Are you thinking about going vintage racing? A Datsun 510 might be out of reach so we suggest the “German 510”,  BMW’s 2002. This 1968 BMW 2002 race car is non-historic but very competitive. It is currently owned/raced by one of our clients that has several 510s and decided to find a new home. This car offers a great opportunity to get into entry level B-Sedan racing, with 25 to 35 cars in the field in our California-based race group.

 

The car has been prepared and maintained by Z Car Garage. We have a refreshed engine. It has an expired fire system but other than that, it’s race ready. Dyno numbers available. If you’re interested in purchasing the car, we have the ability to store it for you and also provide you with Z Car Garage trackside support services. Don’t miss this opportunity to get a BMW race car. More photos can be viewed in our FOR SALE listing.

At Z Car Garage we love keeping Z’s on the road. From concours-level restorations to light refurbishments, helping a client realize their vision is our passion. The Bartel family shipped their 1973 Datsun 240Z from Arizona for mechanical and cosmetic sorting, ZCG-style. Our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, chassis tuning and dyno tuned LS3 V8 engine transformed this Z into the dream car Jeff and son Ryan enjoy at rally events.

The Bartel’s Z Story

Before we dive in to the project let’s hear how the family got their Z car…

JEFF: My son and I began looking for a Datsun project car for pre-1975 Targa rally driving events in late 2018. We scoured the internet for resto-mod 510’s or S30’s that with modern drivetrains for reliability and maintenance. After a long and exhaustive search we came across a 1973 Datsun 240Z with an LS3 V8/T56 on one of those trendy online auto auction sites. On paper the car appeared to have just about all of the desirable upgrades, including larger brakes from an OEM, coilovers, a LSD diff, aluminum radiator, fender flares, 17” wheels, Vintage Air air conditioning, fuel cell, decent gauges, extensive body work and paint and nausea-inducing rear wing. We decided to  bid and won what seemed like Z at the right price…

 

 

Mechanical Sorting at Z Car Garage

We agreed to inspect the car and during that process found many of the car’s important systems were in need of complete replacement.

ROB: It was very important to Jeff and Ryan for this Z to be enjoyable and up to the task of vintage rally events. We obliged to help them with that goal in several visits. I was Z car purist when I was younger, thinking one should always install Nissan engines into a Nissan… with time and wisdom it is hard to deny that LSx engines are pretty stellar with respect to power and packaging. It was time to make this Z a ZCG-style LS-powered S30.

JEFF: While tuning and driving the car Rob noticed that the existing fuel pump system was not providing sufficient fuel to the engine especially during spirited cornering (not to mention extremely noisy fuel pump and strong fuel smell in the cabin). Rob and his team replaced the underperforming fuel pump and delivery system, relocating the pump to a safer and quieter location, installed a Hydramat fuel pickup system in the fuel cell to avoid starvation during heavy cornering. A new dual exhaust system with X-pipe was also installed from headers back to the tips to improve flow and clearance.

  

Z Car Garage Big-Brakes

We are proud to have several of our ZCG products on Bartel’s 240z. We installed our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) which have the been standard on numerous ZCG builds. 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 engineers at 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 some 14″ wheels) and retaining factory emergency brake lever.

 

ROB:  A staple of the ZCG upgrade package is a set of brakes. So we did the ZCG BBK, with new brake M/C and new booster. Factory handbrake functionality IS retained! Suspension was upgraded to T3 f/r coil-overs done in our signature black. Thanks Gabe for allowing to have our own color! We also did f/r wheel bearings and full alignment.

 

JEFF: The team at Z Car Garage began with replacing the poor performing brakes with the complete ZCG Big Brake Kit. With the car now stopping as it should, they next turned their attention to the suspension. A set of front and rear coil-overs were installed on the car along with adjustable T/C rods and camber plates arms and so on. The car was then height adjusted and corner balanced.

 

 

Cooling and Driveline Upgrades

On their first visit we changed the spring rates to improve handling and put some friction modifier in diff. At the very end of this visit unfortunately the car was making some strange noises. We suspect the previous builder had starved the engine of oil a few times leading to rod knock. so we send it to Rebello for a rebuild. In spring of 2021 we had made enough power and focused on cooling modifications with a new fabricated a fan-shroud setup.

