my moms old 1986 300 ZX

[LAEuphoria]

well i realized that i wanted to drive something powerful and i noticed that my mom hadnt driven her ZX in about a year and i half and i thought to my self...that even though it would cost a lot of money it would be fun learning about and seeing the progress of fixing a car up. So ive come to you guys for advice. How much horsepower does a stock manual 1986 300zx have and what can i get it up to. i also want know all the possiblities of what i can do with it, how much it would cost and what it would do to the car exactly (boost horespower or improve turning or whatever). some pictures of cool body kits or modifications would be cool too. keep in mind that i am young and inexpirienced too so be gentle and help me out. im here to learn. peace out.


Paul

[wingsofwar]

assuming your 86 Z is N/A your car has 160hp and thats not even to the ground. your car will most deffinatly lose 30% of the hp since its old. The engine can withstand up to 500hp without blowing up. But i seriously doubt you can bring it up to that limit with an N/A. You can improve your performance by doing basic modifications, intake, exhaust, spark plugs, ngk wires, possibly swaping in the R200 LSD. I dont know about putting body kits on Zs, just because our cars are so freakin heavy. But if you want, you can..its up to you. iv seen some pretty clean Zenki Z31s. If you wana really work up the engine and restore the look with some OEM parts, you are gona have to do the research yourself. Look up Zcar.com or z31.com and get read up on some stuff about your car. Have fun, and dont do anything stupid..last thing i want to hear is that you wrapped your car around a telephone poll.

[LAEuphoria]

thanks man i appreciate your help and i was wondering, because i dont want to do crazy racer type and just want a little extra power and a nice car, will the body kit really make it lag that much?

[Mk3Supra]

Turbo 300Z's put 170 Hp on the ground. I have an '85 5spd myself. Yes , these cars are heavy , right about 3000 lbs. But they were comparable to the same year Corvette in torque and Hp , at $1000's less. And that was putting the auto 300Z against the 7-spd Corvette. I plan on doing major mods and conversions to mine. An RB26 engine is planned for the future , as are various other upgrades. This is gonna be a very serious 300Z. Good luck with yours , and have fun.

[LAEuphoria]

hey guys can anyone give me a body kit site for a 1986 300zx i want to look at my options, and thanks wingsofwar for those good sites, a great help.

[longlivetheZ]

Everything you could ever want for a Z31 (84-89 300ZX):

www.z31.com

www.victoriabritish.com

You can practically BUILD a Z from those 2 sites. As far as a body kit goes...all the kits I've seen for the Z31 are pretty weak. Don't bother. If you heart desires, www.kaminari.com is one I can think of off hand. Doesn't look bad...just not great.

[AmazinZ]

there are some really sweet body kits for the z31's. http://www.fxdesigns.com
http://www.kaminari.com/homepage.htm
http://www.zcarparts.com
http://body-kits.com

zcarparts.com i think is the best website for a z31. you can buy everything and the body kit available is the same kit for the japanese z31. it is awesome.

good luck with your decision on which body kit to get

[Funkdeal]

exhaust, intake, ignition, and maybe a strut bar would be pretty easy. but before you do all that, you should either service the car yourself or have it done. you said it's an old car so make sure all the fluids good and full. the strut bar will make your handling better. and by the way, longlivethez, that's a really nice 300zx. love the wheels

[Funkdeal]

also, you should go to www.clearcorners.com that site kicks ass. they have a lot of 300zx z31 lights

[longlivetheZ]

Originally Posted by Funkdeal

and by the way, longlivethez, that's a really nice 300zx. love the wheels

Ya know...I agree...I just wish it was mine...

First things first, for sure. Get the oil changed, the belts checked and changed if they need it along with the hoses, do a tune up, all that stuff. If you do that, it will cause you few problems and last you a very long time. I had a 1986 300ZX 2+2 for about 3 years and it was an awesome car. I miss it dearly. Ran great until the day after my last day of culinary school. It got me through school...I swear it was an omen. It just started acting up and, unfortunatly, I didn't have the money or time to deal with it since I was moving. I miss it dearly. Treat her well, yo.

As far as all those other sites go...I've never heard of some of them. I'm gunna check out the body kits too. All the parts you could ever need for any year of Z is in the victoria british catalog...now you can shop around a bit before you buy. Have fun.