We love to hear about Datsun owners and the stories that come with their cars. Jon B. has owned and worked on his ’71 240z for 38 years. When he enlisted Z Car Garage to freshen the look and tuneup the engine…we were happy to to oblige. Here is a letter from Jon, enjoy!
“The car was purchased by my father in 1975, from a friend. I drove it to my senior ball in 1978, and took it off my fathers’ hands in 1982, for a whopping $3,300. It has been a daily driver for most of those years. The odometer reads 358,659. The engine has been rebuilt twice, transmission once, and just about every other part has been replaced at least once. Still sporting the 14 x 7 Shelby 500 slotted mags, it was time for an update.”
“I had heard many good things about Z Car Garage, so I decided to give them a try. The request list was for 16 x 7 Panasports, Bridgestone RE760 skins, valve adjustment and carburetor tuning. Rob discovered a few other malfunctioning items like a broken transmission mount and leaking clutch master cylinder. I just picked it up and, Wow! I do not recall the car ever running this good. She pulls smooth and evenly up through the gears and handles better than I expected. It is nice to have a mechanic who is as enthusiastic about your car as you are!”
Thanks Z Car Garage
Jon B.
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Walt P. has been with ZCarGarage for many years and we have enjoyed building an incredible Z32TT (soon to be featured) with him and helped modify his 2012 GT-R. Walt is a bit different from your average R35 owner…he drives the living daylights out of his Skyline. In his first year of ownership Walt put more than 15k miles on the car and when he’s not terrorizing the backroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains he’s running hard on the track.
ZCG performed a full track-day preparation on the GT-R so Walt could focus on driving at Laguna Seca. Here’s an in-car view that gives you not only a feel for the power but also an appreciation of how much speed a GT-R can achieve on corner exits:
Thank you Walt for sharing and letting us be a part of your love for fast Nissans and sharp driving!
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Filed under: Events,Performance
by Alvin G @ 11:22 pm on November 15, 2012
Vortech had an incredible presence at the 2012 SEMA show in Las Vegas. They have great coverage of the display and supercharged cars on their blog at VortechSuperchargers.com. In addition to modern and vintage cars sporting Vortech blowers our very own Chris B. and his stunning G35 were spotted at the show:
Look for a full story of our Vortech install and other goodies on Chris’ G on ZCarblog soon, and big thanks to Vortech for the shout-out!
Jonah R is a chef at an East Bay restaurant during the week and an avid road racer on weekends. He met fellow track junky Scott Smith at SCCA school and Scott recommended ZCG to help with braking issues. Jonah was overheating his brakes so he visited us to have the calipers rebuilt along with other track preparation items.
The AP Racing calipers were extremely heat discolored from track abuse. The calipers were refreshed with new seals and dust boots:
The major Achilles heel of the Z34 for track use is engine cooling. When oil temps rise the car will go into IC or “limp” mode which is a complete bummer when one is trying to race against the clock….or other cars! We addressed this issue by installing both engine oil and rear differential coolers. We also improved fuel pick-up to avoid starvation under high-g corners and transitions. You are probably wondering if all these modifications are necessary…for a guy like Jonah who is an absolute genius behind the wheel… of course!
Earlier in March we installed engine and differential coolers:
With improved cooling and fresh brakes Jonah was turned loose on the track to remain competitive in the SCCA’s Super Touring Over(STO) race class.
More track prep including windows, gauges, switch-panel, OS Giken Super-Lock limited slip differential:
Jonah simply needed more braking capacity. We chose the Stoptech Trophy(RACE) Kit. This is Stoptech’s latest design with mil-spec coated calipers/hats and improved rigidity. They even offer the Trophy kit in a street-friendly package. *Spoiler Alert* Stoptech’s Trophy kit may have helped Jonah win the trophy!
Behold these burly binders in all their glory:
14″ 6-piston fronts
13″ 2-piston rears
With brakes that could withstand Jonah’s incessant need for speed he started serving up dishes of “I am faster than you Porsche” with a little “take that Viper!” on the side…
…Jonah’s superior driving earned him the trophy and championship in the 2012 San Francisco Region Super Touring Over series! He had eight 1st place finishes, one 2nd place and a DNS at Thunderhill. Congratulations Jonah!
