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Happy Friday! We are Dyno tuning vintage race Datsun 510s and a Bluebird Coupe at the shop. Turn those speakers up and Enjoy the L-Series music!
Getting prepared for the David Love event 4/17-19 at Sonoma, join us:
CSRG David Love Races April 17-19
On April 17-19, Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the David Love Vintage races at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage will be racing and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in the B-Sedan Group. Spectators are FREE, and ZONC will be hosting a Datsun Car Corral on Saturday April 18th. Come out and enjoy a weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track.
It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno.
Video of two Datsun 510 B-Sedans (Rob and Tom), Enjoy the sweet L-series music!
Here is a preview of the Z Car Garage clients running at the David Love Vintage races:
Noah will be driving his #6 Bluebird Coupe and Danny will be in the #68 510:
ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car
Photo by Jim Rose
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. Tom Dockery will be racing in “Little Butters”:
“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.
We will also be supporting Randy Pobst’s first National Championship-winning Miata (1992), currently owned by Ross Lindell. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com.
Our friends from The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) will host a car corral on Saturday to support the David Love Vintage Races at Sonoma Raceway! Join your fellow fellow Nissan/Datsun owners! Turnout has been great and this CSRG event is free and family friendly, giving everyone the opportunity visit the pits and drivers up close.
Z Car Garage is amped for vintage racing this year. View our race schedule listed below, and follow the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for more information. Check out last year’s David Love race report.
It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our trackside services include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. From arrive-and-drive service to on-track support and coaching…we love to help. Check out the Z Car Garage experience with our client Todd and his B-Sedan Datsun 510
One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno. Here is a video of the race cars we prepared this week with dyno passes and a walk around the shop. Enjoy!
This is Bruce’s 1971 Datsun 240Z featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles and Panasport Wheels. Before we go into the parts let’s hear how Bruce got his Series 1 S30…
BRUCE: My love affair with the Z began in 1983. I owned #2112 and quickly realized how special Series 1 cars were. I drove that car as much as possible. It was sporty, sexy and huge bang for the buck. Sadly, I had an accident with it and it was a total loss. I loved the car so much, I vowed to get another but this time do it with no expense spared. Fast forward to 2017, I found the current Series 1 car in the garage of an abandoned building in Silverlake Ca. $1,500 later, she was mine…
…I convinced Don Byars at Full Throttle Panteras, who restored and modified my award winning DeTomaso Pantera, to restore this Z. His extreme quality demands, attention to detail and passion for special cars was just what the car needed.
BRUCE: Although he worked solely on Panteras, he enjoyed the build and the attention the car received being in his shop. It was my job to source parts and get answers to difficult questions and that’s how I came across Z Car Garage. Rob was very generous with his assistance and was a great resource for the wheels, CV axles and the fuel injection system. The quality of parts and such detailed service Rob provided was invaluable. Sadly, Don fell ill in 2022 and passed away before the build was complete.
ROB: I met Bruce in 2019 when he called to purchase some Panasports from ZCG. We talked about the Z and some of the upgrades we have, philosophy behind the cars and how we strive for the right product to do the job. Bruce would keep in touch and later purchased a set of ZCG CV Axles and a KOYO race radiator plus our own hose that make. We can’t work on every Z car because of limited bandwidth, but it’s really cool to share a few things that we’ve developed to make a Z car better.
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. Here are Bruce’s CV Axles installed on his ’71 Z:
The ZCG CV Axles complement a full suspension rebuild with new parts from Techno Toy Tuning:
BRUCE: In 2023, I moved to southern Oregon and had found a great shop for my classic cars and the Pantera. Chris at Custom Performance and Rods in Central Point Oregon generously agreed to finish the project. Two years later, she was complete. Chris loved the service Rob provided and the beautiful machine work on the CV axles. They were easy to install and really held up well with the high horsepower being pushed through them.
Bruce purchased a set of 16×7 Panasport Wheels from Z Car Garage. We are an authorized Panasport dealer with have limited sets available for fitment on your S30 Z car with 225/50/16 tires. Bruce always loved Panasport wheels and getting a set was on his wish list since he was a teenager. Don Byars who built his ‘74 Pantera chose the slick Gun-Metal color:
Bruce’s interior choices were subtle with a simplified center console, stitched dash and custom covered seats.
The Z sports a Rebello 3.0L L-Series engine with Jenvey ITB fuel-injection. Rob provided support for the EFI and KOYO Race radiator. The engine is backed by a T5 5-speed transmission:
Enjoy this video of Bruce’s Z in action. Volume up!
BRUCE: I have since put about 800 miles on the car working out bugs and now she runs and performs beautifully. I can say for the most part, my collection is complete. My goal was to build a stock appearing Z that had subtle modifications and had the performance of a Daytona Ferrari. I believe I achieved that. Eliminating the stock marker lights and the stacked Ansa exhaust makes the car seem sexy and sleek. I’m still unsure about the T5 transmission that is in the car. The only plan for the future is to possibly swap the tranny out for something better.
“Thank you for the privilege to showcase my Z. Z Car Garage puts forth passion for the marque that is intoxicating and addicting. These are great cars and Rob makes sure everyone realizes it. He is an asset to the Z community.”
This is a Series 2 Datsun 240Z dash. It is brand new and in the original box. Personally owned by Rob Fuller of Z Car Garage for a long time. The dash is perfect. Here is your chance to own a NOS dash.
Price: $5,000 SOLD
Contact Rob at the shop to more details: rob@zcargarage.com or call 408-452-0350
Long Live The Z
R’s Day, one of the largest gatherings of Nissan Skylines on the West Coast was held on December 7, 2025 at Laguna Seca Raceway. Z Car Garage attended the event and supported our client Kurt in his R32 GT-R. Rob brought out the Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510 and several ZCG clients all had a great time. Enjoy our report with photos and videos!
We prepared Kurt’s R32 Skyline GT-R for the track day. Earlier in the year it received a fresh RB26 motor and turbo upgrade to complement the new KW coil-over suspension and Stoptech Big-Brakes….
Dyno tuning Kurt’s R32, volume up!
Kurt enjoyed driving his R32 at Laguna Seca with fellow GT-R owners. Photos by gtrx.app, and you can see more of Kurt’s R32 on his Instagram
We also dyno’d Rob’s B-Sedan vintage racing Datsun 510:
Here’s Rob’s report from R’s Day…
ROB: Cooper and I loaded the BAAD car to Laguna Seca, our home track during the vintage race season. It was really fun to bring out my Datsun 510 race car with all those cool street cars. We had Dirk stoop in his 1973 Datsun 240z, Amy in her RZ34, Joseph in the RZ34 # 49 car, and a few others including Miles’ R32. Our main focus was to support Kurt in his R32 GT-R which has been modified and tuned by ZCG, full report coming to zcarblog.com soon.
I’ve been to a few R’s day and this was the first time I’ve driven. Each event has seen a steady increase in attendance and it was the most R32, R33 or R34s I’ve ever seen. It was incredible to be in a paddock filled with lots of cool Nissans… There was Pat’s RB-powered Pat’s Kenmeri (featuring our ZCG CV Axles):
All kinds of really cool cars and kudos to the R’s Day team as they were just super organized: the meetings and downloads were quick and informative. I love their grid process. Everything was just wonderful and we will definitely be back next year. Kurt’s car rocked. There were some pretty fast cars including Charles Park from Powertrix with their time-attack R35 tuned by SpecialtyZ. Sean Morris and Brian J from Top Rank, people from all over the California GTR scene. Todd Lapin from Norcal Skylines cooked HotPot in the garages! It was just a very festive, community-oriented vibe and I had a blast.
Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240Z features Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (StopTech), Z Car Garage CV Axles, Silvia 6-speed transmission and a host of chassis and driveline upgrades. Rob dyno tuned the 3.0L Rebello L-series engine with triple-Mikuni ph44 carbs, making 265hp/231tq at the wheels. We prepared the Z for R’s Day and Dirk had a great time:
DIRK: Yeah dude, massive difference! Work done by ZCG just before the day:
1. New rear sway bar (ST suspensions), car did not have one before, last Sonoma track day, being able to rotate the car on entry was difficult, this change was made to help that
2. New RE-71RS tires, Rob found old tires were pretty much spent, Dirk ordered tires, car stayed at ZCG an extra day so that they could be installed before the track day
3. Suspension and brake inspection
4. Change diff and trans fluids
Car rotated much better with the new rear sway bar, now able to rotate just by lifting off throttle in turns, quicker, and more fun. Felt great, very predictable and forgiving at the limit.
Joseph’s 2023 Nissan Z proudly wearing the Joel Anderson-inspired #49 livery:
JOSEPH: It was a beautiful day at Laguna Seca (as if anything else is possible) with GT-Rs from every era, as far as the eye could see! There was also a very famous 510 in the mix…The #49 new Z ran great on its new 18×10.5 SSR wheels (275-35-18 Nitto NT01), but the day was cut short by cleanup of an oil spill from turn 6 to turn 10, and one of my brake pads deciding to delaminate in the heat on the way into turn 2. We’re putting race pads on next time! I made my goal of breaking 1:50, so I left with a smile on my face anyway.
Check out his R’s Day session at Laguna Seca (in-car video HERE)
Amy’s R34, Rob’s 510 and Kurt’s R32 GT-R….more photos in the gallery below!
