Bill C has been a long time customer of Z Car Garage. You might remember his 2007 350z as one of the first HR-powered cars at ZCG to receive a Bassani exhaust and minor bolt-ons resulting in over 300whp. That was in 2008! Over the years Bill has enjoyed his Z on fun runs and track days. He even wrote an Ebay article reviewing the 370z and enlisted us for dyno measurements!

 

  

The stock OEM suspension on the Z33 had always bothered Bill:  the relatively spongy ride along with ride height and wheel gap over his amazing Volk LE37 wheels had to improve.  We wanted to make sure that he had the ability to autocross, enjoy back roads and daily drive the Z. Bill picked up a very nice set of Ohlins DFV coil-overs for us to install:

 

 

Here is the Ohlins setup installed front and rear:

 

A great complement to coil-overs is our favorite sway bars from Hotchkis:

 
Sway bars installed front and rear:

   

The Z now sits with a great stance and Bill is very happy with the new suspension setup:

I love the Ohlins!!!  I got EXACTLY what I was hoping for.  Daily driver comfort (Wife couldn’t discern it from stock), but take it into some twisties and it’s a monster. Also, I did not expect my braking to improve so much from the coil-over install.  

 

Enjoy The Ride Bill!

 

 

 

 

 

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS From Z Car Garage***

 

One of the real joys this holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you and wish you the very best for the new year. From all of us at Z Car Garage we thank our friends, family and customers again for another exciting and productive year! Please note our holiday closure below:

 

*ZCG will be closed from 12/22 to New Year’s Day. We will re-open for business on  1/2/18*

 

Before we take a look back at highlights from 2017, check out our exciting plans for 2018 including motorsports events and several customer projects.

Catch us at Road Atlanta in Georgia for the 2018 Classic Motorsports Mitty April 27-29. We will be running pit crew again for John Morton piloting the #46 BRE 240z owned by Randy Jaffe. Nissan is the featured marque!

 

Just a few of the many customer projects coming along at the shop including full restorations:

Scott W’s 260z is slated for completion in Spring. This Z has a complete color change, ZCG Big-Brakes and a sweet 3.2L with Jenvey ITB fuel injection:

  

Tim N’s 1973 240z will also be getting new paint, a 3.2L with Jenvey ITBs and our ZCG Big Brake Kit:

  

Richard Y’s series 1 240z is fresh from paint:

 

Tuning of the OS Giken TC24B1Z, turn up your speakers and enjoy!

 

Several Z32 projects will be completed as well, look for full reports next year!

 

We are excited about our new Big-Brake kit for small (14″) wheels. Debuting at JCCS earlier this year (report soon) we have performed a few local installations into Z cars and 510s. Look for an official offering early next year for S30s, 510s and other Datsuns.

  

Changes at Z Car Garage

Stay tuned for announcements in 2018 including a new website and business changes!

 

Highlights from 2017

Enjoy these highlights from 2017 and  Z you in the New Year!

Davids 240z Restoration

OS Giken TC24 Hakosuka

Erics DR30 RB26DETT Skyline

Alvins Datsun Roadster on Petrolicious

Richard Ms 370z on Smoking Tire

Solvang Datsun Roadster Show

Hakosuka Runs Spring Classic at Seca

R32 Skyline featured on Ignition Series

Visiting Spriso Motorsports

Rolex Motorsports Reunion

SEMA Show

ZONC Annual Car Show

 

 

SEMA was a blur this year—but that’s really no different than any other year for the most intense sensory overload in car show form on the planet. This trade-only show features all of the latest and greatest builds, technology, and creativity in our industry. While the show has historically been populated by American marques and their aftermarket support, in recent years the influx of Japanese metal (Nissan included) is undeniable.

  

We only attended the show for one day and while the crowds were as appalling as ever in the Las Vegas Convention Center, the quality of cars made it all worth it. It wasn’t just “cars” that got us excited, it was the astonishing number of vintage Datsuns/Nissans! The variety was astounding. We counted 16 cars from a 1972 Datsun 510 to 1983 Skyline and everything in between.

