Keith Y came to Z Car Garage for dyno tuning on his Datsun 510 “Brock Buster” tribute. This Dime was a complete build performed by our friend, fellow racer and Datsun guru Troy Ermish.
Troy’s restoration of this car was fantastic and we love the 13″ Libra-style VTO with white-letters-out tires:
Underhood lies a Rebello 1700cc L-series with dual-Mikuni carbs and the chassis treated to a host of Troy’s suspension goodies:
When Keith brought the car to us it was not running correctly. Baseline numbers were 94hp/106tq. With Rob’s tuning the L-series now screams past 7ooorpm, making 125hp/114tq to the wheels. Gains of 31hp/8tq!
Enjoy the L-series music on the dyno, we included both engine and exhaust points of view:
Keith is happy and we are impressed (as always) with another Ermish creation. Coincidentally, the original real-deal Brock Buster 510 is being restored back it former glory as we speak at Troy’s shop! Looking forward to seeing it on the road.
Z Car Garage is expanding to support our vintage, late model and motorsport work. We are seeking an experienced and skilled automotive technician to join our team. This is not an average automotive job. We work 4-10hr days and offer competitive pay/benefits.
Requirements: Automotive experience, your own set of tools, willingness to learn, and be part of a team.
Nissan/Datsun experience is NOT a requirement, you just need to have passion.
Interested or know someone who might be a good fit? Please contact rob@zcargarage.com or call us at (408)452-0350.
The Golden Week Kyusha Festival was held yesterday in Richmond, CA. We were proud to be a sponsor of the inaugural show with an impressive attendance and fantastic venue at the Craneway Pavillion. This was the site of the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in the 1930s, now a historic landmark.
While Rob and the ZCG crew were vintage racing at Laguna Seca I attended the show in my Datsun Roadster. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time checking out rows of Japanese Classics.
ZCG Customers
I was happy to see several ZCG customers attending the show. James Stephens’ Turbocharged L-series S30 has a few more upgrades since being featured in Speedhunters, expect a full report soon!
Our friends from Bring a Trailer brought their 1973 240z. This Z has seen some serious rally duty and wears our ZCG Big-Brake kit . We love that it is driven!
Nickhil’s S30 recently came in for our ZCG Big-Brake kit too! We are excited to share his story on zcarblog as well.
Neal D proudly displayed his freshly-restored concours 240z.
Datsuns!
Datsuns made up almost half the show with Z’s, 510 wagons, sedans and coupes. There was even a wild 1200 with a 13B!
Daniel Wu’s “Tanto” 510 (built by our friend and talented racer Troy Ermish) is always nice to see:
Andrew S’ RHD tribute 510:
Really cool wagons, my favorite wearing Devil Shadows:
GC10 and C110 Skylines:
Here is a short video of the show, enjoy!
Friends
I had fun seeing familiar faces and friends. Some go back to the days of the Mt. Shasta Meet! Our friends from Techno Toy Tuning showing off their latest parts for Z cars:
Francis Jr.’s S30 looked great with Watanabe wheels and Euro tail lights. Congrats on your award Jr.!
The Jervis family showed their bone-stock Datsun 510. The trunk was filled with nostalgic photos of Shasta/auto-x events.
The roadster was well-received, people had fun with it!
Toyota’s
Rad Wheels!
So many cool JDM wheels from Watanabe’s to Techno Phantoms!
Thank You!
The Kyusha Festival was a success. I loved the venue and look forward to next year’s event! Big thanks to Kia Shariloo and event staff for hosting. Enjoy the photo gallery below!
Z Car Garage is proud to offer a CV axle conversion kit for your Datsun S30 and 510. We have sold over 100 sets of axles globally, with customers installing and enjoying them on everything from street cars to full-blown IMSA racers. These CV axles will help transmit power to the ground and ensure smoother operation compared to your standard half shafts. Full details below:
For years we have used aftermarket CV axles that utilize an aluminum adapter prone to loosening up over time. Despite efforts to keep things tight (Loctite, hardware changes) we had to keep an eye on them. We developed a better solution that eliminates the need for aluminum adapters and remains 100% bolt-in like a factory half-shaft.
Designed and manufactured locally with KAD Models, the ZCG CV axle kit works in both R180 and R200 configurations.
These are the beefiest CV axles on the market. They have been tested on the track by our vintage racing customers and also in high hp* street cars (powershifting, clutch dumps, etc.). Each axle has a serial # for peace of mind:
The CV axle kit is available now from ZCG for 1595.00 + freight and they come with everything you need to install on your car. Contact us at 408-452-0350 or send Rob an e-mail rob@zcargarage.com to purchase. Installation is just like doing a half-shaft: there is even a marking that shows you where to line up bolts and special hardware:
The ZCG CV Axles in action
The video below demonstrates the “looseness” associated with aftermarket CV axles that use adapters compared to the ZCG axles without adapters. Several customer race/street cars running our CV axles are also shown. Enjoy!
S30 and 510s running the ZCG CV axles
Randy Jaffe’s #46 BRE Datsun 240z received the very first set of ZCG CV axles: Serial # S30-000240!
Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running ZCG axles in several of his cars:
Set #246 – installed May 2018 on the “Harry Stewart #52” Datsun 510:
Set #247 – installed April 2018 on the 260z
Set #248 – will be installed on Adam Carolla’s “Greg Sorrentino #90” Datsun 510. We are pleased to report that Jim will also be installing a set on his “George Alderman #32” 300ZX! The ZCG CV axles are also perfect for high hp street cars. The following customer cars are all running our CV axles now:
Frank B’s fuel-injected, 6-speed stroker L-series:
Gary’s 430whp LS3-powered 280z:
Scott W’s EFI stroker L-series:
James S’ L28ET:
Brian’s 1972 240z:
Finally, Gary’s “Behemoth” OS Giken TC24B1Z powered S30:
Technical Information:
The Z Car Garage axles were designed to help remove much of the backlash aka clunk seen in many older vehicles. Modern technology has given us the ability to create a set of axles to exacting standards. We started with a high quality set of CV joints that were found to be the most consistent in both major and minor spline diameters. We then began to design the axle itself to share the same tight tolerances. We are holding a +/- .01mm diametric tolerance on both the inner and outer spline diameters. This gives us the feeling of direct connection between differential and wheel. The axle shaft major diameter was increased to 30MM to give owners a bit of added comfort in knowing the main shafts are stout. Once the axles are splined they are then heat treated to obtain the desired harness. After heat treat the axles are then nickel plated to add corrosion resistance. The inner and outer flanges are made from 316 stainless steel and mate to the CV joints with tapered alignment surfaces to ensure concentricity is maintained throughout the axle thus reducing vibration. The inner flange attaches to the stock R series differential utilizing the Nissan factory hardware. The outer flange attaches to the driven stub with bolts specifically designed and manufactured for the Z Car Garage axle installation kit. These bolts are manufactured to grade 12.9. All ZCG axles are manufactured locally which helps us maintain the fitment and quality we require.
Materials
Axles : Hardened AISI/SAE 4340 Alloy Steel, 4340 is a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy steel
Drive flanges: 316 stainless steel, Type 316 steel is an austenitic chromium-nickel stainless steel
Outer Flange Bolts: Hardened 4140 Alloy Steel , AISI or SAE 4130 grade is a low-alloy steel containing chromium and molybdenum as strengthening agents
Gorgeous weather, an amazing variety of cars and exhilarating driving all on today’s drive organized by Naveed Y. The starting point was Buck’s of Woodside with an absolutely bonkers mix of vintage/modern sports cars from all marques:
Our customer James Stevens showed up with his turbocharged 1972 Datsun 240z, check out the Speedhunters article with great photos by Naveed HERE!
We departed up 84 to Skyline heading towards 9. There were so many cars in the group that we split up–some took Bear Creek Rd down through Felton and eventually we all met at Whale City Bakery in Davenport. Jeremy Gomez’ G-nose S30 was looking sharp sitting on Longchamps:
I was honored to pilot Rob Fuller’s S30, affectionately known as “Ms Butters Z”. This Series 1 240z has recent engine, suspension and further chassis upgrades we are very excited to share with you. I was impressed with its performance, stay tuned for a full report!
Our final leg of the trip was the best: HWy1 and 84 back to Alice’s Restaurant. Thanks Naveed for organizing the run it was a blast! More pictures in the gallery below, enjoy!
