On Sunday 6/13 we attended the Morning Motors Cars & Coffee event hosted by DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) in Santa Cruz, CA. The event impressed us again with a fun vibe and superb variety of cars. One of the many perks of DWA Morning Motors is its location surrounded by the best driving roads. This morning however, I ran solo in my Datsun Roadster straight to the venue in front of the Old Wrigley Building.

 

It’s smart to arrive before 8:30am to grab a shaded parking spot and coffee/donuts (thanks DWA!) before they run out. The event is so close to downtown Santa Cruz and HWY 1 I invited my family to enjoy the cars and visit our favorite beach afterwards.

 

Mandatory Nissan/Datsun

I was happy to see so many Nissans and Datsuns at Morning Motors.

 

There were a three Datsun 510 wagons and one 510 2-door! This is Mark G’s 510, a client we’ve been lucky to work with, you can see more details about his Dime HERE

 

 

Our very own Nick F. in his 1972 510 wagon on SSR wheels:

 

Ray’s Hakosuka Skyline, now sporting  our Z Car Garage CV Axles! We look forward to seeing Ray for more upgrades on this already stunning Skyline that gets driven everywhere:

 

Pall’s R32 Skyline in (AH3) Pearl Red. Pall K acquired this Pearl Red (AH3) R32 from our friend Sean and his team at Toprank International Vehicle Importers. We love the gorgeous paint color and Volk TE37SLs. He is also a ZCG client!

 

Todd’s R32 Skyline GTS-T. I just saw him on the Breakfast Club Rally yesterday!

 

Another ZCG client, Eric’s Infiniti FX35 sporting upgraded suspension and R35 GT-R wheels.

 

350Z and G37 sedan on Z34 wheels:

 

I counted five (!) Nissan 240SX in both S13 and S14 trim. This S13 was my favorite:

 

 

S14 with “Silvia” badging:

 

Lone Z32 (NA), Q45 and a bagged Q60:

   

In Search of J-Tin

Morning Motors did not disappoint if you are Japanese Classic fans. Honda S800:

  

NA Miatas!

  

 

EG Civic, EM1 Civic Si and S2000 CR:

  

90’s icons…Supra and NSX and FD RX-7 (on FIKSE wheels)!

   

So much variety! Enjoy this short video:

Euro Classics

Yearning for Porsche’s? Or something a bit less “mainstream”? DWA CnC did not disappoint. Rosso Dino 246:

 

308, 4C and Chris’ “Rat Alfa” GTV:

 

Spotted my first, local Porsche 911 by Singer. It was impressive with so many details to enjoy:

 

 

Sweet 993 C2S with sexy multi-piece Turbo Twists:

 

 

Naveed’s new 964 911 GT3 RS (991)

  

A trio of cool BMW 2002s, one powered by an M20 6-cylinder!:

  

American Muscle

From 60’s to 80’s. Mike Garret’s familiar purple Mopar with late-model drivetrain and really wild Plymouth Fury race car tribute:

 

Eclectic

  

DWA CnC is definitely my kind of cars and coffee. It’s a great venue with amazing driving roads nearby and the cars were so diverse. We highly recommend checking it out! Thanks to the DWA crew for hosting. If you haven’t already, listen to their podcast and make sure you give them a follow on Instagram.
More pictures in the gallery below!

 

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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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This 1971 Nissan Skyline has been in the Z Car Garage family for several years and currently resides in Georgia with owner Randy Jaffe. Randy has built a few notable cars with ZCG including the Rocketbunny Series1 240Z and #46 BRE Datsun 240Z driven by John Morton:

How did he end up with this JDM beauty? Randy has always loved the stance and looks of these early, “Hakosuka” Skylines and wanted to experience right-hand drive (RHD). Timing was perfect as our customer Alex McDowell was willing to part with his 2000 GT-X:

 

Under Alex’s ownership ZCG maintained the car for many years. It did not need much to prepare for delivery to Randy. We performed a full tune-up, sync’d the triple carbs, changed the fluids, handled minor cosmetics (like straightening the bumper) and it was shipped off to Georgia:

 

Randy’s Way

 

If there is one thing about Randy we admire, it’s his attention to detail. Ok, we like his sense of style too 🙂 Upon arrival he mounted fresh set of chunky Toyo tires on those iconic Watanabe wheels. Inside, he removed the carpet and replaced it with original style GT-R vinyl covering. The tan seats were reupholstered to red.

 

The car was originally a white GT-X and when I asked Randy of any future mods he replied:

“I am thinking about dropping one of the Parkinson race motors in it to give the car more power – the original 2.0 is sluggish compared to what I enjoy driving. If I do that I will pull all of the A/C parts off of it and clean up the engine bay. To be continued!”

Randy applied the Hakosuka racecar-inspired livery:

 

Here is a walk-around of the Hako, with more pictures in the gallery below.

 

We are happy to report that Randy is Enjoying The Ride and even won an award at the local Caffeine and Octane show:

 

More to Come

 

You may have noticed some really cool cars in the background. Randy has several Nissans/Datsuns in his collection that we are excited to share with you in upcoming blog posts! For now, LONG LIVE THE HAKOSUKA!

 

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Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Z Car Garage! We hope you can find time to Enjoy The Ride over the holidays. Please note our hours of operation below:

We will be closed today and Friday for Thanksgiving, re-opening Tuesday December 1. Thank you!

 

 

 

Our ZCG Big Brakes have been winning over Z-car enthusiasts locally and globally. Jaime recently purchased a set and performed the installation himself in his garage in Los Angeles, Ca.

 

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.  Let’s take a closer look at Jaime’s beautiful S30 and his ZCG Big-Brake installation:

 

As mentioned, our ZCG Big-Brake kit ships with everything needed to install and retains the factory parking brake:

 

If you follow Jaime on his Instagram page its clear that his attention to detail is impressive. He successfully installed the BBK on his Z, complete with functioning parking brake:

   

Front and rear:

  

Easy fitment behind his 15×8 Watanabe (zero offset) 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. Jaime was very happy as well with great feedback:

“The brakes are a complete game changer. Money well spent”

 

A Beautiful Work In Progress

 

This is Jaime’s first vintage car to work on and his goal is to have a reliable daily driver/occasional track machine. Under the hood is a ported/polished L24 with Spirit Garage R header, triple-Weber carbs tuned by Kyushahousetaka, Fujitsubo Leagalis R exhaust and our very own ZCG Heat Shield.

 

He’s been Enjoying The Ride (and braking with no worries)

 

The chassis was treated to a full coil-over suspension and many more parts from Techno Toy Tuning

  

We really like Jaime’s aesthetic with the 904 Kilamanjaro white against the gunmetal Watanabe wheels, JDM tails, 432 grill, xenon bumper w/Skillard lip and JDM fender mirrors:

 

He also installed a Vintage Dashes unit and reupholstered  the seats:

  

Keep up the good work Jaime and we are very proud to have our Big-Brakes on your Z!

 

Stay tuned for more customer installations of our ZCG Big-Brakes! Check out our ZCG CV axles HERE.
Long Live The Z!
More pictures in the gallery:
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