At Motoring J Style earlier this year we were lucky enough to be pulled aside by a writer (Telly Sahara) and photographer (Akio Hirano) for Vintage Auto magazine published by Lightning.  They were very interested in shooting both the ZCG RB 240z and 510.  We were happy to oblige and a meeting time for the next day was set!

When we met the next morning they began to take shots of the entire shop along with some of the other vintage cars that we store for ourselves and customers.  We then set out on a mission to find a few suitable locations to shoot the two “Go Green” Datsuns.  They wanted to keep to the green theme and luckily I knew where we could find the most well manicured grass this side of a Montecito golf course.  The only thing stopping us from shooting there were three large concrete pylons made to prevent this exact thing.  Lucky for us, Datsuns are extremely skinny vehicles!  Picture SUCCESS!

Next we went to a nearby condominium complex that has a nice round-about.  We were able to jam up traffic for the next few hours while we positioned the cars in every position possible.  The photos that came out of this set look great and were well worth the effort.

After returning to the shop the photographer asked Rob if he could drive the 510.  Wow, he has more courage than I do.  Rob never lets anyone drive his 510 (usually only shop employees), but he felt in his huge Datsun heart that it was the right thing to do.  And it turns out that he owns a high horsepower N/A SR20 510 in Japan that he uses for drifting.  They came back about twenty minutes later with huge smiles on their faces.

Good times were had by all on this day, and it was well worth the trip from Japan.

Sorry but I couldn’t find any links for an offfical site for Vintage Auto.  Your best bet to find this issue is to go to your local Japanese book store.  Happy hunting.

Please give me a few moments today to go through all the photos from the road trip with the 370z.   The pictures are amazing.  Check back in a few
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With the GT-R on the new HREs we decided to try the fitment of the stock R35 wheels on the shop G35.  The wheels look killer on the car but they do not fit up front in stock form.  I needed to put some spacers on the front to clear the factory Brembos and to move it away from the king pin.  As you can see in the suspension picture the curb saver on the tire still contacts after the spacers were added.

I am determined to get this to work because the wheels do look so amazing.  They kind of remind me of a new school Panasport wheel.  I have seen pictures of a 350Z with these wheels on so if anyone has any info on how they made the fitment work please let me know.  All it may need is a tire change and a small spacer to gain the clearance needed.  Please, please forward me pictures or info on this wheel change if you can find any.  Thanks!!  GT-Rs rule.

The Nissan/Datsun community is beginning to feel the age of our much loved vehicles. Parts are becoming harder and harder to find including standard maintenance items. At Z Car Garage (ZCG) they have begun to reproduce parts that are no longer offered from Nissan.

Production has already begun on the spindle that connects the rear strut to the control arm on the 240, 260, and 280z. The stock piece is made from hardened ductile iron that has been zinc coated. These need to be replaced just about every time the rear bushings are serviced. The new ZCG design is machined from billet stainless steel to exacting specifications. They decided on stainless because the old zinc pieces were getting very corroded with age and are incredibly difficult to remove on occasion, now the problem should be solved.

Here is a photo of the factory spindle (this is the best one that I have seen after removal, usually the threads are pulled and it is covered in corrosion.)

As products disappear from Nissan parts shelves, Z Car Garage is going to step up and produce items that will improve upon the original wherever possible. This is exciting news for all Datsun/Nissan owners who keep up with their vehicle maintenance or anyone who plans on doing a full restoration in the future.

I will post again as they release more “new” products. Stay tuned!!