Today marks the 18th Anniversary of Z Car Garage. We thank all of our clients and friends for supporting us along the way. Your business and trust is greatly appreciated! It is hard to believe ZCG opened its doors in 2004. Enjoy these photos of the shop from today and 18 years ago.
2004 vs 2022
Front office today compared to 2004, with a young Rob Fuller laying down the flooring:
Our (soon to be) dyno room in 2004 and today:
Z Car Garage is excited for another 18 years! LONG LIVE THE Z
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We had a great day test driving and tuning two Z Car Garage-built S30 sports cars. Here are a few brief details of each build followed by video with dyno runs and road testing. LONG LIVE THE Z!
James’ 1972 Datsun 240Z
James’s 1972 S30 At the heart of this beast is a turbocharged L-series managed by Haltech. Chassis upgrades include custom full-length subframe connectors, CD009a 6-speed transmission, KW Suspension, ZCG CV Axles and Big-Brake Kit (328mm) behind RS-8 wheels restored by Love20bee. Larry Chen featured James’s Z on this episode of Hoonigan Autofocus. Inside, a stack instrument cluster was integrated into the gauge pod, viewed from leather Recaro Pole Position seats:
Recent upgrades to “Medusa” include a new tubular exhaust manifold, intake manifold and down-pipe from from ProtunerZ. We will have more installation photos and dyno results coming soon to zcarblog.com!
Gary’s 1971 Datsun 240Z
Z Car Garage is excited to collaborate with Datsunworks and develop their brilliant KN20 dual-overhead cam (DOHC) cylinder head designed for the Nissan inline-6 L-Series engine. This is a Honda K-series derived cylinder head with superior flow rates and modern valvetrain components effectively transforming your SOHC L-series into a high-revving DOHC engine. This KN20 is serial #SN10 and it has been installed into our long-time client Gary’s Datsun 240Z, affectionately named the “Behemoth”.
Here are few details on the powertrain setup for this Z:
-Rebello 3.1L Engine
-KN20 Cylinder head SN10 (but the performance level goes to 11)
-Induction type: Jenvey ITB EFI with Injector Dynamics injectors
-Engine management: Haltech Elite 750
-Header: Equal-length, custom fabricated by RacecraftNW
Filed under: 240z,510,r32,Z31,z32
by Alvin G @ 9:42 pm on March 25, 2022
On Saturday, March 19 we attended the Tokyo Calling event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. Z Car Garage participated with a group of client cars and enjoyed a wonderful day of driving through the foothills of Sonoma, Ca. The event also featured 200 Japanese classics and 90’s-era wonders to appreciate during the morning social gathering and rest stops. Enjoy our report with mega-photo gallery and video!
Breakfast Club Rally
The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started almost 2 years ago, now running its 27th rally event. What started out as a small group enjoying weekend drives blossomed into a full-on Cars and Coffee (still unofficial) meet just before rally participants head out according to run group (rally map available to pre-registrants only). The monthly BCR is always free/open to all makes and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see my previous BCR reports HERE!
The BCR: Tokyo Calling event was a little different: this was an all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally and we did not want to miss it. I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients to participate and we left the shop at 5:45am to make the 7am starting point in Sonoma. Our cars:
Linda’s 1972 Official OMS Pace Car Duplicate. Fifty were originally produced by Nissan Motors to commemorate the DATSUN 240Z being selected by the Ontario Motor Speedway to Pace the 1972 “U.S.A.C. California 500 Championship”. ZCG made it a runner, full report soon!
Our guest Jonathan Buhler (Sr. Specialist Corporate Communications at Nissan) piloted “Mr. C”, our stock, one-owner Series 1 Z.
Photo by Vijay Sankar
Leading the caravan to Sonoma was yours truly in this 1965 Nissan Silvia. Huge thanks to our client Rick K for giving us the opportunity to enjoy this gorgeous (and rare) specimen. Full update on this Datsun Roadster-based gem soon!
Tokyo is Calling before the Rally!
Our crew arrived at the rally start in Sonoma and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin. BCR hosted a “social gathering” from 7-9am (usually 1 hr) so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, despite a 5-minute drizzle and cloudy sky.
I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns:
First up, this 1967 Datsun 2000, owned by Ian S. One of the most sought after Datsuns, these “half-year” models were introduced mid-1967 offering a 5-speed transmission and 150hp twin-Mikuni carb’d 2L engine…hot stuff for the era. This is SRL #601 (out of ~1000 cars) and it was fully restored years ago by Les Cannaday in San Diego. Ian is meticulous about maintaining this car, but it is no garage queen. The (655) Off-white paint with red interior is one of my favorites. Yes, it even sports a factory Nissan hardtop with all the stainless trim!
I counted 6 roadsters. Pat S. owns this 1970 Datsun 2000. He had it dyno tuned at Z Car Garage, full report soon!
Alex’s Datsun 510 Wagon (LS-powered!), 520 and 620 trucks:
So many cool cars please check the gallery for more photos! Next, let’s check out some non-Nissan/Datsun action…
Honda
Honda was well-represented from Kei cars to late model DC2 Integras and S2000s. A few NSXs, CRXs and EF hatches rounded out the display:
Will’s clean EF hatch:
Toyota
Supra (A60 and A80) and even first gen MR2s, a lone Celica and AE86s!
Trucks and Vans
Mitsubishi and Toyota 4×4 vans galore! Let’s not forget everyone’s favorite little red firetruck: Todd Lapin’s Daihatsu Hijet
This was the wildest truck….2JZ-powered and S550 IRS:
Rally On!
Photo by Alex Nibyt
The rally started at 9am and I was tasked with leading our group. There was no cell phone reception but I was armed with a turn-by-turn rallye printout. I managed to hustle the little Silvia through the vineyards and foothills to our half way point of Calistoga…RHD and rarity aside this thing was a blast to drive.
One of the perks of BCR events is their team of professional photographers at various stages capturing epic rolling and detail shots so people can focus on enjoying the drive. I encourage you to visit each of these photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides :Alex Nibyt, Gregory Veizades, Blaine Olguin, and Vijay Sankar.
Arriving at Calistoga was another opportunity to see cars I missed at the starting point. The sky cleared and it was sunny. Folks took a snack/coffee break here in the quaint town. I was just admiring each vintage ride cruise by…like this FD RX-7 with Greddy AeroHatch!
Caught up with our friend and fellow racer Glenn Chiou who chose to drive his FD RX-7 with co-pilot Ricky Silverio of Japanese Nostalgic Car magazine. Spotted our client Mark in his Z32TT as well:
It was JDM overload at this halfway resting point…Ricky helped me spot a Lancer EVO 2!
After chatting with folks we resumed the rallye. This final stage was mostly forested ending with a cruise through vineyards. Jonathan managed to drive a “D” hubcap off the Mr. C 240z…he heroically recovered it mountain side…a picture captured the proud moment!
The rally concluded at renown Sonoma Raceway. Total mileage for our San Jose crew thus far was 220miles. BCR arranged parking for participants in the paddock right next to the cafe for lunch, as their clever motto is #DoneByNoon. Even better: we were treated to live drifting and road-course action. It was a superb venue to enjoy cool cars and great company.
I could not resist to get a Z Car Garage client group photo:
Here is a video we captured from the day, enjoy!
Thanks BCR!
Many thanks to the organizers, we had a blast and I urge you to register for their next event, especially if you are in the South Bay area like me and want to see what driving bliss lies North. Here are a few thoughts from Rob re-capping the Tokyo Calling event:
“With the shop so busy it good to be out to enjoy Bay Area car events like DrivingWhileAwesome (DWA) Cars & Coffee and now BCR. I had a blast. Great organization of the event and some of friendliest people. Exceeded my expectations. Jonathan Buhler from Nissan came out to enjoy the rallye with us. We put him behind the wheel of Mr. C, our one-owner Series 1 Z. It was fun to have both Safari Gold cars together. I loved the vibe at all of the rally stops and seeing the non-Nissans….super cool. MR2s, Subarus, CRXs, just so much good stuff, Happy I went and will make it out to another BCR event.”
The Drive Home
Our adventure was not over as we had to travel another 90 miles South to the shop. We caravanned back, traveling through the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and through San Francisco. I’m sure traffic had a field day with our group of Datsuns/Nissans:
At the shop, Jonathan took Mrs. Butters for a test drive and he had a great time before catching his flight back to Nashville. Below (right) is the GO Green RB25DET-powered 240Z that inspired Jonathan to build one of his own…we had to grab a shot with the model I made 🙂
Rick’s Silvia is safe and sound after completing the 300+ mile road trip. Thank you to all of the Z Car Garage clients that made the journey with us. Huge thanks to BCR for extending their hospitality to our crew, everyone was thrilled. Here’s to the next rally and always, always #DoitInADatsun!
Peter Brock will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame tonight at 7:45pm Eastern time. You can watch the live event on the MSHF YouTube Channel or on their Facebook page. Highlights from yesterday’s preview were the unveiling of the Peter Brock display case, which will be on display for one year and the Peter Brock bronze portrait which will be permanently displayed in the MSHF. Our client and friend Randy Jaffe is attending the event and displayed the BRE Datsun 510 and 240Z race cars at the museum:
The cars were unveiled for Pete Brock to see:
We will have more coverage from the event soon. Please join us in congratulating Pete for this achievement!
Pete is best known for designing the 1965 World Champion Cobra Daytona Coupes and for his multi-time national champion Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) Datsun 240Zs and 510s. At GM in the 1950s, Brock helped conceive the shape of the groundbreaking 1959 Corvette Stingray race car and 1963 production model. As Shelby American’s first employee, he ran the Carroll Shelby driving school, penned the Daytona and worked on the Mustang GT-350 street and race cars. After the Datsun years, Brock became a photojournalist and wrote award-winning books on his Daytonas and the Corvette Sting Ray.
We love to see owners installing our Z Car Garage CV Axles on their vintage Nissans and Datsuns. Julio added this 1972 Skyline to his collection and had the team at KaiserKars replace the old CVs with our ZCG CV Axles. You may have seen the Hakosuka at at events in the SoCal area and we are proud to be part of it!
We met Julio last year at the Japanese Classic Car Show where his Skyline was on display in the Hagerty booth. He pleasantly informed us that he was running ZCG CV Axles and we are happy to report that the team at KaiserKars installed them with ease at their facility in Los Alamitos, Ca:
“Our in-house technician said the installation process was very straightforward and simple, basically just a bolt on/bolt off slid right in and bolted each axle to the differential and it was finished. It went as smooth as it could go.”
The team at KaiserKars sent us a few installation pictures of the ZCG CV Axles replacing the old CVs. They shared their experience:
“We were recommended the upgraded CV Axles by a friend of ours that pointed us to Rob. The Skyline came with some rear differential knocking/popping issues, the upgrade fixed the problem. We eventually got in contact with Rob himself and he asked us a few things in regards to what was currently on the car. We think they were a kit by the previous owner but they were completely shot and beyond rebuilding.”
Skyline Dreams
The Hakosuka Skyline is undeniably a JDM icon. We asked Julio about his history with Japanese classics:
“I have been a car geek all my life, but as all guys my age, Fast and Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds, Motorweek and the Saturday/Sunday cable shows were the culprits for my love of all cars. But once I watched Hot Version/Option, and Initial D anime I was smitten by JDM cars and culture, I longed to ride in a GTR, drift an AE86 and own all the unicorn cars I grew to idolize. So far the hunt is on and I seem to be collecting them like others collect Hotwheels. The Hakosuka has been a love affair for me as I regret selling my last one in a bad deal but this one makes up for that bad memory and I could not be happier with its stance, power and aura.”
The Hako features some of our favorite parts like the Rebello 3.2L with Jenvey ITB induction:
In addition to the upgraded ZCG CV Axles the Hako also has an R200 LSD diff, 5-speed transmission, 16″ Watanabe R-Type wheels (8.5/9.5), Rubber Soul stainless exhaust system and T3 suspension. Outside, the body is VW Limestone Grey Metallic with carbon fiber flares, GT-Kai badging and re-finished bumpers in eggshell black. More pictures in the gallery below!
Thank you for your support Julio, it was great meeting you at JCCS! Also, thank you to KaiserKars we look forward to working with you! Please read below for more information on our ZCG CV Axles:
ZCG CV Axles
Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. These are 100% bolt-in replacing your half-shafts and does not use aluminum adapters commonly found in aftermarket units. We have over 150+ CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
For years we have used aftermarket CV axles that utilize an aluminum adapter prone to loosening up over time. Despite efforts to keep things tight (Loctite, hardware changes) we had to keep an eye on them. We developed a better solution that eliminates the need for aluminum adapters and remains 100% bolt-in like a factory half-shaft.
Designed and manufactured locally with KAD Models, the ZCG CV axle kit works in both R180 and R200 configurations.
These are the beefiest CV axles on the market. They have been tested on the track by our vintage racing customers and also in high hp* street cars (powershifting, clutch dumps, etc.). Each axle has a serial # for peace of mind:
The CV axle kit is available now from ZCG for 1595.00 + freight and they come with everything you need to install on your car. Contact us at 408-452-0350 or send Rob an e-mail rob@zcargarage.com to purchase. Installation is just like doing a half-shaft: there is even a marking that shows you where to line up bolts and special hardware:
The ZCG CV Axles in action
The video below demonstrates the “looseness” associated with aftermarket CV axles that use adapters compared to the ZCG axles without adapters. Several customer race/street cars running our CV axles are also shown. Enjoy!
Enjoy this video made by our client Hazel. She installed our ZCG CV Axles on her Hazel’s 1970 Datsun 240Z
Over 150 sets of our ZCG CV Axles are installed in client’s cars all over the world:
