Tony’s 1972 Datsun 240Z

Filed under: 240z,Featured Cars and Projects,Parts,Performance
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on February 23, 2021

Tony K’s 1972 Datsun 240Z has a long history with Z Car Garage having received upgrades like a 3L with triple-Mikuni ph44s, 280Zx 5-speed transmission, suspension refresh, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles and Z Car Garage Heat Sheild.

Tony’s Z has a great history that begins with our friend and fellow enthusiast Rob Julien. Let’s take a closer look.

Keeping it in the Z Family

This Iris Blue Metallic (Porsche 911 color) Z was Rob Julien’s car when he first met Rob Fuller in the 90’s. A few years ago Rob J had the opportunity to buy Paul Hooks’ 1971 Series 1, another really nice S30 Fuller helped build in the 90’s (Full report soon). So the Iris Blue car changed hands going to a young Datsun 510 guy, customer Scott W, and finally Tony K, who at the time lived in Canada!

“I bought the car from Scott Wagner — a customer of ZCG — in 2014 as a replacement for my Ducati 748 that was totaled (along with me) a few years earlier in a near-fatal accident. I figured if I wasn’t going to ride bikes anymore, I wanted to get a car that offered a visceral and pure driving experience. Clearly I picked the right car and, unbeknownst to me at the time, the right man and garage to take care of my car.”

Very shortly after purchasing the car, Tony took it on the best road trip of his life:

“I drove with my wife from San Francisco to Vancouver where I lived and worked at the time, taking Rt 101 along the coast as far as I could up into Oregon before heading inland. The car was so great – planted and confidence inspiring on the twisty back roads, plenty of power, and a great soundtrack. While I lived in Vancouver, I met a group of Italians who loved cars, and we often took spectacular mountain drives during the spring and summer months and then garaged our cars in the winter.”

During its time in the Great White North we helped Tony out remotely:

“One of the best parts of my experience with the car has been the professional service, unparalleled expertise, and honest work from Rob and his great team at ZCG. I had spoken to Rob several times while I lived in Vancouver to ask him various questions, and he treated me like a valued customer; he spent quite a bit of time listening and explaining things to me even though I wasn’t a customer, and he didn’t know me from Adam. It was very clear to me how much he loved the Z and simply wanted to help me enjoy the car as much as possible. It was great to finally meet him and his team (and of course the shop dog) when I moved back to California and witness his infectious enthusiasm in person.”

Welcome Back to Cali

Tony serendipitously moved from Vancouver back to the Bay Area and immediately visited ZCG so we could handle everything on his wishlist. Let’s review the work we performed just before Tony left for Canada.

Engine Bay Services

The engine bay was painted black so we took this opportunity to paint it body color and perform general tidying. As usual William worked his magic to match the Iris Blue Metallic body color. Before/after:

New hydraulic lines/plumbing and wiring harness cleanup made this engine bay pop

We treated the engine to several upgrades including an MSA 6-into-1 exhaust header, new intake manifold with rebuilt Mikuni pH44 carbs, JWT HD clutch/flywheel, Koyo aluminum radiator:

We also installed what every triple-carbed L-series needs: a Z Car Garage Heat Sheild!

From dirty and grimy to fresh and clean. You an also see the freshened front suspension with new T/C rods and lower front control arms from Techno Toy Tuning

Tony’s Z also got the ZCG HID kit. We performed this mod on Gary R’s 280z restoration with great results: stock appearance during the day with HID brilliance at night. These were adjusted at his recent visit.

The Z Car Garage Touch

After driving the Z all the way down from Vancouver, Tony reported the rear brake drums had failed so he had the Z towed to us from Sacramento. It was time to take care of the little things that he wanted sorted as well as some exciting upgrades, ZCG-style.

The interior got some love with repaired tachometer, fabricated fire extinguisher bracket, new shift boot, shifter/bushings, NRG quick-release to work with his MOMO steering wheel, new front/rear window seals, rear hatch seal and MSA glove box insert.

Recaro Specialist Seats

We installed on of our favorite seats for the S30: the Recaro LXF. These are Specialist seats in leather that have proper brackets to make them fit, feel and look fantastic.

Dyno Tuning

The 3.0L stroker L-Series received a full Mikuni carb tune, sync, idle speed set and velocity stacks with filters. We also cleaned up the engine bay/tranny areas.

The stroker motor produced good power with Rob’s dyno tuning. Baseline was 191hp/187tq with final results of 208hp/201tq to the wheels:

Enjoy that sweet Mikuni-carb’d L-Series music on the dyno:

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and CV Axles

Our readers are likely familiar with “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car with full suspension and our ZCG Big-Brakes. Following a test drive in Butters, clients are sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles! 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 Tony’s brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit. Early in its life the Z also received Ground Control coil-overs and suspension parts from Techno Toy Tuning. New parts included adjustable T/C rods, sway bar set, rear control arms, new bushings, rack bushings, steering coupler, factory Nissan ball joints, new wheel bearings and more. We really appreciate Gabriel and his staff. They make some of the best suspension parts out there for Z cars.

Tony’s Toyota 4-Runner brakes removed and we installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit up front.

Our Big-Brakes utilize the OEM brake master cylinder and booster along with the factory hydraulic system. We replaced the M/C with a new unit, here are a few more shots of the front setup:

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

Following the suspension and brake installation we mounted fresh Bridgestone RE-71R tires and performed a full alignment. The new ZCG Big-Brakes fit nicely behind the full-polished 16″ Panasport wheels:

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

Tony received axle set #263. Stock half shafts and ZCG units shown below with more pictures in the gallery:

Tony was pleased with the mechanical upgrades:

“I had the car towed to ZCG from Sacramento for Rob and his great team to install the ZCG Big Brakes, ZCG CV axles, new Recaros, new tires, and get a much-needed partial re-spray. The upgrades and modifications really transformed the car from really fun to drive to truly confidence inspiring, particularly because of the awesome brakes.”

Making it look good

After years of wear and tear the clearcoat was starting to peel on the roof (pictured below, left). As usual William worked his magic to match the Iris Blue Metallic body color, re-spraying/blending the top of the car.

We are happy to report that Tony is Enjoying The Ride. Here are a few summer pictures post fresh paint/upgrades, more in the gallery below!

“I have a few more upgrades I’d like to do on the car (a tad more power and perhaps upgrade the suspension), but one thing is for sure: there’s no one I’d rather have work on my car. But more importantly, I just need to drive the stink out of it.”

Thanks Tony for trusting us with your Z. This car has come full circle as Rob worked on it when he was 26 years old and now at 48. We are lucky to have a life filled with cool Z cars and more importantly great relationships with their owners. ZCG is a like home to them. LONG LIVE THE Z!

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It’Z a Family Affair: Ben’s 1974 Datsun 260z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 10:31 am on February 8, 2019

“Love cars. Love people. Love life”…this motto was immortalized by Nissan legend Mr. K, and embodied perfectly by car enthusiast Ben Y with his 1974 Datsun 260z. We met Ben in Fall of 2016 when he visited Z Car Garage for a full mechanical restoration and it’s been a joy helping him realize his sportscar dream. Read on to learn about the Z’s history and how our restoration efforts culminate with a memorable father-son roadtrip.

A Family Affair

Ben has owned this S30 for nearly eighteen years. The car really is a family affair beginning with his father:

“It was my first car; the college car I inherited from my father and it was a bit of an oddity for a college student to have. The photo on the left is the Z all rusted and dented in Indiana, 2001. Prior to my father and me owning the car it sat in a garage in Wisconsin for seventeen years. The photo on the right is after my dad resurrected the car respraying it in the original color, new bumpers, new vinyl seat covers, and a set of 72’ SU carburetors. I was a freshman in college at university of the pacific in Stockton and I needed a car so he trailered it to California in 2001. It was a longterm loan that would influence my life in many ways.”

“I was showing it a lot as a college student and won best stock 260Z at the MSA nationals in 2002. The picture below (left) of me and my dad with Matsui-San was a great time in my Z life. I was learning so much and he was and still is one of my hero’s. The car he is pictured in is Katsuaro-San’s (Kats) 1970 240z. On the right, I mounted a free set of stock steelies/hubcaps because I thought the factory fresh look was what I was going for. I waited until I found the right set of Watanabe’s.”

“In 2005 I took my 260Z to a show in Fremont at Ohlone college where I saw Rob with his green 240z complete with red Porsche brakes, RB25, and the photo of his “Z” tooth. His car was unforgettable and with me pursuing a career in dentistry I would never forget his tooth.”

Little did they know that their paths would cross over a decade later…

Ben has written a blog dedicated to his Datsun addiction HERE. His ultimate goal with the 260z is to complete a coast-to-coast trek of the United States for the 50th anniversary of the Z car in 2020 with his family.

Let’s move on to the restoration…

Building the Dream

Ben’s vision of his perfect Z car comes from his admiration of period-style Japanese tuning:

“My concept is to create a 260Z as if it was owned in the 1970’s in Japan by someone who worked at the Datsun Sports Corner. When looking at the car’s engine-bay, interior, and exterior it is neither original nor modified. I am open to making modifications to improve the car’s drivability, but outside of the Datsun Competition parts the changes will need to be internal.”

We performed a full inspection on the Z and it had a long list of needs. Ben reported the car lacked power and we found cylinders ‘3’ and ‘5’ in bad shape, necessitating a rebuild. The engine was removed while a 3.0L Rebello was built.

We wanted to build the car exactly to his specification and Ben decided to not leave a single rock unturned with engine, cooling system, exhaust, suspension and braking refurbishment. We would also install his prized Datsun Competition racing seat.

Engine Bay

With the tired engine removed we began the clean-up process. Many more pictures of the teardown and assembly in the gallery:

All new hydraulic lines replaced corroded parts:

In keeping with Ben’s desire to have a factory-looking appearance, the new 3.0L engine retained SU carbs, built by Z Therapy. A JWT Aluminum flywheel and HD clutch back the powerplant:

Ben’s excellent choice of exhaust: the Fujitsubo Legalis R twin-pipe system:

From header to twin tail-pipe we love the craftsmanship, finish, sound and performance this setup offers.

We added our own touches like a factory-like silver finish at the rear and O2 bungs for Wideband tuning in-house:

Small details in the engine bay make a huge difference: powdercoated air filter assembly with reproduced OEM decals throughout, proper plating, wire clips for hoses, ZCG mods to intake/exhaust manifolds and a stock radiator updated to 4-core:

The completed engine bay:

Chassis

As the engine bay started to come together we realized the chassis needed to match the rest of the car. The drivers’s side inner fender had enough rust to compromise the sway bar mount. We cut it out, built a new brace for the sway bar mount and welded in a replacement panel. All inner fenders were cleaned/undercoated.

The entire fuel system was gone through including all recovery hoses/lines, fuel sender and boiling out the gas tank:

The Z received entire front and rear suspension refurbishment with full coil-over 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. All parts were powdercoated:

Steering rack before/after and the T3 suspension going in. All nuts/bolts were bagged for zinc plating:

T3 f/r coil-overs and Suspension Techniques f/r sway bars:

The braking system was restored to factory spec to keep it vintage. Mild performance upgrades included Stoptech 309 pads with slotted front rotors and stainless steel braided brake lines. All wheel bearings were replaced. Up front we replaced the front calipers with NOS units:

In the rear, stock suspension and old brakes vs new:

The drums were turned and new Nissan wheel cylinders/shoes installed:

The T3 coil-overs allow ride-height adjustment and Ben’s Z now sits much lower over those gorgeous Watanabe wheels with generous sidewalls:

“One of my hero’s had Watanabe’s on his car and that sealed the deal in terms of me eventually deciding on a wheelset. My set’s dimensions are 14″ x 7.5jj (+1.5mm) for the rear and 14” x 7jj(+8mm) for the front, Type B. “

Stock suspension vs T3, more pics gallery!

We love it:

Datsun Competition

Ben’s appreciation for Datsun’s Competition-specific parts can be highlighted in the interior where he has an original rallye shift knob, steering wheel and for the tifecta: the competition seat. He even tracked down the matching headrest from a Bluebird.

He’s super passionate about the Comp seat, you can read more about it in his personal blog post HERE. We removed the factory seat, made a bracket to allow his comp seat to fit and installed it. It looks great with that un-cracked factory dash!

We paid attention to all of the little things that make a Z car fun to drive everyday. Finalizing door fitment and getting the vintage A/C unit working again was important:

“I want to drive it across the country. That is a big goal of mine, but really I just want to drive the car always.”

Since A/C had been on Ben’s mind, we fixed and made one of the lines, all mocked up to clear the Fujitsubo header. More details in the engine bay to satisfy’s Ben’s penchant for the vintage look: we passed along our rare factory spark plug wires and OEM choke cable set.

Enjoying The Ride

With the mechanical restoration completed, Ben embarked on his originally planned road trip with his father.

“I got back last night from my trip with my Dad. We went a bit north of 1000 miles in three days in my Z Car Garage 260Z! The car is perfect. I really want to thank you for building such a glorious machine. It does everything it should. Handles well, makes all the right sounds, is comfortable, and soaks up the miles. I took it up to an elevation of 7500′ without even a hiccup. My Dad drove a lot and he loved it too. He got it up to 100mph on the highway and I didn’t even know it the car was so smooth. He told me later.”

