Well i found a white 1990 300zx in the paper for about 2800, called the guy. Turns out he lives out in the woods. So i go out to look thinking its the 80's style 300, but it was the z32 style. I fired it up, and it idled great, very quiet, but when i rev the motor to about 2 or 3k theres a muffled knocking sound. It almost sounds like a rattle. I can only hear it when its in that range and when i let off the gas. It mainly does it as the rpm's drop, otherwise the car runs, and drives great. It responds very good, and clutch is very smooth. Anyone know what this could be? Im thinking it might be the roller rockers, but im not sure, since i dont know too much about z's. and this will be my first car, so i dont want to buy something thats going to cost me a lot to maintain. Although with the reviews i have read they all have been reall good.

heres some pics of it too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Professir/DSC00219.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Professir/DSC00220.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Professir/DSC00221.jpg
sorry about the angled shots, it was hard for me to get it all in, since it was mainly surrounded by 11 other cars.

Thanks for any help in advance :)

dude that is one hell of a nice Z... i am jealous because i paid 3k for mine and its not nearly as hot as that one... it has the spoiler like the TT's but doesnt have the TT sticker on rear light area

dude that is one hell of a nice Z... i am jealous because i paid 3k for mine and its not nearly as hot as that one... it has the spoiler like the TT's but doesnt have the TT sticker on rear light area

yea i was suprised when i saw it myself. And considering there has been about 50 calls on it, i have been the only person out of all of those to actually come and look at it, i think i have a good chance of getting it. He lives about an hour from vegas, which is deterring (sp?) people from coming to look at it. He actually live on the mountain side. so i got a chance to test drive it up and down the mountain :biggrin:

looks like its in good shape...has the TT spoiler but it doesnt seem to be a TT...the spoiler is a replica 90-93 TT. either way, it looks nice and was very well done.

anyways, are you sure the knocking was coming from the engine...sounds like a exhaust bolt rattling to me. it only does it when you release the pedal and the RPM's are dropping???

nice find and good luck. drive it to a shop on your test drive and just have them take 30 minutes and see what they say about the knocking and have them look it over really quick. a half an hour labor will probably cost you $25-$30 but it will be well worth it 9 times out of 10...

looks like its in good shape...has the TT spoiler but it doesnt seem to be a TT...the spoiler is a replica 90-93 TT. either way, it looks nice and was very well done.

anyways, are you sure the knocking was coming from the engine...sounds like a exhaust bolt rattling to me. it only does it when you release the pedal and the RPM's are dropping???

nice find and good luck. drive it to a shop on your test drive and just have them take 30 minutes and see what they say about the knocking and have them look it over really quick. a half an hour labor will probably cost you $25-$30 but it will be well worth it 9 times out of 10...

correct, it only did it when the rpm's dropped.

correct, it only did it when the rpm's dropped.

it sounds like an exhaust bolt has come loose...mine did the same thing. it would rattle real bad at when you let off the gas. it was one of the bolts that holds the midpipe to the headers. tightened it up and put one of those locking washers on...i havent had problem since.

did you check the oil???

it sounds like an exhaust bolt has come loose...mine did the same thing. it would rattle real bad at when you let off the gas. it was one of the bolts that holds the midpipe to the headers. tightened it up and put one of those locking washers on...i havent had problem since.

did you check the oil???

Actually i didnt come to think of it. (very stupid of me) I may have to call the guy today and notify him of what you said and have him look into it.

Actually i didnt come to think of it. (very stupid of me) I may have to call the guy today and notify him of what you said and have him look into it.


Good luck man, Sweet ass ride for a good price

Heck, for that price I would pick it up and turn it into my project car. But I have a bit more financial leway than you. If I were you and were serriously considering getting it I would ask the guy can I take it down to a local mechanic to have them take a look see over it, and give me a list of serrious problems that may hamper the way the car runs or cause it to fail in a short time, give them a hour of diagnostic time about 80-90 bucks and listen for the answer from the mechanic. If it turns out to be nothing serriously wrong with the car, BUY IT, if it turns out to be something REALLY wrong then walk away, or talk him down more.

well i brought the car home today, it runs great. Although the people who put the gay rims on it (not the guy who sold me it) didnt know what the hell they were doing and ended up putting two spacers so the rim wouldnt hit the caliper. :disappoin by next sunday i should have new rims on and new tires. I also need to buy a new front airdam (junkyard should have one). Other than the rims im very pleased with the car.

sounds good man, what's wrong with the current front fascia? i was going to say, those rims look like they might be some cheap one's that have a weird offset... going for some new stock ones or aftermarket? good purchase, hope everything works out for ya

sounds goos car looks great...

could also be the exhaust manifold gasket ive encountered a problem exactly as you described before and tahst waht it was ..

Im looking for whatever rims i can find really, i just want to get rid of the se peices of crap. I really dont want to do this but its my only option at the moment...I have four lexus gs430 rims sitting in my backyard. They mount up perfectly and they need no spacers. The only problem is i need some toyota mag lugs, and i need to hone out the center bore on the rim just a tad. Ill make sure that the lexus cetercaps are long gone also. Or maybe i might luck out and get some free stock z rims, since my brother works at a discount tire and gets free rims all the time (only used ones) I also noticed that something with my front left tire is a little off, it sits lower than the rest of the car, like its not alligned. All this i can have fixed for very cheap...or free, so i really lucked out so far. Well i just made another discovery...the car has some 3 or 4 hundred dollar angel eye headlamps, they are bright as F***. Another plus i had just found out, is that the springs are not cut (thank god) It has some cheap lowering spring kit. Ill most likey throw some stock springs and shocks back on if i can get my hands on em.

Im looking for whatever rims i can find really, i just want to get rid of the se peices of crap. I really dont want to do this but its my only option at the moment...I have four lexus gs430 rims sitting in my backyard. They mount up perfectly and they need no spacers. The only problem is i need some toyota mag lugs, and i need to hone out the center bore on the rim just a tad. Ill make sure that the lexus cetercaps are long gone also. Or maybe i might luck out and get some free stock z rims, since my brother works at a discount tire and gets free rims all the time (only used ones) I also noticed that something with my front left tire is a little off, it sits lower than the rest of the car, like its not alligned. All this i can have fixed for very cheap...or free, so i really lucked out so far. Well i just made another discovery...the car has some 3 or 4 hundred dollar angel eye headlamps, they are bright as F***. Another plus i had just found out, is that the springs are not cut (thank god) It has some cheap lowering spring kit. Ill most likey throw some stock springs and shocks back on if i can get my hands on em.

take a picture of the angel eyes...i have never seen them on a Z car. crazy...

i think im gonna put an aftermarket HID kit on mine but we will see.

as for the lowering springs...make sure its the cheap stuff and not the eibach's...you want eibach's on your car. i have read that they are a tremendous difference on the Z but i myself have only experienced them on other cars but on those cars they improve handling and turn in greatly. the eibach's also are supposed to make a big difference when it comes to not letting your front end fly up when you hit the gas and not letting your front end dive when you hit the brakes.

overall, sounds like you got a good deal. and someone mentioned the exhaust gasket...that is a good possibility. but usually that soudns liked more of a light ticking when you blwo one of those.

good luck and keep us informed...take some new pics of everything all cleaned up and what not.

yah but a partial bad exhaust manifold gasket could make a " muffled knock sound" theres a couple possibilities the only way to find out is find where exactly the sound is coming from

:( well they arent angel eyes...my friend came inside my house yesterday and was like OMG DUDE YOU GOT ANGEL EYES ON IT...i didnt actually go outside and look untill today because it was dark. so nope, they are just stock lights. Woulda been cool if they were though. I havent quite got a chance to get under the car yet and look around, but nissan is doing a free inspection of the car for me, they said they were doing a 100-point inspection or something...then im taking it across the street to get the oil changed. I washed it today...and whoever painted it white sucks at painting. There was like a film of paint that came off while drying the car. So i might save up enough for a new paintjob. I do know someone who is sponsored by veilside so if im lucky (IF im lucky) i might be able to get a slight discount on a full kit (its better than no discount though :) ) if i get a chance to get any extra body stuff, then im going to paint it a gunmetal grey. Im actualy making a checklist of what needs to be done to make it run like it was brand new for the moment. (at least till i graduate, after that ill start putting performance stuff on)

EDIT* well the first owners must have loved apc, i found at least 10 packages from apc. The wireing for the stereo is all jerry-rigged up. I should have all that sorted out by friday at the latest. and i discovered that the original color was the redish-maroon color (i dont know the name)