Z cars may remain with their loving owners for years, change ownership or even get spotlighted in the media at some point. Our “where are they now” series features past Z Car Garage vehicles with updates on their status. In this second installment we catch up with Greg’s 1977 Datsun 280Z, now residing in Seattle, WA.

 

Z Car Garage Restoration

We met the previous owner, Greg H a few years ago at a Blackhawk Museum gathering where famed Peter Brock (BRE) was speaking. Greg told us that he found a clean, low-mileage 280z and he was really interested in ZCG going through it. After he visited the shop we discussed our previous 280z builds (Cece, Gary and the Roth’s) and got to work building a Z for Greg that would reflect his tastes while keeping the vintage vibe. This 1977 280z was treated to a ZCG-style mechanical restoration including a new drivetrain, engine bay restoration, total suspension rebuild and more.

 

You can read all about our work on this Z here HERE. A few highlights include our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes developed with Stoptech:

 

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. We have over 200 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

 

Greg received ZCG CV Axle set #264, standard half-shafts shown on left:

   

The Z received a new L31 engine with fresh 280Z 5-speed transmission. The entire engine bay was detailed with new hoses/clamps, plating and wiring:

 

Full front and rear suspension rebuild:

 

Panasport wheels:

   

Where is it now?

 

In August 2020, Greg H listed the Z on Bring a Trailer, you can see the auction HERE. The auction winner and new owner Greg J reached out to us and we’ve been in touch ever since. He even sent us this nice write-up below of his journey picking up the Z in Fresno, CA and driving back up to his home in Seattle, WA. Enjoy!

 

You can’t go back, or can you?

By Greg James

There’s an old saying about never being able to go back. In a sense, it’s true. Anyone approaching-or at- senior citizen status knows what I mean. However, with our cars, we can re-live some of our youth even If it means doing so with a bit more weight, less hair, and a more measured approach to what and how we drive. In other words a car can be a great way to go back in time. In the early 1980’s, while in college, I earned my degree from the school of auto hard knocks before getting things more or less sorted out. Impulsive car buying decisions  and – admittedly – my poor maintenance of those same cars resulted in a series of duds that ended up junked or unloaded quickly. That list included a Datsun 610, Sunbeam Alpine, Saab 99, and a Datsun 1600 Roadster. Eventually after trial and error and a couple of seized motors, I found my “road mate”: A lightly used Orange/Black 1973 Datsun 240Z. Unlike my previous cars, the Datsun was quick, reliable (By then I’d learned to change the oil), and sleek.  Did I mention reliable? I drove it for over 50K miles, and it never let me down. After 3 years of ownership I sold the 240Z and moved on to a 1976 Porsche 911S. I quickly embraced the Porsche marque and over the next several decades, bought, sold, and “drove the wheels off” a dozen 911 cars starting with the original S and up to my current pair of Neunelfers, a 1996 993 Twin Turbo, and a 1985 3.2 Carrera. During Porsche ownership I rarely looked back at – or thought about – any of my former cars, with one big exception, the Datsun 240Z. When I occasionally saw one on the road, I remembered the ‘73 and the numerous road trips I took with my girlfriend to places like Sun Valley Idaho or San Francisco. By today’s standards, the originals Z’s are primitive and underpowered. 40 years ago they were a sexy Japanese import with curb appeal, and performance to match.

 

At the height of the 2020 summer Covid shutdown, my attention turned to the Internet and many of the popular on-line auctions sites. Datsun 240Z’s had become a staple on Bring A Trailer, and auctions often featured nut and bolt restorations or original low mile “time capsules”. Six figure sales of a Japanese car that originally sold for around $3500 occurred weekly. Eventually boredom, fond memories, and my own curiosity got the better of me and I decided to add a “Z” to my small car collection. That decision then prompted me to soul search as I contemplated buying a 1970’s era Datsun: Would it be a rotisserie restored early series low mile 240Z that could $100k or more? Perhaps a DIY restored high quality “driver” for $30-50k? Or a 280Z with fuel injection, a more robust build and the optional 5-speed transmission?

