280zx at the RMMR.

 

Re-cap of these two in action from the 2018 event below:

 

Alex raced with notable 510 drivers Troy Ermish (#9), Jim Froula(#52), Dave Stone(#93), Glenn Chiou(#21), Taz Harvey (#51) and Datsun Roadsters Mike Anderson (#38) and Steve Link (#23). Watch this extended in-car video below of Alex piloting the Bluebird. Alex finished the race 12th/50 cars with a best lap of 1:48.1. Lots of action in this one!

 

 

 

Alex’s Datsun 280zx

 

Alex ran the Jim Fitzgerald 280zx in Group 7B: IMSA GTO, GTU with some wild rotary and Trans Am cars. He was having too much fun in the Bluebird so did run the car in the final race. The Z ran well throughout the Pre-Reunion and qualifying where Alex was running 1:44s. Here is a short video of the Z in action:

 

 

Get your tickets and parking!

You can get discounted tickets AND preferred parking through The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC). They are hosting a Nissan-only parking corral at Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway and it’s the best way to park and enjoy the event. For more details please see the ZONC press release below.

Datsun and Nissan Revisit IMSA at 2019 RMMR
By Ann Devor

Following on the heels of last year’s fantastic Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, twelve Datsuns and Nissans have been chosen to compete in three races in 2019’s RMMR at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. The 2019 RMMR is celebrating IMSA and will feature three classes of IMSA racecars over the four-day weekend from August 15 through August 18. David Martin’s 240Z, Alex McDowell’s 280ZX and Rob Morgan’s 280ZX will be racing on Saturday August 17 in Race 5A (1973-1981 IMSA, GT, GTX class). Almost equally exciting will be the IMSA prototype Race 7A on Saturday where you will see advanced racing performance and styling not seen in the production-based cars.

On Sunday in Race 6B (1981-1991 IMSA GTO/GTU racecars), Craig Bennett will drive a 1991 300ZX competing against John Murray in a 1989 Nissan 240SX, Philip Mendelovitz in a 1989 240SX and Michael Parsons in his 1990 300ZX. We’ll also see Datsun roadsters on Sunday in non-IMSA Race 5B featuring 1961-1966 GT cars under 2500cc including Alex McDowell’s 1967 Bluebird, Phillip Mendelovitz’ 1967 311 Roadster, Ross Merrill in his 1966 Fairlady Roadster and Steve Smargiasso in a 1966 Datsun 311 Roadster.

Here’s what we have planned so far exclusively for Datsun and Nissan fans:

• We have a private corral with 20 reserved paved parking spaces. Datsun-Nissan race fans who wish to park in our Datsun-Nissan special parking area must purchase their corral passes and admission tickets only from ZONC. If we sell out our 20 corral spaces we will try to get more, but there is no guarantee. Corral passes ($45) are good for the entire 4-day weekend.
• ZONC is again offering a discount on admission tickets.

Individual Ticket Pricing	Regular Price	ZONC Discounted Price
4-Day (Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun)	$170	$145
3-Day (Fri/Sat/Sun)	$150	$130
2-Day (Sat/Sun)	$120	$105
Thursday only	$ 40	$ 35
Friday only	$ 70	$ 60
Saturday only	$100	$ 85
Sunday only	$ 70	$ 60

 

For more information or to be added to our special mailing list for updated information, please contact me at anndevor@gmail.com. Don’t hesitate, don’t be late, and get ready to have a great time at the 2019 RMMR!

 

We are super excited to see Alex McDowell’s Hakosuka Skyline featured on the cover of the upcoming May issue of Classic Motorsports Magazine. The article discusses the changing face of vintage racing (Japanese cars joining) and where the sport is headed:

  

This C10 Skyline was built by our friend Jim Froula of Racecraft, and Alex acquired it several years ago. Z Car Garage has prepared and supported Alex’s race efforts with the Hako and it has been an awesome experience. Two very memorable racing events were the The Mitty and Historics at Laguna Seca last year. Check out our reports below:

RMMR
The Mitty

  

Enjoy some video of the the Hako in action with Alex behind the wheel!

 

 

 

 

Matt O is the lucky owner of this 1991 Skyline GTR finished in (TH1) Midnight Blue Pearl.  When we first met he wanted to bring the car in to ZCG for a quick checkup. We looked over it, ran a compression check and also made a plan for his next visit.

 

Matt acquired this California-legal R32 from our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers. It goes without saying, if you are in the market for a vintage Skyline (or any JDM car) IVI is the place to go.

   

In March of last year Matt came in for a Haltech Platinum Pro. We have installed many of these and it’s a great foundation for adding power to the R32.

 

We performed all the prep work and ran a the boost sensor to install the Haltech.  Whenever we take on these cars we always run a smoke test to ensure there are no intake leaks present.

