Filed under: Nissan Z
by Alvin G @ 2:40 pm on April 7, 2023
Today we took delivery of our 2023 Nissan Z at Nissan of Dublin, Ca. This is a 6-speed manual, Performance trim finished in Black Diamond Pearl with Graphite Leather interior.
Huge thanks to Dan Passe and Jonathan Buhler from Nissan North America for making this a reality! Our RZ34 has been waiting in Dublin Nissan’s showroom (next to our client’s Datsun 240Z) since December and we had a wonderful experience with Mario (General Manager) and Louis (Parts Manager).
Mario, Louis and the team at Dublin Nissan treated us like VIPs. If you are in the market for a new Nissan, visit their brand new dealership! They were kind of enough to let us be a part of the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) of our new RZ34. This included protective film removal, detailing, front lip/air deflector and center cap installation. It was a new experience for Rob and myself that we appreciated.
Enjoy this video of the Pre-Delivery Inspection:
Rob with Louis and Mario, great people at Dublin Nissan:
With 22 miles on the odometer we drove our new Z back to Z Car Garage in San Jose. I have driven the RZ34 several times last year and it still amaZed me. It was a great way to celebrate our 19th Anniversary (see below)!
Z Car Garage is excited to enjoy the new Z and begin tuning it with parts development following. Enjoy more photos from our delivery and read further about our RZ34 journey with Nissan. Long Live The Z!
From Prototype to Production
Our journey with the new Z began in May 2021, when Nissan invited us to their Headquarters in Tennessee to get up close and personal with the Z Proto. We thank Dan Passe and Jonathan Buhler for bringing ZCG along for the ride. Here are the past New Z events that we’ve been fortunate to be a part of:
Today marks the 19th Anniversary of Z Car Garage. We thank all of our clients and friends for supporting us along the way. Your business and trust is greatly appreciated! It is hard to believe ZCG opened its doors in 2004. Enjoy these photos of the shop from today and 19 years ago.
2004 vs 2023
Front office 2023 compared to 2004, with a young Rob Fuller laying down the flooring:
Our (soon to be) dyno room in 2004 and 2023:
Z Car Garage is excited for another 19 years! LONG LIVE THE Z
WE LOVE RACING! On March 3-5, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) hosted their SpeedTour season opener at Thunderhill Raceway. Z Car Garage had a great time racing and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. Enjoy our report with in-car footage and photos.
Z Car Garage Race Support Services
Z Car Garage offers full trackside support and in-house race car preparation so you can focus on driving. Our client Todd R is a great example of ZCG trackside support in action. He’s been racing his Datsun 510 privateer-style for the last few years and hired us for the first time last year, check out his experience HERE. For the SVRA event at Thunderhill we supported our clients Tom and Gabe:
“The weekend was a little bit of mixed bag. Friday went well with some stellar setup tuning to adjust to the RA1 tire (first time with them on track). Saturday was a bit of disappointment with fuel pressure issues, but Rob, Nick and Copper stayed focused and the smoking gun (Fuel cell foam was long past its prime). Problem resolved and Sunday was a success. Starting from the back of the grid (after DNF’ing the Saturday qualifying race) provided some passing fun, finished the race chasing Mark Nettesheim in his newly rebuilt Maroon ands Silver #37. We stayed nose to tail until he spun on T3 on the last lap, providing me a window to slip by. Great fun.”
Gabe’s B-Sedan 510:
Rob was in his Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510:
Rob’s race report:
“It’s been a few months since we’ve been in our B-Sedan vintage race cars. We headed up to Thunderhill Raceway for new event, SVRA’s first time hosting a season opener. Weather was spotty with fear of rain all weekend but the Datsun Gods blessed each session with a nice, dry track. Usual suspects Meghan, Corwins, Nick and Cooper all helped support our clients Tom and Gabe. So we were the trifecta of B-Sedan awesomeness in group 8.”
“Tom’s car fought us a bit but with help from Nick and Cooper we were able to get it back on the track for Tom to enjoy the rest of the weekend. We need more Alfas and 2002s out there…we are the huge 510s fan and biggest advocate for rhem but it would be cool to see a wide of variety of cars racing. I was able to win one of the races and Gabe was in the front of the field. Really proud of him going from mid-pack to top 5 racers. He will only get faster.”
Watch this video from Rob’s 510 in the B-Sedan Group 8:
You can see more race videos from the SVRA event on Rob’s YouTube Channel. Give the guy a thumbs up and subscribe while you are there! (Below) Rob Fuller, Troy Ermish and Jim Froula, Gabe and David all on the podium:
A weekend of great racing and good times
Special thanks to ZCG crew Nick and Cooper for kicking ass all weekend to ensure our cars were safe and running in top form. We had a great time and it was nice to see new faces and old friends like David Carroll. He won OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car in his LS-powered Z!
Join The Vintage Racing Fun
Interested in joining the vintage racing fun? Z Car Garage can help you prepare and support your race car at the track. We can also help you find a vintage race car! Contact Rob at the shop at 408-452-0350 or e-mail rob@Zcargarage.com for more details. Catch all of our race reports on zcarblog HERE and stay tuned for our race report from the 3/25 CSRG race event! More photos in the gallery below:
Z Car Garage is featured in Nostalgic Hero’s coverage of the Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) 50th Birthday Celebration at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, Ca. You can view the article HERE.
