Want to buy a Z32...advice please

Hey all, I'm new to the forum and I was hoping to get some advice on what I should do...

I want to get a 300ZX, preferably a 93-95 and I would like it to be twin turbo. Problem is, I'm having a hard time finding one in good condition with low miles. So I'm not sure if I should keep looking and eventually hope to find one, buy one with high mileage and get the engine rebuilt or swapped with one of those JDM ones, or, just buy a non-turbo (which are much more common) and eventually do a swap with a turbo engine. Suggestions on what should be done here would be appreciated.

Also, is mileage much of a concern with the Z32 engines? Is there a general concensus as to how much is too much?

Anything else you'd like to throw in would be great.:iceslolan Thanks.

as long as the oil was changed and the 60K service has been done, the VGs last FOREVER. What's your price cap man??? I mean, if I were you I wouldn't swap in a JDM engine, they're not any more powerfull. You could find a nice n/a with lower miles for like 9 or 10 g's and swap in a turbo motor and turbo tranny for like 3-5K. Can you try and be more specific???

First, where are you looking? Not to be an ass but there seems to be some promising stuff in the 33176. (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?advanced=&bkms=1143764073581&certified=&isp=y&search=y&lang=en&search_type=both&make=NISSAN&model=300ZXTURBO&start_year=1990&end_year=1996&min_price=0000&max_price=500000&distance=75&address=33176&x=57&y=11)

Second, what is your definition of low miles? Under 100,000? Under 50,000? Given that the last of the US 300ZXs just turned ten years old, anything under 100,000 was probably fairly lightly driven. That and the Z has proven to hold up quite well over the years. Provided it has had proper maintence, the car would really have to be over 150,000 miles before I would think you would find anything beyong normal wear and tear, unless it was crashed or something.

Third, unless you are fairly proficent with wrenching and the Z in general I would not suggest under taking a NA-->TT swap. Ask board member K3smostwanted, he did the swap on his. He also has a sticky at the top of the forum on the subject. Long story short, it's not as easy as it would seem.

Fourth, unless you have a hole in the side of your engine block, it will almost certainly be cheaper to rebuild an existing engine then to buy a JDM and have it rebuilt. And unfortunately if you are going to buy JDM then I would bank on having it rebuilt before you could use it. I lucked the **** out and got a JDM with only 20,000 miles on it but even then it had some corrosion since it had been sitting for so long.

In the end, I found it best to wait for a good TT to come my way.

Rocker, that NA better have less than 10,000 miles on it if I'm going to pay $9-10,000 for it.

as long as the oil was changed and the 60K service has been done, the VGs last FOREVER. What's your price cap man??? I mean, if I were you I wouldn't swap in a JDM engine, they're not any more powerfull. You could find a nice n/a with lower miles for like 9 or 10 g's and swap in a turbo motor and turbo tranny for like 3-5K. Can you try and be more specific???Well, I wasn't thinking of the JDM swap for more power...but rather because I'd rather have an engine with ~40k miles on it as opposed to ~150k miles on it. Also I'm not looking to spend any more than $14k max, and preferably $10-12k for the car.

First, where are you looking? Not to be an ass but there seems to be some promising stuff in the 33176. (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?advanced=&bkms=1143764073581&certified=&isp=y&search=y&lang=en&search_type=both&make=NISSAN&model=300ZXTURBO&start_year=1990&end_year=1996&min_price=0000&max_price=500000&distance=75&address=33176&x=57&y=11)Even after setting the search radius to unlimited, I'm having a hard time finding one that has 1)low mileage (in this case probably less than 100k), 2)t-tops (non-convert.), 3)twin-turbo, 4) manual tranny, and 5) is stock....I realize I'm probably being too picky, though.

Third, unless you are fairly proficent with wrenching and the Z in general I would not suggest under taking a NA-->TT swap.Not at all; I really don't have much experience with cars, nor do I know anybody who would be able to help me out in any way, so that's why I'm being picky and want everything to be perfect when I buy it.

Fourth, unless you have a hole in the side of your engine block, it will almost certainly be cheaper to rebuild an existing engine then to buy a JDM and have it rebuilt.That's good to know. I read somewhere else (can't remember where) that it would be cheaper just to buy a JDM engine, which is why I was considering it. If it's cheaper just to rebuild the existing one, I'd rather do that. Do you have a ballpark figure for getting the engine (and the turbos I suppose) rebuilt? Of course, if 150k is an acceptable mileage than I probably won't need to do it. I may have jumped the gun when I saw in a few autotrader ads that they had rebuilt engines; it led me to believe that I would probably have to do the same.

At any rate, when I eventually do get one, what would be the best way to gain some hp? Nothing major, I'm just looking for a gain of 50-75hp. I'm new to this so I don't know if I'd be better off with new headers, cat and exhaust or upping the boost or something else...

Long post, sorry...I appreciate the help though.:smooch:

well im sure you could probably get it rebuilt for a couple hundred dollars -- about 400 in parts i might be wrong never did the z32


if you want mild mods do the commons exhaust,intake, if you got a TT raise the boost to 15psi ... ok shoot brainfart i was going to name off a couple other things but its blank maybe its because i want a z32 alot - lol ..

if you want mild mods do the commons exhaust,intake, if you got a TT raise the boost to 15psi ... ok shoot brainfart i was going to name off a couple other things but its blank maybe its because i want a z32 alot - lol .. Heh it's ok I read the sticky and I have a much better understanding of what I should be aiming for as far as mods go. Stage III TT sounds about good to me. :)

Even after setting the search radius to unlimited, I'm having a hard time finding one that has 1)low mileage (in this case probably less than 100k), 2)t-tops (non-convert.), 3)twin-turbo, 4) manual tranny, and 5) is stock....I realize I'm probably being too picky, though.

Trying to find a dead stock TT after all these years is going to be hard. Most just have minor bolt ons. If you are wary of modded cars because you don't want something that has been driven hard then I would say the owners would be a better indication of that then the upgrades.

That's good to know. I read somewhere else (can't remember where) that it would be cheaper just to buy a JDM engine, which is why I was considering it. If it's cheaper just to rebuild the existing one, I'd rather do that. Do you have a ballpark figure for getting the engine (and the turbos I suppose) rebuilt? Of course, if 150k is an acceptable mileage than I probably won't need to do it. I may have jumped the gun when I saw in a few autotrader ads that they had rebuilt engines; it led me to believe that I would probably have to do the same.

Everything added up it cost me $1750 to get my engine rebuilt.
That included:

Shortblock teardown, inspection, and cleaning
Head teardown, inspection and cleaning
Cylinder hone
New expansion plugs, main and rod bearings, and piston rings
Recondition stock rods and install ARP bolts
Crank journal polish
Cylinder head surfacing
Shortblock assembly
Head assembly with upgraded cams and springs
Balancing everything that moved

It was a very thorough rebuild as far as basics go. Probably could have gotten away at around $1250 but I did some upgrading that cost me in labor charges. Turbos can be rebuilt fairly cheap but rebuilding is hit and miss as far as quality. Better to try and find a lower mileage set of stock turbos from someone upgrading.

You might find a JDM motor for cheaper but then you have no idea how hard it was driven before or how long it's been sitting in what kind of atmosphere. A 10,000 mile JDM engine might have been down at the drag strip every weekend getting whipped hard before sitting outside in a junkyard for ten years.

Trying to find a dead stock TT after all these years is going to be hard. Most just have minor bolt ons. If you are wary of modded cars because you don't want something that has been driven hard then I would say the owners would be a better indication of that then the upgrades.



Everything added up it cost me $1750 to get my engine rebuilt.
That included:

Shortblock teardown, inspection, and cleaning
Head teardown, inspection and cleaning
Cylinder hone
New expansion plugs, main and rod bearings, and piston rings
Recondition stock rods and install ARP bolts
Crank journal polish
Cylinder head surfacing
Shortblock assembly
Head assembly with upgraded cams and springs
Balancing everything that moved

It was a very thorough rebuild as far as basics go. Probably could have gotten away at around $1250 but I did some upgrading that cost me in labor charges. Turbos can be rebuilt fairly cheap but rebuilding is hit and miss as far as quality. Better to try and find a lower mileage set of stock turbos from someone upgrading.

You might find a JDM motor for cheaper but then you have no idea how hard it was driven before or how long it's been sitting in what kind of atmosphere. A 10,000 mile JDM engine might have been down at the drag strip every weekend getting whipped hard before sitting outside in a junkyard for ten years. $1750 doesn't seem too bad at all. I was expecting more like $3000. So in this case, if I were looking at a twin-turbo with ~180,000 miles, would it be a good idea to have the engine rebuilt? The worry is that I'd rather spend the money now to make sure everything will be working well than wait for something to happen and possibly having to spend a lot more money.

$1750 doesn't seem too bad at all. I was expecting more like $3000. So in this case, if I were looking at a twin-turbo with ~180,000 miles, would it be a good idea to have the engine rebuilt? The worry is that I'd rather spend the money now to make sure everything will be working well than wait for something to happen and possibly having to spend a lot more money.

Chances are that at 180,000 miles it's not going to be a mechanical engine failure (thrown rod, spun bearing, bent valve, etc) that will fail, it will be a sensor or a check valve somewhere. Honestly it will be about $3000 to get your engine rebuilt properly because you'll want to get a full gasket set, PCV valves, turbo oil and coolant lines, fuel hoses, timing belt kit, idler pulleys and etc. However you'd have to do that no matter how you replace your engine so that cost doesn't factor into the replacement motor vs rebuild existing decision.

Anyway, unless your engine seems to be in immediate danger of exploding and ruining the block or heads then I would wait to get your engine rebuilt. If you plan on driving the car hard quite frequently then it might be something to consider doing however not unless the car seems to be taking the spirited driving rather hard. It's really something that you'll have to figure by getting an overall feel for the condition of the vehicle and going by any problems that may exist presently.

Thanks for your advice. I'm so jealous of your car. A '95 Twin Turbo is exactly what I'm looking for.:evillol: Although, I've seen a few promising '91 Turbos with less than 100K miles, so I'll most likely settle with one of those, and hopefully I won't have to worry much about the engine.

Thanks for your advice. I'm so jealous of your car. A '95 Twin Turbo is exactly what I'm looking for.:evillol: Although, I've seen a few promising '91 Turbos with less than 100K miles, so I'll most likely settle with one of those, and hopefully I won't have to worry much about the engine.

with these cars, keep in mind, mileage has less to do with the reliability and such of the car rather than the how well the owner maintained it and took care of it.

for example, a 50 year old man could own a 93' TT with 150k miles and has all paperwork for everything maitenance related that has been done to the car and just had brand new Sport 500 turbos put on it with a set of downpipes and cat-back exhaust to go along with his pop-charger, 555cc Injectors, and new ECU upgrade.
there is another 95' TT with 80k miles that pops up, and the owner is selling it for his son that just enlisted in the military...the car has a pop-charger and cat-back exhaust and the after the dad handed it down to him when he turned 16 the teen has put 30k miles on it while doing burnouts, 150mph runs on the highway, and other crap but the owner has no idea and the kid wouldnt tell you if he was standing in front of you.

now, one has alot more mods and and alot more miles but has been meticulously maintained throughout its whole life, while the other one has been put through hell and has been lucky to get its oil changed every 10k miles let-alone every 3k.

this is just an example to let you know that this is the type of car the 300zx is. you treat it well and take care of it and when you feel something isnt right, you check it out and correct the problem instead of compounding problem after problem, the car will treat you well and last a LONG time. on the other hand, slipping up and missing an oil change could be fatal to your bank account.

with these cars, keep in mind, mileage has less to do with the reliability and such of the car rather than the how well the owner maintained it and took care of it.

for example, a 50 year old man could own a 93' TT with 150k miles and has all paperwork for everything maitenance related that has been done to the car and just had brand new Sport 500 turbos put on it with a set of downpipes and cat-back exhaust to go along with his pop-charger, 555cc Injectors, and new ECU upgrade.
there is another 95' TT with 80k miles that pops up, and the owner is selling it for his son that just enlisted in the military...the car has a pop-charger and cat-back exhaust and the after the dad handed it down to him when he turned 16 the teen has put 30k miles on it while doing burnouts, 150mph runs on the highway, and other crap but the owner has no idea and the kid wouldnt tell you if he was standing in front of you.

now, one has alot more mods and and alot more miles but has been meticulously maintained throughout its whole life, while the other one has been put through hell and has been lucky to get its oil changed every 10k miles let-alone every 3k.

