This is Greg S’ 1970 Datsun 240Z in Monte Carlo Red. We have known Greg for a long time, actually preceding the opening of Z Car Garage. It’s always been a pleasure to see Greg with his beloved Z plus he’s a Nissan enthusiast with a few Patrols and mint RL411 wagon. His Series 1 S30 received our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes, Z Car Garage CV Axles and Panasport wheels.
Our relationship with Greg goes back well before social media and our photo documentation. Greg performs his own work on the Z, and we finish the small extra things that let him Enjoy The Ride. Let’s take a look at how Greg became a Z car enthusiast.
History
“My old man purchased the car for me in 1992. I was 19 and we had been looking for a decent 240z for about a year. We found this one in one of those auto traders printed on recycled paper. It was basically ‘Original owner, runs great, 83K miles $3,500 OBO’. It was bone stock, totally straight, unrestored and completely unmolested. The original sales receipt for $3,300 was in with his service records. Seemed like the car had spent its whole life in northern California.”
“The photos with the basket style 14” rims were after a trip to the junkyard for said rims, new tires and some elbow grease polishing and waxing it. It cleaned up pretty nicely. I went to college in Santa Clara and first ran into Rob when he was a mechanic working at the shop I would take the car…I did most of the general maintenance work but had that shop put in a set of Suspension Techniques sway bars, springs and Tokico struts. At the time I didn’t know enough to appreciate what a good shop that was.”
The car was repainted in 2000 by Lakeville Auto Body in Petaluma, matching the original #905 Monte Carlo Red. At about 150,000 miles Greg decided to replace the motor, even though it would have happily ran for a bit longer:
“Nissan was selling remanufactured L28 280ZX long blocks for $1,400 which seemed like a smokin’ deal. It was about the same price as you could buy the parts to rebuild the L24. I had moved back to Sonoma county and my dad and I did the motor swap in his garage.
I took the opportunity to add the Redline triple Weber 40 DCOE kit, a sportier cam and a set of headers. I worked with a speed shop to sort out the jetting. It ran decent, but was pretty rich down low, would stumble at times and got poor gas mileage. I drove it like that for several years, replacing the intake manifold, fabricating the heat shield and air filter assembly.”
The Z Car Garage Touch
About 12 years ago Greg was looking to resolve the jetting on the Z and seriously considered ditching the Weber carbs altogether. He spent some time trying to find that original shop in Santa Clara but found Z Car Garage instead. It didn’t take long to figure out that he had already worked with Rob and that alleviated any reservations about dropping his Z off at a shop a few hours from home:
“As expected, Z Car Garage did an excellent job re-jetting carbs. The car idles perfectly, pulls cleanly, makes more power and gets a respectable 18-20 mpg. Now anytime I need help sorting out a problem with the Z, advice on an upgrade, part availability or just need someone to sing some ballad rock to me, I call Rob.”
Greg is really happy:
“Since then Rob has set me up with:
- The correct 16″ Panasports that saved me the hassle of getting wheel sets that rub or rims that just look OK.
- ZCG CV Axles axles that were a joy to install, run smoothly and don’t make the racket that the other (hateful) CV kit did.
- Recaro seat that is actually suitable for driving long distances and keeps you from sliding into the footwell.”
ZCG Big-Brakes and CV Axles
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:
Greg brought his Z down on May 20 and with a one-day turn around we installed our ZCG Big-Brake kit with parking brake assembly. We also replaced his brake M/C with a new OEM Nissan unit, bleeding the system and setting it all up. He’s super impressed and he also had fun visiting us:
“While I was down at ZCG, Rob took the time to show me around. The shop is clean and even the parts storage container is expertly organized. The quality of the cars and race cars in the shop were a joy to see.”
Front brake installation:
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 140+ CV axle kits on customer cars and we are stoked with all of the positive feedback.
Greg was experiencing significant vibrations in the back of his car. In February 2020 we sold him a set of ZCG CV Axles and installed it himself…he loves them. Standard half-shafts shown on left:
Greg is having a blast in the Z and sent us this video he made from a recent drive in Petaluma, enjoy!
Panasport Wheels
In 2014 we sold Greg a set of Panasport wheels which were finished in a slick, gumetal shade. Our ZCG Big-Brakes also look great behind Panasport wheels in our offset allowing 225/50/16 tires (Bridgestone S-007a). The Z was fully aligned afterwards.
Interior
The stock seat was replaced with a single Recaro Specialist, we love these seats for the S30. Time for another seat, right Greg?
Bluebird Wagon
“I have only called Rob to cry about the 411”
In addition to the Z, Greg has had a few Nissan Patrols and still have this 1967 WRL411. A true labor of love, this little wagon showcases Greg’s work/fabrication and aesthetic. It was also stock, complete and unmolested when he acquired it 15 years ago. The 411s are close to our heart as they share some parts with their Datsun Roadster siblings. We have also helped out client Kevin M with his SSS Bluebird.
Greg freshened up the interior, replaced the headliner, carpets, front seat covers and made the gauge cluster insert. Originally it had a 3 speed automatic that was replaced with a Roadster 4-speed. The front brakes and hubs were replaced with larger units also from a Roadster. This required fabrication of new steering arms.
Under the hood is what make this 411 wagon a true sleeper: with a little machine work you can use the crank out of a U20 and turn the R16 into a 2.0 liter:
“The motor barely fits into the 411 and it’s especially tight near the radiator requiring a special shorter water pump. The exhaust exits through the fender well and all the stock units have long since rusted out so I was forced to weld up a new header for it. The SU’s were replaced with flat slide Mikunis and I made a new 3-D printed airbox and throttle assembly. I am still working out the final tune with some updates to the exhaust system likely required. I want it to run as perfectly as the Z. Maybe I need to put a set of 40mm DCOEs on it and have Rob re-jet it.”
Greg made the CAD for the exhaust header and welded it up himself. CAD was also used to make a new gauge cluster to accept a tach and modern signals. It’s the icing on the cake on a sweet build:
“The gauges out of the early roadsters are beautiful so I was originally intrigued with them. They are expensive if you can find them and the diameter is too large to fit nicely in the stock cluster housing. I ran across a few images of this SSS cluster in a car but it appeared to also have a larger cluster housing. Both seemed impossible to source. The new electronic tachs and speedos are way easier to get working than fussing with MSD tach adapters or speedo gears etc. If you look at the CAD image you can see that I gutted the original speedo housing and added the toothed wheel and sensor to it. It’s driven from the stock cable running to the transmission.
We admire Greg’s ingenuity and determination to keep his cars on the road. Thank you for your support Greg, and keep Enjoying the Ride in your Z! More picture in the gallery below…
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