Many of our clients perform work on their Z cars by themselves, and we love to help when they are ready. Kai N installed a bunch of parts on his 1972 Datsun 240Z and got to the point where he didn’t feel comfortable taking it further. He took his Z to several local shops and was not getting it sorted so he visited Z Car Garage. We got him dialed in by sorting out his Weber carbs, brakes and fuel system. Our ZCG Heat Shield also graces his induction setup.

 

“A while back I installed triple DCOEs, headers and exhaust. I got some professional help to get the car running, but it was not quite right, so I knew my next call would be to ZCG. But before I made the call the pandemic hit, I found myself with a bit more free time and started working on other bits of the car. I ended up working on the cooling system (new radiator, electric fans), fuel system (electric fuel pump), new brakes and suspension.”

 

Z in the Family

Kai shares his Z history:

“The Z belonged to my Uncle Donnie until the late 90’s. He sold the car to our local mechanic. I’ve always wanted a Z and my Dad always reminded me where I could find Uncle Donnie’s old Z if I was ever ready to own one. When I was finally able to acquire my dream car in 2017, I asked the mechanic a few times if he would sell me the car while I was shopping for a Z, but he was on the fence about it. BTW I think he had 2 or 3 Zs at the time. After a few months of me bugging him, a generous offer and my uncle (along with his friends) putting in a few good words on my behalf, he was finally convinced to sell me the car.”

“I will never forget that after I purchased the Z, my Dad told me a story. Before my uncle sold the car to the mechanic; Uncle Donnie had asked my Dad if he wanted the Z. I was a few years from being old enough to drive and the Z could have been my first car. Of course, my Dad declined the offer. I got my Z, it just happened 20ish years (and a lot of $) late.”

 

Mechanical Sorting

  

Kai wanted us to address a list of items and we knocked each one out. Littles things like installing a temperature sensor, replacing motor and transmission mounts, re-wiring his fuel pump and new rack bushings were taken care of. We also sorted out his braking system and nut/bolted the entire suspension followed by a full alignment.

 

The engine bay was cleaned up, drive belt replaced and we sorted the Weber carbs. Kai purchased one of our Z Car Garage Heat Shields and we modified it to work with his throttle cable linkage:

 

More info on our ZCG Heat Shield below:

ZCG Heat Shield

We are excited to offer the Z Car Garage Heat Shield for your triple-carb’d L-series Z car. This is a one-piece 304 stainless unit with laser-etched serial number. Proven on all of our L-series engine builds and dyno testing.

  

This heat shield will fit Mikuni, Weber, Dellorto and Jenvey induction with several intake manifolds like the Harada:

  

Dyno Tuning

 

The triple Webers were dialed in on the dyno. With Rob’s tuning the Z went from running poorly to running well, making 141hp/141tq to the wheels:

 

Listen to that L-Series music on the dyno:

Kai is really happy with the work we performed:

“It’s a completely different car. It still needs work, but I can finally enjoy the car. I didn’t want a track car or a pristine show car, I simply wanted my Z to be something that I could enjoy. ZCG brought the joy. My Z’s journey isn’t done, it will continue to evolve and I’ll be counting on ZCGs help. I approached ZCG without much of a plan. I think Rob and crew formulated and executed the perfect plan for me (and my budget). The car is fun and safe, while having potential for more growth.  I had not driven the car in 2 years, So I’m sure you can imagine how happy I was.”

 

What’s next for Kai’s Z? He’s driven Mrs. Butters, our 1971 shop 240Z and he is returning to ZCG for our ZCG Big Brakes!

“My experience at ZCG has been amazing, I’m pumped for the next step in my car’s journey. ZCG BBK is next for me! Also being at the shop is cool too, there is always something there that blows my mind (like the BRE Z or the IMSA).”

 

Thanks for your support Kai, we are honored to be a part of your Z car journey!

Vince S called Z Car Garage after he scored this 1973 Datsun 240Z from our friends at Bring a Trailer. After we got the Z up here from SoCal we found that it needed some work for Vince to really Enjoy The Ride. Our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles along with a full suspension refresh and engine tuning make it just right.

 

Z Destiny

Before we explore the upgrades, let’s take a look at how Vince found his Z car…

“I’m incredibly lucky to own my Z. It was sold new in Decatur, IL on August 10, 1973. The car was supposedly purchased from the 2nd owner who reportedly had it for over 30 years in 2018 by a dealer in Oakland who then sold it to the collector I bought it from. I first saw the car in 2019 parked in my neighbor’s driveway. At the time, I was looking for a 240Z to buy. In high school I had a 1978 280Z that I took to college but it was prone to overheating and I blew a head gasket and didn’t have the money to fix it. I sold it in 1990 and regretted it ever since. So, when I saw a 1973 240Z sitting in that driveway, I knocked on my neighbor’s door and asked if he wanted to sell it.”

“Turns out the Z didn’t belong to him. He was transporting it from Oakland to Carmel and then on to L.A. for a friend who was a collector. The friend already owned two 240Zs (he has one of the 37 Zs that were part of Nissan’s Vintage Restoration Program) and he wanted my Z for it’s a/c components and other bits to complete one of his cars (he later decided it was too good of a car to use for parts). Although I couldn’t buy my Z that day, my neighbor let me go for a quick drive around the block. Fast forward to April 2020 and that very same Z is being auctioned on Bring a Trailer.”

 

  

Chassis and Suspension Upgrades

 

With Vince’s Z finally at the shop we proceeded with upgrades to make it a fantastic, reliable driver. For our clients that are cruising with occasional “spirited” driving we installed our “Stage 1/light street” suspension.  New parts from Techno Toy Tuning included adjustable T/C rods and rear lower control arms. We really appreciate Gabriel and his staff at T3. They make some of the best suspension parts out there for Z cars.

A full front suspension rebuild included new rack bushings, front control arm bushings, ball-joints, tie-rods, new wheel bearings front and rear (OEM genuine Nissan seals/parts), KYB strut inserts, Eibach lowering springs trimmed Macpherson bumps stops for full travel and a ST sway bar set.

   

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles

Brakes: every vintage Z car that we build here gets the ultimate setup: our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes for small wheels.  Everyone that drives our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car is sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes  and Z Car Garage CV Axles! Butters has a way of doing this to our customers 🙂 Read below for a brief description of these parts:

     

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 engineers at 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 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:

  

We removed Vince’s brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit with a new brake master cylinder from Nissan, rebuilt brake booster and parking brake assembly.

 

New brake master cylinder from Nissan and stock vs Big-Brakes:

  At the rear, the factory drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality IS retained!

 

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 90 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

  

Vince has CV Axle set #341. Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units:

   

ZCG CV axles installed:

 

Panasport Wheels

Complementing the new springs and shocks on Vince’s Z are Panasport wheels! We replaced the stock steel wheels (kept for shows) with 16×7 Panasports and Continental Extreme Contact Sport tires in 225/50/16.

 

 

Rob Fuller is the latest guest on the Bring a Trailer Podcast with BaT co-founder Randy Nonnenberg and Howard Swig. Listen to them chat about Z Car Garage, the burgeoning Z-car market and Rob’s passion for all things Datsun and racing.  You can listen to the podcast via this link HERE, and check out BaT’s other cool podcasts too!

We are fortunate to work closely with Bring a Trailer and you can see our work on their personal BaT 240z that gets driven on major rallyes/events.They even drove the Z across the country from their headquarters in San Francisco to Road Atlanta for the historic races at The Mitty

(Below) Randy Jaffe and Bat Co-founder Randy Nonnenberg at the Mitty with their Z cars!

 

 

  

 

Larry Chen’s 1970 Datsun 240Z is featured on the latest episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with, Larry Chen!. Watch Larry and Rob discuss all the changes and upgrades made by Z Car Garage and take it for a spin in this 1-hr long episode:

 

  

 

Long Live The Z!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne A came to Z Car Garage for a full inspection on his 1971 Datsun 240Z. Rebello built him a nice engine and now he needed the right suspension and parts to enjoy that new drivetrain upgrade. Rob and Wayne developed a plan for a total suspension refresh.

 

The Right Z

Let’s take a look at how Wayne got his “SERIEZ 1” S30 that he’s owned for the past ten years:

“My neighbor had a slew of 240z and 510s. I stopped by and asked him about his cars. I told him I specifically wanted an orange 1972 Datsun 240z. One day on my way home I saw this car out in front of his house. I was amazed when I saw it. It had slotted wheels with BF Goodrich tires and was lowered quite a bit. I had asked him about it and he said he just got back from Oregon to purchase it with intentions to flip it for a really good price. I bought it that day from him.”

Here is Wayne’s Z as it arrived at Z Car Garage:

 

The Rebello 3L stroker with triple FAJS 45 induction backed by a 5-speed transmission:

 

Enjoy this video of the Z in action:

 

Suspension

Wayne’s chassis was treated to a full suspension rebuild with new parts, bushings and a full coil-over (Koni) suspension from Techno Toy Tuning. T3 finishes the suspension in our signature color and we really appreciate Gabriel and his staff. They make some of the best suspension parts out there for Z cars.

 

New parts included the T3 adjustable T/C rods, T3 rear control arms, T3 front/rear strut tower bars, new ball joints, new front bushings, all new bearings and seals and ST sway bars. New Macpherson bumps were trimmed for best ride quality and full travel followed by a full alignment.

  

Front suspension refresh with T3 coil-overs, T/C rods, ST sway bars, rack bushings and f/r wheel bearings.

   

We also installed a new set of Watanabe wheels (15×8) with 225/50/15 Toyo R888R tires:

 

Enjoying The Ride

 

With new suspension and wheels Wayne immediately took his Z out, sharing his joy with family. We thank his nephew for sending us photos from their drive. More pictures in the gallery below!

 

Wayne is really happy with the upgrades:

“It drives worlds better. Rob did an incredible job with the suspension. I couldn’t be happier! It went from scary to drive to where I can’t wait to get in and drive it now.”

 

Wayne and Rob met, developed a plan, made a quote, got all the parts here and his car came in on Tuesday leaving on Friday. Pretty cool for a 50yr -old car to get a major performance upgrade in short time. Thanks for letting us work on your SERIEZ 1. Next up Wayne, brakes! Long Live the Z!

 

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