This 1990 Diamond Black Pearl Z32TT has been maintained and modified by Z Car Garage since acquisition in 2008. With 50k miles, original paint and interior it is ready to be enjoyed.
Performance upgrades include JWT clutch/flywheel, 550cc Nismo injectors, JWT dual intakes, Specialty-Z 3″ down/mid pipes and dyno tuning. Clean interior.
See the full listing on our FOR SALE page. For pricing and more details please contact Rob at the shop: 408-452-0350 or e-mail robATzcargarage.com
We met Bill in 2019 when he came to Z Car Garage on referral from our local Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) club. He’s owned this pretty 1973 Datsun 240Z in Brown Metallic (code 114) for many years and had a list of small things that he always wanted to address. Before we cover the cosmetic and mechanical work we performed let’s hear how Bill got into Z cars…
Bill’s Z Story
“When I was about 10, my sister and her husband bought a 1979 280ZX. (They still have it but it currently doesn’t run.) I loved it. I always wanted a Jaguar E type and the Z has a similar shape. As soon as I could afford one, I got a used 1977 280Z and drove it to almost 400,000 miles when I finally wrecked it. I went a couple of months without a Z when a friend told me about a 240 he saw for sale. The owner was a teacher and so am I so of the 3 bidders I got it.”
“Then a few years later I went into administration and with the raise I thought it would be fun to have a new Z to go with the 240 so I ended up buying a 2008 350Z. I have had two Zs ever since. The 350 is definitely more capable and is very fun to drive, but I still think the 240 looks better. A really fun part of owning the 240 is taking it to car shows. I get a lot of people saying things like, “I owned a car just like this.” It seems to bring back a lot of memories for many people. Everybody loves the Z!”
Keeping Bill On The Road
When Bill came to Z Car Garage in 2019 we re-chromed his rear bumper, zinc plated various hardware, removed smog equipment and cleaned up the engine bay. A failing oil spray bar was replaced and we added ZCG exhaust, header and Z Therapy carb set.
Re-chromed rear bumper:
Zinc’d hardware:
New exhaust header and SU carb set from Therapy:
In 2022 we did more work to Bill’s awesome ’73. We replaced the radiator with a Koyo race unit, installed a Rebello street cam, adjustable T/C rods from T3 followed by alignment services in-house. We also replaced the speedometer seal rings and oil pan gasket. More detailed photos in the gallery below!
New camshaft installation:
Adjustable T/C rod before/after:
Koyo Race radiator before/after:
Dyno Tuning
On the dyno the L24 made 137hp/138tq to the wheels:
Enjoy the dyno video!
Details
We took care of a few more items like weatherstripping and added a set of Holley retro headlights:
Enjoy The Ride
We have been taking care of Bill’s 240Z and enjoy working with him:
“ZCG does the highest quality work. They are very knowledgeable, honest and you can tell they really love Zs. It’s like they are working on their own car when they look at a customer’s car! It really feels like a new car. It needed a camshaft and some other parts and they did it perfectly. I love driving that car!”
We also take care of Bill’s 2008 Nissan 350Z convertible, to be featured on zcarblog.com soon!
What’s in store Bill’s 240Z? He’s always wanted a rally clock since seeing one at a car show 10+ years ago. Also in the near future he wants to do a drum brakes to disc brakes conversion. Keep Enjoying the Ride Bill, thanks for your support and Long Live The Z!
Jaime is performing a full restoration of his beloved 1972 Datsun 240z, now in color 920 Safari Gold with a host chassis and drivetrain upgrades. We are happy to report that his Z Car Garage Big Brakes fit nicely behind the rare, sand-cast Gotti wheels from Racing Service Watanabe. These are 15×8 and 15×9:
Big-Brake Kits Available For DIY Install!
Z Car Garage is proud to offer our Big-Brake Kit to Z-Car owners that want to perform the installation themselves. We can ship worldwide and each kit contains everything needed with a comprehensive (40-page) installation guide. Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE. Let’s take a closer look at Jaime’s beautiful S30 and his ZCG Big-Brake installation:
As mentioned, our ZCG Big-Brake kit ships with everything needed to install and retains the factory parking brake:
See more about his Z in our feature on zcarblog.com HERE and follow Jaime on his Instagram page to see his attention to detail. Thanks for your support Jaime!
Filed under: Performance,Q50,Q60
by Alvin G @ 8:50 pm on November 6, 2023
John E came to Z Car Garage through a dealership connection at Dublin Infiniti. He purchased this Q50S Red Sport in 2019 with 46k miles on the odometer and it was time for bolt-on performance upgrades with dyno tuning.
We installed several parts from AMS Performance including their AMS Heat Exchanger, AMS Coolant expansion tank. Helping the VR30DDT engine breathe are AMS downpipes and a full Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust system. Photos of each are shown below.
The new AMS heat exchanger compared to the stock unit and installation:
AMS expansion tank installed replacing two plastic OEM units:
AMS downpipes:
The Fast Intentions cat-back exhaust replaces the restrictive OEM system:
Standard exhaust tips on the FI exhaust system, we love the quality, fitment and sound of these parts:
We also installed new Hotchkis sway bars front/rear. Stock vs new below:
Dyno Tuning
Straight from the factory, the VR30DDTT is an impressive motor rate at 400 hp and 350 ft-lbs tq stock. It is actually underrated as we have seen with dyno testing. With a few bolt-ons and tuning, even more power can be unlocked from the VR30. Rob tuned John’s Q50 using EcuTek, making 404hp/435tq at the wheels. A significant improvement over the 336hp/338tq baseline:
Enjoy the dyno video below:
Enjoy The Boost John!
Are you ready for upgrades on your late model Nissan/Infiniti? Give us a call or e-mail!
The Safari tribute 240Z is owned by our client Randy Jaffe and Z Car Garage helped prepare this car a few years ago for a Nissan commercial. We installed new 3.0 Rebello street race motor, 1982 280ZX 5 speed transmission and OS Giken 4.11 LSD. Small details were re-created including functional Works-style side jacking points, rear bumper steps and twin-exit exhaust system. View our full report on this build HERE.
Photos by Larry Chen
Talented photographer and car culture ambassador Larry Chen captured these amazing photos and video of Randy’s Safari tribute and the New Z Safari tribute in action. You can see more photos in the official Nissan Nissan Press Release, and view behind-the-scenes footage on Larry’s Instagram.
Enjoy this video highlighting Larry Chen’s work:
Follow or Facebook and Instagram accounts for more Z car content from the SEMA show!