this is just an example to let you know that this is the type of car the 300zx is. you treat it well and take care of it and when you feel something isnt right, you check it out and correct the problem instead of compounding problem after problem, the car will treat you well and last a LONG time. on the other hand, slipping up and missing an oil change could be fatal to your bank account. Good point. That's pretty much why I've been looking for a stock ZX to begin with, as I figured it is less likely to have been ragged on; though I admit, in my obsession for low mileage cars I've discounted a couple possible keepers automatically because of the high mileage. I wouldn't mind any mods done to the car, in fact I'd probably welcome a car that already has intake+exhaust and maybe ECU, as it would leave me the trouble and expense of doing it myself. But with any luck I will be able to find a slightly modded Z32 with low mileage owned by a 50 yr old non-racer :). At any rate it is at least reassuring to know that if the car has been taken care of, it will last. I wish I could say that about my first car :shakehead.

Good point. That's pretty much why I've been looking for a stock ZX to begin with, as I figured it is less likely to have been ragged on; though I admit, in my obsession for low mileage cars I've discounted a couple possible keepers automatically because of the high mileage. I wouldn't mind any mods done to the car, in fact I'd probably welcome a car that already has intake+exhaust and maybe ECU, as it would leave me the trouble and expense of doing it myself. But with any luck I will be able to find a slightly modded Z32 with low mileage owned by a 50 yr old non-racer :). At any rate it is at least reassuring to know that if the car has been taken care of, it will last. I wish I could say that about my first car :shakehead.

i totally understand...

but if you visit and read along on TwinTurbo.net, there are actually quite a few older gentlemen that mod these particular cars to dangerous levels of power. it is surprising the age of some of these people who have 600rwhp+.

just keep your eye open and do not get too excited and jump on one that might not be the right one. take the time to get it inspected by a reputable shop, preferably one that is experienced with the Z32.

one can be had with considerably low mileage and well taken care of. there is a 55+ year old man that owns a pearl white Twin Turbo in my town that is thinking about selling his. it is completely stock and i guarantee this thing has been babied since he purchased it off the showroom floor in 93'.

good luck!

If I remember right Randy Roth, who was in Sport Z magazine is in his 50s and his Z makes around 650HP and runs 10s in the 1/4mile. Go figure....... goes to show we dont actually "grow up" we just get more expensive toys.

There are numrious guides to buying a Z32. I would read them as you will want to know the year-by-year changes (for any car).
I think the mid-production cars are the best. My understanding is that the later cars had some engine management changes.

i totally understand...

but if you visit and read along on TwinTurbo.net, there are actually quite a few older gentlemen that mod these particular cars to dangerous levels of power. it is surprising the age of some of these people who have 600rwhp+.

just keep your eye open and do not get too excited and jump on one that might not be the right one. take the time to get it inspected by a reputable shop, preferably one that is experienced with the Z32.

one can be had with considerably low mileage and well taken care of. there is a 55+ year old man that owns a pearl white Twin Turbo in my town that is thinking about selling his. it is completely stock and i guarantee this thing has been babied since he purchased it off the showroom floor in 93'.

good luck! Thanks for the advice. Would you happen to know how much he is planning to ask for his Z32?

If I remember right Randy Roth, who was in Sport Z magazine is in his 50s and his Z makes around 650HP and runs 10s in the 1/4mile. Go figure....... goes to show we dont actually "grow up" we just get more expensive toys. Yeah I've come to realize that the age of the owner isn't really the best thing to look at when buying a Z32.:rofl:

There are numrious guides to buying a Z32. I would read them as you will want to know the year-by-year changes (for any car).
I think the mid-production cars are the best. My understanding is that the later cars had some engine management changes. I've seen one of them, and that was basically my reasoning for wanting a 94 or 95 year. I heard the 96's have a little less power, and the pre-94s don't have the small changes like repositioned seatbelts and electrically-controlled HICAS if I remember correctly. Yet those changes aren't important enough to me to rule out a 91-93 if the right one came around. Are there any serious changes from one model to another I should know about?

The fuel injectors were changed in 95, the older 90-94 style had a longer tip. The only reason that matters is the 555cc Nismo 90-94 injectors have had a very hit and miss track record as far as early and unexplained failure. Some people have run the same set for years, others have gone through three or four injectors. If you get a 90-94 car it's a pretty easy fix, just need a 95+ lower intake plenum, fuel injector caps and a very minor bit of port work on the 90-94 heads. For your stated Stage 3 goal it won't matter since you probably won't be upgrading the fuel injectors.