 

In the end, after a fair amount of research, chats with local Z owners, and several test drives I settled on the 280Z. I concluded I wanted a car I’d drive, and fuel injection made sense because of lower maintenance costs, and less finicky old school technology. Eventually the ideal candidate came up on BaT. Located in Fresno California, It was a professionally restored 1977 280Z in light metallic blue, with a 5-speed, fuel injection, upgraded suspension brakes and wheels, a new interior, and an impressive stack of receipts from Z Car Garage of San Jose CA. As a bonus, the car had a stroked 3.1 motor built by Hasselgren Engineering of Berkley CA. Dyno’d at 170 RWHP, the straight 6 was producing close to 50 horsepower more than stock and promised performance that would enable it to at least keep up with a modern SUV. I bought the car.

 

Originally intending to have the car shipped 1000 miles from Fresno to Seattle, I thought back to some of the early road trips I made in my 20’s and convinced my 12 yr. old son Andrew that in the middle of the Covid “summer of boredom” we’d have a great time touring Northern California, and the coasts of Oregon and Washington in the new acquisition. The route we decided on would be nearly 1200 miles, and after explaining what a “Datsun” was to Andrew, and some negotiation, we agreed on two things: We’d drive scenic coastal Hwy 101 from Eureka north, and lunches would be at In-N-Out Burger.

 

We flew to Fresno on a Saturday and met the owner at the airport. After a short test drive in which the Datsun performed well, and some chit chat about cars, the weather, traffic, money, and why a beat up Porsche 914 is cooler than a modern Mazda Miata, we were off. We left at 3 in the afternoon on a typical 105 degree Fresno summer day. The owner promised everything in the car worked, and true to his word, the A/C blew cold, which was a big relief. On the freeway, the 3.1 straight six performed well. With noticeably more grunt than a stock 2.8 the car accelerated in a predictable linear manner. No hesitation, no carb flat spot, just smooth running. In fact, I judged its acceleration to be similar to my 207 HP US spec 1985 3.2 Carrera. The 5 speed was tight, the steering crisp, and the overall feel told me we’d have some spirited driving ahead of us.

 

Day 1 took us from Fresno, 300 miles north to Redding CA on I-5, which was uneventful freeway driving. Day 2 was more exciting as we departed Redding early and made our way to CA Hwy 299, a well maintained mostly 2 lane mountain road that snakes 150 miles west through the Coastal range while following the Trinity River to the Pacific Ocean. I’m lucky enough to have driven some spectacular western US “driver” roads in my 60 years, and 299 would rank near the very top for curves, hairpins, fast straights, scenery, and a respectable number of passing lanes. We made it to Eureka and the coast in under 3 hours, and just in time for lunch at In-N-Out Burger, California’s famously good fast food chain. From there we drove north on 101 with a stop at Redwoods National Park and a stroll through The Lady Bird Johnson Grove of Giants. While I’ve always appreciated the amazing machines we humans have managed to build with our big brains and ingenuity, nothing human-made can match the awe you feel standing next to a 2000 year old, 300 foot tall truly enormous tree. From the Redwoods, we proceeded north on 101 along the Southern Oregon coast. Traffic was light, and Oregon State Troopers were few and far between. Andrew and I reveled in the scenery: rugged beaches, breaking waves, jagged near-shore islands, steep cliffs. 101 is a drivers dream! We stopped for the night in the beach town of Florence Oregon, famous for its miles of sand dunes and Honeyman State Park. The next day, after a fisherman’s breakfast and some strong coffee, the plan was to continue north on 101. However, fires closed the road ten miles north of Florence and we were forced to sidetrack east to Eugene Oregon and I-5 for the rest of the trip to Seattle. The last days 300 miles went smoothly, and the Datsun 280Z handled high freeway speeds with minimal effort. At 3000 RPM in 5th, the big 3.1 had us cruising along effortlessly at 80MPH. All in all, a great trip with a great kid in a wonderful car.  Ah, the memories…

 

Enjoying The Ride

 

In March of 2021, Greg contacted us with a nice update on the Z…he had early bumpers installed and it looks great:

 

Thanks for sharing your story and passion with us Greg. We are stoked that you got to Enjoy The Ride in the Z with family on an epic roadtrip. Here’s to many more memorieZ.  Stay tuned for our next “Where are they now” feature, and if you missed our first installment find it HERE. Long Live The Z!

