We love motorsport and it is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Z Car Garage offers full trackside support and race car-preparation so you can focus on driving. Our client Todd R is a great example of ZCG trackside support in action. He’s been racing his Datsun 510 privateer-style for the last few years and hired us for the first time at the Laps For Laguna event back in May.
Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group 9 (John Morton Cup). We were super proud of Todd: he was able to concentrate on his driving, achieving his highest placing (p6) and personal best lap (1:48.3) time. You can see our full report from this HERE, and let’s take closer look at Todd’s experience with Z Car Garage trackside services.
Race Prep for Todd
Todd had us prepare his B-Sedan 510 prior to the Laps for Laguna event with standard track-event services including dyno tuning and alignment. He also purchased a set of 13×7 Panasport Wheels from ZCG. We are proud to offer 13×7 Panasport racing wheels in perfect fitment for your B-Sedan/TransAm series Datsun 510 running vintage-class spec 205/60/13 Hoosier R7 (and other) tires:
The welded diff was replaced with OS Giken limited-slip (4.38) unit. Diff services are performed in-house at ZCG:
We changed the ignition, spark plugs and dyno tuned the L-Series engine for 110 race fuel.
Enjoy this video the dyno tuning sessions at Z Car Garage and in-car race footage from Todd, volume up!
510 Beginnings
Let’s take a look at how Todd got into 510s…
“My history with the 510 begins in my childhood. We had a 4 Door 510 as a family vehicle and went everywhere in it. I have many memories of tinkering on cars with my dad in the garage. My first car at 15 yo was a Datsun 1200 I bought with my twin brother for $200. Engine was dismantled and all parts in a box under the hood sitting on the engine block. We put it back together w/Dad at night after he got home from work using the Haynes manual. My first car I bought myself in 1988 out of the classifieds was a 1972 Datsun 510, Lowered, L18 and a webber carb, 5 speed painted white. Great car, went everywhere especially to the Santa Cruz Beach. I lived in Livermore at the time. Sadly it got smashed into in front of my parents house and that was the death of it.”
“I received my racing license in 2015 in a rented 510 from Larry Oka (The One and Only)( nicknamed the THRASHER) I subsequently bought that car to continue racing for 2015 and 2016 in SCCA ITC SFR region racing at Laguna, Sonoma and Thunderhill. I became the 2015 San Francisco Region Champion in ITC for SCCA that year. At the end on 2016 I was handed an opportunity to purchase a Vintage racing ready 1971 Datsun 510 again thanks to Larry Oka. I made the deal and started racing with CSRG in Vintage sedan racing. This was where my heart was. I had been attending Monterey historics for 30 years and finally was going to be a Vintage racer. I raced and learned with that car but it needed to be better prepped for vintage, its livery was a bit contemporary and the car was Street/ITC built.”
“I had the car painted to its current day Black over White #88. I wanted to make it my own. I modeled it after the F.A.R Performance Datsun 1200 Livery of the early 70s to pay homage to the bay area Datsun performance shop in the 70s and 80s. The ZCG of its day. They had a successful racing history with Roadsters, 1200s, 510s and Z cars. I then brought the car to Troy Ermish who performed all the proper B Sedan Upgrades at his shop over the course of a few months. As more 510s started showing up in Vintage racing…Like Troy, I was left in the back. I knuckled down and raced as hard as I could. I reminded my self of a saying by the great Paul Newman..”Its more fun to make a slow car go fast than a fast car go slow”. The prize at the end of the day in Vintage racing is returning home ALL in one piece. I sourced a Rebello L1800 and installed it, and was able to race two races in 2021 after install at Sonoma and Thunderhill.”
“As for Rob…We met at racing school in 2016 when he attended and I was working for Larry Oka racing for the weekend. He had that contagious energy of course and that’s where I learned of Z Car garage. As a Datsun owner racer I knew I I would need his services in the future, and of course we ended up racing together on a regular basis with CSRG. We would always be staged together in the Paddocks since all the 510s typically parked together.”
“I have always been a Do it yourself’er and was able to take care of all my needs up to this point, but at that Sonoma race in 2021 I had issues. I sorted out some problems but had a persistent misfire. Thankfully Magic Hands Joshua Corwin of ZCG was providing Track Support to Rob and others that day and my problems caught his interest because he’s a fixer. Rob had allowed him to step away for a moment and he was able to determine my ignition plate in the distributor was loose and causing a misfire. They also supplied me with a Coil and plugs as part of the fix. Without Z Car my weekend would have been over if not for them. THIS WAS MY AH HA moment. With Rob’s thorough knowledge Datsuns and racing and the skills of his guys, Thats a win.”
Success at Laguna Seca with ZCG Race Support
Todd’s experience with us at the Laps for Laguna race event was so good we had to share it with our readers and anyone looking to join the fun…
“My first race this year was in May at Laguna Seca. I hadn’t had my car out of storage all winter and because of a crazy busy work schedule I couldn’t do my own prep and services prior to racing. I got my car into Z Car Garage and they more than dialed it in in just a few days. Nut and Bolt check, Dyno tune, alignment, scales. My car had never been better. I also enjoyed track side support that day at Laguna. I had to worry about NOTHING when parked under that ZCG EZ up. It was a difficult adjustment and I didn’t know what to do with myself. Rob told me to worry only about me, the car is covered. That security knowing Z Car was on the job simply made me faster, finally everything was dialed.”
“First session I finished 14th, second timed session I finished 10th and For the First Time ever, Sunday afternoon race I finished 6th overall in group 9 B Sedan group. This was possible because ZCG had me covered, the car ran and preformed better than it ever had. I was more relaxed going onto each race, AND iIdiscussed every session with Rob to preform better for the next race to come. Simply the best. I would recommend Z Car Garage Track Support to everyone.”
Thanks for trusting us with your race preparation Todd. We are very proud of you and happy to have you part of our group!
Join The Vintage Racing Fun
Interested in joining the vintage racing fun? Z Car Garage can help you prepare and support your race car at the track. We can also help you find a vintage race car! Contact Rob at the shop at 408-452-0350 or e-mail rob@Zcargarage.com for more details. Catch all of our race reports on zcarblog HERE and stay tuned for our final 2022 race report from the CSRG race events in November!
