***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! Enjoy our 2020 recap and upcoming projects. Please note our holiday closure below:

ZCG will be closed from 12/23/20 and we will re-open for business on 1/5/21.

Before we take a look back at highlights from 2020, here several exciting customer projects coming along at the shop:

Richard’s Sunshine yellow (#919) 1971 Datsun 240z came to us in 2018 and received a total mechanical restoration with upgrades including a 3.1L with triple-mikuni ph44s, KA24 5-speed transmission, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), Z Car Garage CV Axles and Z Car Garage Heat Sheild.

We also upgraded the interior with leather Recaro seats and sound deadening. Stay tuned for a full report!

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z returned for a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake and CD009a 6-speed transmission:

  

Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240z is back for a 3.0L engine and tuning, we can’t wait to show you the dyno results!

This historically significant 1970 Datsun 240z was built by a team of Nissan employees to compete at Bonneville in the F/GT class. In 1976 their efforts resulted in a new land speed record of 166.037 mph, which stood unbroken until 1985. This Z resided in the Nissan Museum and is now in the care of Randy Jaffe. Lots of neat details the Z 432R seats and G-nose. More to come! Big thanks to Randy and Nissan for letting us bring this Z back to life.

One of many Z32s we are working on, Steve’s will get a full report soon:

Highlights from 2020

Even though 2020 was crazy year  for all of us we still managed to have fun on and off the track. The shop made some really great progress as well.

Enjoy these highlights from 2020 and  Z you in the New Year!

240Z

Mrs. Butters Shop Series1

PROJECTZ: Jason’s 1971 Datsun 240z

Hard Habit to Break: Bruce’s Two 1970 Datsun 240z’s

PARTS: Z Car Garage Big-Brakes for Jaime’s 1972 Datsun 240z

KAMIKAZ: Randy’s 1970 Datsun 240z

AWESOME Z: Bill’s 1970 Datsun 240z

Yoni’s 1972 Datsun 240z

Greg’s 1973 Datsun 240z

Daisy’s 1972 Datsun 240z

Do It Yourself: Ken’s 1970 Datsun 240z

Dave’s 1972 Datsun 240z

280Z

Life is a Journey, Enjoy the Ride: Cece’s 1977 Datsun 280z

Greg’s 1977 Datsun 280Z

Long Live The Z: Ruth and Larry’s 1978 Datsun 280Z

Triple Six: David’s 1975 Datsun 280z

Rallye With Family: Geoff’s 1972 Datsun 240z

300zx

Love Thy Monster: Paul’s 1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo

Jay’s 1990 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo

Worth the Wait: Chris’ 1992 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo

Silvia, Bluebird, 510, DR30 and Fairlady Roadster

Rick’s 1965 Nissan Silvia

High School Sweetheart: Kevin’s Datsun Bluebird SSS

Mark’s 1972 Datsun 510

TUNING: Eric Straw’s SR20-Powered Datsun Roadster

350Z

For The Track: Dan’s Supercharged Nissan 350z

Josh’s Supercharged Nissan 350z

TUNING: UPREV and EcuTek Dyno Tuning For Your Z/G

370z

Big Brakes and More Boost for Max’s Stillen Supercharged 370z

R32

Mike’s 1991 Nissan Skyline GT-R

Racing

RACE REPORT: David Love Vintage Races with CSRG at Sonoma

RACE REPORT: Datsun 510s Rule at Laguna Seca!

Rallyes/Events

Breakfast Club

DWA Rally From home South

Z Car Garage Datsun 240Zs Enjoying The Ride!

Happy 510 Day!

PARTS: Z Car Garage Big-Brakes on Two Datsun 240Zs

EVENTS: Fuel Supply Co. Cars & Coffee 2/29

EVENTS: Cars and Coffee with Driving While Awesome!

Media

MEDIA: ZCG Shop Tour with Hoonigan Autofocus

MEDIA: James’ Z Featured on Hoonigan Autofocus!

MEDIA: ZCG-Built Datsun Roadster on Hoonigan Autofocus

Enjoy The Ride!

 

We love to see our products being installed and enjoyed on customer cars. Dustin is running our Z Car Garage CV Axles in his 1972 Datsun 510 4-door. This Dime is powered by a Nissan KA24DE/5-speed and wears a sweet set of NOS 15×7 Longchamp XR-4 wheels:

Z Car Garage is proud to offer a CV axle conversion kit for your Datsun S30 and 510. We have sold over 100 sets of axles globally, with customers installing and enjoying them on everything from street cars to full-blown IMSA racers. These CV axles will help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts.

 

For years we have used aftermarket CV axles that utilize an aluminum adapter prone to loosening up over time. Despite efforts to keep things tight (Loctite, hardware changes) we had to keep an eye on them.  We developed a better solution that eliminates the need for aluminum adapters and remains 100% bolt-in like a factory half-shaft.

 

Dustin is running a Cusco LSD (Subaru STi R180) with Toyo R888 tires and worried about excessive wear on the stock half shafts, having seen multiple sets of other CV shafts come apart. He heard about our CV Axles from fellow Datsun enthusiast/racer Glenn C and ordered a set from Rob. Dustin installed the CV Axles himself on his 1972 Datsun 510 and reports that it went smoothly:

“The installation was very simple and easy to understand. I really like that they came with Red Loctite.”

 

We were stoked to hear Dustin report the improvement over his standard half shafts:

“The Cusco LSD is very noisy but seems to have gotten smoother and a bit quieter with the new axles. I doubt I will ever run into any issues breaking one with a KA24. I would highly recommend them as the only CV option.”

Here is Dustin’s 510 in action, enjoying the new ZCG CV Axles:

 

We’ve known Dustin and Courtney for many years. Hagerty produced a video featuring the local Bay Area Datsun couple you can see it HERE.

 

The couple got married in 2018 and Z Car Garage prepared Courtney’s 240z in time for their special day. Learn more about ZCG’s work on Courtney’s 240z HERE. Keep Enjoying The Ride, you two!

They are also the founders of Fuel Supply Co in Fremont, CA. We had a great time at their inaugural gathering earlier this year. Thank you both Courtney and Dustin for your continued support and passion for Datsuns!

 

Z Car Garage is sad to hear the passing of Johnnie (Ueda) Gable. A prominent figure in Nissan/Datsun heritage, Johnnie touched the hearts of many with her enthusiasm and dedication to preserving our favorite sports car.

Rob Fuller remembers Johnnie:

“Since coming to CA in the 90’s I had seen and spoken to Johnnie many times. She always had amazing stories including ones celebrating the magical times she had with Mr. K. I would say in the Datsun Legend category, she was definitely The First Lady. She was so full of energy you would never know she’d been around for so many years, like the cars we celebrate she was timeless. I really enjoyed spending time with her. As life goes on we are going to lose the people that inspired us and shared our passions. Thank you Johnnie Gable for your passion, inspiration and for being Mr. K’s right-hand lady. I hope you two are somewhere Enjoying The Ride.”

Johnnie’s energy was contagious, and we were lucky to enjoy her conversations. Here she is being interviewed at the Japanese Classic Car show in 2019:

Johnnie’s career with Nissan began in the 60’s at their headquarters in Gardena, CA. There she was offered a position as secretary to Yutaka Katayama, affectionately known as “Mr. K” and father of the Z car. Among her many achievements Johnnie helped bring the Datsun label to the US and launch the Datsun Heritage Museum. We will always admire her support for Nissan/Datsun events like ZCCA (ZCON) convention and local events. At the 2012 ZCON event, Johnnie was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award:

Photo: Joseph Keawkalaya

We remember the 2002 Z’s By The Bay Show held in Fremont, CA. Mr. K was to be in attendance and before the show started, Johnnie and a group of enthusiasts all enjoyed driving from San Diego up to Northern California along the coast. Johnnie piloted a 350z, shown with Mr. Yuykawa. (Right) Johnnie can be seen (as always) besides Mr. K’s at the show:

Our hearts go out to her son Kenny, his family and all Nissan/Datsun enthusiasts lucky to have been blessed by Johnnie’s presence. Mr. K said it best, “Love cars. Love people. Love life.”

Life is a Journey. Johnnie we will miss you.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Z Car Garage! We hope you can find time to Enjoy The Ride over the holidays. Please note our hours of operation below:

We will be closed today and Friday for Thanksgiving, re-opening Tuesday December 1. Thank you!

Andreas visited Z Car Garage to get his 1983 Nissan Skyline running correctly. We admire these 80’s gems, working on several DR30 Skylines and with a few tweaks plus dyno tuning Andreas was back on the road in proper form.

The Sixth Generation

Not familiar with this right-hand drive specimen? Most Americans are familiar with the classic 70’s Skylines and later GT-R series, but this 6th generation (R30) chassis is often overlooked, yet very special in its own right. Andreas’ model is a ’83 Nissan Skyline RS-X and it’s the first iteration of the distinctive “Iron Mask” front end. This generation also marked introduction of the FJ20 engine, though Andreas’ is an early, non-intercooled model:

In Japan the R30 sold well and had a great following with Nissan enlisting the famous actor/racer Paul Newman to appear in ad campaigns. The R30 also formed the basis for the insanely cool SuperSilhouette race car:

  

DR30 Ownership

With its angular styling, pillar-less windows, killer graphics and FJ20 power what’s not to like? Andreas had been wanting a DR30 for the past 10+ years and after driving Reid’s DR30, it motivated him to finally get one:

“With the help of The Import Guys, I purchased it from auction in June and picked it up in November in Washington and drove it straight home to Northern California. 2 days, almost 1000 miles and it did it perfectly. I have been fixing a few things here and there like a new front lip, interior trim, suspension, brakes and threw back on some OEM parts but my journey with the car is still young. I have auto-x’ed it already and do have my eyes on potential track days.” 

Andreas was having problems with the car not revving properly and recalled his discussion with Reid (thanks!) about his and getting work done at Z Car Garage:

“I reached out to Rob for help. Kind of funny, on the day of the appointment to get this issue checked out my car broke down a mile from the shop and he was nice enough to help me tow it there. I have pretty modest goals, I just want a good looking, fun to drive DR30. This one has its issues like most 35+ year old cars but the idea was to get myself a nice project (but a driver). No need for a beauty queen, and no real need for massive power. Give it a refresh, and then just drive the hell out of it.” 

Skyline Sorting at ZCG

Since purchasing, this R30 was not running correctly so we started troubleshooting the fuel system. We figured out some of the issues (bad fuel pump, running extremely lean, no fuel getting to motor) and we got Andreas running.

Despite new injectors, fuel filter, fuel pump we kept hitting these limiters. The factory ECU wouldn’t allow it to rev over 5krpm so we called our friends from JWT.  Clark Steppler is the master of all vintage ECUs and he worked his magic on the delicate, vintage unit. As you can see from the dyno plot we have full rev range power/tq.

Dyno Tuning

 

Rob dyno tuned the FJ20ET, now with full power available to redline it put down 178hp/158tq to the wheels. Impressive power for the time, with a hot-pipe. Nissan really was special in the 80’s!

Enjoy this video of the dyno run and Andreas enjoying the DR30:

While the Skyline was here we replaced the front control arm bushings with new Superpro bushings:

Andreas was driving the car when he felt a loss in power. We discovered a boost leak in the hot pipe and resolved it. In Andreas’ words “No issues now and car runs like a dream.”

Enjoying The Ride

With the engine sorted Andreas has been driving his Skyline everywhere, happily boosting. Ps…did we mention how good it looks on the Longchamp wheels?

He even made it out to the recent Norcal Skylines Matsuri 2020, an event we were lucky to attend last year:

 

“I want a car I can have fun with and drive hard), not something that I just take to cars and coffee. So I appreciate all the help he gave me to get my car back up and running and back to its former glory!”

Thanks for letting us work on your DR30 Andreas. We love the direction you are taking it!