 

David O. has been a Z Car Garage client since 2005. Together, we helped achieve his vision of a fully restored S30 with multi-dimensional performance: a daily driver that is equally adept at canyon runs and open track events. 17 years later David is still Enjoying the Ride and recently visited us for track day preparation.

 

Before we get into the build details dating back to 2005, let’s hear from David on his recent track day experience.

Take it to the Track!

 

David is an avid motorsports fan and driver. The Z has seen many track days since the restoration and came out of storage so he visited Z Car Garage for a pre-inspection.

 

We bled the brakes and made sure everything was ready for the event. He had a great time:

“It was my first time back on the track with the 240z in several years. I went out for half a day with Hagerty Insurance and their affiliation with SCCA’s Track Night in America. The people were great and it was a very “docile” track day with mandatory point-by’s even in the advanced group. It was a great way to knock the rust off after a few years off the track.”

“Rob Fuller prepped the car a few days before and she behaved beautifully. I managed a 1:59 lap but I was lifting a bit going up to turn six because I was afraid of breaking the 90dB sound limit. Of course, Z-Car got a lot of love from the other attendees. :-)”

Enjoy this video of David’s Z in action with in-car and chase footage from Laguna Seca and more:

 

History

 

We met David and his newly acquired Z in 2005. Long before the days of Facebook and Instagram, our mutual friend and Datsun fanatic Tom Dockery referred David to ZCG:

“I’ve been working with Rob since February of 2005 when I purchased my 240z from a guy in Redding. It was a true barn car. He drove it down and Rob inspected it before I bought it. I didn’t know anything about the car except that I wanted something fun to drive with a manual transmission. I’d always thought the 240z was cool because my 5th and 6th grade teacher had one – and she was very cool.”

“The first weekend I had the car it rained really hard and I found out all the seals were useless. There was about a quarter inch of water in the car and mold had already started growing. I took it to Rob, and once the seats were out, and the carpet was out, and the seals were in, Rob suggested the Recaro seats, the roll bar, and harness. It was just about that time I did my first track day in someone else’s car, and I decided I wanted to track the 240z. And that’s when I started what I call the “accidental restoration.”

Paint/Body

 

While we do not have in-progress photos of the restoration, there are many shots of David enjoying the finished restoration. Our man William worked his magic to apply the Nissan 112 Paint (Tennis Ball Green). David recalls his vision for the Z:

“My goal when restoring was to have a track-ready, fun to drive machine that did justice to the original car. My car was originally orange, was red when I purchased it, but I wanted something different. That’s when I went with the tennis ball green color, which was one of the original colors. It was manufactured in October of 1971, so she turned 50 just last fall.”

 

Engine

 

Full engine bay services included re-plating and powdercoating parts. The L24 was replaced with factory-spec L28 with triple-Mikuni induction. A custom cam was designed by Rob for better top-end performance. The Z put down 167hp/174tq at the wheels on the ZCG dyno:

 

Interior

 

There’s very little on the car that was left untouched – David took pride in the interior:

“I pretty much went with Rob’s suggestions (pros and cons) and learned while I went along. The gauges were all me. As much as I liked the originals, the were just too dim and difficult to read at night. I replaced them with white-backed Autometer gauges but kept the green backlighting. I also kept the original turn signals and embedded them in the new gauges. I didn’t keep the clock, and the fuel gauge is the carbon fiber reinforced glove box.”

 

More details like Recaro seats, Roll bar with 5-point harnesses, updated fuse box and high voltage bypass for the steering column, 260z lighted console panel and Sony bluetooth radio. Outside, Euro tail lights with LEDs:

 

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

 

David’s Z was the first one to receive our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes. This was our initial (2008) setup utilizing Stoptech ST-40 calipers and our own brackets. We had extensive track testing with pro-driver David Ray:

 

James’s also runs this 328mm kit on his turbocharged L-Series beast, Medusa. Not to be confused with our current Z Car Garage Big-Brakes!

  

Enjoying the Ride

 

We have Enjoyed the Ride with David at many events over the last 17 years. Most recently I got to catch up with him at our New Nissan Z event. His Z still looks amaZing!

 

Here are few events from years ago with David…some of you might remember attending these too!

2008 ZONC Blackhawk Museum Car Show

 

2010 and 2011 Palo Alto Concours d’ Elegance – the crowd loved his Z car!

