Filed under: 240z,510,Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on February 20, 2024
On March 15-17, Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the David Love Vintage races at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage will be racing and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in the B-Sedan Group. Spectators are FREE, so come out and enjoy a weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track.
Z Car Garage Races Ands Supports Six Datsun 510s!
It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno.
Video of two Datsun 510 B-Sedans (Rob and Tom), Enjoy the sweet L-series music!
Here is a preview of the Z Car Garage clients running at the David Love Vintage races:
#7 Rob Fuller
ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers car
#7 Kelvin Tse
#64 Kenny Tse
#8 Gabe Rothman
#25 Jeff Rothman
Gabe’s father Jeff is racing his B-Sedan Datsun 510:
Looking for a Job? – How about a great career?
Z Car Garage is looking for an experienced technician to be part of our team. This is not an average 9 to 5 automotive job: the ideal candidate must be motivated, passionate and ready to put in the work so we can continue building classic Z cars and late model Nissans.
We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits with opportunities for growth
Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn
Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion
We are heavily involved in motorsports with up to 10 vintage race events a year. From race cars to street cars and performance tuning…to routine maintenance and keeping vintage cars on the road, we love what we do!
Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? PLEASE SHARE THIS and spread the word. Send your CV to rob@zcargarage.com and call us at (408)452-0350.
Check out our shop on this episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen:
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 a pretty 1973 Datsun 240Z in Metallic Brown for many years and this 2008 Nissan 350Z Convertible that we also take care of. Let’s hear how Bill got into Z cars…
BILL: “I had a 1977 280Z that I loved and drove to almost 400,000 miles then I wrecked it. After maybe four months without a Z I bought my 240. I was a teacher on the low end of the pay scale so whatever I could afford I put into the 240. Then I was offered a spot in administration and with the new position, a 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.”
Bill had a few criteria for his newest sports car purchase:
“I had never bought a car from a dealership and never anything this new. I had four criteria: (1) It had to be a Z, so I looked at nothing else (2) I wanted a standard (stick) transmission, and this was hard to find (3) I wanted a convertible (4) I wanted the good stereo option for whatever year I bought. Funny thing was it wasn’t the convertible part that was the problem. The main problem was that there were very few stick shifts. I found one… but it was (is) red – bright red. I wanted grey or black, but there were zero available in California at that time. So, I bought a red Nissan 350Z convertible. It is an amazing car. I just wish it were black.”
Keeping Bill on the road
BILL: “I was taking the 350 to the dealer since it is 5 minutes away from where I live and ZCG is kind of far. I trusted the 240 with only ZCG but I thought the 350 was newer so the dealer could maintain it until…I ran into a problem with the convertible top that the dealer had no idea how to fix. The top was stuck down – as in it couldn’t close. I called a couple of convertible places in S.F. and they wouldn’t touch it because of the “kind of system” that Nissan used. ZCG not only was the only place willing to even look at it. They fixed it and it has worked ever since.”
ROB:“Bill brought his Z to us back in 2022. The convertible top had an issue where it wouldn’t lock. We were able to replace the lock assembly and get it operational without the costly dealership replacement of entire thing. We also replaced the T/C Rod bushings, LCA bushings, installed Whiteline diff bushings ( a common failure on Z33s)”
Full 60k mile services performed with a new radiator replacement:
Bill was pleased with the work done by Z Car Garage:
“The 350 is SO MUCH FUN to drive! ZCG fixed the top but they also did bushings that changed the handling. They have also done general maintenance. At this point I only trust ZCG to look at it.”
Mike R acquired this gunmetal (KH2) 1991 Skyline GTR from Toprank International Vehicle Importers in 2019. Z Car Garage is familiar with the Norcal Skylines group and fellow R32 owner Kurt W referred Mike to us in addition to an endorsement from Top Rank. Mike’s first round of upgrades included a Project Mu Big-Brake kit, Ohlins coil-over suspension, Haltech ecu, Greddy FMIC, sorting and dyno tuning. All of this work is documented in our 2020 blog post:
More Upgrades
Following that initial visit, Mike added R34 GT-R Seats, and a sweet set of Volk Racing TE37 SL custom gloss black wheels (18×10.5 +15), wrapped in Michelin PS4S tires (265/35/18). A Haltech IC7 digital dash was added to monitor vital engine parameters, tying into the CAN box of Elite system:
Add More Boost
Mike was happy with the upgrades we made but like many of us the desire for more power inevitably hits:
“The car has been running flawlessly and the goal with these mods is to support the addition of a single turbo kit that ZCG will be installing this August. The turbo kit consists of a Full Race Twin scroll T4 manifold that will be mated to an EFR 8474 turbocharger. Twin Tial 44mm external wastegates will bleed off the excess exhaust gasses.”
Along with the turbo kit, we added a PWR radiator, Samco radiator hoses, Tomei Type B Poncams, fuel pump, Radium fuel rail, FPR, ID 1050X fuel injectors, custom 4″ intake and intercooler piping. See the full modification list below. The goal for this round of upgrades was 500whp on low boost and 91 octane fuel.
(Below)Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod and Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold:
Remade in USA throttles and Nismo plenum. Fully built cylinder head with GSC S1 cams, SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides:
PRP crank trigger kit, Radium Dual Catch cans, Custom Intercooler piping with Tial q50 bov and Nismo oil cooler:
HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust:
Mike’s R32 came back to ZCG in 2022 for a few more items including:
ATS Carbon twin disk clutch (shoutout to @wubbs18)
New oem timing belt and pulleys
PRP alternator kit
Kansai Service Towhook
OEM Valley cover powder coated with R34 ornament plate
Mines Alcantara shift boot, parking brake handle and boot
VIDEO
Enjoy this video of Mike’s R32 GT-R in action with dyno runs, in-car and drive-by footage. Volume up!
Dyno Tuning
Several dyno tuning sessions were performed during the upgrade period. 515hp/437tq on 91 octane was achieved with significant mid-range gains:
Mike was pleased:
“Big thanks to @zcargarage for seeing this project through to the end and making the car come to life. We had a lot of headaches and setbacks over the past 11 months, but they did an incredible job end result speaks for itself! Couldn’t be happier. 🤘”
E85 Fuel
“Ethanol delivery is handled by a full Radiumengineering fuel system. Fuel hanger surge tank using twin 525lph to feed the rail and a 340lph to feed the hanger. All new hoses with a -8 feed line. Radium fuel rail with Rail mounted adjustable fuel pressure regulator. All feeding Injectordynamics ID1700XDS injectors. Haltech Flex fuel Sensor and Bosch Fuel pressure/temp combo tied into Haltech Elite to bring it all together.”
On the dyno with E85 the R32 put down 624hp/479tq at the wheels, and Mike continued to enjoy the car:
“So the car has been on flex fuel for a few months now. Made 600 whp and 480tq. Still just keeping the boost around 20psi. Tons of room left in the setup. Been enjoying the shit out of the car is it currently sits. Maybe some minor cosmetic stuff in the near future, but for now….just drive.”
Enjoying The Ride
We were happy to see Mike Enjoying the Boost and spotted his R32 in action at the Tokyo Calling and Breakfast Club Rallies in Northern California:
Catch more of Mike’s R32 on his Instagram. Overview of major work is below with more photos in the gallery. Thanks for your support Mike!
. Custom 4” intake
. Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold
. Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod
. Turbosmart gen4 twin port IWG
. Custom Intercooler piping
. Greddy 29f Intercooler
. Tial q50 bov
. Nismo plenum
. @remade_in_usa_ restored throttles
. Radium fuel filter, fuel rail, afpr, and pulse damper
. ID1050x injectors
. Hellcat fuel pump
. Fully built cylinder head
. GSC S1 cams
. SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides
. Greddy adjustable Cam gears, timing belt
. PRP crank trigger kit
. Fluidamper
. Two six engineering power steering pump kit.
. RHD Auto power steering reservoir
. Nismo Oil Cooler
. PWR radiator with Samco hoses
. Haltech Elite 2000 pnp
. Haltech WB1 canbus wide and 02sensor
. Haltech IC7 digital dash
. Haltech 3 port boost solenoid
. Radium Dual Catch cans
. HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust
Congratulations to our client Dan F on achieving his personal goal of sub 1:40s lap times at Laguna Seca in his Nissan 350Z. Z Car Garage has worked with Dan for several years to fine-tune this Vortech Supercharged Z33 so he enjoy it on the track.You can see the build history HERE:
Chasing 1:30s
Dan is an avid track-enthusiast and we love working with him to optimize his Z. Let’s hear about his triumphant ‘Seca experience from November with SpeedSF:
“It was a very satisfying weekend at Laguna running both Sat & Sun 11-25/26. I came still looking for sub 1:40’s with my best time to date a 140.1. It’s only the second time I’ve been there since the re-pave but I have been running here testing and tuning for over a dozen years now. 1:39’s however have always been elusive so when in my second session on Saturday morning, I finally broke through and did a 139.2 on 1.5 year old Toyo RR’s (red wheels in the pics), I was ecstatic. That was apparently just some foreshadowing for the weekend. By day’s end I was consistently running low 1:38’s. The track is faster than it’s ever been with extra run off at T5 & T9 and a smooth surface that has now been rubbered in nicely and the weather was perfect around 62 with zero moisture.”
“My plan Sunday was to try some pirelli scrubs (black wheels) from the World Challenge Series. I was excited to try them on this car because it is set up as a race car at this point so it makes sense real race rubber might work well, it did. First session I blew by the 1:37’s and finished with a 1:36.1, next session 1:36.0 then finished with my best being a 1:35.8 on a lap compromised by traffic. Scrubs were good for 2.4 seconds over the RR slicks. Some pretty unbelievable gains all weekend and especially with these tires.”
“Still can’t quite believe it took me about 4 years to go from 1:44 to 1:40 and only 2 days to drop the next 4+ seconds but it’s days like this that make you want to keep trying for that perfect lap. Sometimes all the stars align and I’ll be looking to match my optimal lap of 134.8 next time out…”
Enjoy this in-car video of Dan’s fastest lap time in the Z:
Recent Updates
Dan’s Z received a few updates to the interior and aero package. Extensive caging inside, new front splitter and rear wing:
We are super stoked for you Dan! Get that 1:34 at ‘Seca and LONG LIVE THE Z!