Speaking of which, there is some minor differences in the 90-94 heads and the 95+. The intake port is a bit different because of the fuel injector change. The 95+ heads are also known to flow better than the earlier ones, the reason for that is yet unknown from everything I've read. It might just be the change in the fuel injector port, it does widen the opening quite a bit. Unless you are going for big power it shouldn't matter that much.

The 96 cars were changed over to the OBD II ECU programing, which is a bit harder to tweak. So far only Jim Wolf has come out with a ECU reflash for that year and for the manual transmission only. If you were going to upgrade a 96 quite a bit then you might have to source a few parts off earlier cars but for bolt ons there is no differences.

96 Zs also lost their VTC (variable timing cam, allowed the cam to be advanced forward 20 degrees to provide optimal breathing through the entire RPM range.) which resulted in the loss of 20 hp. So I've read anyway, a lot of the model year changes are a bit fuzzy.

Automatic Zs employed a different intake cam with 240 duration instead of the manual transmissions 248, resulting in a loss of 20 hp. The automatics did have a slightly different turbine housing though so the turbos would spool faster than the 5 speeds would. That doesn't mean the 96 autos were down to 260 hp, I believe they just stuck the manual cams in them and kept the autos at 280.

Thats about all I can think of off the top of my head. Heres a good write up from twinturbo.net

http://twinturbo.net/ttnetfaq/FAQpages/differences.html

The fuel injectors were changed in 95, the older 90-94 style had a longer tip. The only reason that matters is the 555cc Nismo 90-94 injectors have had a very hit and miss track record as far as early and unexplained failure. Some people have run the same set for years, others have gone through three or four injectors. If you get a 90-94 car it's a pretty easy fix, just need a 95+ lower intake plenum, fuel injector caps and a very minor bit of port work on the 90-94 heads. For your stated Stage 3 goal it won't matter since you probably won't be upgrading the fuel injectors.


just to add, i think it would be easier and more cost effective to pick up a 95+ fuel rail and do the machining on the lower plenum. this should allow fitment of the later year fuel injectors and be quite a bit more cost effective and easier to machine the lower plenum rather than the heads themselves.

either way...for modifying purposes, i would stay away from the 90 and 96 models. obviously the wisest choice is probably the 95 model as it has the best of the best for aftermarket purposes. but i wouldnt count out the 91-94 models if you find one like your looking for. i personally would be looking for a 91-93 if i could do it all over again. this way, i get the ducktail type spoiler and have a decent chance at getting one with out all the airbag system and other junk, my preference though...

I would think it would be cheaper to find a used 95+ lower intake plenum then to buy a machined pre-94. Your average machine shop isn't going to know the difference between the two unless you show them a 95+ and if you had one why bother machining the pre-94?

The machining of the heads comes in when using a 95+ lower intake plenum on the pre-94 heads. The newer heads have a larger more square port to compensate for the shorter 95+ fuel injector. The pre-94s have a small rounded port that almost wraps around the long round tip of the 90-94 fuel injector.

Here is the intake port on a pre-94 head

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1033/picture0019hj.th.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0019hj.jpg)

Here is the intake port on a 95+

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8573/picture0078vu.th.jpg (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture0078vu.jpg)

As you can see it's much larger, at least twice as wide.

This picture is of my 95+ lower intake plenum on my pre-94 heads before any work is done. As you can see, the edges of the earlier heads stick out into open space under the lower intake plenums fuel injector port. That has to be fixed. That and you can see the pre-94 gasket sticking out, no seal happening there, have to use the 95+ gasket.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6951/picture028alt20uk6of.th.jpg (http://img78.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture028alt20uk6of.jpg)

I kind of found this out the hard way when I was putting my motor back together. But turn the motor upside down to let the chips fall, stuff a rag down the hole and bust out the dremel. Hour later I got matching ports.

And I'll keep my airbags thanks...maybe if it had a roll bar with five point...maybe later...but for now...airbags are my friends.

Not that they'll help at 180. But hey, such is life. :cool:

Sweet. Well I don't plan on changing or upgrading the fuel injectors so I'm not going to worry about any of that for now. I've started looking already and I plan to buy it by the end of summer, so hopefully I'll be able to find one of my liking. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

good luck with gas prices going up.