Hello all you lucky people with your shiny cars.

I have lusted after one of these since forever. Growing up a guy a few streets over had two of them, I always thought they were gorgeous and the more I learnt about them the more I wanted one.

Finally I'm sorta expecting that towards the end of this year or early next year I might be in a position to get one.

I've read the model guide but it's not all clear to me, help me get the perfect spec and clarify some things?

 

>I want a SWB, Slicky, TT, Manual. Stiffer, lighter.. er.. lower polar moment due to SWB?

>I prefer the old spec bumper with the nice vents (95ish??), can this be fitted to newer cars?

>VVT (or whatever Nissan call(ed) it), I think this is a must why settle for less power/torque, if I can find one with, I should, right?

>Heated mirrors are a must, can they be retro-fitted? I hear there are JDM folding mirrors, can I have heated and folding mirrors?

>Would prefer leather interior, how many bits are different? If it's just the seats I could buy them? How good is the support anyway? I'm sick of having to hold myself up in corners! Buckets and proper harnesses required?

>Would like a passenger airbag (I think)? and pillar mount seatbelts are a must.

>HICAS, hydraulic vs electric vs bin it, opinions? I am usually anti TC/ASM type things but they're normally fuel-cutting (power cutting), surely if it's angling the back wheels that potentially means you are going quicker, turning in quicker, not going slower, so it's good? Is the control strategy understood, has anyone figured out how to take control of and re-calibrate it?

>Imports, some advertised as X number of miles, first Y in KM? Does this mean when imported the clocks are converted to start counting in miles.. but somehow add it to the original KM reading?

>Imports again, under body treatment, as I understand JDM cars don't have that black stuff on the bottom and should have this put on as soon as they're imported? but then if it's rust free it's rust free?

 

sorry, bit of a long post..

Welcome to the club mate and for your interest. Reading your list there, I would say that you are better off ensuring that you have the money in place and are ready for the pruchase of the car and then have a look what is available. Then ask the questions to suit the car that you are interested in as people on here might even know the car.

 

Anyway welcome matey, you've made the right choice!! Good luck.

Hello and welcome to the club mate:thumbup1: Let me deal with your first question Slicktop TT manuals (all swb) are very rare but do come up for sale so buy a good late model and go from there.

Hello all you lucky people with your shiny cars.

I have lusted after one of these since forever. Growing up a guy a few streets over had two of them, I always thought they were gorgeous and the more I learnt about them the more I wanted one.

Finally I'm sorta expecting that towards the end of this year or early next year I might be in a position to get one.

I've read the model guide but it's not all clear to me, help me get the perfect spec and clarify some things?

 

>I want a SWB, Slicky, TT, Manual. Stiffer, lighter.. er.. lower polar moment due to SWB?

>I prefer the old spec bumper with the nice vents (95ish??), can this be fitted to newer cars?

>VVT (or whatever Nissan call(ed) it), I think this is a must why settle for less power/torque, if I can find one with, I should, right?

>Heated mirrors are a must, can they be retro-fitted? I hear there are JDM folding mirrors, can I have heated and folding mirrors?

>Would prefer leather interior, how many bits are different? If it's just the seats I could buy them? How good is the support anyway? I'm sick of having to hold myself up in corners! Buckets and proper harnesses required?

>Would like a passenger airbag (I think)? and pillar mount seatbelts are a must.

>HICAS, hydraulic vs electric vs bin it, opinions? I am usually anti TC/ASM type things but they're normally fuel-cutting (power cutting), surely if it's angling the back wheels that potentially means you are going quicker, turning in quicker, not going slower, so it's good? Is the control strategy understood, has anyone figured out how to take control of and re-calibrate it?

>Imports, some advertised as X number of miles, first Y in KM? Does this mean when imported the clocks are converted to start counting in miles.. but somehow add it to the original KM reading?

>Imports again, under body treatment, as I understand JDM cars don't have that black stuff on the bottom and should have this put on as soon as they're imported? but then if it's rust free it's rust free?

 

sorry, bit of a long post..

 

 

Welcome mate.

 

To go through your list.

 

SWB slicktop very rare especially with a manual and twin turbo engine so be prepared for a long wait

 

I think you mean the 89 spec bumper, this was fitted from 89 to 98 where the bumper was changed to the 99 spec model, which is normally what people like to upgrade to. If you buy a car with a 99 spec bumper bet on getting 300 when you sell it, often you can get 89 spec bumpers for little or no money as they are normally taken of and upgraded

 

VVT makes little difference on these cars, I think it was fitted up until the 96 model year but I could be wrong.

 

93 onwards on all JDM are heated mirrors as well, wether they work or not is a different story. all UK models had heated mirrors but they didnt fold. In the grand scheme of things though you can soon wipe a mirror...

 

Leather interior is an easy fit, there are a few options on seats, blue cloth (nice), black cloth (nasty and cheap on later series cars) and leather (nice). The door cards are normally in a cloth either alcantara or nasty black stuff. Its all easy to recover or buy. I changed the entire interior in my last one in a couple of hours with stuff from a S2 UK model which was much nicer than my S4 JDM spec car.

 

No pass airbag (i dont think) available on the Z32 drivers airbag on S3/4 onwards (94 basically), and pillar mounted seatbelts came in with a series 2 car, so late 92 onwards.

 

HICAS, is to do with rear wheel steering and is nothing to do with traction control or anything like that. only available on a TT, it was hydraulic up until 94 and electric there after. I would say more than half of the TT's around have had it removed and its just something to go wrong really and can make the back a touch unpredictiable. Having that said my first TT had it, it worked and I liked it. The second didn't and it did feel more planted but that was a LWB vs SWB as well...

 

Imports read in km, quite often there is a speedo converter fitted to change it so it reads in miles, but as they are analogue and so have a fixed reading people will say 110k in km and say 6k in miles and add it up to give a milage. However take all of them with a pinch of salt, most imports spend along time ona boat on the way over so quite often they can be "altered" to suit the market they are going to. Always buy on condition rather than milage!

 

Imports are generally in better condition as japan doesnt use salt on its roads, especially if its a fresh import but there is less underseal on later cars so its often a good idea to get it done. In all fairness though, even the newest of these cars are 12 years old and oldest are 23, so its often worth getting them checked over to preserve them

Edited January 11, 201313 yr by Quavey
correcting my awful typing!

Welcome to the club......

 

......and that's some sound advice from Quavey - I could not have put it better myself!

 

Richard:sorcerer: