On Saturday, August 29 we attended the Tokyo Calling 6 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 Northern California. The event featured 250+ Japanese classics and 90’s-era wonders to appreciate during the morning social gathering and rest stops. Enjoy our report with photo gallery and video!

  

Breakfast Club Rally

 

The Breakfast Club Rally (BCR) started 6 years ago as a small group enjoying weekend drives. It blossomed into monthly events with one hour of hanging out followed by several hours of driving. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to enjoy the beautiful Northern California roads and scenery. You can see our previous BCR reports HERE!

 

The initial BCR Tokyo Calling event, Tokyo Calling 2, Tokyo Calling 3, Tokyo Calling 4, and Tokyo Calling 5 were all a blast. We did not want to miss their sixth all-Japanese, mostly-vintage rally so I assembled a group of Z Car Garage clients and friends to participate in TC6. We left the shop at 6:15am heading to Sonoma, here is a preview of our cars:

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240Z

 

Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z is now sporting a Rebello 3.2L with Jenvey ITB EFI, A/C, Recaro Specialist seats, CD009a 6-speed transmission, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles!

  

Frank’s 1978 Datsun 280Z

Frank’s 1978 Datsun 280Z features our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, full suspension refresh, 240Z bumper conversion and Panasport wheels.

 

Mrs. Butters

 

I drove Mrs. Butters, our Series 1 shop 240z. This Series 1 S30 features a 3.2L with triple-Mikuni induction, Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, ZCG Heat Shield, 6-speed transmission and full KW Suspension.

 

John’s Datsun 240Z

It was great to see our client John Enjoying the Ride in his 1971 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles.

 

Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

 

 

Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z has a great story. He got this car running on his own and even performed rust repairs. He’s running our  ZCG Heat Shield on his triple-Weber carb’d L28:

Linda’s 2023 Nissan Z

 

Linda Williams drove her 2023 Nissan Z. This is the special,”Proto Spec” edition limited to just 240 units. We love her “1OF240Z” tribute license plate. Linda joined us on the last two Tokyo Calling events in her 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate. She loves driving it everywhere.

 

Beau’s 1976 Datsun 280Z

 

Beau’s Datsun 280Z received a Z Car Garage full cosmetic and mechanical restoration featuring Recaro Specialist seats, our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles!

  

Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

 

Vince’s 1973 Datsun 240z is Enjoying The Ride with our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles. He scored this Z from our friends at Bring a Trailer and regularly drives it on rally events.

 

Tokyo is Calling before the Rally!

 

Our crew arrived at the rally start in Sonoma and it was already filled with fabulous J-Tin parked at a local airport. BCR hosted a “social hour” from 7:30-9am so we could take in all the glorious cars. The vibe was tremendous, and as usual it went by too quickly. Let’s go through some of the highlights, with more photos in the gallery below!

 

Over 25 S30 Z cars were present!

   

I am always on the lookout for Nissans and Datsuns, and roadsters get my attention. There were at least 14 in attendance including a few genuine 1967 2000s.

 

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.

 

Ian’s SRL is #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, attending monthly rally events. 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!

 

Another ’67 2000, this one is #048! Our client Vince M  picked this up from Bring a Trailer last year:

  

High and low-windshield roadsters models were present. John Baker’s ’69 2000 is always a stunner with Spanish Red paint and many rare, Nissan Competition parts fitted:

  

Datsun 510

We spotted this ultra-clean Datsun 510, built by our friends at Spriso on with an S15 SR20DE/6-speed:

 Back to Z cars…Jason Dove’s 280z featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes. Jason is a long-time friend and client, full report coming to zcarblog.com.

 

See the gallery below for more S30 Z car photos!

 

A S130 280ZX attending!

 

Our client Cameron’s Z32 Twin Turbo visited Z Car Garage for maintenance work, downpipes, inlet piping, larger intercoolers all from Specialty Z. Cameron has been bringing his 300 to us for many years and we we are really glad to see him driving. There were several Z32TTs in attendance!

 

350Z!

 

There were a handful of S13, S14 and S15:

 

Kevin’s Bluebird

 

Super happy to see Kevin and his 1967 Datsun Bluebird SSS.

 

Nissan Skyline

 

R34 Skyline GT-R in Bayside Blue on BBS LM-R wheels.

 

R32 and R33 GT-Rs

 

Enjoy this walk-around video from Tokyo Calling 6:

Rally On!

Photo by Emma Lai

The rally started at 9am and I was tasked with leading our group. I really enjoyed hustling Mrs. Butters through the backroads. This route was a little over 100 miles roundtrip through Marin and Sonoma County.

    

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 FOUR photographer’s photo albums to see shots of your rides: Kevin Lee, Alex Nibyt,  Hubbe Emma Lai and Chris Friske.

We took a midpoint break in the small town of Occidental. Lots of cars to see and great chatting with fellow enthusiasts.

 

The rally concluded back in Sonoma airport, where BCR arranged for lunch from Kinoko Japanese Home Cooking. We enjoyed Japanese comfort food  surrounded by J-Tin and vintage aircrafts.

 

There were 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 including late model DC2 Integras, a few NSXs, lots of S2000s, CRXs and EF/EG hatches rounded out the display:

  

Mazda

 

First-gen,  FC and FD RX-7s, and many Miatas attended:

  

My favorite Mazda was this Rotary Pickup:

 

Toyota

 

Some of our favorite Toyota’s including Supra (A60, A70, A80), first gen MR2s, and AE86s!

 

Trucks and Vans

Let’s not forget the Japanese classic trucks and vans! Land Cruisers, Datsuns and a Isuzu VehiCross!

  

Thanks BCR!

 

Many thanks to the Breakfast Club Rally 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.

Photo by Chris Friske

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! More photos in the gallery below…

 

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Gary’s 1978 Datsun 280Z featuring a GM LS3/6-speed drivetrain is for sale. This S30 has been with Z Car Garage since 2007 where it received a bare-metal restoration and performance development to its current form.

 

Fantastic fit/finish with chassis upgrades like our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles and full suspension with 17″ Panasport C8 wheels transformed this Z. The interior features Recaro Specialist leather seats, A/C, power steering, power windows and more. Turn-key, ready to enjoy. See more details below and serious inquiries only please contact rob@zcargarage.com

 

A full feature documenting the restoration and upgrades with more photos and video can be viewed HERE

 

Interior

 

A complete dash restoration was performed with full HVAC/ducting and A/C refurbishment:

 

Recaro Specialist seats in leather are our favorite upgrade to the S30 interior. Gary enjoys modern creature comforts like Bluetooth, back-up camera, power steering and full sound system:

Suspension

 

The chassis was treated to a full suspension rebuild with new parts, bushings, Ground Control coil-overs (Koni struts with our spring rates) and ST sway bars front and rear:

 

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

Not to be confused with our current Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels), this Big-Brake kit was our initial setup from over a decade ago. This 328mm sized kit requires 17″ diameter wheels and the massive ST-42 calipers are finished in bright red.

A few more detail shots of the Big-Brakes, they really pop behind the black Panasport wheels:

        

Panasport Wheels

 

Gary also got a set of our custom Panasport Racing C8 wheels. These 3 piece, 17×8 wheels allowed fitment of a 255/40/17 tire under stock fender flares:

 

Our Z Car Garage CV Axles help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. We have over 250 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.

  

We built Gary a set of CV Axles, shown below:

 

LS3 V8 Power

 

The LS3-crate motor came with a warranty from GM and weighs less than the L-Series engine it replaced. Engine and 6-speed transmission were installed using the Hoke Performance kit:

 

The larger, twin-fan radiator and A/C plumbing and wiring:

 

Ovalized exhaust from headers to catalytic converter help with ground clearance:

 

Dyno Tuning

The LS3/6-speed T56 drivetrain was dyno tuned after installation, making 405hp/410tq at the wheels, a significant increase of 115hp/206tq compared to the L-Series:

 

Enjoy this video with dyno run, in-car driving, cruising and fly-by action with Gary’s LS3-powered 280Z:

See more details below and serious inquiries only please contact rob@zcargarage.com.
A full feature documenting the restoration and upgrades with more photos and video can be viewed  HERE

 

John B has been with us for many years. We featured his 1971 Datsun 240Z back in 2013 when he visited Z Car Garage for a mechanical overhaul, dyno tuning and Panasport wheels:

 

In 2020 he returned for our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and more sorting. Since then he’s been Enjoying the Ride and recently completed his first track day at the world-famous Laguna Seca. Enjoy his track day report and read on for a summary of work we performed over the years.

John’s Track Day at Laguna Seca

 

JOHN: Here’s a report on my Track Day at Laguna Seca on 29 Nov 2025, with some history of my Z cars.

The event was hosted by Turn8 Racing on Saturday 29 Nov. It was my first time, so was a member of the Beginner run group. I brought both of my Z cars but only drove the 1971 240Z on the track. There were many other types of cars in the run group, some new ones like a 911 G3 and a new Ferrari, but there was one other 240Z.

 

The first couple of runs were “lead-follow”, where we followed an actual race driver around the track to learn the proper race-line through the curves. For the remaining runs we were free to attempt to find the race-line on our own, which happened occasionally for me. It’s pretty obvious when I did not have the race-line since I was either in the dirt or was quickly approached by traffic from behind. I found the slower I went the easier it was to find the race-line. The Beginner run group only allowed passing on a couple of the straights (for this event), it was my track during the turns and my chance to learn to find the race-line so I felt it as ok to go slow.

 

Of course, once in the straights, everybody passed me. By “everybody” I mean EVERY car on the track. They may have been going faster, but I was having a blast with my 240Z on the track. My smiles per mile was high.

 

My favorite turn was turn 9, the sweeping left-hander out of the corkscrew. Probably because it’s challenging to judge the brake/coast/accellerate adjustments since the next turn (10) is slower right turn. It’s nice to “have” the whole track during the turns at the Beginner run group to try different approaches. The whole track is great, it’s Laguna Seca man! What fun.

 

I want to go back with my 1977 Lotus Esprit to see if I can beat my lap time in the 240Z. I expect that the Esprit will have faster laps since it seems to accelerate quicker out of turns and is closer to a race car than the Z. I had ZCG inspect the 240Z the week before the event to ensure that the brakes were up-to-snuff. They performed well, as expected since both of my Zs have the Z Car Garage Big-Brakes.

 

ROB: John asked me about doing his first track day in his 240Z. I think the interest came from attending our Vintage Racing Events with his girls, eating snacks and hanging out at the track. I said why not? You’ve got brakes that can handle it and we know the car is safe. We did a tech-inspection on it, made sure everything was good to go and yes, John Bunker drove his S30 on the world famous WeatherTech Raceway also known as Laguna Seca. Good job John keep on loving the Z we can’t wait to work for your girls someday.

The Z Cars

 

ROB: We met John around 2012 and did a bunch of work to his 240Z. He later acquired a 280Z and 280Z 2+2 so his daughters could ride with him. Both of these S30s have our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes. John and I have the same passion for music and he is just exactly why I love my job: he’s passionate and spends time enjoying and driving his Z cars. He also has a vintage Lotus that we’ve done some work on.

 

JOHN: The 240Z is a 1971 model built in Oct 1970. My mom bought it in 1978 and I’ve been driving it since 1980 (45 years, yowza). My siblings and I used to ride in the hatch. (Why a mother of six bought a two-seat sports car is a point of discussion amongst us). It was her daily driver until about 2000 when she started having trouble getting in and out of it. She put about 250K miles on it and replaced the L24 engine with a rebuilt one from a 260Z. I bought it from her in 2005. In 2013 ZCG went through it and made it run as it should. We installed the Big Brake Kit, Panasport wheels, new tires, new headers, exhaust, and a suspension upgrade including Techno Toy T/C rods. It now has about 275K miles on the road and about 40 on the track.

 

The other Z is a 1978 280Z. It was originallly owned by my mom’s neighbor. He traded it to my brother for some custom furniture in 2000. I bought it from my brother, then sold it to my niece, who sold it to her brother. It sat in the driveway of his mother (my sister)’s house for a few years until I bought it from my nephew in 2019 where it went straight to ZCG for a Big Brake Kit, new Panasport wheels, tires, and a suspension upgrade. It has about 195K miles.

 

Both are daily drivers, mostly. I can’t take my two daughters in them (well, not legally), so it’s usually just me in the car going to work. There is a third Z car, a 1976 2+2, intended to take the whole family, but we will not talk about that here. These are multi-generation family cars. The goal is for my girls to continue the Z-car tradition when they get older.

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

 

In 2020 we installed our ZCG Big-Brakes on John’s 240Z, giving him the ability to brake on a dime, perform well and daily drive. This is the same brake kit as seen on “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car (above).

 

As fellow S30 owner/racer Glenn C mentioned in his review, on top of braking performance, pedal feel is extremely important and our Big-Brakes deliver. This is a direct result of working with Stoptech to create a totally bolt-in solution requiring no M/C change or additional proportioning valve/adjustments. All fitting behind a 15″ Watanabe or Panasport wheel and retaining factory emergency brake lever! A few details below:

Calipers: Stoptech ST42 4-piston front & rear race calipers (Alum 6061 mil-spec Type III anodized)

Rotors: 280mm x 20.6 with Alum 7075 hats

Pads: Stoptech 309 sport street pads

Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.

A few closer detail shots of the calipers, rotors and hardware:

  

We removed John’s stock brakes and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit. The Z also received suspension parts from Techno Toy Tuning including their adjustable T/C rods.We really appreciate Gabriel and his staff. They make some of the best suspension parts out there for Z cars.

   

ZCG Big-brakes up front:

  

T3 T/C rods and new brake master cylinder/booster, clutch hydraulics:

 

At the rear, the factory drum brakes were replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality retained!

  

Enjoying The Ride

Photo by Alex Nibyt

We love seeing John in his Z cars locally, doing kid drop-offs and other daily driver duties:

 

He also joined us on Tokyo Calling 5 event hosted by Breakfast Club Rally. More photos in the gallery below.

 

Thanks for your support John and Long Live The Z!

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Our private label Z Car Garage KW V3 Suspension is available in limited quantities. These coil-overs offer game-changing performance suitable for street, track and daily-driving for your S30 Datsun Z car.

 

Parts Update

For our clients that were part of the recent 10 set order, your suspension is being assembled at the KW Factory. Here are a few photos of from KW:

 

Thanks for your patience and Long Live The Z!

Interested in the ZCG KW Suspension for your Z car? View the following link for more details and to see clients running ZCG KW Suspension

 

Shop Update 2/27/26

Happy Friday from Z Car Garage! Here are a few cars in for service, performance upgrades and mechanical sorting. Enjoy! Matt’s 1972 Datsun 240Z received our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and Z Car Garage CV Axles along with a full suspension refresh and engine tuning back in 2022. He returned to ZCG for a KA24 5-speed transmission, LSD and a new 3L L-series engine with triple-Mikuni carb induction.

 

Michael’s LeMans Sunset Nissan 350Z is getting an OS Giken LSD and gears.

 

Hiep’s Datsun 280Z is getting a mechanical restoratation with Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, refreshed EFI, 240Z bumpers and Recaro Seats:

 

Paul Ferrari’s 1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo is back for more performance upgrades:

 

Hannah’s Z32TT is in for service:

 

Race-prep for Gabe’s Datsun 510 B-Sedan:

 

Race-prep and dyno tuning for Greg’s Datsun Roadster:

 

Lehan’s R32 Skyline GT-R is in for repair work:

 

Frank’s 350 Roadster in for UPREV dyno tuning:

 

Stay tuned for full reports zcarblog.com and LONG LIVE THE Z

More photos in the gallery below

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