Z Car Garage is expanding to support our vintage, late model and motorsport work. We are seeking an experienced and skilled automotive technician to join our team with two open positions available. This is not an average automotive job. We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits.
Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn, and be part of a team.
Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion.
Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? Share this, spread the word and please contact rob@zcargarage.com or call us at (408)452-0350.
This is Ed B’s 1971 Datsun 240Z in Sunshine Yellow. No, it does not have many performance parts such as our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles or a triple-carb’d high-power engine. In fact, this Z is mostly original, just the way Ed has kept it since ordering it new 51 years ago!
We have known Ed for a long time, actually preceding the opening of Z Car Garage. A young 26 year-old Rob Fuller was helping maintain this “no frills” Z and that continued to present day. Simply put, Ed is a passionate owner who takes care of his Z so he can drive it regularly. When it was time, we handled his SU carbs. If a fuel pump failed we replaced it. Suspension issue? We took care of it to ensure he was always Enjoying The Ride. Let’s take a look at how Ed became a Z car enthusiast.
Time Machine
In 1970 just one year out of College, Ed was looking for new car. As a designer, a photographer and a race car fan he wanted a 2-seat sports car. There wasn’t much to choose from. The Triumph and the MG were too cramped. The Porsche and the Jaguar were too expensive. Then Road and Track ran a cover story on the New Datsun 240Z. It had everything, style, performance and it was affordable:
“I ordered one in late 1970 from Camino Datsun in Sunnyvale for $3500. There was a waiting list due to a dock strike in San Francisco and most of the cars were going to LA. When a truckload arrived, you could choose from 4 or 5 available. The only options were the color and I passed on several until I saw the Sunshine Yellow… the first one in San Jose. It was a one-year color and matched the cover photo on Road and Track. I took delivery in June of ’71 after just loosing my job at Ampex in the ’71 tech recession. I had little money but plenty of time to enjoy my summer in a new Z.”
Since purchasing new in 1970, Ed got to know his S30 and take it on many adventures.
“Learning to drive the Z in ‘71 and I found out I’m more of a cruiser than a racer. Early on I couldn’t afford expensive modifications. I added cast aluminum wheels, lowered the car with shorter springs, much stiffer anti sway bars rather than air dams, Talbot racing mirrors and custom exhaust headers. I stopped there and kept the original body profile unchanged thereafter. I kept it close to original for 50 years”
Below (L) Three Z’s in his family at one time and (R) SAE car show at the University of Santa Clara:
The Z has been in several car shows over the years and was even photographed by the famed Ron Kimball for Car Calendars and print material. The Ron Kimball Studio photo shoot was on the 17-mile drive in Carmel and one of these images appeared in the Newsweek article on the introduction of the new Nissan 350Z.
Keeping Ed On The Road
“In 50 years nearly everything has had maintenance issues from interior seat covers and carpet kits to a replaced cracked dash. Rob Fuller has been my go-to Z car expert since even before he opened the Z Car Garage.”
We happily obliged to maintain the Z with Ed’s blessing. Here are a few things we’ve done over the years:
2009- replaced leaking hoses in engine bay, new battery, clutch hydraulics repaired, replaced broken broken bolts in lower timing cover, maintenance work
2012- standard ignition failed and replaced with Pertronix, upgraded coil, new T/C rod bushings, front control arm bushings, rack bushings, new tie-rods, ball joints, rebuilt suspension, major service tune, adjusted his carbs and valves for best performance and lubed his choke cables
2014- differential rebuilt, gas tank re-lined/sealed and all recovery lines replaced, new Tokico shocks
The engine was rebuilt at 130K miles (Techcraft) including 5 angle cut on hardened valves and 280z piston rods. It now has 250K miles. The SU carbs were recently rebuilt. On the dyno the L24 made 137hp/142tq to the wheels:
Enjoy the dyno video!
Ed’s 240Z has been hit three times in the rear end at stop lights with only minor body damage that never took out the tail lights but resulted in three full body paint jobs. For the latest incident we had our man William re-paint the car in #919 Sunshine Yellow. He also repaired the right front fender and blended existing paint work and it turned out great.
On his most recent visit we repaired the transmission shift boot and performed a tune-up… and he’s off.
Now the car looks as good as it runs and Ed just drives while staying on top of maintenance.
Enjoying The Ride
We love when Ed sends us pictures of his drives in the Z:
“Still looks and drives good after 50 years. As Rob would say “Long live the Z”. Rob even introduced me to Peter Bock and John Morton and I now feel like I’m even more a part of the Z car family.”
Thanks to Ed for trusting us with your Z. We look forward to many more years of smiles behind the wheel! Your Z is a great example of how to Enjoy The Ride without all of the hot rod parts and we admire your efforts to keep it close to stock!
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:
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!
On Sunday I joined a group of vintage sedans for the Super Drive event in Pacifica, CA. Now in its 16th year, SuperDrive Sunday is a single day road rally open to any and all vintage vehicles. Our friend Geoff assembled a group of classic cars I couldn’t help resist calling the “B-sedan Squad”. These models were competing in the heated vintage race groups of the late 60’s/70’s: I drove Rob Fuller’s 1971 Datsun 510, Geoff in his Inka BMW 2002, Cameron in a BMW Neue Klasse 1800, Ramon and Chris in their Alfa Romeo Berlina 1750/2000, and Diego in the E30. We left San Jose headed to Sea Bowl via 280N:
Rob’s Datsun 510 with S13 SR20DET sporting Go-Green paint and 14″ Panasports:
Euro Vibes
The scene at the pre-rally gathering was filled with cool cars, mostly Euro/Italian. I’m always on the hunt for Japanese metal and spotted an S30, ITR and Mitsubishi 3000GT. I was the lone Datsun 510.
There were at least 9 Alfa Romeo Berlina/Giulia sedans of all years. These are very pretty, capable vintage saloons. Many Alfa GTVs and Giulia Spiders:
More cool cars, some I’ve never seen before. like this Fiat Abarth 750 “Double-Bubble”:
A few familiar favorites:
Rad wheels abound too!
More pictures in the gallery, enjoy this short video:
Let’s Drive!
The group left Sea Bowl and headed south on scenic HWY1 with great weather and good company. Geoff and I split off from HWY 1 for a blast up Tunitas up to 35/Skyline. This was a fun stretch and I had to focus and keep the 510’s boost in check through the twisty bits!
From 35 we made a quick stop at Alice’s Restaurant. It was pleasant to see everyone enjoying their cars. We even ran into our friends like Naveed and met Alex, organizer of the Berkeley Cars and Coffee.
Alex (in his Berlina) joined myself, Chris and Geoff for a stretch down HWy 9 to Boulder Creek.
From Boulder Creek we ended the trip with a drive to 17 via Bear Creek Rd. This is a very technical section, again mostly free of traffic so we could have fun! All had a great time and I highly recommend getting out next Super Bowl Sunday to Super Drive! #DOITINADATSUN