 

2008 Motoring J Style…remember we had a superb turnout for the caravan starting at Z Car Garage!

 

2008 and 2011 Silicon Valley Auto Show at the San Jose Convention Center

 

Long Live The Z!

Thank you David for your support and friendship all these years. We love that you keep your Z on the road and it makes you smile behind the wheel whether its on the track or or street. Stay tuned as David will be returning to ZCG later this year for 3.1L engine upgrade! More pictures in the gallery below…
…[read more]

 

We love to see our parts installed and used on client’s cars. Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running our ZCG CV Axles in this Nissan IMSA GTU 300ZX race car!

 

Jim installed CV Axle set #269:

The George Alderman Z31

 

Over a 49-year competitive career, George Alderman was one of America’s most successful sports car drivers, racing in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) events.

 

In the 60’s and 70’s George would race a variety of cars. He won the IMSA Baby Grand championship in 1971 in a Datsun 510 and in the 80’s he drove Z cars in the Camel GT series. His Z31 would run both turbo and NA classes for IMSA.

 

Out of 70 starts he had 50 top-tens, 27 top-fives, and 5 wins, all while successfully running his Datsun/Nissan franchise. (Below) a 1988 promotional photo of the  Z31 in front of Alderman Nissan, in V6 IMSA GTU class trim. Find more history on this Z as documented on Alderman Machine.

 

Restoration at Racecraft

 

Jim and the RacecraftNW crew restored the George Alderman 300ZX. As usual, Froula’s painstaking efforts and diligence result in a faithful restoration. Original frame (left) and restored with chassis parts:

 

ITB induction on the NA VG30E powerplant:

 

Bodywork going on, and look at those Panasport C8 wheels!

 

Jim Froula also built this Bluebird SSS Coupe and Hakosuka Skyline, both are running ZCG CV axles on the race track:

   

Thanks for your support Jim! We are excited to see the Z31 back on on the track.

 

Z Car Garage CV Axles

Over 150 sets of our ZCG CV Axles are installed in client’s cars all over the world. For more information please visit our detailed post our HERE. Below are just a few examples of race cars running out CV Axles:

Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running ZCG axles in several of his cars:

Set #246 – installed May 2018 on the “Harry Stewart #52” Datsun 510:

  

Set #247 – installed April 2018 on the 260z

  

Set #248 – installed on Adam Carolla’s “Greg Sorrentino #90” Datsun 510.

 

 

 

 

 

Khang D is from Modesto and we first met him in 2012 when he visited Z Car Garage with a green 1975 Datsun 280z. We serviced the car, fixed several items and he enjoyed it for a few years before selling. In 2017, Khang purchased this white 1973 240z from our client Brent B, and returned to ZCG for full suspension upgrades including Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, new OEM mirrors, Panasport wheels and a complete tuneup.

 

It wasn’t long before Khang came back to ZCG with a request for more power to match the excellent chassis improvements. Let’s take a closer look at this fantastic daily driver+canyon carver showcasing our  Z Car Garage CV Axles, Z Car Garage Heat Shield, Jenvey ITB fuel injection, CD009 Six-speed transmission and more.

Suspension

 

In September 2017 we overhauled the suspension. The Z received coil-overs from Techno Toy Tuning including T/C rods and rear control arms. The entire front suspension was re-done with new bushings, wheel bearings, rack bushings, steering coupler, etc.

Struts, OEM T/C rods replaced with coil-overs:

   

T3 Rear lower control arms replace OEM units:

 

ZCG Big-Brakes

“WOW, what a difference. The feel, modulation, power, sharpness was amazing. Hands down the best brakes I had ever driven on a Z car” -Glenn

As fellow racer Glenn C mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no master cylinder change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments, etc. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel (and some 14″ wheels) and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few details below:

  

Calipers: Stoptech ST42 4-piston front & rear race calipers (Alum 6061 mil-spec Type III anodized)

Rotors: 280mm x 20.6 with Alum 7075 hats

Pads: Stoptech 309 sport street pads

Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.

A few closer detail shots of the calipers, rotors and hardware:

  

Khang’s S30 got the full 4-wheel brake kit with new OEM Master Cylinder:

 

We also installed the fully functioning parking brake that works with factory linkage/handle: