Has yet to be purchased... sad times on that front.

 

I originally fell in love with the 300ZX when I was about 7 and then completely put them out of my mind until I rediscovered them at 18 but by that point they were way too expensive and I was far too young to have one and yet again... I forgot about them.

 

Two weeks ago my best friend bought a non turbo manual, unbeknownst to me. So everything changed when I pulled up at his house to see;

 

 

 

That childhood dream in the flesh. For a little while, I hoped it wouldn't be as good as I was thinking it would be. I figured that considering its size and bulk that it would be vague, sluggish and I wouldn't like something about the interior.

 

So I was given the keys and told to just take it out. Which I did and that ruined everything.

 

Because now I really, really, really want one :angry:

 

The 300zx was everything I hoped it would be, I want one more than I have ever wanted anything and I suspect that before I am 25 (this November) there will be one in my life.

 

So I am here to trawl through the forum, make new friends and discover all there is about the car I fell in love 17 years ago.

Haha oh you just wait till you go out in a turbo one then, common misconception that, whole big heavy and vague thing, should be tight responsive and hella quick. Na are pretty nippy esp 0-40 because of the gearing but a TT is a fair bit faster. If your serious about for filling your childhood dream, then I would suggest you spend some time on here getting to know the marque, you've got a fairly active region in wales so get to know some of those guys, I'm sure they will take you for a spin. Hopefully the club will throw up a car or will allow you a second pair of eyes, there are bargains to be had however you do often get what you pay for. If you budgeted £3500 that should buy you a decent turbo model, if you go for a sub £1000 bargain be prepared to throw at least another £1000 at it, hence why I say aim for a £3500 car. If you run it as a second car, classic insurances policies are now available and you could pay as little as £150 a year. Welcome to the club.

Welcome Stephen and your friend has a nice 300zx :yes: I think I remember seeing it before somewhere as I remember noticing the retro fit fog light in the rear bumper. Good advice from z32Bolt buy a good one you will love it.:thumbup:

Z32Bolt - as a matter of habit, I always spend times on forums. It's the best place to learn about anything! I have had a look round and there really is everything.

 

I would trust a sub 1k 300ZX as far as I could push it, it's just one of those cars that you'd never expect to find in those brackets. I didn't know about the classic insurance though! That has certainly skewed things in its favour. Can you suggest any good insurers? (I have no points or crashes to my name, so insurance is always rather kind, in that respect).

 

One thing I am curious about, that could probably be sorted without its own thread is the throttle response on the ZX. I found my friends n/a a bit lethargic when it came to the loud pedal. I figured that without any turbo chargers or anything, the reponse would be immediate as it opened but it did seem like it was sticking a bit.

It could very well just be that he has a sticky throttle but I wondered if lethargic throttles was just how it is?

 

Between the N/A and TT, it will require thinking about. I have always stood by the motto 'it's easier to turbo a manual than to manual a turbo' (having built a couple of manual Lexus Soarers, it is indeed true haha) and as I have seen, Manual Turbo 300ZX's are pretty thin on the ground.

 

I suspect, when the time comes, I may buy from the forum as at least I know it's a cherished car :)

 

Thanks for the welcomes!

I would trust a sub 1k 300ZX as far as I could push it, it's just one of those cars that you'd never expect to find in those brackets. I didn't know about the classic insurance though! That has certainly skewed things in its favour. Can you suggest any good insurers? (I have no points or crashes to my name, so insurance is always rather kind, in that respect).

Footman James is who I'm with but there's affair few, search insurance and you will soon find all the most popular ones.

One thing I am curious about, that could probably be sorted without its own thread is the throttle response on the ZX. I found my friends n/a a bit lethargic when it came to the loud pedal. I figured that without any turbo chargers or anything, the reponse would be immediate as it opened but it did seem like it was sticking a bit.

It could very well just be that he has a sticky throttle but I wondered if lethargic throttles was just how it is?

Throttle response can be poor if not set up correctly, the z engine has a throttle position sensor, these often get set wrong etc, and other issues. There is very little lag with the turbo versions, esp if you decatt, mine comes on boost under 2krpm

Between the N/A and TT, it will require thinking about. I have always stood by the motto 'it's easier to turbo a manual than to manual a turbo' (having built a couple of manual Lexus Soarers, it is indeed true haha) and as I have seen, Manual Turbo 300ZX's are pretty thin on the ground.

Converting an auto to manual is pretty common mine is in fact yes you guessed it, a converted auto. It can be done within a weekend easily, it could be done in a long day if you had the right helping hands and tools average cost for a conversion kit is 300 to 500 quid bare in mind there other consumables you could do with friction disc etc, converting a non turbo into a twin turbo is quite time consuming and rarely cost effective, its more common in the states and oz but yeah its quite involved. The engines arn't the same, theres quite a compression ratio drop on the tt for starters, its certainly not bolt on. Not to mention flywheel and clutch, rear diff, its so much easier and cheaper to start with a car that was twinturbo from factory.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Mine is a similar story to yours, except that when I was a lad it was the 240Z that had just been produced for the UK.....:lol::lol:

 

I said the same thing to myself, I would have one of them when I am older, as they were too expensive when I was a kid. I watched in wonder as the 260Z then the 280ZX were introduced to the world. Now I am older the 240 and 260 are still too expensive.....:w00t::w00t:, I am not as keen on the 280ZX, and the Z31 300ZX.

 

So I purchased my 300 Z32 NA. What a car they are, and all on this forum are so helpful and really great people to know, I will have my Z32 for a long while to come. I was thinking of selling it a couple of months ago, however I went to a friends (where she is stored at the minute) and just looked at her, and that was it.......no chance am I selling. The one thing for sure though is that I would try and get one as soon as you can, because the amount of these cars that are being lost to breaking, fairly soon they will go the way of the 240 and a nice example will go through the roof price wise.

 

Good luck with your search for one though buddy.

Shame your not down South could have given you a look at my TT

Welcome Stephen and your friend has a nice 300zx :yes: I think I remember seeing it before somewhere as I remember noticing the retro fit fog light in the rear bumper. Good advice from z32Bolt buy a good one you will love it.:thumbup:

 

Seconded....

 

Welcome to the club Stephen; good luck in your own quest to find a 300zx mate!!

 

Richard:thumbup:

Welcome to the club.

Welcome to the club mate. Being in Her Majesty' s finest she has decided to Post me to Valley. So if you want a go in a TT, once I'm settled I'll bring her across from sunny Suffolk to windy Wales for you to compare.

 

Good to have you on board mate, if you subscribed to the forum it will become a lot more useful to you.

Welcome to the club Stephen, such a familiar story for many no doubt, good luck in your quest to own a zed.

Hello & welcome :)

welcome to the club!! tt o no tt get one and then carry on from there. first i had the na swb and i loved it so much i killed it. but after having the na i knew i wanted the tt 2+2 manual and it took me months to find it. it was a long ass search but in the end defo worth it! its a love and hate relationship but such are the best ones!

Haha oh you just wait till you go out in a turbo one then, common misconception that, whole big heavy and vague thing, should be tight responsive and hella quick. Na are pretty nippy esp 0-40 because of the gearing but a TT is a fair bit faster. If your serious about for filling your childhood dream, then I would suggest you spend some time on here getting to know the marque, you've got a fairly active region in wales so get to know some of those guys, I'm sure they will take you for a spin. Hopefully the club will throw up a car or will allow you a second pair of eyes, there are bargains to be had however you do often get what you pay for. If you budgeted £3500 that should buy you a decent turbo model, if you go for a sub £1000 bargain be prepared to throw at least another £1000 at it, hence why I say aim for a £3500 car. If you run it as a second car, classic insurances policies are now available and you could pay as little as £150 a year. Welcome to the club.