JEFF: With brakes, handling, fuel and exhaust systems addressed, we set out on our second CA Targa event in June 2021. This adventure took us through the CA desert and across the Sierra Nevada Mountains two times. If you live on the west coast you might remember the incredible heat wave with temperatures approaching 115 degrees F. This caused severe over heating problems with the existing cooling system, which made for many unplanned stops along the way. While we did have many great conversations waiting for the car to cool, some with our feet in a Sierra Nevada river, we knew this was unsustainable. Another issue that became noticeable during our second event was the wicked noises coming from the clutch, rear differential as well as the driveshaft. On the positive side of the coin, the car turned, stopped and handled incredibly well and we managed to complete the roughly 1,500 mile event under our own power. We were also able to establish that the car is extremely fast and with that the stock seats and belts were just not quite enough to hold us in place or to provide even the temporary illusion of safety. Woohoo!

Next up were the cooling, cold air intake, clutch, rear diff and driveshaft upgrades along with safety and comfort improvements. We installed a new aluminum radiator, rerouted the upper and lower hoses and changed the cold air intake system to reduce intake temperatures. The transmission got an upgraded flywheel. kevlar/ceramic, 11″ 26-spline clutch, new Tilton T/O bearing and aluminum driveshaft from South Bay driveline…the Z was now ready to drive anywhere.

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 200 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback. ZCG CV axles were installed and the rear differential was rebuilt with a new R180 OSG LSD unit, bearings/seals etc.

 

 

Dyno Tuning

Rob dyno tuned the LS via HPtuners software. It put down a stout 408hp/387tq to the wheels:

Enjoy this extended video of Ryan and Jeff’s Z including dyno runs, test drive with Rob and engine/exhaust sounds…volume up!

Wheels

Wheels make the car and a set of VOLK TE37V wheels from another client project ended up replacing the 17″ Rota wheels the Z came with. The TE’s transformed the car!

Details

After running a successful Targa event in 2022, the Bartel’s returned to ZCG in 2023 for a small list of improvements including rear hatch body work, installing a BRE type rear wing, minor improvements to the suspension, turn signal/high beam and seat rail repairs along with getting the AC system running more reliably. These are the details we excel at:

 

The previous owner left several holes in the firewall behind the evap box, so we removed all A/C components and made a new seal to isolate the cabin from exhaust and heat. In the back, we fixed the rear strut after locating a spacer placed in the coil-overs. With the A/C system sorted, we did hatch seals and pulley/belt on the compressor were all properly aligned.

If you are doing spirited driving or long road trips, the Recaro Specialist seat is the best for your Z car! More photos of the interior and roll bar in the galley below

JEFF: To improve safety and hold us in place ZCG installed an Auto Power roll bar with. custom removable harness bar. Rob convinced us upgrade the stock seats to Recaro Specialist seats and 5-point harness system, along with front and rear strut tower braces for increased rigidity. New Hella H4 headlights were also added to replace the original ones that barely worked. Ryan and I had Rob’s team add a 330mm  Momo steering wheel.

Exterior paint by our man William, modified rear spoiler some BRE side-view mirrors top the cosmetic changes:

Driving is Believing

Jeff lives in Central CA while Ryan lives in Arizona. They share this car Father and Son and we get reports from each of them sharing how much they love the car now.

JEFF: With cooling, driveline, safety and comfort addressed and plenty of test miles on the car, we set out for our third CA Targa event in May 2022. This event took place close to home in the Paso Robles wine country. The event was over 1,000 miles, covering many excellent canyon roads. Starting with a 390 mile bonsai run from Phoenix AZ to Los Angeles CA and continuing for up through the central coast of CA. During that time, we beat on the car mercilessly, and the car ran pretty darn flawlessly. Needless to say, third time was the charm, and the trip was a smashing success.

The Father/Son duo would go on to successfully complete the Targa California rallies in 2023 and 2024, followed by numerous driving events and gatherings. Each time they were super stoked with the Z…

RYAN: Targa ‘24 is a wrap. Over 2100 miles from AZ to Monterey and back. Some fantastic roads, 2 historic race tracks, endless good times and some of the best people around. That’s Jeff Bartel grinning in the drivers seat. Getting to run the rally’s with him has been a gift. Looking forward to the next one, and hopefully the Targa AZ works out. Gonna start pre running next week.

  

RYAN: The Japanese Corvette on the final day of the 2023 #targacalifornia. Over a thousand miles in a long weekend with some great humans, new roads and beautiful cars. The recipe for the car is at last perfect thanks to Rob and @zcargarage. All that and to top it off I get to do that whole thing with my father. Looking forward to the first Arizona Targa this fall.

Thank You!

We enjoyed working you Ryan and Jeff. Thanks for you support and keep making memories while Enjoying The Ride in your Z!

Our good friend Anthony S is a hardcore Datsun enthusiast and owner of this sinister 510 wagon. We first met Anthony 20 years ago at the All-Datsun Meet at Mt. Shasta. He started visiting the shop frequently, driving this wagon all the way from Oregon to San Jose, CA and we attended many events together. Anthony built this 510 from the ground up himself, and it has been constantly evolving. He started with a rather unorthodox inline-6 cylinder engine, the Toyota 7M-GTE:

This single-turbo setup spun the ZCG dyno to almost 400rwhp. Anthony is a track nut and the 510 has seen many days running hard at Portland Int. Raceway. Suspension and brake modifications included Brembo calipers up front, a linked Ford rear end and massive 255/35 tires in front with 285/35 rears.

The car went through some serious development including a full 2JZ-GTE engine, rear-mounted radiator setup and larger fender flares–all fabricated by Anthony himself!

In his quest for more power Anthony visited Z Car Garage in 2016 for BC cams and Haltech tuning. We started with a baseline of 399hp/332tq to the wheels. After the cams/tuning it made 461hp/362tq at the wheels:

More pics of Anthony’s fabrication work:

Version 2

Let’s hear about Anthony’s latest modifications leading up to the dyno tuning session in 2022…

Anthony: During COVID I had a lot of extra time and money and had stupidly run my prior 2JZ out of oil after hitting the oil pan on a pavement cut. It appeared to be down on power despite not smoking or knocking, I decided to bite the bullet and go with a new engine. Toyota still sold the 2JZ GTE short block brand new, and they also sold new bare heads. Obtained both over a period of several months. I snatched up the last short block in the Portland area and got a new head through OCD Works who did the head work including a custom CNC port job, GSC S1 cams, shimless buckets, and Supertech valves.

In addition to the engine upgrades, the 510 received larger wheels and tires BBS RS sized 18×10 F 18×11 R with 295/30F 315/30R Toyo tires. The brakes were also changed to Stoptech ST-60 calipers with 14″ custom Coleman rotors and C5 hats:

Anthony: I went with a Borg Warner EFR 8474 for the turbo and a quick spool valve from Diesel Pump UK (more on that later). The quick spool valve can help with boost onset by as much as 500 RPM so I was pretty excited to see what would happen on the Dyno with this bigger turbo. The goal being to run pump gas and get 500 plus at the wheels without horrible lag. I tuned the car well enough on the Haltec 2500 ECU to get some testing in before I went to California and to make it drivable. A key to the drivability was the ability of the Haltech to control a drive by wire Bosch throttle body. The road trip down with my wife went well and we arrived in San Jose excited to get the car on the dyno and see what Rob could do. I really tried to do everything right on this build with no shortcuts so I was pretty confident things would go well… Famous last words.

Dyno Tuning at Z Car Garage

Before getting on the dyno, Anthony and Rob went for a test drive and they were not impressed with the power. The car was previously tuned at 460rwhp back in 2015 on the old engine so he was familiar with the car and the speeds it would go. In that trim the car hit 147 MPH in the half mile which is pretty much on par with a Porsche GT3RS from that time (2016). Once back at the shop the car was put on the dyno and the results confirmed their concerns…

Anthony: The car was definitely down on power. Rob asked if I had synced the timing with the Haltech. I was confident it was correct, but I had not actually done that. So we pulled the plugs to confirm that the crank pulley was lining up with the number one piston at top dead center and it was. So issue number one was ruled out. We also thought it might be something to do with the drive by wire throttle not opening all the way, but that wasn’t the case either. Several runs were made and it was hitting a little over 400 at the wheels but the boost was 18 PSI or so. I knew that was way down on power because with the old engine it was hitting 400 plus at 11 or 12 PSI. And I had a better turbo, a better head better cams, etc, so at this point things were pretty disappointing. It was also quite hot that day for San Jose reaching the upper 80’s. To add to the fun the plastic drive by wire pedal that I had modified with a plastic welder ended up breaking on Rob leaving him with no way to move the throttle other than by hand (he was not having that…)

Luckily superstar Josh was able to pull the pedal repair it. Coolant was found under the car and traced to the heater core failing. Anthony disconnected the heater hoses and looped them, but still no solution for being down on power.

Anthony: Somebody had the idea of looking to see if the quick spool valve was operating properly. It turned out it was not. It is supposed to open and allow exhaust gas into both sides of the turbo after a certain PSI and it was not opening. So all of the exhaust was going through one portion of the turbine instead of both. A brief discussion was had about how much this would matter, we all determined it probably mattered a bunch since we were only utilizing half the turbo. Despite all my efforts to hook everything up properly I had made an error in supplying boost to the quick spool valve.

Once this was corrected the horsepower significantly increased. We decided to replace the new boost controller with a Greddy Profec with Josh and Anthony wiring it in so Rob could focus on tuning. After a few runs it was determined that the quick spool valve was putting a weird bump in the torque curve and instead of tuning it more with that device we ended up safety wiring it wide open.

Anthony: So what had started as a day that I thought would go very smoothly had many, many hiccups. But once all were solved, the horsepower really started to skyrocket. There are a lot of numbers thrown around about these engines, but if you do your research anything over 500 at the wheels on pump gas is quite good. I’ve always wanted to run this engine on pump as I don’t have E85 near me and we use it on a lot of road trips and I’ve never wanted to be restricted on fuel. Yes I could use flex fuel… but given the lack of E85 it’s never seemed worth it. My dad had always joked that it would be cool to have 510 horsepower in a 510 and we did hit exactly 510 at one point, then 536, then up to 546 at the wheels on 91 pump. Rob had Josh also adjusted the cam timing a bit as I have Titan adjustable cam gears. Needless to say I was pretty ecstatic getting nearly 550 horsepower and over 440 ft lbs at the wheels on 91 pump gas. The boost was 21 PSI for those runs with a red line near 8000. Now the car really was as fast as I thought it should be…

Enjoy this video of Anthony’s 510 Wagon in action and on the dyno:

Enjoying The Ride

 

Anthony was stoked on the dyno tuning results:

Driving back to Rob’s that night on the freeway he had me down shift into third and nail it and it broke the tires loose on the freeway. Keep in mind these are 315/30/18 Toyo R888r’s. That’s plenty of power for me… Thanks to Rob, Josh, Nick and everybody else at Z Car Garage for their patience and help that day and for working through the issues on this home built POS! You’re the best!

The 2JZ-powered Wagon returned back to Oregon where it continues to live the daily-driver life. The list of activities includes many track days at PIR, work commutes, camping trips and even lumber runs for home projects:

We loved to see Anthony and his wife Jessica at the epic 2018 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion where Nissan was the featured marque. In true #doitinadatsun from, the couple made a roadtrip from Oregon in the 510:

Speaking of road trips, Anthony recently visited us again for the 2024 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and made the 2000-mile journey from Portland. Check out his pre-flight checklist:

He made it home without incident, because Datsuns are Driven! Follow Anthony’s 510 adventures on his Instagram.

Thank you Anthony for letting us be a part of your 510 build! Interested in seeing more of Anthony’s 510? Check the links below and Enjoy The Ride!

