Rommel came to Z Car Garage in 2014 to have work done on his 2013 Nismo 370z. He’s a big car enthusiast with a Camaro ZL1 and Viper ACR and after a few years he reached out to us about his 1971 Datsun 240z.

 

The Z had an EFI setup with Megasquirt and would not start. He made an appointment with us and got the car towed here where we found an ECU failure.  Rob and Mel discussed doing an upgrade to Haltech and fixing all the things wrong with the car from sorting the suspension, better braking and engine bay cleanup.

 

Mel was hesitant to do everything all at once, yet we wanted to avoid future trips back to the shop. Jokingly, Mel said what “I’d really like are some ph44 Mikuni’s.”  Ask and you shall receive as Rob had a set ready to go.  So we cancelled the tow truck and made a plan to go back to vintage.

 

All of the existing EFI parts were removed from the car.  We hooked Mel up with a Harada intake manifold, triple ph44 Mikuni carbs correctly setup for his 2.8 engine, a ZCG heat shield and corrected all fuel system issues:

 

Often utilized on vintage race cars, the fuel lines were plumbed from a junction block on the firewall. Black AN fittings on black fuel lines supply each carb:

 

We think the new triple Mikuni’s look much better than the old setup!

  

The existing fuel pump system (Left) was removed and a cleaner Holley setup installed:

Dyno Tuning

 

Aside from the exhaust header, this is a stock 2.8L engine running Mikuni ph44s.  With timing and A/F adjustments we picked up more power making 150hp/167tq to the wheels:

  

Listen to those triple Mikuni’s sing on the dyno:

Minor Sorting

The rear fenders were cut badly to fit flares, revealing an inner fender gap that would allow air/fuel vapors to entire cabin:

 

We pulled it back, welded the metal and sealed everything up. The exhaust was also rubbing at the rear valance so re-fitted it.

Chassis

   

The chassis was treated to a suspension refresh. We installed lower adjustable control arms and T/C rods 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. Lower control arms replacing OEM parts:

   

Front T/C rods replacing OEM units:

  

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles

We installed our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!

     

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

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 went ahead got Mel dialed in with the ZCG big-brake kit for small wheels with parking brake and a new master cylinder. More pics in the gallery!

  

Front brake installation:

  

The ZCG brakes fit under the 15×9 Atara Racing wheels:

 

At the rear, the existing old-school disc setup was 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 70 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

   

The differential area was a mess on Mel’s Z. We corrected the side-flange issues with his R200 and installed our CV axles. Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units:

 

 

Vintage is Best!

Once running we performed a full alignment and dialed in the brakes. Mel’s initial feedback on the car made us happy:

“Well, I’m very happy how my car turned out after picking it up from ZCG. Hearing my baby runs on old school NA triple carbs is very heart warming, the ZCG Big-Brake kit is amazing, the CV axles are beefy and the suspension tweaks made a lot of difference on handling. I can’t thank Rob enough for what he did to my Z. It feels like a totally different car now (in a good way) compared to when I drop it off. Job well done ZCG! Thank you for taking care of my 240Z ZCG. 👍👏🙏”

 

This was a very rewarding project and we are excited to see Mel’s Z evolve into a well-rounded sports car. He’s already thinking about his next upgrade…a 3.0 or 3.2L motor. Thanks for bringing your Z to us Mel! More pictures in the gallery below.

Long Live The Z!
…[read more]

 

Brian P hails from Canada and lives in the Bay Area with his family. We met him in 2014 when he visited ZCG for minor sorting and upgrades on his pretty 1973 S30.

 

Attention to the engine bay included changing all fluids, new motor mounts, upgraded alternator and a fresh Koyo racing radiator:

 

Rob dyno tuned the stock, SU-carb’d L24 before and after the addition of our ZCG exhaust using 2.5″ piping to a stainless resonator and Magnaflow muffler with slash-cut tip. We saw gains of 13hp/5tq and improved power throughout the mid-range:

 

Brian returned in 2016 for suspension upgrades. We installed 5-way Tokicos, Suspension Techniques sway bars, Techno Toy Tuning adjustable rear lower control arms, TC rods, and rack bushings.

 

Everything was powdercoated black and we zinc’d all hardware. With fresh bearings and a few more new suspension parts he was out and enjoying the Z.

Panasport Wheels

Complementing the new springs and shocks on Brian’s Z are Panasport wheels! We replaced the old-school Western Turbine wheels with 16×7 Panasports and Hankook R-S3 tires in 225/50/16.

Bottom left picture from Brian:

“This was taken on the day I picked up the car from the PO, a retired writer in Oakland, who only sold me the car after a 3 hour interview/visit 2 weekends prior, before the car was officially ‘for sale’ (I felt like I was being vetted as the car’s next custodian).”

 

Here is Brian Enjoying The Ride in his Z at last year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca:

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles

After a few years of driving, Brian came back early this summer for more upgrades. We handed him the keys to “Mrs. Butters”,  our 1970 Series 1 240z shop demo car and he was sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles! Butters has a way of doing this to our customers 🙂

     

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

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 Brian’s stock brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit.  We also took his Tokico 5-ways in trade for 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.

 

ZCG Big-brakes and T3 coil-overs replacing stock setup:

    

At the rear, the factory drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality IS retained! T3 coil-covers also installed:

 

Brian really wanted the look and feel of Mrs. Butters Z so we obsessed over ride height until we got it exactly where he wanted it. The Z looks fabulous from any angle:

 

 

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

  

Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units:

 

More pictures of the ZCG axles installed, also visible are the T3 control arms and ZCG exhaust system:

    

Driving is Believing

Brian was impressed with the ZCG Big-Brakes and how well they work: like having late model brakes on a vintage car!

“The brakes are amazing. I push the car hard on weekend drives on the Peninsula, normally taking different routes out to Alice’s, now without any fade or fear (except from passengers).”

 

With suspension and drivetrain sorted, Brian had a few remaining things on his mind. He reported a heavy fuel smell in the cabin so we replaced all of the vapor hoses to the fuel tank and installed a new hatch seal:

 

Finally, his hood had little specks on it so we had our man William repaint and blend it.  Icing on the cake: Rob installed a NOS “Datsun” emblem on it after adjusting the hood.

 

Enjoy this short video of Brian’s Z:

 

 

We enjoyed working with Brian:

“Rob and team are the best, and the only shop that will ever touch my car. I have supreme confidence that my expectations will be always be exceeded, and Rob’s enthusiasm is infectious. On a lighter note and as a Canadian transplant down here in the Bay Area, it’s a pleasant surprise to find someone who doesn’t feel the need to insert ‘ice’ before saying ‘hockey’.”

Thank you for entrusting us with your S30, Brian. We are so fortunate to work with owners that appreciate the Z and believe in our ability to make them better! LONG LIVE THE Z!

More pictures in the gallery below!
…[read more]

 

Nickhil’s beautiful 1973 240z needed some love. He acquired it a few years ago and took it to another shop since ZCG was backlogged. They tried to fix the ignition system and the car came to us barely running.  We performed a full inspection, compression/leakdown test, cleaned up the engine bay and handled some interior items at his request. He would return for full suspension and chassis upgrades!

 

The main culprit for poor running was the timing being set incorrectly and very retarded.  We removed the existing ignition setup and installed the factory distributor with correct advance curve. The coil was replaced and we got it running really well:

 

New door window glass replaced scratched units. We also installed his newer center console:

 

Outside, the body was treated to our favorite side mirrors, the Nissan OEM #E4600:

 

Those groovy louvers were removed:

   

Nickhil visited us to drive his Z and he was so impressed that he signed on to do more work with us. We handed him the keys to “Mrs. Butters”,  our  1970 Series 1 240z shop demo car and he was sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles! Butters has a way of doing this to our customers 🙂

 

ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles

     

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

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 Nickhil’s stock brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit. The Z also received entire full coil-over (Koni) suspension from Techno Toy Tuning. New parts included adjustable T/C rods, rear control arms, new bushings, rack bushings, steering coupler, ball joints and more. 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.

 

ZCG Big-brakes and T3 coil-overs replacing stock setup up front:

 

T3 T/C rods:

 

Suspension Techniques sway bars. Front installed:

 

At the rear, the factor drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality retained! T3 coil-covers also installed:

 

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. Nickhil’s Z received set #285. We have over 60 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

 

Stock half shafts and control arms (L):

 

S/T rear sway bar and T3 control arms installed. Also visible is the ZCG exhaust system using 2.5″ piping to a stainless resonator and Magnaflow muffler with slash-cut tip:

Panasport Wheels

What is the perfect companion for Nichkil’s Z, now that it has full suspension and wicked brakes? Panasport wheels! We replaced the old-school Western wheels with 16×7 Panasports and Bridgestone’s killer new S-007a tire in 225/50/16:

 

We kept in touch with Nickhil and he has been out Enjoying The Ride. We even spotted him attending the successful Golden Week Kyusha Festival in May:

 

Thank you for entrusting us with your S30 Nickhil. We are so fortunate to work with owners that appreciate the Z and believe in our ability to make them better! LONG LIVE THE Z!

More pictures in the gallery below

This car belongs to the one and only William of William’s Autobody fame.  The 240 came into the shop with a noisy valvetrain so we (Josh) removed the front cover and discovered that the timing chain tensioner had dismantled itself over the last few hundred miles.  Uh oh.  Normally this would result in the chain jumping a tooth or more on one of the gears which would cause terminal engine damage, we happened to get lucky.  Part replaced, Long live the L-series engine!!

Turning our focus towards the rear of the car, we have a slight overhaul in order.  What you see here are a set of T3 (Techno Toy Tuning) fully adjustable rear control arms.  These new pieces are light years ahead of the stock stamped pieces in terms of stiffness and adjustablility.  The perfect alignment is now achievable.  To accompany the control arms and their new bushings are a set of 250lbs/in springs (up from 175lbs) to firm up the rear a bit.

The new rear suspension pieces and and replaced tensioner will help our faithful painter enjoy one of his Z cars to its fullest.  ZOOM ZOOM (He has a Miata as well)  Long Live the Z!!