 

i would very much like to know how one can pay as little as £150 a year!! adrian flux if i correctly remember will not insure me and the rest of the companies either gave me quotes from 4k to 8.5k or say not a classic or simply say they wont insure a foreigner on a foreign car!!!its cuz im american isnt it! lol i hate the insurance system here! i cant even get insured on the only car id rather drive daily!! currently in the process of getting a home fleet or traders policy

Welcome to the club! we are a very helpful lot here and good luck with your search!

i would very much like to know how one can pay as little as £150 a year!! adrian flux if i correctly remember will not insure me and the rest of the companies either gave me quotes from 4k to 8.5k or say not a classic or simply say they wont insure a foreigner on a foreign car!!!its cuz im american isnt it! lol i hate the insurance system here! i cant even get insured on the only car id rather drive daily!! currently in the process of getting a home fleet or traders policy

 

You need to be on a classic policy, as a second car for starters, quite a few insures now class it as one. Its around £1000 a year for insurance to use it daily to get to work etc. Import wise shop around, most companies realise that the import is the same car and charge no premium. I don't know what part of Manchester you live in, but that may well have something to do with it, large cities put the price up. However you are right the insurance system here is rubbish! What will really annoy you is im only 26!

Oh and if you ask insurance companies, "how one can pay" your going to pay more, only richos and poshos say one mate, they will see you coming. haha

Welcome, swear i've seen a that picture somewhere else?! Think it may have been on civiclife.

Ive had my lwb tt manual for 2 summers now, it makes me smile every time i look at it let alone drive it.

Put your foot down, feel the turbos start to pull then watch things get real small real quick in the rear view mirror JUST AWESOME. :punk:

POSTS GALORE! I was only away 3 days D:

 

This thread has pretty much cemented for me, the belief that a 300ZX would not be a bad thing.

Having read the posts regarding the insurance, the option of having it as a second car definitely seems to be the right choice but whether or not it is financially viable - we shall see! Thank you for the welcomes and the advice :)

 

@N300TT - CL was the first place I complained about his influence on my spending habits haha.

 

@OSTY1 - not too far from me then, I also live on Anglesey! Although nowhere near as North as Valley,.

POSTS GALORE! I was only away 3 days D:

 

This thread has pretty much cemented for me, the belief that a 300ZX would not be a bad thing.

Having read the posts regarding the insurance, the option of having it as a second car definitely seems to be the right choice but whether or not it is financially viable - we shall see! Thank you for the welcomes and the advice :)

 

@N300TT - CL was the first place I complained about his influence on my spending habits haha.

 

@OSTY1 - not too far from me then, I also live on Anglesey! Although nowhere near as North as Valley,.

 

having one as a toy/second car is soooo much better than using it daily, a zed on ice is no fun lol. neither is having to know its got to be back on piece by Monday.... not to mention sitting in a traffic que and watching pound notes falling out the back.

having one as a toy/second car is soooo much better than using it daily, a zed on ice is no fun lol. neither is having to know its got to be back on piece by Monday.... not to mention sitting in a traffic que and watching pound notes falling out the back.

 

Do you often have it in pieces? :(

 

Turns out Footman James won't touch me until I am 25 (which isn't a big deal as that like... 5 months) but still irksome, I am also getting the feeling that a lot of classic insurers are similar. Boo.

Do you often have it in pieces? :(

 

Turns out Footman James won't touch me until I am 25 (which isn't a big deal as that like... 5 months) but still irksome, I am also getting the feeling that a lot of classic insurers are similar. Boo.

 

Not that often these days tbh, when i first got it yes, the previous owner hadnt done anything to it mechanically, so although it looked great cosmetically, the bits the mattered not so much, then the ensuing work that carried on from this and some other circumstances meant i was faffing about with it for a while. Ive owned the car for 5 years now, touch wood its been pretty reliable for the last 3/4 years, i have had it off the road fot times to do things like convert it to maual etc, that was purely personal modifactions. So realistically if its in pieces, its because im fiddling for the sake of fiddling haha. Ive currently got all the boot pannels out and the everything everywhere as i got some new rear springs for a bargin and wanted to see if they would drop the back end down any further.

As far as insures yeah you will struggle under 25 to get classic policies, some will honour them at 21 SOME but they wont be as cheap, my capri was on a classic policy at 21. Id wait the 5 months if you can, or buy one now and get it all serviced up ready to drive once you turn 25.

or buy one now and get it all serviced up ready to drive once you turn 25.

 

I suspect this will be the option. Although I will spend the time shopping wisely as I have naught but time.