Happy Monday! Carlos H came to Z Car Garage for exhaust/intake upgrades on his 2016 Nismo 370z. He was a referral from Scott C and we feel the best kind of business comes from making people happy! We installed long tube headers from Fast Intentions (FI):

From the headers back a complete FI cat-back system with 18″ resonators:

  

Stillen Gen 3 intakes:

  

With the intake and exhaust we saw nice gains of 12hp/16tq for a total of 310hp/260tq to the wheels:

 

UPREV tuning yielded  another 13hp/6tq to the wheels:

 

Final numbers were 323hp/266tq to the wheels, a significant gain of 25hp/22tq from the 298hp/244tq baseline:

 

Long Live The Z!

 

Dear Zcarblog readers, this is my 2016 Solvang Datsun Roadster Show report. Although long overdue, it serves as a reminder that the 30th Annual 2017 Solvang Datsun Roadster Show is just around the corner. So mark those calendars for April 22!  Enjoy.

-Alvin

 

The 2016 Solvang Datsun Roadster show took place on April 23. Now in its 29th year, this gathering continues a tradition of uniting owners from all parts of the world in a little town just outside of Santa Barbara. There is something for everyone here: shopping, food, wine-tasting, outdoor activities, and the last weekend of every April a huge gathering of Datsuns. I did not drive my roadster this year but I still enjoyed the show with my family!

 

On to the cars! Here are some highlights from the day…there were only a handful of 1967 2000 roadsters this year. Some of these cars are considered the “cream of the crop” with full restorations or OEM levels of detail like Mike Young’s SRL #266 and Rodney N’s SRL #485:

  

Winning best of show was SRL #233 completely frame-off restored by Kevin of KRD:

   

Speaking of attention to detail…fully restored factory gauges artfully assembled by Jon Frampton could be seen on multiple cars. The gauges are truly little jewels that give owners a range of options with lighting, lettering and even inner workings all without going to aftermarket gauges.

Left: Factory mechanical gauges behind Corey’s R20 stroker powered SPL

Right: Factory gauges converted to electronic behind Harlan’s SR20DE-powered SPL

 

While were on interiors, check out this cool Datsun Competion (by Kaemeri) steering wheel looking great in Corey’s SPL:

  

At the other end of the spectrum and far from stock is Shannon’s ’69 SRL. Modern gauges and A/C vents adorn the dash with a touch screen in the center console:
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Gustavo L has been bringing his 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe for bolt-ons the last few years. His first visit was for a Motordyne plenum spacer and UPREV tune. Last May, Gustavo came back to ZCG with a plan for more new parts including a full exhaust system, ART pipes, 60k service and a TransGO shift kit.

Motordyne exhaust:

   

Firmer shifts on this automatic with the shift kit:

  

Quicker acceleration with shorter gearing courtesy of Z1 rear diff. Gustavo purchase an entire assembly from Z1 and we installed it with Whiteline diff bushings”

 

We performed a re-tune with UPREV and saw gains of 19hp/10tq for a total of 247hp/233tq to the wheels.  Power is increased throughout the entire rev band:

 

Gustavo brings his car from Watsonville which is a bit of a hike but totally worth it for the power of ZCG! He is stoked and Enjoying The Ride!

 

 

 

Scott N visited ZCG because he felt the suspension on his 1994 Z32 ‘Vert could be improved.  The Z33 Rays wheels look sharp on this 300! We installed TEIN coil-overs and a few other goodies:

Here are the existing shocks and the new TEIN street coil-overs going in front and rear:

Z1 upper control arms:

 

SPL tension rods so we could fully adjust camber up front:

 

The rack bushings are vey common problem on z32s so we replaced them. In the back: the aftermarket adjustable upper control arms were making noise so we replaced them with OEM parts and performed a full alignment.

Scott is super happy and Enjoying The Ride!

 

 

 

At Z Car Garage we feel that every Z car is worth restoring and making a customer’s goals become a reality is our passion. David B picked up this 1972 Datsun 240z in 2001 and he always wanted to restore it. He made an appointment with us and we began our assessment of the car. The interior needed nothing more than a thorough cleaning, a testament to it being a serious survivor. We love 918 Orange!

 

Before digging into it we gave the car a full inspection and got it running after being idle for many years. A full steam clean revealed what we were working with and a plan was made to address the following areas: drivetrain, engine bay, suspension and exterior. The goal was not a “concours” style restoration but more focused on making David’s Z an enjoyable driver, with some ZCG touches of course!

Drivetrain

The tired engine was replaced with a Rebello 2.8L using new Z-therapy SUs. All nuts/bolts/fasteners were zince plated and many parts like the intake manifold were powdercoated:

    

More upgrades included an MSA 6-to-1 header, Pertronix ignition,  280zx alternator( int. regulated), Koyo race radiator and our custom 2.5″ exhaust system.  Here is the engine is assembled with the MSA header:

 

Backing the fresh engine were the 4-speed transmission and factory rear end. Both were disassembled, resealed and painted. No more leaks. No more whines:

 

Engine Bay

With the engine out, we restored the engine bay. Aside from dust/grime accumulation the paint was in great shape:

 

A few areas needed attention due to minor corrosion, like the battery tray. Repainting entire car wasn’t in the plan just yet so we got a custom mix to duplicate the existing orange paint to spot in after clean-up:

   

We zinc plated all of the brake/clutch lines, and metal parts found in the engine bay:

 

The end result is an engine bay that looks fantastic!

  

Chassis/suspension

All suspension bushings were replaced and parts were zinc plated/powdercoated while it was apart. Techno Toy Tuning (T3) T/C rods and lower control arms were installed.  Our favorite non-coilover setup included 5-way Tokico shocks with Eibach springs.

  

The crown jewel of the suspension is our ZCG Big Brake Kit consisting of massive 13″ rotors and 4-piston calipers (finished in red). This track-tested setup provides the ultimate in fade resistance and pedal feel:

  

In addition to almost infinite reserves of braking capacity even with street pads, the ZCG Big-Brake setup fits under the lovely 16×7 Panasport wheels. Sticky Bridgestone Potenza re-71R tires are sized 225/50/16 all around.  Rounding out our chassis work was a full undercoating:

  

Fuel system

The aging fuel lines to the gas tank were frayed and cracked. We started by removing and cleaning up the gas tank:

   

All recovery lines and related hoses/rubber/parts were replaced while were there. Old vs new and before/ after shown below:

   

Exterior

When we cleaned the car we noticed it had that ubiquitous side molding which is NLA.  To hold us over while we do paint, our man William installed a vinyl stripe in place:

 

Icing on the cake was a full detail of exterior. It is amazing how well older paint jobs clean up. We hope you are out Enjoying the Ride, David! Thank you for letting us get your Z back on the road.

 

When the word “restoration” is mentioned it can divide the classic car world.  A number of different descriptions and configurations exists like the full restoration, the nut and bolt restoration, the mechanical restoration and the cosmetic restoration. Whatever stage of restoration you have in mind, let Z Car Garage take you there!

Please visit the gallery for more pictures
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