Z31 Project

[mattydies]

Hey everyone, I found this site a while ago after I picked up an 88 300ZX Turbo to fix up.. She's auto,, but it was a lack of options and not a choice

I plan to convert later on to a 5 speed. Did any of the new style 300's have a 6 speed manual that I might be luckey enough to get ahold of later on??

But its a project car,, and the price was right,, $1000 CANADIAN,,
(1000 Canadian pesso's,, hmm, I think thats like like $12 American, lol j.k.) but I have alot of time on my hands,, and a nice garage to work on it so I figured why not,, I enjoy it anyway.. and once I am done a thorough job on a car like this,, if you know me,, you know its a fuckin solid Ride

So far I have been checkin her out,,, and stripping the car down to check and rix any rust (or anything for that matter). She has already Dropped 400 Lbs in the process!! Spare tire and stuff,, and ever ounce of sound insulation and alot of metal that was doubled over, replaced the doors with shells that were mostly fibre glass,, those doors were crazy heavey

The car seems pretty solid so far,, shes not on the road yet thou.. I want everything to be done great before she sees the road,, I want the body to be able to last another 16 years, lol.. I am amazed at how fast the engine starts after I turn the key,, I have never seen an engine so eager to start, is this common?

Also I am looking to find performance parts but it seems they are not common for the Z31, so does anyone have any sugesstions? I have found KYB and Tokyco (I am not sure of spelling off hand) struts for her,, does any one know which are better or what the differance are?? I am also looking for coil overs for this car. once again she is an 88 and Turbo.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a sweet muffler? she has a 2 year old oem style on her,,, and my best friend works @ a performance muffler place, 10 % below cost he says he can get alot of other shit there for me too,, ,so now this has really peeked my interest in finding performance parts as you would imagine, lol..

An issue I am having is that My Digital Dash DOES NOT WORK!! I am told there is a power unit for it under teh dash to the left of the wheel,, I do not have any blown fuses that I found,, that was what I had hoped for but to no evail.. I do not know is this matters but my Cruise control still works.

Also I have stripped almost everything off the car to do body work,, and I went to start the car to move it todAy but she would not start,, I think perhaps it knows that I have stipped all this off parhaps and will not start because of it,, I will have to see

Since this is a major project (due to the poor condition of the body) I have been taking a shit load of digital pictures along the way!


Anyway thank-you to anyone who bothered to read this,, lol I am sure this must seem like a novel or something,, any questions or comments are greatly appreciated,, I will be comming back here often to read, reply and just relax,, you guys are the shit,, lol...

L8er.

[ZedEx]

I didnt read one line of that...

Woah dude, give me the jist of the project without typing 3pages. Haha

-Wes

[freakonaleash1187]

yes, it does seem that my z starts up right away. and she can't stand going slow. there were no 300zx's made with a 6 speed, but i have seen people put them into their z32. i don't know about z31. i don't know much about z31's, but i think longlivethez does.

[Antiburn]

Well when you try to start the car what noises does it make? Is there a constant ticking noise or is ther eno noise at all?
And I dont really know anything about dashes but Im gona take a guess. Maybe some power wire that connects to the dash got pulled out and now you have no power. By the dash do you mean the oil and voltage gauge also? Or just the speedometer area?

and for stock replacement parts for it check out http://www.victoriabritish.com/ and order one of the free catalogs. SO much stuff its crazy.
Heres just a bunch of other places that you can buy Z31 parts.

http://www.stillen.com/sportscars_pr...4&EndYear=1989

http://www.courtesyparts.com/secondtier_z31.html

http://jimwolftechnology.com/custome....asp?offset=90

http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT

http://www.ultimatez.com/shop/index....cec8ed9a5adf7a

[longlivetheZ]

Yup...I'm kinda the resident Z31 guy...I don't think there's anyone else on here that's into the Z31. I just bought a 5-speed 86T for the same reasons as you. I haven't stripped it yet and I might not cuz it's really not TOO bad.

