Our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles continue to win over Z-car enthusiasts locally and globally. Elmo P recently purchased a set of both for his 1972 Datsun 240Z and had them installed himself in SoCal. Before we go into the installation details let’s take a look at how Elmo got into Z cars…

 

ELMO: In 2005, I decided to sell my first 240z, a 1973 which I owned for almost 17 years, and the car on which I learned almost everything I know to this day about wrenching. I felt I had outgrown the Z and it no longer fit in my life. However, immediately after the sale, I felt sick to my stomach for weeks and never really got over its sale. Over the next 13 years, I would periodically search for a replacement 240z, only to find out prices had skyrocketed and I could no longer afford one. Fast forward to 2019, I was now ready to resume my search. I found a 1972 240z that had been meticulously cared for by its 2nd owner of almost 47 years. The car was mostly stock, minus the addition of an L-28, and Panasport wheels. 

 

My goal was to modify the car tastefully, with modern components where needed to increase driving pleasure, yet leave the classic body-line largely unmolested to not disturb or detract from the design’s natural beauty. Over the past 4 1/2 years, I’ve made modifications to every area of the car and I can finally say that I’m at about 95% of attaining my vision. As mentioned previously, Elmo wanted the body to remain mostly unchanged. The only additions have been a front grill and spoiler from Star Road in Japan, front bumper delete plates from Skillard, one-piece rear bumper, and Euro tail lights and front turn signals. Wheels are Volk TE37V, 16×8 +0, and 16×8.5 +10 with Toyo R888R tires in 245/45/16.

Interior

 

ELMO: The interior received many upgrades including Recaro seats, Speed Hut gauges, re-upholstered door panels, tranny tunnel, and rear shock towers, billet pedals, new dash cover and a Sparco steering wheel. However, one of my favorite modifications is that of cleaning up the rear shock towers by removing the old vinyl covering and plastic caps, and smoothing off and painting the tops of the towers, along with the addition of aluminum cover plates and new covering on the towers.

  

Drivetrain

 

ELMO: When I bought the car, I knew the drivetrain and suspension would be my main focus area and hence, the area where I would divert most of my modification funds. All suspension component upgrades are from Techno Toy Tuning., including adjustable coilovers, control arms and diff mustache bar. Gear shifts are handled via a rebuilt close-ratio 5-speed from a ZX which transmits power to a 3.9 OS Giken LSD. Although the L-28 that was in the car when I purchased it was recently rebuilt, my goal was to replace it with a larger displacement street/race engine to increase the fun-factor. After months of searching for a reputable L-Series builder, I came across a renowned Datsun engine builder by the name of Jeff Winter at Rallye Sport in Westminster, CO.

 

For my mostly street driving application, we decided on an L-28 bored .080 over, forged rods and flat top pistons, and one of his special cam grinds on my car’s original E88 head with a mild street port, all resulting in just under a 3.0L. Induction is handled by triple 44 PHH Mikuni carbs rebuilt by Taka from Kyusha House.

 

The exhaust is scavenged via a custom-made header from a small shop in Japan, fabricated bu Humble Engineering with a  2.5” straight pipe terminating into a 3-chamber Flowmaster. Below, also visible are T3 coil-overs, LCAs, diff brace and Z Car Garage CV Axles:

 

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

  

ELMO: Although my new engine makes more power than the original L-24, and the stock brake system and half- shafts likely within their operating limits to support the increased power, I felt now was the time to make those upgrades to mitigate any future performance or drivability issues. Enter Z Car Garage. I had been following ZCG for a few years and knew that Rob was very well respected in the Datsun community, and offered many products to enhance the performance of the S30. I wanted to upgrade to rear disks, not just for better overall braking, but also for aesthetic reasons.

 

As fellow S30 owner/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 M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel 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

  

ELMO: In other words, the look of drum brakes sitting behind my new wheels just wasn’t cutting it, at least not in 2023. There is no shortage of aftermarket (AM) brake kits for the S30; however, after speaking with many owners who installed AM kits, they all shared one thing in common: No one seemed to be fully pleased with their performance. Most kits are sort of a “Frankenstein” collection of parts which often required different brake boosters, proportioning valves and other mods just to make them work somewhat effectively. In addition, most AM brake kits either did not come with a parking brake, and if they did,  functioned poorly.

 

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. Elmo’s beautiful S30 and his ZCG Big-Brake installation:

 

Our ZCG Big-Brake kit ships with everything needed to install and retains the factory parking brake function. Elmo successfully installed the BBK on his Z with and they look great behind the Volk TE37 wheels. Beyond ease of installation and quality components, our Big-Brakes perform by offering superb pedal feel…everyone that drives our demo Z confirms! This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. Elmo shares his feedback after replacing his existing brakes with the ZCG BBK:

  

ELMO: I contacted Rob to secure a set of his brakes but he advised me they were on backorder but that they’d be worth the wait, so I committed. Due to Covid supply chain issues, the wait was almost a year long, but as the saying goes, “some things are worth the wait”. I finally received my brakes and can confirm that aside from looking great, they meet or beat my performance expectations. Braking is effective, predictable, and confidence-inspiring. However, the best part is that there are no tricky performance issues that you have to figure out as they were designed from the ground-up for the S30, while still utilizing the stock brake booster and other components. All you simply have to do is install them as directed and you’re good to go. Oh, did I mention the parking brake works great!

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. We have over 200 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

ELMO: Now that the brake department was taken care of, all that was left to replace is the Achilles’ heel of any S30 with a much more powerful engine, the half-shafts. I had issues with them and their U-Joints on my first 240z which had a 3.0 and I felt that my current Z would benefit from an upgrade. Again, multiple AM options to choose from but given the research and quality of the ZCG brake kit, I felt the CV axles that Rob offered were the logical choice. The axles are beautifully machined and more than robust enough to handle my new engine’s power. I installed the axles myself and have noticed less clunking and vibration, and an overall smoother drive.

Elmo’s ZCG CV Axle set, #0446 installed:

 

What’s in store for Elmo’s Z?

ELMO: So, what’s left? Well, there’s a few odds and ends but nothing major, at least not until Rob introduces the next upgrade. I’m a firm believer that most of us never truly finish modifying our cars because they are like an ever-evolving canvas of ourselves.

 

Thanks for your support Elmo we love that you are Enjoying The Ride and Long Live The Z! More photos in the gallery below

The Last Stop in Braking for your Z

 

Z Car Garage Big Brakes are one of the best systems available for your S30 Z Car with over 200 kits sold worldwide and unanimous positive feedback. See our ZCG Big-Brakes on client cars HERE and enjoy the photos below:

   
…[read more]

 

Over the years Z Car Garage has worked on almost every chassis of Nissan Skyline from the early GC10, R33, R34, and current R35 platforms. We love the R32 model and recently had the chance of helping one get back on the road. David C is the lucky owner of this beautiful black R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R. He acquired it through the internet and had it towed to a shop where it unfortunately remained sitting. David had even purchased an entire RB26 front clip to get the R32 running again but there was no progress. After hunting for a shop that could handle the task of waking Godzilla from its slumber David contacted Skyline guru Sean Morris who then referred ZCG….challenge accepted!

 

David and Rob spoke over the phone and agreed to tow it to the shop. Within a few hours of getting the Skyline our very own Josh C figured out the culprit. The fuel delivery system had been modified by the PO and fuel pump bypassed. Thanks to Josh, Godzilla fired right up and David was able to drive his GTR for the first time in 3 years! Unfortunately the engine was not healthy as cylinders 5 and 6 had low compression. David decided it was time for a change and sold his front clip in favor of rebuilding the existing RB26.

Teardown: Godzilla’s heart is quite complex!

 

The bottom end was built with Rebello consisting of forged JE pistons, and Eagle Rods. Mild headwork and stock turbos make up the top end:

The freshened powerplant along with a new clutch/flywheel are reunited with the chassis.

 

A new, OEM coil plug cover adorns the mighty RB and we also installed a few ancillary parts like this remote oil filter/oil cooler:

 

With the drivetrain buttoned up the engine was carefully broke-in by Rob. The PowerFC that came with car shorted and caused running issues so we switched to a Haltech Pro Platinum. We were impressed with the ease of tuning and base map of this plug-in-play solution.  The GTR was  dyno tuned conservatively on 91 octane making a silky smooth 384hp/305tq to the wheels!

 

With the Skyline running strong David treated it to full suspension to make those open track days enjoyable. Front/Rear coil-overs, sway bars, T/C rods, camber/control arms and a host of goodies from Cusco and Powertrix:

 

 

When was the last time you saw an R32 with Stoptech brakes at all four corners?  R32s are relatively heavy cars and with 400hp it’s easy to overwhelm the stock the setup. Large, 332mm vented rotors F/R will ensure fade-free braking duties:

  

The uprated brakes are housed in beautiful Forgestar wheels, running a square 18×10 with 265 tire setup:

  Adjusting the coil-overs for ride height before/after, we think it sits just right:

We love that David immediately started Enjoying the Ride in his GTR not just on the street but on the track! Here he is attacking Thunderhill Raceway:

 

This Skyline is Driven! Thank you David for letting us be part of your project, your R32 is wicked!

Check out more detailed pictures in the gallery
…[read more]

Ken D is a friend of the shop and machinist instrumental in developing the ZCG big brake kit. Bone stock, Ken’s 2011 Subaru WRX is blessed with near-STI acceleration and even has the same bulging bodywork. After enjoying the WRX’s power and grip at a few track days Ken got the speed bug and needed more braking capacity. Stoptech to the rescue!

We installed Stoptech’s Big-Brake Kit consisting of ST-40 calipers squeezing 328mm rotors up front:

The larger binders and ventilated rotors will now give Ken the confidence to brake deeper and repeatedly throughout the track day sessions:

What better way to take advantage of the new brakes than a set of sticky Hankook RS3s! Ken also had these tires mounted courtesy of Z racer Scott S, thanks!

We are happy to report that Ken got to experience fade-free braking performance at a recent track day at Laguna Seca:

This beautiful ’06 350z belongs to a good friend of the shop and he has been taking it to the track for a couple years now.  The time finally came last week to make the brake upgrade that it desperately needed as this car had the base brakes and not even the optional Brembos.

Fred has installed about a hundred-thousand of these (rough estimate, ha) and it flew right on the car with no hassles.   I have included a few of the before photos to see how the kit compares to stock.   We stuck with one of their new street pads for now because of the expected rain on the track day and the Volk CE28s are still shod with street tires.

Besides the newly added StopTechs, this car sports a Jim Wolf POP charger on the intake side and a NISMO system on the exhaust side.  The Volk CE28s have also been color matched to the car for the perfect look.  Now all we need to do is get Alvin to put some slicks on this mother and give some of our other friends the beat down at the track!!

I’ll have some more info on this car when we get to the actual track day post at the end of the week!  View all of the photos from the install after the read more.

…[read more]

This car came to the shop a couple of weeks ago with the normal bolt-on mods and a shiny set of wheels to roll down the street with style.  This 2006 convertible with an automatic transmission entered our doorway with a Stillen cat-back exhaust system, Kinteix Velocity Manifold plenum, and a few other nice dress up pieces.  Then came the time to add some real power!!!

The basis of any real power addition with a VQ based drivetrain really needs to come by way of forced induction.  For this reason a Vortech supercharger kit was ordered as a starting point in this build.  Not wanting to stop there and be left wanting more, Rob and the the car’s owner went the full monte and also ordered a set of JWT camshafts, Stillen headers, and a set of high flow catalytic converters.  This isn’t going to be your everyday convertible after this transformation.

After the top half of the engine was taken apart and reassembled with the new bump sticks all of the new exterior power-adders were installed.  This car features the recently improved Kinetix Velocity Manifold and accompanying intake cover, and the new look with the supercharger left us wanting a bit more under hood bite, visually.  The decision was made to paint the engine cover to match the battery and brake master covers and off to paint it went!

While we were waiting its return, the final tune was performed and power numbers were recorded on our Dynojet dynamometer, but this isn’t where this story ends.  This car needed big brakes.  We knew it, the owner knew it, it had to be.  Rob made a call down to our good friends at StopTech Brakes to secure a four-wheel Big Brake Kit for the next day, and guess what… it was just what the doctor ordered.  The color-matched plenum cover went back on and the build was complete.  Wicked

From the dyno sheet you can see that the power gains are very impressive for a VQ35DE with an automatic transmission.  But wait you say, I said this was a 2006?  Yes, unfortunately Nissan did not put the improved “Rev-Up” engine in any of the convertibles for this year.  What’s even stranger is that this generation DE engine uses a few engine castings that are different from the first generation DE, strange.

Anyways, you can see the power is still climbing on the graph but the Nissan nannies step it to limit the fun at just under 6,500rpm.  There are software changes on the market that up the rev-limiter but they have shown to reduce the DE’s reliability down the line, and that is not an option.  We want this car to be enjoyed for as long as possible.

With the car now complete it was given a full detail before the owner came down one last time to take delivery.  This time he brought his son and a few of his friends to enjoy the occasion.  With all the test rides he gave that afternoon there is not a doubt in my mind that we will be seeing him for a set of rear tires very soon.  Enjoy the Z my friends, you have done well.

There are a few more photos after the ‘read more.’

…[read more]