Anthony Gets Published
Happy510Day
America’sCoolestWagon

…[read more]

Mike R acquired this gunmetal (KH2) 1991 Skyline GTR from Toprank International Vehicle Importers in 2019. Z Car Garage is familiar with the Norcal Skylines group and fellow R32 owner Kurt W referred Mike to us in addition to an endorsement from Top Rank. Mike’s first round of upgrades included a Project Mu Big-Brake kit, Ohlins coil-over suspension, Haltech ecu, Greddy FMIC, sorting and dyno tuning. All of this work is documented in our 2020 blog post:

 

More Upgrades

Following that initial visit, Mike added R34 GT-R Seats, and a sweet set of Volk Racing TE37 SL custom gloss black wheels (18×10.5 +15), wrapped in Michelin PS4S tires (265/35/18). A Haltech IC7 digital dash was added to monitor vital engine parameters, tying into the CAN box of Elite system:

Add More Boost

Mike was happy with the upgrades we made but like many of us the desire for more power inevitably hits:

“The car has been running flawlessly and the goal with these mods is to support the addition of a single turbo kit that ZCG will be installing this August. The turbo kit consists of a Full Race Twin scroll T4 manifold that will be mated to an EFR 8474 turbocharger. Twin Tial 44mm external wastegates will bleed off the excess exhaust gasses.”

(Below)Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod and Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold:

Remade in USA throttles and Nismo plenum. Fully built cylinder head with GSC S1 cams, SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides:

PRP crank trigger kit, Radium Dual Catch cans, Custom Intercooler piping with Tial q50 bov and Nismo oil cooler:

HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust:

Mike’s R32 came back to ZCG in 2022 for a few more items including:

ATS Carbon twin disk clutch (shoutout to @wubbs18)
New oem timing belt and pulleys
PRP alternator kit
Kansai Service Towhook
OEM Valley cover powder coated with R34 ornament plate
Mines Alcantara shift boot, parking brake handle and boot

VIDEO

Enjoy this video of Mike’s R32 GT-R in action with dyno runs, in-car and drive-by footage. Volume up!

Dyno Tuning

Several dyno tuning sessions were performed during the upgrade period. 515hp/437tq on 91 octane was achieved with significant mid-range gains:

 

Mike was pleased:

“Big thanks to @zcargarage for seeing this project through to the end and making the car come to life. We had a lot of headaches and setbacks over the past 11 months, but they did an incredible job end result speaks for itself! Couldn’t be happier. 🤘”

E85 Fuel

“Ethanol delivery is handled by a full Radiumengineering fuel system. Fuel hanger surge tank using twin 525lph to feed the rail and a 340lph to feed the hanger. All new hoses with a -8 feed line. Radium fuel rail with Rail mounted adjustable fuel pressure regulator. All feeding Injectordynamics ID1700XDS injectors. Haltech Flex fuel Sensor and Bosch Fuel pressure/temp combo tied into Haltech Elite to bring it all together.⁣”

On the dyno with E85 the R32 put down 624hp/479tq at the wheels, and Mike continued to enjoy the car:

“So the car has been on flex fuel for a few months now. Made 600 whp and 480tq. Still just keeping the boost around 20psi. Tons of room left in the setup. Been enjoying the shit out of the car is it currently sits. Maybe some minor cosmetic stuff in the near future, but for now….just drive.”

Enjoying The Ride

We were happy to see Mike Enjoying the Boost and spotted his R32 in action at the Tokyo Calling and Breakfast Club Rallies in Northern California:

 

Catch more of Mike’s R32 on his Instagram. Overview of major work is below with more photos in the gallery. Thanks for your support Mike!

. Custom 4” intake
. Full Race T4 twin scroll Exhaust manifold
. Borg Warner EFR 8474 0.92 with T51r mod
. Turbosmart gen4 twin port IWG
. Custom Intercooler piping
. Greddy 29f Intercooler
. Tial q50 bov
. Nismo plenum
. @remade_in_usa_ restored throttles
. Radium fuel filter, fuel rail, afpr, and pulse damper
. ID1050x injectors
. Hellcat fuel pump
. Fully built cylinder head
. GSC S1 cams
. SuperTech valves, springs, retainers, guides
. Greddy adjustable Cam gears, timing belt
. PRP crank trigger kit
. Fluidamper
. Two six engineering power steering pump kit.
. RHD Auto power steering reservoir
. Nismo Oil Cooler
. PWR radiator with Samco hoses
. Haltech Elite 2000 pnp
. Haltech WB1 canbus wide and 02sensor
. Haltech IC7 digital dash
. Haltech 3 port boost solenoid
. Radium Dual Catch cans
. HKS Super Turbo Titanium exhaust