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TECHNICIAN WANTED

Filed under: 240z,350z,370z,510,Nissan Z
by Alvin G @ 2:14 pm on March 27, 2024

 

EXPERIENCED TECHNICIAN WANTED

Looking for a Job? – How about a great career?
Z Car Garage is looking for an experienced technician to be part of our team. This is not an average 9 to 5 automotive job: the ideal candidate must be motivated, passionate and ready to put in the work so we can continue building classic Z cars and late model Nissans.

  • We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits with opportunities for growth
  • Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn
  • Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion
  • We are heavily involved in motorsports with up to 10 vintage race events a year. From race cars to street cars and performance tuning…to routine maintenance and keeping vintage cars on the road, we love what we do!

Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? PLEASE SHARE THIS and spread the word. Send your CV to rob@zcargarage.com and call us at (408)452-0350.

 

Check out our shop on this episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen:

 

 

 

DSC08544
 



Kevin’s 2008 Nismo 350Z

Filed under: 350z,Maintenance,Performance
by Alvin G @ 3:50 pm on March 25, 2024

 

We met Kevin E through our client Randy Jaffe out in Georgia. Kevin was here in the Bay Area, Ca for work and wanted Z Car Garage to give his 2008 Nismo 350Z some love. We happily obliged by adding KW suspension and maintenance to an already superb supercharged platform:

 

KEVIN: I heard about Z Car Garage from a local friend, Randy Jaffe. I met him at Z Nationals down here in Georgia a few years back. Randy kept mentioning Rob when talking about his Nissan and Datsun collection, and after seeing  Larry Chen’s videos about Z Car Garage I had no hesitation about Rob working on the car in the future. It’s funny because I was DM’ing Rob on IG about the car before pulling the trigger to ship it there in our earlier conversations!

History

 

Kevin is the original owner of chassis #1508. He wanted a manual car to drive and found the Nismo sitting in a lot..

KEVIN:  This was when the 370z and R35 came out. The car I ended up stalling in the parking lot is the same car you see here today. Purchased new in 2010 and was my first manual car. It will always have a special place in my heart because my father taught me how to drive manual in it. 

 

It’s truly been a car I’ve done everything in from my NASA events, first car I’ve taken to the drag strip, road trips including the drive up from NorCal back to Arizona, enjoying Zcon at Nissan USA back in 2018, and of course the rabbit hole of turning a vision into reality. There have been ups and downs, but the extraordinary experiences and people I’ve met along the way have made it all worth it.

 

Suspension

 

We addressed the suspension to attain Kevin’s overall goal of making his Z a double duty car: one that you can get groceries in and enjoy track/canyon driving.

KEVIN: Rob and the team did a full suspension refresh with KW V3s and the full SPL catalog. I’ve held off on it for quite some time because I didn’t feel the actual suspension was worn out or my skill level had surpassed the balance of the OEM ones. He also performed one hell of an alignment, which felt great the whole way back to Arizona. Taking it up the canyons driving through L.A., the car was a blast and Rob absolutely nailed the feel I wanted out of the car. The car was more communicative and had no more body roll! I felt way more confident pushing the car harder.

 

Full alignment service in-house at Z Car Garage:

 

Details

The small things are what we excel at. The interior was spiced up with some red Recaro RSG Japan seats to match the original Nismo theme:

 

KEVIN: I wanted someone that could roll the rear fenders without cracking the paint and handle small dents from the years. Been through paint and body work and wanted it to be done right from the beginning. After seeing the restoration of Randy’s BRE Datsun 240Z following the Daytona accident, I know the car would be in great hands. During my time in NorCal working, I had Rob install a set of JDM tail lights, which I was on the fence about. They came out fantastic and love how they compliment the whole car:

 

The Tomei titanum exhaust was replaced at Kevin’s request with a custom built Soho system. Tomei below:

 

New Soho exhaust, with more photos in the gallery below:

 

Maintenance

 

The last piece to address was maintenance (fluids/pads/supercharger belt check) and ensuring that the Zcar was ready for its voyage back to Arizona and later Georgia:

KEVIN: What fascinated me was how in depth Rob was with the car. Handwritten notes, small details during the install, and extra care taken during the whole process. That is why I have Rob listed as Dr.Datsun because he truly does take each car in, assesses anything that might need to be addressed, and everything else that the client wants to achieve just like a true doctor!

 

Vortech Power

 
 

We put the Z on our dyno for a health check, making a stout 491hp/356tq to the wheels:

 

Enjoy this video of Kevin’s Nismo 350Z on the dyno!

 

Driving is Believing

 

Rob and Kevin discussed ideal suspension settings and the result was a balanced car:

KEVIN: The Z feels so good. As soon as Rob gave me a ride, I could immediately tell. The back end was so planted taking a corner on Rob’s test track, lol. It wouldn’t kick out like it did on the OEM Nismo suspension taking the roundabout corner even with a Nismo GT Pro LSD. Just the right amount of stiff, but also very compliant soaking up the bumps like a cobblestone surface. Rob truly is a magician with suspension, evidenced by his driving background. Before the suspension, it just felt a little dull and sluggish in response.  After having more seat time in the car, it just feels very connected and direct.

 

We knew that Kevin wanted a bit more feel, without sacrificing comfort and decided to use poly bushings in the suspension for street use.

KEVIN: Driving through LA, all the bumps were not as harsh as I thought and when the road was smooth, it was like silk, but you could feel the changes in the road surface through the steering wheel. I’m glad I listened despite me wanting to put Clubsports on the car. I spoke to a few people that had Rob install the same setup and they all had nothing but positive feedback. Rob takes his clients in steps rather than large leaps not only to get acquainted with the car again, but also to improve as a driver and become more confident. 

 

Enjoy The Ride

 

While he was out in NorCal, we were lucky to see Kevin Enjoying The Ride at local events like the ZONC gathering ZONC Gathering:

 

KEVIN: All the videos I’ve seen of Rob, he just has so much passion in what does! I thought I was OCD about my car, but Rob is such a perfectionist and wants it to be more than 100 percent when the client picks up the car. It not only has the power, but has the footwork now, which was the missing piece of the puzzle. On a side note, Rob has not only been another caretaker of my Nismo, but he has become like family to me along with the rest of the team at Z Car Garage. Rob, I want to personally thank you again for all the advice and life advice you’ve given me during my stay there! I’m eternally grateful for everything!

 

Kevin’s Nismo 350Z came out really nice and we love his passion. Icing on the cake was seeing him so stoked on having his Z worked on by Z Car Garage. Thanks for letting us be a part of your build. See more of his Nismo Z33 on Instagram and LONG LIVE THE Z!

…[read more]




Event Report: CSRG Cars and Coffee 2/24

Filed under: 240z,350z,510,Events,Nissan Z
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on February 25, 2024

 

Last Saturday Z Car Garage gathered a group of vintage cars to attend Cars and Coffee at SIM Racers Group in San Jose. We had a great time and thank everyone for hanging out with us. Thanks to Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) for hosting! Enjoy the photos below.

 

We caravanned from Z Car Garage around 8:15am with close to 25 cars!

 
 
 

Arriving at Sim Racers Group with 40 cars and good times. We enjoyed chatting with everyone and testing our skills on the simulators.

 

Here are a few Z Car Garage clients in attendance:


Larry Chen’s SR20DET-powered 1970 Datsun 240Z is back at Z Car Garage. He dropped it off from SoCal for a few more wishlist items. Stay tuned for updates on this Series 1 S30 featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (Stoptech), ZCG CV Axles, KW suspension and dyno-tuned SR20DET.

 

Matt’s KA24DE-T Datsun 510


Lora B’s R35 GT-R

 

Kurt’s iconic VG30ET-powered 510, “The Strutless Wonder”

 

Lou’s Series 1 1970 Datsun 240Z

 

Kurt’s 1973 Kenmeri Skyline


 

Linda’s 2023 Proto-Spec Z

 

Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z


Craig’s 2004 Nissan 350Z

 

Alex’s Sunny Truck

 

Geoff’s 1966 Cortina and Eric’s 1964 Mercury Comet

 

Nick’s Samurai and Josh’s VW Bug:

 

There was a great variety of cars like this Datsun Violet 710 and 1st-gen Mazda RX-7:

 

Thank you to Linda Williams, Matthew Knine Lijon, Kurt Wubbels, Eric Rumpf, Cooper and Geoff Wise for sharing their photos!

…[read more]




TECHNICIAN WANTED

Filed under: 240z,350z,510,Events,Featured Cars and Projects
by Alvin G @ 2:40 pm on February 1, 2024

 

EXPERIENCED TECHNICIAN WANTED

Looking for a Job? – How about a great career?
Z Car Garage is looking for an experienced technician to be part of our team. This is not an average 9 to 5 automotive job: the ideal candidate must be motivated, passionate and ready to put in the work so we can continue building classic Z cars and late model Nissans.

  • We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits with opportunities for growth
  • Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn
  • Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion
  • We are heavily involved in motorsports with up to 10 vintage race events a year. From race cars to street cars and performance tuning…to routine maintenance and keeping vintage cars on the road, we love what we do!

Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? PLEASE SHARE THIS and spread the word. Send your CV to rob@zcargarage.com and call us at (408)452-0350.

 

Check out our shop on this episode of Hoonigan Autofocus with Larry Chen:

 

 

 

DSC08544
 



Bill’s 2008 Nissan 350Z Convertible

Filed under: 240z,350z,Maintenance
by Alvin G @ 3:50 pm on January 31, 2024

 

We met Bill in 2019 when he came to Z Car Garage on referral from our local Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) club. He’s owned a pretty 1973 Datsun 240Z in Metallic Brown for many years and this 2008 Nissan 350Z Convertible that we also take care of. Let’s hear how Bill got into Z cars…


BILL: “I had a 1977 280Z that I loved and drove to almost 400,000 miles then I wrecked it. After maybe four months without a Z I bought my 240. I was a teacher on the low end of the pay scale so whatever I could afford I put into the 240. Then I was offered a spot in administration and with the new position, a raise. I thought it would be fun to have a new Z to go with the 240 so I ended up buying a 2008 350Z.”

 

Bill had a few criteria for his newest sports car purchase:

“I had never bought a car from a dealership and never anything this new. I had four criteria: (1) It had to be a Z, so I looked at nothing else (2) I wanted a standard (stick) transmission, and this was hard to find (3) I wanted a convertible (4) I wanted the good stereo option for whatever year I bought. Funny thing was it wasn’t the convertible part that was the problem. The main problem was that there were very few stick shifts. I found one… but it was (is) red – bright red. I wanted grey or black, but there were zero available in California at that time. So, I bought a red Nissan 350Z convertible. It is an amazing car. I just wish it were black.”

Keeping Bill on the road

 

BILL: “I was taking the 350 to the dealer since it is 5 minutes away from where I live and ZCG is kind of far. I trusted the 240 with only ZCG but I thought the 350 was newer so the dealer could maintain it until…I ran into a problem with the convertible top that the dealer had no idea how to fix. The top was stuck down – as in it couldn’t close. I called a couple of convertible places in S.F. and they wouldn’t touch it because of the “kind of system” that Nissan used. ZCG not only was the only place willing to even look at it. They fixed it and it has worked ever since.”

 

ROB:  “Bill brought his Z to us back in 2022. The convertible top had an issue where it wouldn’t lock. We were able to replace the lock assembly and get it operational without the costly dealership replacement of entire thing. We also replaced the T/C Rod bushings, LCA bushings, installed Whiteline diff bushings ( a common failure on Z33s)”

  
 
 
 

Full 60k mile services performed with a new radiator replacement:

 

Bill was pleased with the work done by Z Car Garage:

“The 350 is SO MUCH FUN to drive! ZCG fixed the top but they also did bushings that changed the handling. They have also done general maintenance. At this point I only trust ZCG to look at it.”

 

Thanks for your support Bill, Long Live YOUR Z’s!




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