This is Sean’s 1970 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles and Z Car Garage Big-Brakes that he had installed in SoCal. Highlights include a Rebello 3.0L, triple-Mikuni induction, Nismo 6-speed transmission and Watanabe wheels. Let’s take a look at how Sean got into Z cars…

 

Sean: This early-production 1970 Datsun 240Z Series 1 was purchased in 2019 from the original owner’s family. The original owner, in the army and stationed in Okinawa at the time, bought the car there brand new in mid-1970. It’s an early-production car with a 4/70 build date, chassis number HLS30-2811, and is one of the early non-EVAP examples. After completing his time overseas, he had the car shipped back to the United States in 1972, where it spent its entire life in Long Beach and has remained in California ever since. The family also included the original 1972 California pink slip with the car, which I thought was incredibly cool. Because of its lifelong California history, while the car does have some minor rust in common areas, it remains a very solid and honest example with excellent bones.

 

The original owner passed away roughly 25 years ago, after which the car sat dormant and untouched. When I acquired it, although largely original, the interior was in rough shape, the engine barely ran, and the car showed clear signs of long-term neglect. Over the years, it had been repainted twice in its lifetime, but I intentionally chose to leave the exterior exactly as it is. The layers of paint, chips, and exposed remnants of the original finish tell the story of the car’s history, and preserving that character became more important to me than restoring it cosmetically..

 

Interior

 

SEAN: While the exterior remains untouched, I painstakingly restored the interior myself back to essentially factory condition, using as many original parts as possible. This build was never intended to be a trailer queen — it was built to be period-correct, with modern underpinnings, driven, and enjoyed. Because of that, a full repaint will probably never happen. I know I’d never be able to keep it perfect, and honestly, I enjoy the car far more this way. I drive it through the canyons nearly every weekend, which is what it was built for...

          

Drivetrain

 

SEAN: Mechanically, the car has been transformed into the driver’s car I always envisioned. It’s powered by a 3.0L Rebello engine, paired with a Nissan S15 Nismo six-speed transmission and a fully rebuilt R200 differential with a Quaife LSD. Supporting modifications include triple Mikuni 44 PHH carbs, Kameari headers, a Fujitsubo Legalis R exhaust system, 123 Ignition, and Koyo radiator:

 

SEAN: The car recently dyno’d at 234 horsepower and 221 lb-ft of torque to the wheels on a Dynojet, which is more than enough for my needs. At this point, the build is pretty much complete Now it’s simply about enjoying the experience and continuing to drive a car that feels incredibly rewarding every time I get behind the wheel.

 

Enjoy this video of the Z in action including the dyno run, volume up!

 

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

 

SEAN: The chassis was upgraded with Techno Toy Tuning and Apex components throughout. The Z Car Garage Big-Brake and CV Axle upgrades absolutely transformed the car, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The car has also been professionally corner-balanced and tuned to my liking.

 

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

  

Big-Brake Kits Available For DIY Install!

(UPDATE…this kit is no longer available, V2 is coming soon see  HERE for more details)

Z Car Garage is proud to offer our Big-Brake Kit to Z-Car owners that want to perform the installation themselves. We can ship worldwide and each kit contains everything needed with a comprehensive (40-page) installation guide. Blog posts documenting all of our customers running the ZCG Big-Brakes can be found HERE.

 

Beyond ease of installation and quality components, our Big-Brakes perform by offering superb pedal feel…everyone that drives our demo Z confirms! 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. Photos of Sean’s ZCG BBK installation, looking great behind his 15×8 Watanabe wheels:

  

Parking brake functionality is retained with our ZCG Big-Brakes!

 

Z Car Garage CV Axles

  

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.

Sean’s ZCG CV Axle set, #0422 installed:

 

Enjoying The Ride

 

Sean has been driving his Z everywhere including those canyon runs!

     

What’s in store for Sean’s Z? Follow his build on Instagram

SEAN: I’ve always had a love for these cars. I bought my first Datsun 240Z in 1988 for 700 bucks before my senior year of high school and went on to own several more throughout the 1990s before selling my last one in 2001 due to having twin boys, as life understandably shifted priorities, but I hoarded and held onto all my parts, knowing that someday I’d own another one once the kids finally flew the coop..

 

Thanks for your support Sean we love that you are Enjoying The Ride and Long Live The Z! More photos in the gallery below

The Last Stop in Braking for your Z

 

Z Car Garage Big Brakes are one of the best systems available for your S30 Z Car with over 200 kits sold worldwide and unanimous positive feedback. See our ZCG Big-Brakes on client cars HERE and enjoy the photos below: (UPDATE…this kit is no longer available, V2 is coming soon see here for more detailss)

   
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Z Car Garage is excited to participate in the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion August 12-15 at Laguna Seca. The event will honor the icons of Japanese motorsport as the featured marque. ZCG will be racing and supporting nine vintage Datsuns, see below for a preview and event schedule. It’s already shaping up to be a Nissan/Datsun fan’s dream like the 2018 RMMR :

 

Z Car Garage Racers

Here is a preview of vintage Datsun race cars we prepared and dyno tuned for the Rolex event. Volume up and enjoy that L-Series music!

 

Group 9

Peter Gregg Trophy (1973–1981 IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT, GTU and FIA)

Rob Fuller will pilot the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z. You might recall the story behind this special, 1972 IMSA GTU 240z as it was owned, built and raced in the 70’s by none other than Joel Anderson. ZCG restored #49 back to its former glory and it debuted at RMMR 2014. John Morton would drive #49 at RMMR 2015.

 

Larry Oka’s Ex-Glemik IMSA Z

Group 3

Ken Miles Trophy (1955–1967 SCCA Large Displacement Production Cars)

Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou will race his FAR Performance 240Z. This Z has a very rich racing history, driven in the 70’s by Loren St. Lawrence in VIPS Restaurant livery.

 

Group 8

Bob Sharp Cup (1966–1979 Historic SCCA B & C Sedans)

 

Historic B&C Sedan is proud to announce its participation in the upcoming Monterey Rolex Motorsports Reunion and Pre-Reunion at the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway. With an impressive field of 48 historic sedans set to be exhibited and raced, fans can expect a spectacular showcase of vintage touring car competition. This year’s featured marque celebrates Japanese icons, and the Historic B & C Sedan group is exceptionally well represented, highlighting many of the era’s most influential and beloved Japanese racing machines. From the paddock to the corkscrew, it’s sure to be an unforgettable celebration of motorsports history.

The Corky Bell Trans Am 510

 

Rob Fuller will be racing the Bell 510. Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored it back to its former glory with Trans Am livery and Corky drove it for the first time at the Velocity ’23 event. We will dedicate a separate blog post to the restoration and Corky’s story. Here are a few photos of the car during the revival:

   

Kenny is a steady ZCG trackside support client, running the Ex-Ted Gruner 510.

#72 Tom Dockery

We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years.

 

Bill Ockerlund’s Ex-Greg Schmidt Datsun 510

 

Group 2

John Morton Trophy (1950s–1960s SCCA Small Displacement Production Cars)

We prepared 2 Datsun Roadsters for this exciting race group:

Bruce White’s 1967 Datsun 2000

 

Gregg Walsh’s 1966 Datsun 1600

 

 

Events!

Grand Marshal Peter Brock will join the Unser Family Cup group for photo opportunities and autographs before their afternoon race.

Autograph session: Saturday, August 15 · 11:30 AM–12:15 PM · Heritage Display

 

Kaiju Company x Super Drive — JDM Legends Display

JDM Legends Car Show August 14-15 within the lakebed at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

 

See the BRE Datsuns!

 

Nissan will be displaying the 1971 #46 BRE Datsun 510 and BRE Datsun 240Z

 

View the race schedule HERE.

View the list of entries and race groups HERE.

View previous RMMR race reports HERE.

Z YOU AT SECA!

 

Join us for the 2026 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: The Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca August 12-15th.

 

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One of ZCG’s greatest achievements is the development of our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes in collaboration with StopTech. Many satisfied clients are running these brakes on their S30s. Unfortunately, due to supply issues, we no longer offer that kit. The good news is that we’re excited to introduce our new Big Brake Kit!

 

Version 2 has a slightly larger rotor with 4-piston calipers front and rear. It is in final testing, and will be released soon. Here are a few photos from our test drive last weekend in “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car fitted with the V.2 Big-Brake Kit:

 

Stay tuned for more photos, details and pricing.

  

 

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On June 12-14, Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the Corkscrew Classic vintage race at Laguna Seca. Z Car Garage supported several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. It was a great weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. ZCG clients running at the Corkscrew Classic included:

#6 Noah’s Bluebird Coupe

 

#88 Todd R.

Todd and his B-Sedan Datsun 510 have enjoyed our Z Car Garage Trackside Services for several years. He had a great time at the Corkscrew Classic:

 

#52 Kelly McCarty

Kelly recently acquired this 510 from Jim Froula. It features our Z Car Garage CV Axles and race preparation.

Here is Rob with a race report, enjoy the photo gallery below!

ROB: The ZCG team for the weekend covering for Joshua Corwin was Rob, Cooper and Meghan. Cooper is an absolute rockstar. We made it to Laguna Seca hassle-free and got the cars tech inspected. We had Todd in his Datsun 510, Kelly and his new 510 (formally the 52 car of Jim Froula) and we had Noah in the Bluebird and everybody had a good time.

 

The cars worked flawlesly until the end of the weekend when Todd’s 510 had a fuel starvation issue from the FuelSafe. Need to refresh, but will handle that before the Charity Challenge. Great job to Troy Ermish and the Hoosier 2.5 Challenge out there and everybody seem to be behaving and going pretty quick. Lots of cool cars in the paddock, lots of cool friends and perfect weather. The peanut butter pretzels were delicious. The red vines were divine and good times racing.

 

Hoosier Tire 2.5 Challenge

 

CSRG featured the Hoosier 2.5 Challenge TA/BS. This is an action-packed race group with B-Sedans battling for points in the series!

 

Vintage Spec Miata

 

The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing.

ROB: “Little Butters”, our 1991 Vintage Spec Miata that will be available for rental throughout the vintage race season. Contact Rob at ZCG for details. Since this is a new build for I drove it for the weekend to make sure it was sorted and ready to rock for any client that wants to enjoy it. It has a competitive race engine, Penske shocks which are the current suspension for SCCA Spec-Miatas. Just to pay tribute to how wonderful Mrs. Butters Z (our Series 1 shop 240z) is, we painted it Safari Gold. It’s nickname is Little Butters,  Josh likes to call it “I can’t believe it’s not Butters” and then we picked the number 23 because we are Nissan dorks.

 

ROB: Newcomer Steve Albert rented Little Butters for the Corkscrew Classic. He had never been in a Miata before and we had a wonderful weekend with him and his wife hanging out getting to know the Z Car Garage crew. Steve did a great job in Little Butters, picking up nine seconds from start of the weekend to the end. He had some epic battles with the Porsche 912 of Mario M and it was Battle of the Butters 🙂

 

Join us for the 2026 Vintage Racing Season!

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: The Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca August 12-15th.

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The 2026 Velocity Invitational was held at Sonoma Raceway May 29-31. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting clients in Group 8 (ALMS) and Group 5 (B-Sedan). The event was just as fun for spectators with a friendly, immersive vibe. Enjoy our report from the weekend with photos and in-car video of the action.

  

Z Car Garage Racers

Photo by Chris Constantine

This year we missed racing in Group 7 IMSA, however the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z was proudly displayed in the paddock for the weekend.

 

You can see photos and in-car video from Rob in the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU 240Z from the last VI race below. Volume up and enjoy!

  

The IMSA group this year was fun to watch and we enjoyed seeing the Leary 280Z car driven by Gabe Tesch’s son, Jake.

Photo by Elton Hom

Historic B & C Sedan

Photo by Alex Trang

Historic B&C Sedan partnered with Velocity Invitational to gather a collection of 30+ real historic B and C sedan cars in a dedicated run group! Several cars among them had real Trans Am Under 2L and Two-Five Challenge history like the Datsun 510s of Corky Bell and Bob Finn.

The Corky Bell Trans Am 510 (Group 5)

 

Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored it back to its former glory with Trans Am livery and Corky drove it for the first time in 53 years at the last Velocity. We will dedicate a separate blog post to the restoration and Corky’s story. Here are a few photos of the car during the revival:

   

Rob Fuller piloted the Bell Trans Am 510 at the Velocity Invitational. His race report is below:

ROB:  This year we were going to see the return of the Joel Anderson IMSA 240Z and unfortunately it didn’t work out. Then our Mini Cooper that was supposed to be in the Mini Vs. Muscle race had some engine issues…so let’s talk about the fun stuff… Historic B&C Sedan!

 

After many years of dedication, Dave Stone and Glenn Chiou finally got an entire group of Historic B&C Sedans assembled for a run group at Velocity Invitational. This is really amazing because it has been discussed forever and every one of the cars inside the field has historic pedigree with stories. With about 33 cars total it was fun racing and we had a really good time. 510s were very strong in the field…Noah was there in his 68 car, Kenny in the 64 Ex-Ted Gruner car, Tom Dockery in the 72 Ex-Balzer/Koobation car and Rob Fuller and Corky Bell number 40 Datsun 510. 

 

Chet Taylor raced his Alpha GTV which was piloted for almost 50 years by Jon Norman (Bay Area Alpha legend) and he was in the mix. It was just a blast with great racing and got to spend time with fans and tell them about the cars and their stories. That’s one of my favorite parts. Everybody was competitive, there were no car issues. It was an absolute wonderful weekend filled with peanut butter pretzels, snacks,  good times and hugs. Also honorable mention to Greg Hoff in Larry Oka’s historic Michael Bell car that ran out of the Pacific Northwest in the late 70s. 

 

The Corky Bell car finished 2nd in the Qualifying Race and third in the Feature Race.

 

Enjoy this video of Rob Fuller racing in Group 5 at the Velocity Invitational with in-car action:

 

You can also see the full-length, in-car footage on Saturday and Sunday and watch more of Rob’s racing adventures on his YouTube Channel.

 

#68 Noah’s Datsun 510

 

#72 Tom Dockery

We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. One of his racing goals for 2026 is to attend both the Velocity Invitational and Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

 
TOM: Velocity Invitational 2026 was another outstanding event for the B Sedan community. A large B-Sedan group, 30 plus cars with a broad representation of manufacturers. This was my first event after extensive work on the car performed by the Z Car Garage team. A special thanks to Rob, Josh and Cooper. The car worked well and I was able to stay in the top third of the run group. There is always room for improvement in my driving but I was very happy with my performance and more importantly the performance of the run group. The group put on a good show with racing throughout the field. Looking forward to August and the Rolex.

 

We have in-car video from Tom Dockery in the Ex-Norm Balzer B-Sedan Datsun 510, volume up and enjoy!

 

#64 Kenny Tse

Kenny is a steady ZCG trackside support client, running the Ex-Ted Gruner 510.

 

#37 Glenn Chiou

 

The Historic B and C Sedan founder and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced his his Ex-Bob Finn U2.5L Trans-Am Datsun 510 This car features our Z Car Garage CV Axles. We also provided dyno tuning services for the fresh Rebello L18 with Solex/Mikuni 44phh induction and BRE intake:

 

More on-track photos by Elton Hom can be seen HERE

Friday Night Meet with Sung Kang and Larry Chen

 

Lifelong car guys Sung Kang and Larry Chen brought the spirit of Daikoku PA to Sonoma Raceway for a one-of-a-kind Friday night meet.  Z Car Garage displayed #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z. Rob recalls the evening:

ROB: Friday night…Larry Chen and Sung Kang go to Sonoma Raceway. They had a separate event where they sold tickets to allow fans to bring cars to the meet, see a drift car demo and trailer of the new movie, Drifter. Larry and Sung did a Q&A-style hang with fans and as the sun set Velocity had us bring down the IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z to the hot pit and display it with some really cool curated cars.

 

After the Q&A/trailer and everything in turn seven, they would choose which cars that would go down and be in the car show, was really cool. Lots of families and people I’ve never seen before. The IMSA 240Z was staged between some cars from the race like the Celica GTU car and a Mazda 767B.

Photos by Elton Hom

At the very end of the hot pit was Larry Chen signing books and meeting people. That line didn’t stop until they kicked us out at 9:30 at night. It was absolutely incredible. People were excited and respectful. People talked to me about some of the YouTube channel episodes that I’ve been in with Larry, their own Z car projects and being at the VI for the first time. Just absolutely wonderful. Very very cool to bridge that world to our world and so it was just a mix of young and old and families. Spent time with Johnny Lieberman. Highlight for me was seeing Joey Bautista’s early (Prince) Skyline it was epic. Really good time had by all and just a great job for Velocity bringing folks together.

 

Z Car Garage Trackside Race Support Services

ZCG provided trackside support for 4 cars in the B-Sedan field at the Velocity Invitational. Interested in our services? Find out more HERE.

Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (Group 8)

This very special Porsche is the 2006 FIA European GT3 Championship winning car that was driven by Sean Edwards. It is a 997 GT3 Cup S Prototype and our client Kenny Tse raced it in the ALMS (group 8).

 Photos by Elton Hom

Paddock Gems

Photo by Elton Hom

There was no shortage of rare and exotic cars from well-known supercar marques. Historic icons were everywhere. More photos in the gallery below!

 

Our client Lora with her Series 1 Datsun 240Z

A Fan-Friendly Race Event

 

One of the best experiences for spectators is the paddock and organizers made access to drivers and their machines seamless. Fans could get up close and personal with race cars without the typical ropes or 45-foot RVs in the way. Enjoy our video coverage of the paddock focused on the Historic B&C Sedan groups:

ROB: Since the inaugural Velocity Invitational, Z Car Garage has been a big fan of what they were trying to accomplish:  mixing something that we (love vintage racing) with car culture that appeals to people of all ages. Kudos to Jeff O’Neil and his team for pulling off another exciting event.

If you want to see action from the event in its entirety, check out live streaming coverage HERE. Huge thanks to Meghan Fuller for capturing photos/videos for ZCG. More photos in the gallery below from photographers Alex Trang, Chris Constantine and Elton Hom.

ZCG Race Crew

  

Huge shoutout to the Z Car Garage race crew including Josh, Meghan, and Cooper. We are grateful for your support, keeping us safe and on the track!

 

Join us for the 2026 Vintage Racing Season!

 

Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Corkscrew Classic June 12-14.

 

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