J30 Performance Upgrades?

[NoMotive]

I've just acquired a J30 from my dad and was curious about modifications. Browsed for parts only to find that there are practically none (not suprised for a discontinued car) I am impressed however, with the power this car puts out still... Will 300zx aftermarket parts install well? I was thinking maybe an Intake just to start with. Brakes and new wheels might be next. The brakes squeal like a motherf*cker, plus the Bose Stereo went out Any advice would be great... Thanks

[jpalm]

I do not endorse all of these mods, but I will list some of them for you. It is expensive to mod a J30 and there are limited things that you can do. To ME, I don't feel its worth the cash for the amount of performance you get. Its up to you really, I don't want to sway you one way or the other cause I know there are some really nice moded J30's out there. Here is goes (what I can remember):

1. ECU upgrade (Jim Wolf Technology (JWT) or JET), about $500-600
2. K&N or Stillen Intake
3. Koni adjustable shocks/struts
4. Sway Bars (one guy had them custom made by Quickor in Oregon)
5. Custom Exhaust (one guy them custom made, they were Borla's)
6. Bigger tires, 16" or 17" performance tires
7. Change the gearing in the rear-end to higher gearing

These are the mods I heard of people doing or they already have. Go to the NICO site and look through some postings and well as the J30 club on Yahoo!

Best of luck!
Jeff

94 J30t, 140K miles

[NoMotive]

Yeah... looks like there arent too many things i can do for the J30 Oh well... i'll prolly just stick with the intake, I figures why not pump an extra few ponies since im going to be driving it a lot more. Thanks for reply.

[jpalm]

The best thing you can do for your can is keep it in near new condition, meaning doing all the preventive maintenance when it needs done (oil, tranny flush, coolant, air filter, shocks, tires, etc). If you keep your J in great condition and tip top shape it will beat and outhandle probably 90% of the cars on the road!

Best of luck!
Jeff

[i30&300zx]

TT it man! theres got to be a way

[jpalm]

TT, sure, give me about 10 grand and I'll do it!

[NoMotive]

Ha, if i were to fork out $$$ for TT, i'd get a new car instead! I wouldn't trust my motor with forced induction, the car has 145k! BTW, my J30 makes a lot of ticking and clanking sounds from the engine bay whenever she's cooling down after I turn the ignition off. Is that normal?!?!?

[jpalm]

Yes this is normal. If it will make you feel better you can park it with the hood up after extended trips or spirited driving to allow the engine to cool better.

Keep the fluids full and clean and it will be fine. These engines are really bulletproof as long as you keep them up. Transmissions is more what I'm worried about (I have 142.5K). I recommend a FULL tranny flush (meaning not just an exchange of fluids but a pan drop and filter change as well) with Mobil 1 Synthetic and then have a tranny cooler hooked up (about $125 installed). This should help extend the life of the transmission and buy time. I know I'm on borrowed time but I'm adding a tranny cooler in March and have already done the full flush so I should get a good bit more miles until I put this tranny to bed!

Best of luck!
Jeff:sun:

[NoMotive]

My brakes are fading, the pads need to be replaced. What are some good brands of brake pads that can handle aggressive driving? I can't anymore squealing when i brake at stoplights!

[i30&300zx]

I mean.. you can get some standard "midas type" brakes like Monroe. Those work just fine. If you are looking for a bit more performance... check out EBC Brakes for some award winning aftermarket brakes. If the J30 has brakes like the 300ZX, they are crappy to begin with. (btw only bad part of the car)

[jpalm]

Do not use aftermarket pads, use only OEM Nissan pads! Unless you are going to spend some Jack and get Brembro or something to that effect, stick to OEM! The J30 has okay brakes for the front. Unfortunately since the car is so damn heavy it tends to warp rotors fairly quickly under hard breaking or alot of stop and go traffic. As far the the rear brakes I've been told that they are much better, better than the Q45 of the same years.

I believe a few people have had success with Porterfield's brake pads on the J. They make both pads and rotors I think. More expensive and I seriously doubt that they are THAT much better than OEM.

Jeff

[kuyadabs]

Which koni struts fit on the J30. I've found some yellows that I've been told will fit in the front, but which will fit in the rear? Any Part Numbers?

[Juhani]

i'm running a 1993 infiniti j30t... it's on it's second engine, and when this engine was put into it, the engine had 26k miles on it. the tranny and the rest of the car has 154k. this may sound bad but the car sounds real good, and it still runs real fast. so far, i have modified the intake, and i have cut off one of the mufflers, so now i have dual cut-off exhaust. this car is pretty damn fast on the freeway, i've taken integra's, an 80's posche 914 (not too fast), chevy trucks, a good range of things. the only place this car sucks for speed is off the line... the cars handling is still damn good for having 154k miles. and it's still plenty fast. i'm looking into putting 2 t-3 turbos on my car, and the odds of me finding 300zx TT headers is looking bleak, so, something radical is gonna have to be done... if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

[i30&300zx]

you cant do both the 300zx headers AND turbos. The 300zx headers are only for the non turbo model (the stillen headers). Now if you mean the exhaust manifolds connecting to the 2 turbos.. than I can tell you where to get those too. The company is Pentroof. Its japanese.. search on google.

There are a few people doing a VG30DETT conversion to the j30 on twinturbo.net. Go there and ask around.

[Juhani]

i found some TT manifolds on ebaymotors... and now, i'm placing bids on turbos 1 and 2. after that i need to get injectors... it's a slow buying process, i should be done getting the parts in a month or 2. i dont really know wheather to use one intercooler or 2.