I spent most of yesterday helping an enthusiastic young lady debug a 240Z in preparation for Hemmings "The Great Race 2026".

Jo is a recent graduate of McPherson College's Auto Restoration program and a long-time fan of Z cars. She is pushing hard to get her Z ready for the Great Race, and she spends most of her waking hours after work turning wrenches on her car before time runs out.

Here is the route for the event.

While she's been getting a lot of help in the Atlanta area, I was hoping members here would be willing to provide support to Jo and her driver through the route. I'm trying to get her to join up here, but she's pretty busy right now trying to get a lot of details fixed before the trip starts.

Fortunately it looks like we were able to address all of her known electrical issues.

She had done a lot of work on the car including:

1. Engine swap to a 2.8

2. Transmission swap

3. New LCAs

4. Lots of new bushings

5. Getting horns, headlights, turn signals, temperature sender, and fuel sender working (That was the bulk of yesterday's work.)

6. Replacing fenders and other sheet metal that was subjected to battle damage over the years

7. Getting a new interior ready

And all of this in a car that was given an impact nose job.

Who's in to support this Z enthusiast's adventure of a lifetime?

Hi all! My name is Jo and I’m a 21 year old recent McPherson College Grad with a degree in automotive restoration!

This car has been a crazy 5 month crunch, having been engineless and undriven since the 80s. Like Steve said, I’ve been hard at work! The full list of completed items includes an ignition system overhaul, brake overhaul, 5 speed and L28 swap, 3-point belts, new RLCA, new tie rods, SU rebuild, all new suspension bushings, bodywork, and much more I am forgetting. The Georgia Z Club has been essential to the project and kind folks like SteveJ are a reason it’s happening!

The car departs on June 16th from Atlanta GA where this wild adventure will take me to IL and all through Route 66 competing to win in the manufacturer’s class of The Great Race! My driver, the rad Riley from Riley’s Rebuilds will take the wheel for the race while I navigate, calculate, diagnose, and repair.

The support of the Z community means the world and we’d love to even just say hi at the stops along the way! I’ve included a few photos from this crazy build.

You can follow along on instagram @a_car_gal or stay tuned as Riley’s Rebuilds posts YouTube videos of each day. Can’t wait to see you all!

Would love to see updates.

How can we help?

By the way, here's a story Hagerty did on @Jo B.- A_Car_Gal's partner-in-crime, Riley, https://www.hagerty.com/media/people/girl-power-send-your-carburetor-to-rileys-rebuilds-the-teenage-tuners/