The great people over at the ZONC organization have put together another fun cruise for all of us to attend.  This time the group will be heading from the meet-up point in Sacramento all the way up to Truckee, CA (North Lake Tahoe are) along scenic Highway 70.

Having spent lots of time in this area I can say that this run offers some of the nicest views and one of the most unique drives within a few hours of the Bay Area.  The RSVP deadline was set for last Friday so if you still plan on attending please contact them ASAP so that they can make the appropriate arrangements for the drive.  See the all the information on the flyer below (click for larger)! Thanks Curtis!

I will be trying to attend this trip if I can clear my weekend so I hope to see you out there!

It was really great to get over to LeMans Karting in Fremont to meet with all of you and see the cars that everyone brought out.  This was the 10th annual Freakmont show which says a ton about Team Driven who hosts this event.  I have only attended the last two years at the LeMans Karting venue but this is an event that I will continue to attend in the future.

Anyways… on to the days happenings!!

Devon and I left the shop at around 12:30 pm after washing the two cars we were taking (Rob’s 300zx TT and my 1971 Datsun 510.)  By the way Devon is a new mechanic for ZCG and he rocks.  He’s definitely helping us get the cars back into the owners hands sooner, win-win situation!!  So we leave the shop at I’m excited to see cars on the freeway that are obviously heading to the same show.  This usually means a good turn out was in order, and we were not let down!

There were cars already lining the entire front parking lot and even all the way up to the entrance.  My 510 was the second one there but there were already a host of really clean 300zx’s around.  After we parked I made my way to the event staff to hand out the four gift certificates that Z Car Garage was putting up for the raffle, two for 3 free dyno pulls and 2 for $100 off parts/labor.  Not bad huh?  Do you wish you had gone now?

We made our way to the back of the show and were instantly caught off guard by how many Nissan Sentra/Infiniti G20s were in attendance.  These cars featured all sorts of SR engine swaps and every form of preparation from track-only race to show-quality.  Nice turn out indeed.  The other few random cars included a few Altimas and Maximas with some tasteful changes as well a slammed mid-nineties Infiniti sedan that looked like the springs had just been cut.  I’m not knocking it, it was just random.  There were also a couple of clean 200SXs one which had a clean CA18T swapped into it.  I like.

On to the 240sx section.  There multiple cars from most generations and the drifting theme carried over here very heavily as one can imagine.  There were carbon doors, hoods, trunks, spoilers, everything.  If someone makes it in carbon it was probably bolted to one of these 240s.  There were a couple of clean stock looking cars and even a convertible that looked like it had been taken care of!!  The 240SXs usually get beaten on and sent to the crusher so it was nice to see at least a couple of originals.  The nicest car in my eyes though had to be an S13 Silvia, right-hand-drive and all.  I’m not sure if it was a conversion or an actual non-USDM car but it was clean, nice owner too.

Right next to the announcing booth was all the FREE food.  Plenty to go around with beverages to match any taste.  Well done Team Driven, Devon and I approve.

On the other side of the announcing booth were our friends at PhotoShootMyCar.com.  They were out promoting their site as well as showing off the new-to-them R33 GT-R.  This car rules.  We installed a set of upgraded turbos on this GT-R just over a year ago and it put down nearly 450whp without breaking a sweat.  (If you are wondering, on the early GT-Rs you can simply remove the front drive shaft to tune them on a 2wd dyno.)  Anyways the car looked great.  They also brought out their Toyota Matrix car that was featured at SEMA a couple of years ago.  Check these guys out if you want any sort of professional pictures taken of your car.

Heading back up to the front I find that two more Datsun 510s have joined the group as well as a 610 and an early four-door skyline with the appropriate “SKYRINE” license plate.  The front of LeMans Karting is now thoroughly packed with Zs and Gs of all sorts.  I spot our ZCG 370z in the corner parked next to a really cleanly modded G37.  Everything was blacked out on this car, see photos.  I’m in love.  Next I moved the 370z along side the R33 GT-R just to bring it into the front of the show to bring a little more attention to it, side note on the ZCG 370z: we have a track event coming up very soon!  Wicked!

Its now about 4pm and things are starting to wind down so we start to say our good byes and gather our things.  The show was a tremendous hit in my eyes and that people and atmosphere were amazing.  I really enjoyed talking with all of you so don’t be shy if you see us at a show!

Until the next event, Keep the Nissan faith!!

Most of the decent photos can be seen by clicking the “continue reading” below!

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There is a Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti car show tomorrow at LeMans Karting in Fremont, CA (Bay Area),

The ZCG 370z will be in attendance and I will be driving my ’71 Datsun 510 turbo to the show.  Z Car Garage (us) will be giving away gift certificates for parts/labor and for dyno pulls so make sure you are there.

Can’t wait to see you all!!

LeMans Karting:  WEBSITE

The BEHEMOTH has returned!!! The Paintwork is amazing.

After being sent to the talented hands at William’s Autobody this black beauty has come back to Z Car Garage.  While it was away we have been amassing enough spare parts to complete two cars so the next assembly stages should go pretty quickly, remember that the goal is to unveil the two RB powered cars at the Historics at Laguna seca in just a few months.

I really hope that the pictures you see here help you to understand how much work was done to get the car to this point.  A few of the reflection pictures that I took ended up looking like the car had been chrome plated.  The mirror-like finish carries over into the engine bay where every hole, bracket, and weld that was’t necessary was smoothed or removed entirely.  Special attention was paid to the frame rails to make sure that they were as straight and as perfect as they could be.

The 2.8L stroked RB engine is patiently waiting in the back shop for it’s new throne in the engine bay.   We will be putting a smooth coat of black paint on the engine block to match the rest of the car.  This project is going to need to move really quickly from here on out to make our self inflicted deadline for the Historics.

I will have many many more posts on this car as we make progress into this huge project.  Until then enjoy these pictures.  Z Cars Rule.

More photos after the “read more.”

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Cars of this caliber do not come up for sale very often.  This 1973 240z is a two-owner, original-paint beauty that was just purchased by a close friend of Z Car Garage to replace another Z he has owned for 15 years.  The new 240z has just over 87,000 original miles and it shows.  There is no rust anywhere on the shell and the interior parts that see the most use are still in great condition.

All of the original manuals and even the window sticker were included in the deal.  Make sure to see the pictures of the options sheet and the extremely cool Datsun “Dial Your Mileage” tool.  Other options include factory air conditioning, a center arm rest, and floor mats that cost a whopping $9.50.  Hahaha, those would be a $200 option today.  The total original price comes in at $5,299 which is steep for its day until you realize the performance that it delivered.

There are more detailed pictures after the “read more.”

Under the hood you will find the original L24 engine with a pair of aftermarket downdraft Weber carburetors.  I got a chance to drive it today and it cruises along like a dream.  It really drives absolutely beautifully.  The stock 14 inch wheels obviously leave room for improvement in the handling department but you can’t beat them in the looks.  This car is the real deal.

After my short test drive Rob and I decided that we should put the car on the dyno to see what power it is putting out.  All I can say is that this thing needs to ditch these carbs.  It runs out of breath as soon as you roll into the throttle.  There are already plans in the works to give it some more “Umph” using period correct modifications.  There will be more updates on this car and hopefully it will stay in the Z Car Garage family for a long, long time.

There are more pictures after the “read more.”  Enjoy this new addition to the family!

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