We were stoked for Ben. Seeing him drive the Z everywhere, including a visit to the epic 2018 RMMR where Datsun was the featured marque. Being on the road is really what he loves and the S30 is a scalpel.

Love for the Z, with Family

Ben’s family is an integral part of his Z passion. He even had these T-shirts made for his crew. Rob has one as well 🙂

“Very rarely do people get to have dreams come true and it was a lot of sacrifice to have Rob do this mega build, but I had read so much about people not finishing projects and I had Rob right there so I threw caution to the wind and went with the attitude of “lets do this.” He made it happen and the shirt says it all as I am just one of the hundreds of people he has made dreams come true.”

Ben’s next big Z adventure will be attending the 2020 Z Convention in Tennessee, driving it back with his son.

Thank you Ben for letting us build your dream Z car. Enjoy The Ride!

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Lou’s 1970 Datsun 240z

Filed under: Featured Cars and Projects,Performance
by Alvin G @ 1:47 am on May 21, 2018

Lou S is no stranger to Z Car Garage, having built several cars with us since we opened our doors in 2004. Although the red Z shown above is the focus of this blog post, let’s spend a moment recalling Lou’s 1973 Fairlady Z . You might recognize this RHD Z from local Bay Area fun runs and car shows over the years. What started out as a fairly stock car evolved into a canyon-carving street machine as we began modifications in 2011:

The Z featured a 250whp Rebello 3.2L engine, 240sx KA24 5-speed, Recaro seats, LSD, full-suspension, our ZCG Big-Brake Kit and Panasport C8 wheels.

Enjoy this short video showing the mellifluous sounds coming from the 3.2 engine:

The pretty triple Weber carb setup on the 3.2L was pictured on SpeedHunters and the Z was a feature car in JNC’s booth at the highly-successful Bayline show:

Enter The Monte Carlo

Lou enjoyed his Fairlady Z for many years and after ZCG’s 2nd SEMA build in 2016, Lou was inspired to take his car to the next level. The 3.2L drivetrain was sold to our customer Tim Ng to be used in his ’72 S30 build. We are currently building an IMSA-flared body Fairlady Z featuring wider Panasport C8 wheels and a stroker RB engine backed by either a close-ratio 5-Speed or 6-speed.

While Lou’s Fairlady Z was being torn down, Rob had been daily-driving his Monte Carlo Red (#905) 1970 Series 1 S30. Rob had this car for a few years and every time Lou saw it he would hound Rob to sell it to him. Here is the low vin (6143) S30 back when Rob acquired it, before a cut and buff, stock hubcaps and refreshening:

Lou finally acquired Monte Carlo from Rob. While the Fairlady Z sat in storage Lou was driving around in the bone-stock Monte Carlo. We thought, why not take the pieces in storage and upgrade Monte Carlo? ZCG went to work and transferred all of the suspension, wheel/tires and Big-Brakes from the Fairlady Z to Monte Carlo:

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

Lou has our ZCG Big-Brake kit. Not to be confused with our current Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), this Big-Brake kit was our initial setup from over a decade ago. This 328mm sized kit requires 17″ diameter wheels and the massive ST-42 calipers are finished in bright red. We actually did all the R&D in-house for this setup…using a 280ZX master cylinder and our own mounting brackets. Full suspension (Coil-overs) and ZCG Big-Brakes F/R replace OEM parts:

Another look at those massive ZCG Big-Brakes!

The 280z 2.8L engine received a 5-speed transmission with new clutch/flywheel.

5-speed transmission fitment required trimming the shifter area as early cars came with 4-speeds:

While the Z was on the lift we also addressed a few engine bay items like a new brake booster:

The interior also got attention with nicer, complete seats from our parts supply. The original seats were badly torn:

The resulting transformation is impressive. From a stock, early series 1 Z to a hot rod with killer brakes, suspension and footwork that is familiar to Lou. We know these upgrades to Monte Carlo will keep him Enjoying The Ride while his Fairlady Z gets built.

We love Lou’s passion for Z’s and he is a Z car fanatic. Thanks for letting us work on Monte Carlo!

Long Live The Z!

More pictures in the gallery

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S130 Love: Nick’s 280zx

Filed under: 280zx,Featured Cars and Projects,Maintenance,Performance
by Alvin G @ 12:50 am on April 28, 2015

Nick P came to Z Car Garage to fix a blown head gasket on his 280zx. We decided on a full cylinder head rebuild with a revised cam profile from Rebello, otherwise it was built close to factory spec. Teardown pictures below indicate obvious failure: