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Our client Sung Kang’s RB26-powered Datsun 240Z is featured in the popular Japanese magazine, “Option”.
In 2020 Sung visited Z Car Garage, driving “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car. After driving Butters, Sung wanted the exact same Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles and KW suspension on his very own “FuguZ”!
You can view the OTION magazine article HERE.
Happy New Year from Z Car Garage! We are excited for 2023 and have many projects to share with you. Enjoy these photos from the shop today, Friday 6 with full reports coming to zcarblog.
Rick’s BRE-inspired Datsun 240Z track car just received our first set of Z Car Garage KW coil-over suspension from our latest batch. Clients that have already placed an order: kits will ship soon pending an instruction manual first. We also finalized the CD009 6-speed transmission swap on Rick’s Z that also features our (Race) Z Car Garage Big-Brakes.
Cameron’s Z32 is here for maintenance work and 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 have him back.
We continue to maintain and upgrade late-model Nissan/Infiniti sports cars. Sean’s 370Z is in for an engine replacement and Mark’s 350Z got an alignment and UPREV dyno tune today.
The Transcendental Racing Datsun 240Z is getting ready for The Real Ralph Newman to hand-apply its livery on Monday with owner Randy Jaffe here from Atlanta. Our man William is here today to do some buffing on the fresh paint.
Outside in the parking lot we’ve got more S30 goodness. Mike’s yellow V8-powered Datsun 280Z sports a real G-nose and Tremec 5-speed. We just removed the transmission and replaced the clutch to prepare this Z for its new owner. Beau’s orange Datsun is 280Z coming together. Fresh from paint featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, T3 suspension and more. This 280 has many 240Z parts retrofitted and it will be cool hot rod.
Ken’s green Series 1 Datsun 240Z (#1762) is getting our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, KA24 5-speed transmission and Fujitsubo exhaust. The L28 now has Jenvey ITB EFI managed by a Haltech 750. With a cam, dyno tuning and exhaust Rob gained 40hp! Shown on the lift next to Beau’s Z is Eric’s Infiniti FX35 sporting upgraded suspension and R35 GT-R wheels in today for routine maintenance.
More to come watch for updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages!
LONG LIVE THE Z!
Sean M visited Z Car Garage for dyno tuning on his 2010 Nismo 370Z. We specialize in UPREV and EcuTek Tuning to maximize power gains from individual modifications like intake and exhaust upgrades. Let’s hear how Sean found his Pearl White V1 Nismo Z34:
“I obtained this car through my father’s best friend. A couple of years ago, I found this car on craigslist and I wanted to jump on it very badly. I had just gotten a car six months before, so I couldn’t get it and knew it was going to be gone within the next couple of days. Sure enough, that’s what happened. I showed up at the Thunder Hill 3-Mile course that weekend, and spotted the car parked next to our trailer when we arrived. It turns out my father’s best friend bought the car, and from that moment I told him that if he ever wants to sell it, I want to buy it from him. About a year and a half later, thats what happened!”
Once he got the car Sean started modifying it immediately with Stillen G3 intakes, Z1 headers, Magnaflow cat-back, Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler, Z1 clutch, KW V3 Coilovers, Hawk DTC60 pads, and AEM Oil pressure and wideband AFR gauges.
“After installing those parts, I knew it was going to need a tune. Thats when I found the man the myth the legend Rob at Z Car Garage! I found them online looking for Z tuners in the bay, and after coming into Z Car Garage I knew I brought it to the right place. Rob got the car squared away with the UPREV ARC license, and with his knowledge about how hard the car gets driven he dialed it in.”
We specialize in UPREV and EcuTek Tuning to maximize power gains from individual modifications like intake and exhaust upgrades on Sean’s Z. On the dyno, Rob UPREV tuned with gains throughout the rev range. Peak gains of 20hp/20tq for a total of 335hp/272tq at the wheels was achieved:
Enjoy this dyno video that Sean filmed:
Sean was stoked on the dyno results:
“Being a huge racer himself, he knows what it takes to keep a car maintained and up to date, and the motor running safely and efficiently. Z Car Garage is always my recommendation to fellow Z enthusiasts, as I know Rob is a wealth of useful information as well as a brilliant mechanic. After the tune, the car has fantastic throttle response on partial throttle and tons of top end!”
We also added the ARC (Advanced Racing Controls) license. This add-on service to the existing UPREV Flash allows you to have adjustable launch control, burnout mode, and flat-foot shifting. This is for cars with manual transmission, VDC/cruise control. Call Rob for more details and to schedule your Z/G tuning appointment.
Here is a video of the exhaust and launch control (courtesy of the UPREV ARC License):
Sean is an avid driving enthusiast and this Z sees the track 2+ weekends per month, running strong each and every time. It is a car that gets driven close to its limit, and is often featured on Sean’s YouTube Channel, Milburn Motorsports. You can also catch Sean and his racing adventures on Instagram.
Rob had a great time with Sean:
“We met Sean through tuning his car. He’s an awesome young man and even brought some of his friends (some we’ve also worked with) with him to the shop. It’s good to see passionate, enthusiastic young people in motorsports. Whenever Sean is here we talk about his Z car and how much he enjoys it and how we both enjoy driving. He’s got a really cool YouTube channel that we subscribe to and he’s an excellent racetrack driver.”
Thanks for your support Sean, Long Live The Z!
Z Car Garage offers the ARC (Advanced Racing Controls) license. This add-on service to the existing UPREV Flash allows you to have adjustable launch control, burnout mode, and flat-foot shifting. This is for cars with manual transmission, VDC/cruise control. Call Rob for more details and to schedule your Z/G tuning appointment.
Our client Jas D listed his 1991 Aztec Red 300ZX Twin Turbo for auction on Bring a Trailer. You can view the auction HERE. Below is our blog feature of the Z, enjoy and happy bidding on this stunning Z32.
To appreciate the 1991 Aztec Red 300ZX Twin Turbo pictured above we must tell you a story of love, heartbreak, persistance and ultimately satisfaction. Z Car Garage client Jas D has been with us since 2014 when we helped build his 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. This Super White, 44k original-mile example was treated with all the ZCG touches that make a Z32TT go from wonderful to extraordinary. We dubbed it the “Z Masterpiece” (see more here) as it embodied the total package: Power. Handling. Braking. Aesthetics:
Jas totally Enjoyed The Ride in this Z, adding 28k thrilling miles with ZCG maintaining it over the years:
“My brother and I have been ZCG customers for almost a decade. I met Rob when I called about getting a PPI on what became Z Masterpiece. At the time, a Super White manual came up on AutoTrader (I LOVE Super White-OMG). It was a low-mile, one-owner, meticulously-maintained time-capsule. Rob actually said WOW after the PPI, and we worked with ZCG over a couple years on a few iterations until we got Z Masterpiece. That car was perfect! My dream Z; I loved driving that car EVERYWHERE! It is probably my favorite car of all time!”
Unfortunately, in 2016 the Z was stolen.
“On October 29, 2016, Z Masterpiece was stolen. We cried, we laughed, we got angry, we sulked for a couple months, forgot about it, and then my dad found the car driving into SF on January 25, 2017. The car had clearly been driven like it was stolen. But, believe it or not, all the expensive components were still on there. We sent it to Rob right away, and he helped us turn Z Masterpiece into the Red Devil Z (which I purchased on April 20, 2017 with 66,XXX miles).”
Persistance paid off, and Jas found a really clean Aztec Red ’91 Z32TT with only 66k miles. All of the upgrades from the Super White, Z Masterpiece were transferred over:
“Rob pulled the motor from the Super White, re-did all the seals/gaskets, and then put the driveline back together into the red Z32TT. Coincidentally, both cars and engines had 66,XXX miles when this was done in summer 2017.”
Let’s take a look at the modifications that turn the already stellar Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo into a superb, balanced sports car.
Though bone-stock with an amazing 44k miles on the clock it needed some attention. We went through the hydraulics and performed full 60k-mile services.
Jas wanted to improve power and handling and we happily obliged with a comprehensive list of upgrades this year. Starting with the drivetrain, the original transmission was replaced with a brand new(!) unit from Nissan:
The clutch had seen better days so we replaced it with a JWT unit including their heavy duty aluminum flywheel:
A JWT ecu w/boost jets manages uprated NISMO 740cc injectors and the Selin dual MAF. Improved breathing comes from Ash-SPEC inlet piping and dual JWT pop chargers:
On the exhaust side, restrictive original downpipes were replaced with these beautiful Specialty Z 3″ downpipes. Note the divorced wastegate piping:
Following the new downpipes are more parts from SPZ including 3″ mid-pipes and a cat-back exhaust system to replace the OEM setup:
OEM vs SPZ:
More upgrades. We installed 4.08 Leader gears, Ash-SPEC Massive SMICs, 2.5 IC tubing, and SPZ Hi-5 upgraded clutch. The BDE low-profile Z32 motor mounts are a smart alternative to OEM that allows more clearance larger for intakes:
Rob recently dyno-tuned the red Z, making 353hp/353tq to the wheels on 91 octane:
With all of the speed parts installed next we tackled chassis improvements. Let’s begin with brakes followed by suspension:
The installation:
Yes, they are pretty but also very functional. Speaking of aesthetics (that are functional, too), the new calipers are nicely framed between the spokes of these sweet VOLK TE37SL wheels, finished in bronze and sized 18×9.5/10.5 in high-pad offset with center caps. We like your taste, Jas. The lightweight TE’s were wrapped in Yokohama tires:
The suspension was gone through completely with all new parts. KW V3s are our favorite coil-over setup, replacing the Stance coil-overs that the Super White Z had. Stillen sway bars are also shown:
Stock vs KW V3s installed front:
Rear:
Every little nook and cranny of the suspension was handled. New SPL tension rods, upper front control arms, new rear wheel bearings and HICAS removal/eliminator:
T/C rods, Stillen sway bar, we also replaced the rack bushings:
The interior is in great condition as well:
Jas and his brother love the Z. Thanks for letting us be a part of your journey!
“The Red Devil Z is vicious and so fun to drive. It is the quintessential 1990s Japanese sports car – red – gold wheels – TTs – exhaust. It goes fast. It stops fast. It turns fast. Z32TTs are the BEST! We love and respect Rob and the team at ZCG. Rob is a total big brother. He and the team have been with us through the passion and pain.”
The quest for the perfect Z is almost complete as Jas just found one of the cleanest Super White z32s on Earth. That means the red car is for sale! Jas is listing it on Bring a Trailer. We will update this post and social media when the auction goes live so you don’t miss out! For now, enjoy the extensive photo gallery below, and LONG LIVE THE Z!
Lots of pictures in the gallery, enjoy!
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“Performance With Passion”. These are words that describe our work at Z Car Garage and we are passionate about making your Z perform as good as it looks. Photographer Larry Chen commissioned ZCG to transform his beloved SR20DET-powered 1970 Datsun 240Z from an “ok driver” to a no-excuses, multi-dimensional sports car with power, handling, braking, comfort, reliability and performance to match its eye-catching beauty.
Join Rob and Larry as they share the story of Larry’s Z, affectionately called “Ole Orange Bang”, featuring our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, chassis preparation, dyno tuning and more. Enjoy the videos with behind the scenes footage and photo gallery below!
Car enthusiasts and motorsport fans recognize the name Larry Chen as the greatest automotive photographer. Larry has made a career out of his passion for capturing the right moments in racing. We are huge fans of his work since the days of covering Formula Drift, time at Speedhunters, and recent work with Hoonigan Autofocus. Our favorite Larry Chen moment is his photography of Ken Block’s 1400hp Hoonicorn at Pike’s Peak for the filming of Climbkhana.
Larry Chen is regularly exposed to some of the coolest builds across the globe, so you can imagine our joy hearing that Larry’s personal car is a Datsun 240Z. Larry’s Z is a Series 1 (VIN# 2868) that he purchased on his 21st birthday for $3000. He started autocrossing immediately with his buddies circa 2006, and it became an integral part of his life:
“It’s been such a big part of my adult life, and it will continue to be a part of it for the rest. The name actually came from a Mexican drink that we love in SoCal. My car is Orange and it backfired a lot when I got it especially when I was low on gas. So it was only appropriate to call it Orange Bang. On my wedding night instead of being ferried away in a fancy limousine, I drove my beautiful wife home in the Z, after some wedding burnouts.”
Following years of autocross and track use, in 2013 the tired L28 was replaced with an SR20DET straight out of a former Formula Drift car.
Like many enthusiasts, Larry continued to modify and upgrade the Z to fit his needs…adding A/C, coil-over suspension and creature comforts along the way. We spotted a freshly painted Ole Orange Bang at the 2019 Japanese Classic Car Show:
“In 2019 my friends at Bells and Vaughn in Pasadena, California did a full ground up restoration. It has all new paint and it was taken all the way down to the metal. Just this month I picked it up from Z Car Garage in San Jose California. ZCG pretty much went through the entire car and they fixed everything that was mechanically wrong with it.”
We first met Larry when he visited us at the 2018 Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, CA. We talked about Z cars, and how he really wanted to get our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes and ZCG treatment on his personal Z. In 2020 he trailered his Z up from LA to ZCG in February, literally a few weeks before the pandemic.
“I actually found out about ZCG on Instagram and met Rob for the first time in SoCal at JCCS. I inquired about getting brakes for my car since it couldn’t stop even with a Toyota 4×4 conversion and Nissan Maxima rear disk brakes. They were absolutely horrible. There is a reason why people ship their Z cars across the country to ZCG. The passion is there and you can see it on everything they touch.”
While visiting Z Car Garage Larry featured a few of our client cars and did a shop tour for his YouTube channel Hoonigan AutoFocus. You can click on the thumbnails below to watch the videos:
Fast forward a year later and Larry returned to pick up his beloved Z. He shot a few more vehicles like my my 1967 Datsun Roadster and Randy’s 1970 Salt Flat Racer but most importantly Larry finally filmed a 1hr-long Hoonigan Autofocus episode of his own Z, Ole Orange Bang. Larry was so happy with his Z he recorded a separate lock-down video for our friends at Haltech.
We couldn’t leave our readers hanging without our own ZCG-style feature complete with dyno videos and behind the scenes footage, so if you can’t wait any longer here it is below. Turn those speakers up and enjoy, read on for an in-depth look at our work.
Larry and Rob developed a plan for Ole Orange Bang. The Z had past work performed by many folks including Larry’s buddies. We simply wanted his Z to be a multi-dimensional sports car with power, brakes, handling and comfort. Cosmetics were already handled, it just needed some mechanical love with ZCG-products that you will find on many of our ZCG builds. Let’s begin with the chassis upgrades, then go into dyno tuning/engine bay work and final details like the interior and weatherstripping.
We handed Larry the keys to “Mrs. Butters”, our 1971 Series 1 240z shop demo car and he was sold on our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) and Z Car Garage CV Axles! Butters has a way of doing this to our clients 🙂 Read below for a brief description of these parts:
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 Larry’s existing Toyota 4×4 front calipers and rear Maxima setup and installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit front and rear:
He got a new, OEM brake master cylinder as well:
At the rear, the Maxima setup was replaced with our ZCG Big-Brakes. Factory handbrake functionality IS retained!
Larry was impressed with the braking performance:
“The ZCG brakes and axles really give the 240z an update with modern top of the line performance where the Z badly needs it. These cars are lightweight and easy to make fast, but everything else that goes along with it is very lacking. While the 240z is a great car to drive in stock form, there is nothing like having a lightweight turbo rear wheel drive sports car.”
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 140 CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
Larry has CV Axle set #328. Stock half shafts (L) and ZCG units bolted in to the Subaru STi LSD diff. The stock suspension parts had been long replaced with Techno Toy Tuning parts. Larry does not have to live with those loose CV axles anymore!
More pictures of the ZCG axles installed, we will discuss the KW coil-overs below:
Complementing the new Big-Brakes and suspension on Larry’s Z are a fresh set of Southern Ways Epsilon mesh wheels from Love20bee. It was an absolute pleasure working with owner, Matt K. to adjust the offset on the wheels just before Larry picked his Z up from ZCG.
We wanted Larry to be able to use the KW Suspension and ZCG Big-Brakes to their full potential and put all the power down effectively without clearance issues. The offset was a bit too aggressive causing fender rubbing and excessive camber reducing the contact patch of the sticky Yokohama tires.
The oil cooler was mounted in front of the intercooler and there was a small deflector plate placed across all heat exchangers. We re-designed the ductwork with help from TCDesignFab to seal the intercooler/AC condenser/radiator to direct air flow and eliminate heat soak. Serious SPAL fans were added to a new Mishimoto rad:
The oil cooler was relocated below the FMIC:
With air now directed through the heat exchangers the SR operates well under heat soak conditions, even with the A/C on and blowing cold. Even though the SR20 isn’t Rob’s first choice of engine swap it works really well, looks awesome and makes great power. Speaking of looks, we couldn’t resist adding our body-color matching valve cover (like Rob’s 510 and Rb-powered Z cars):
Hardware was removed and re-plated throughout, more pics in the gallery!
We are huge fans of Haltech engine management. We use their Elite line of ECUs exclusively on our EFI engine builds and Larry’s SR received an Elite 1000 unit, mounted on the passenger foot well. Rob dyno tuned the SR20DET using Haltech. Baseline was 245hp/223tq and with Rob’s tuning it made 295hp/277tq at the wheels:
Larry was absolutely blown away by the performance, response and night/day improvement in drivability. Beyond peak gains of 50hp/54tq at the wheels, much of the increased response can be seen in the huge area under the curve from proper wastegate operation. Haltech is so user friendly and the benefits are priceless. You can see the dyno runs and road testing with Larry and Rob in this this video.
After driving our client James Stephens’ turbocharged 1972 Datsun 240z for an episode of Hoonigan Autofocus, Larry knew right then he had to have a set of Recaro seats for Ole Orange Bang. We removed his old seats and installed a new set of Recaro Pole-Position seats. He loves them:
Any bodyshop can install weatherstripping but Larry really wanted ZCG do tackle it and we happily obliged. One of our favorite upgrades to the interior of an S30 is our ZCG sound deadening package. Usually found in our full-blown ZCG restorations, the result is a less tinny sound and almost Germanic-like “clunk” when you shut the doors. We also refurbished his window tracks to ensure smooth operation:
We are really proud of the HVAC system in this Z. Larry mentioned the A/C wouldn’t blow cold..we tested Larry’s A/C after our ducting upgrades and it blows cold even after full throttle applications and heat soak.
Please check the gallery below for more detail shots, there are too many to list in this blog post!
Larry picked his Z up from Z Car Garage in February of 2021. He immediately started enjoying Ole Orange Bang by driving to various events and gatherings in SoCal. We were so stoked to see him happy with his Z again.
“It finally performs as good as it looks! Rob and the team are so detail oriented. They know these cars inside and out and my car has never driven so well in its lifetime. I can’t wait to bring it back for some more goodies.”
We were reunited with Larry and his Z at this year’s Japanese Classic Car Show at the Anaheim Stadium. The Z was on display in the Leen Customs booth where fans could get his autograph:
Orange Bang with FuguZ and Medusa. We are beyond happy to have our Z Car Garage chassis parts on these high-profile Z cars.
As happy as we were to see Larry driving around SoCal what really made our day was seeing him drive Ole Orange Bang in anger at a local autocross event! He put our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles, suspension and dyno tuning to work:
“I decided to take a personal day and do a bit of driving for fun. I haven’t auto crossed in almost 15 years. I went to the CornerExit auto-x at California Speedway and it was an absolute blast. Orange Bang held up amazing, and everything @zcargarage did to it paid off. I ended up getting 2nd place in mod class!”
We will have video of Larry ripping through the autocross on our Instagram story. For now, don’t miss the video we made of the Z in action here:
Larry just dropped an amazing video about his Z including its history and canyon driving, enjoy!
More pictures in the gallery below:
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