  

On the dyno, results for the baseline run (left) followed by Haltech on 91 octane. Despite having a healthy engine/turbos the power levels were fairly low on this car. The culprit: weak actuators not allowing the car to hold boost. Matt will visit us again for new turbos and acuators so it will get a big jump in power. We are big fans of Haltech and now he’s prepared with the right engine management system.

  

Next, we installed a few suspension upgrades supplied by Matt followed by a full alignment:

 

Cusco T/C rods, rack bushings and toe-link/rear control arm setup:

    

T/C rods

   

The R32 had a set of SSR SP1 wheels and Matt wanted to change the look with a fresh set of new wheels: 18″ Volk TE37 finished in bronze.

  

We mounted/balanced his RE071R tires and the Skyline looks sweet:

Matt has been Enjoying The Ride in the R32. Here he is at Laguna Seca:

  

We even caught Matt out on a local drive! Here he is parked next to Naveed’s R32 (story coming soon):

 

Thanks for bringing your Skyline to us Matt. We look forward to more boost! Catch more of Matt’s Th1 R32 on his Instagram

 

We are extremely happy for our friend and fellow Datsun enthusiast Tom D and his newly acquired B-sedan Datsun 510. This is a historically significant race car built and run originally by Norm Balzer.  Here it is at Road Atlanta in 1977:

 

Tom brought the 510 to Z Car Garage to have it prepared for the upcoming race season:

“I bought the car rough three years ago from Steve Link with the help of Dave Stone. Since then I exchanged information with MaryLee Balzer (the original builder and owner’s widow) and Jon Koobation, the last guy to campaign the car. Both kept all the records and materials associated with the car.  They graciously gave me all of it, even Norm’s race jacket (so cool). My plans are (with Rob and ZCG support) to get the car track ready.  The car will be campaigned with its original livery and as much of the original equipment as possible, including the FIA prepped L18.”

 

 
The car was wildly successful on the West Coast.  Many, including Larry Oka referred to the car as the “other BRE car” since it was built with the help of Mac Tilton and hardware from the BRE garage as the Trans Am series ramped down.  Tom plans to run several events this year including CSRG April at Infineon Raceway, The HSMA Festival of Speed in Late May,  The Rolex in August and the CSRG Charity Event in October. We are currently breaking the car down for race prep. It is shockingly original and a treat to see!

 

 

Enjoy that twin-Mikuni carb’d L-series sing!

A Rich Racing History

Purchased from a local Datsun dealer in 1971 for a one dollar, Norm Balzer took this Datsun 510 which was damaged in shipping straight to the garage to create one of the most successful B Sedan race cars on the West Coast.  With help from Mac Tilton, many parts were sourced from the BRE garage.  Norm raced the car from in B Sedan from 1973 until 1979 and then later as a GT2 entry in 1980.

Willow Springs 1976 and RA in 1979:

  

Jon competed with the 510 in GT2, GT3 and IMSA/GTU Special Group 2 from 1981 to 1992, amassing a number of first place finishes including a win in IMSA SP2 at Laguna Seca in May of 1983. Together Norm and Jon took this Datsun 510 to the podium forty times with thirteen first place finishes and six Southern Pacific Division Championships. Overall they competed in eighty-six races between 1973 and 1992.

 

 

Stay tuned for an in-depth look at this historical Datsun race car!

 

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS From Z Car Garage***

 

One of the real joys this holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you and wish you the very best for the new year. From all of us at Z Car Garage we thank our friends, family and customers again for another exciting and productive year! Please note our holiday closure below:

 

ZCG will be closed from 12/21 to New Year’s Day. We will re-open for business on  1/2/19

 

 

Before we take a look back at highlights from 2018, check out a few of the many customer projects coming along at the shop including full restorations

Scott W’s 260z was completed in summer. This Z has a complete color change, ZCG Big-Brakes and a sweet 3.2L with Jenvey ITB fuel injection. Full report in the New Year!

 

Several cars delivered before the holidays will get full reports soon: Cece’s 1977 Datsun 280z, Patrick’sZ32TT and Jay’s Z32TT

  

 

Highlights from 2018

Enjoy these highlights from 2018 and  Z you in the New Year!

The Bring a Trailer Datsun 240z

Jalopnik Visits Z Car Garage to Talk Nissans

ZCG Goes to SEMA

Great Drives: Mt.Umunhum to Alice’s

James’ Turbo 240z on Speedhunters

Japanese Classic Car Show

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion

The ZONC Nissan Show

The Mitty

Courtney’s Datsun 240z

Thanks to Nick L for reminding us of this awesome Nissan commercial, Enjoy The Ride!