As for how fast it starts, mine's the same way except for the first time I start it every day. That takes maybe 5 seconds...for the rest of the day, it's instant. I think this is because there's still pressure in the fuel line. If I got a new fuel pump, which I probably will sooner or later, it'd probably get rid of the first time start delay, but it's never not started...not yet...I've only had it 5 days.

As for the 6-speed question, no. The Z32s were 5-speeds as well, but a newer generation. The Z31s have a T5 5 speed transmission that I really like. It's very tight and precise, but is a little heavy as far as shift effort goes. I've never heard of anyone doing a 6-speed swap, but freak said he's seen it and he knows his shit pretty well...we can believe him.

I'm interrested in the doors you're talking about. I've worked on the doors quite a bit and can vouch that they are very solid...and the insides of the access holes for the window motor are quite sharp. I've changed the window glass TWICE...getting pretty good at it...

I had the tokico lowering springs on my old 86 2+2 and they were quite good. The car I have now has Bilstein struts on it and they're INCREDIBLE. I knew the struts were new when I bought it, but I didn't know he put bilsteins in it. They're pretty firm though...almost uncomfortable. Some struts (there are a few different makers to consider) and some 88SS springs would make a nice budget handling package. If you want to spend a little more dough, get the Tokico springs, Eibach [sp.] makes a set, I think KYB makes a set, Ground Control makes a set...all of which lower it about an inch...which looks great. When you go to look for struts, look to make sure that you get the ones for the cars that came with adjustable suspenions if yours has it...make sure you get the right ones.

As for mufflers...I've heard good things about Dynamax and I've heard they're kinda loud...but I dunno. HKS makes a complete system...there are a few others. I'd go get a custom piping system if I were you cuz you have access to it. That's what I wanna do. I might not even put a muffler or a cat on it. You need any more info on parts or anything, lemme know.

As for the digi dash not working, this could be a few things. I'm not too sure about it cuz I've never dealt with a digi dash before. Both my Zs have/had analog. You might want to consider a conversion to analog gauges.

It's good to see another Z31 guy here. You need any help finding anything or whatever, lemme know. Also, where do you live?

[mattydies]

Yeah about the Doors,, I weighed mine,,, They Weigh 80 LBS EACH!!!

as for comfort I dont really care,, lol its about the performance for me

[mattydies]

HEY LONGLIVETHEZ sorry I forgot to add where I am from,, I am from Canada, I also put that posting about the Compression test,, I dont knw much about that,, first time doing one

So I patiently await opinions / diagnosis

[longlivetheZ]

Canada...I wish I lived in Canada...it seems so...umm....less fucked up there, I guess you could say.

Where'd you get the lightweight doors? I'd LOVE to knock 160 lbs. off my car in one fell swoop. I'm assuming they don't have any of the power stuff in them...?

[Mark86T]

I've heard the digital dash not working is a common problem. Yes there is a box underneath the steering wheel, to the right. I was hoping it was only the fuses also. There is at least three options for a fix. 1) Buy a new box, around $800.00 canadian, they are a lot cheeper in the states. 2) Solder the wires onto the connectors in the box. 3) wedge something between the connectors and the box. Or of course just get a analog dash........

Check out Z31.com its a good site covering lots of topics

[freakonaleash1187]

hey mark, i talked to you on nico. longlivethez is the one who you talked to about the wheels you are selling. make a thread and post pics of your car so everbody can see your clean z31.

[DeleriousZ]

hey matty what part of Canada are you from?

[longlivetheZ]

What's up, Teacher man? Welcome to my turf... I'm not the only Z31 guy on here anymore. You MUST make a thread for your pics...show some Z31 lovin.

[Mark86T]

Hey

I'll put some pictures of my 300t on here shortly. Just waiting for my dumb ass buddy to get over here with the digital camera.

freakontheleash-I just signed on to this so it wasn't me who was talking about the wheels. Haven't talked to anyone on here yet.

[freakonaleash1187]

i talked to you on nico and when i told you there was a guy looking for your wheels, it was longlivethez and i gave him your aim and you his aim. have you got your wheels yet that you were going to get? i would like to see them on your car.