You can see our full report from the ZONC celebration with even more photos and video in this blog post HERE. Thanks to Hisahi Masui from Nostalgic Hero!
We love working with owners that have a long history with their Z car. Stan K is the original owner of this early Datsun 240z (VIN# 511, 11/69 build), purchased brand new in 1970. The car had been sitting in storage for decades and Stan contacted us to revive it with mechanical sorting.
Stan shipped his car to our shop from Rocklin, Ca and we began work in 2020 to get it back on the road. Our Z Car Garage CV Axles along with refurbished brakes, suspension, interior and engine all transform this Z back into the sports car Stan remembered enjoying. Let’s get into the mechanical restoration of HLS30-00511 in one of our favorite colors, Safari Gold.
Drivetrain
The Z had been sitting in garage since the early 90s. Stan was getting older and his son was getting to be of age where he could enjoy it. The idea was for Stan and his family to do a mechanical restoration, allowing us to get it back on the road for the next generation to drive. We performed a full inspection when it arrived, and it was in rough condition from being parked for so long:
Unfortunately the engine had failed, so we built a Rebello 2.4 “stock” rebuild, retaining the factory block and cylinder head since it was such an early S30:
Before the rebuilt engine was installed the engine bay was cleaned up, before/after and many more photos in the gallery below:
Rebuilt engine going back in and ZCG went to work, performing all the things we do when getting these Z cars back on the road: refreshed entire cooling system, heater core, updated the starter and charging system to 280ZX spec and a fresh set of Z-Therapy carbs with Pertronix ignition and all of tune-up items:
We replaced the intake/exhaust manifold gaskets and installed an MSA coated header with our ZCG Exhaust system. The original 4-speed transmission was resealed. Before/After drivetrain and engine bay work:
Dyno Tuning
Rob dyno tuned the Z, making 133hp/137tq at the wheels:
Enjoy this video of the dyno runs and L-Series music!
Z Car Garage CV Axles
Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. These are 100% bolt-in replacing your half-shafts and does not use aluminum adapters commonly found in aftermarket units. We have over 200+ CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
Stan has CV Axle set #377. Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units. Also shown are the T3 control arms:
The differential was resealed with new front/side seals:
Braking System
Rob shares his thoughts on going through Stan’s entire braking/hydraulic system:
“I couldn’t believe how Stan K’s car went from resting in its slumber in his garage to running on the road once again. After the phenomenon of Z Car Garage Big-Brakes it was really odd to go back to an entirely stock braking system…re-doing factory calipers, rotors, re-packing wheel-bearings, shoes, wheel cylinders, drums, it was really cool.”
S30 World Fuel Tank
We decided to start fresh with a new S30 World fuel tank. They make a wonderful Series 1 replacement. Great product coming from owners Gustav Oplasnik and Chris Visscher, Z enthusiasts/restorers.
We also replaced all vapor hoses and hatch weatherstripping to eliminate fuel smell in the cabin:
Topping off the mechanical restoration was a suspension refurbishment with adjustable T/C rods, new ball joints, springs and shocks:
Details
Since our 1971 shop demo Z Mrs. Butters used to run on the Series 1 OEM wheels we knew exactly what tire to run on Stan’s…185/70/14 Vredstein Sprint Classics. Rob also found Stan a set of Series 1 “D” hubcaps from our stash of parts:
A fresh set of NOS Hatch vents was installed:
Interior
In addition to the mechanical restoration we also freshened up the interior. The highlight is a full dashboard replacement using a Series 1 reproduction piece from Vintage Dashes. We have now performed several Vintage Dashes installations and we thank Ivan Jaramillo for making a cost-effective product for Z cars. Here are a few in-progress photos showing the old-cracked original dash being removed to prep for the new unit, more pictures of the process in the photo gallery!
The heater box was refurbished with new heat/defrost vents, gaskets and all HVAC cable controls were lubed:
All gauges were dissembled and cleaned up so the view from the steering wheel is minty fresh:
New dash fully assembled and ready to re-install:
Stan’s Z received our ZCG door treatment with our door seals and weatherstripping: all the things we do to make those doors sound less “tinny” and shut like a German car:
The seats were weathered, so once again Rob’s stash of parts yielded a fresh set of seats:
This Z is back to its former glory, with everything we know to update/improve without taking away the value of a Series 1. Stan’s Z has a full mechanical restoration so it can be enjoyed by his family and next generation of Z enthusiasts. On the cosmetics side, with a full detail you can see how the factory paint comes back like nobody’s business:
Our time with Stan’s Z was during COVID so his family was not able to come down to the shop and see all the progress. A bit of sad news, by the time we finished his beloved 240Z, Stan passed away. His widow, son and daughter came down to Z Car Garage. His son did not know how to drive manual so Rob gave him a quick lesson:
“I taught his son how to drive stick and use specific items like the choke lever. We all cried, tears of sadness and joy celebrating Stan’s Z. He might have crossed over but his Z car will remain here for his family to enjoy. Long Live The Z. Long live the passion. Thanks Stan K.”
Life is short. Enjoy The Ride fellow Z car enthusiasts! More photo of Stan’s 1970 Datsun 240Z in the gallery below: …[read more]