 

Year of the Datsun!

Our Datsun-hunting at SEMA started with Datsun 510s. Pro-drifter Chris Forsberg built this hot-rod 510 wagon for his wife. The Mazworx-built SR20DET is backed by an automatic transmission and even sports air-conditioning. Deep-lipped SSR MKIII wheels fill out the box-flares that are part of the “Hakobird” kit from Carbonsignal. This might be the closest thing to Hakosuka Skyline wagon!

 

Our friend and fellow 510 racer Troy Ermish built this ultra-clean 510 2-door for actor Daniel Wu. We dig the bronze Watanabe wheels and subtle paint color. A built L-series breathing through dual-Mikuni’s and stock-ish interior also makes us happy. You can learn more about the build from our friends over at JNC.

 

Our final 510 sighting was the legendary Pete Brock’s personal car in Braille battery booth. Affectionately known as “Datzilla”, we remember first seeing this 450hp small-block V8 beast back in 2008 at the MotoringJ Style show.

  

Z Car Fever

A total of NINE S30 Z cars were at SEMA this year. That may not seem like many, but consider just 3 years ago only two Z cars were present. It was hard to pick a favorite but we were impressed with the Gas Monkey Garage 280z and the ChasingJs 240z built by Big Mike and Dominic Le, respectively.

The Gas Monkey Garage 280z

 

Big Mike was commissioned to design/build this 280Z 2+2 for the TV show Gas Monkey Garage. We loved how he took a often un-loved chassis and created a unique car that Datsun fans and American-iron alike can appreciate. Some quick details that caught our eye: the huge void found in front of the 4-cylinder SR20DET was filled with an OEM-like air filer box. The stock interior features vintage buckets with matching rears. The body color choice was perfect against bronze Volk TE37V wheels. Watch for two episodes covering the build airing on Fast n Loud TV on the Discovery channel!
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Hello Zcarblog readers! In our next blog posts we aim to demonstrate the importance of a specialty shop for your Nissan/Infiniti/Datsun.

Let’s begin with Justin L’s 2013 370z. He had a Stillen supercharger installed at a local shop and while there are many competent shops that can get your car ready to go, the specialist exists for a reason: we have become proficient at specific installations because the are part of our daily routine.

 

The Stillen supercharger kit for the Z34 is an install we are intimately familiar with, and as a result we corrected several things on Justin’s car including engine codes and a fuse in the intercooler pump system that wasn’t allowing water to be pumped into the IC.  We also adjusted the clutch pedal and crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s as we do for many folks that bring their cars to ZCG.

Rob tuned the car using Ecutek software flashing with a MAP sensor instead of the MAF and Stillen-supplied CAN tunes.  Moving to speed density allows more control improved driveablity from idle to on boost. The results were impressive:

 

Justin’s Z came to us with 360hp/291tq and left with 396hp/321tq at the wheels. Gains of 36hp/30tq using slightly less boost as well with gains throughout the entire rev range. Justin is a happy camper and hopefully we’ve gained another customer for life. Long Live The Z!

 

 

 

Brad M is a new customer with a 2009 G37 Sedan that visited ZCG for suspension work. Front tire wear issues resulted from riding around on Eibach sport springs without adjustable front control arms. In back, running aggressive offset Volk SF Challenge wheels with larger tires he was unable to control camber and have the lower ride height desired. We met a few weeks ago and came up with a plan:

 

 

We installed KW V3 coil-overs, SPC front control arms and Hotchkis sway bars. Those sweet Volks were wrapped in new Bridgestone S-04 tires, and he got an oil change/filter.

 

Stock vs the new front coil-overs and control arms:

 

Stock vs new rear springs/shocks and we also corrected a bad previous install of rear control arms:

 

Camber in check, car looks great now with an even ride height:

 

Installation of the front and rear Hotchkis sway bars with endlink detail:

 

Stock vs Hotchkis rear sway bar:

 

We noticed Brad was missing the hubcentric rings for mounting the Volks and installed a new set to ensure vibration-free driving. He was very happy and we know he’ll be back!