Hi guys,

 

think Ive just bought a lemon. Had a mechanic friend lok over it and he says the head gaskets are gone. Its done 110k kms but the back pressure from driving the car just over a mile she nearly empties the rad once the caps removed. He says she should be just rippling the water and no more. Oil pressure at idle 2.5 bars rising to 3.5 to 4 driving..

 

is she knackered??

Well the first thing that springs to mind is a compression test.

Good place to start and will tell you a lot.

Well the first thing that springs to mind is a compression test.

Good place to start and will tell you a lot.

 

Yup - and a pressure test on the cooling system.....

 

I have heard that ideally you should be able to remove the rad cap with the engine up to temp; but I personally have never done that on any car..... :wink:

 

Does it over heat and is there evidence of oil in the coolant and vice versa...? What made you take it to your mechanic in the first place mate? If it's showing no other apparent faults, don't be so quick to condemn the engine....

 

Richard:clover:

bought it last Wednesday and it arrived on Friday from north wales. as Im in N.irleand I took a chance on it but it just looked sad. So as it has a oil leak I asked him to have a look over it to see if its going to be a big job to fix it. Then he brought it back saying its not in great shape. The rear panel under the car that holds the exhaust and fuel pipes is rotten and a few holes in the rear arch. It went through mot less than 10 days ago. it would need a respray which I can do which doesn't scare me but that engine is very off putting. The guy has worked on nissans for 15 years so has a reasonable knowledge but as he said, never worked on one of these.!!!

 

Is it worth blowing her out and getting a better one. It owes me a few grand which isn't much in the current price of theses. I knew the body needed work but as I said this is my end of things.

the rear end of the 300 behind the bumper can be rottom as you like cas its noy an issue with the mot unless the rear bumper is hanging of but if it is a uk lwb car and the rear end is rusted away then the sills would have gone aswell ,but hey metal can be replaced, as to the engine . no awnsers there im no machanic mate sorry.

Going to probably regret this decision but going to give the old girl a reprieve from breaking her.

 

Here goes then.

1. engine strip down, heads skimmed and pressure tested, valves reground, stem seals replaced and get it gas flowed and ported

2. repsray complete cat and repair rear sill rust

3, re-upholster interior seats and replace all cloth on door cards and dash, consul etc.

4. new carpet

5. reseal underneath and waxoil for hours.

I cant tell if its n/a or turbo engine you have, but if its that much of a problem....get a new engine. some of them go for peanuts! and if you can do the bodywork yourself (which is the most expensive part in my opinion) your going in the right direction.

Hi Its the twin turbo one in black. Nice car in its day so Ill restore her back to or as close as to new....

Can I ask how much you paid for this car?

Its standing me at the moment a few grand only

Its standing me at the moment a few grand only

 

 

Here goes then.

1. engine strip down, heads skimmed and pressure tested, valves reground, stem seals replaced and get it gas flowed and ported if you can do this yourself, parts for rebuild will cost about £1k - by a builder £2.5-£3k

2. repsray complete cat and repair rear sill rust Complete respray will cost about £1k for a cheapo job to £3k+ for a decent one) - sill repair, you'll be needing to get a panel beater on the case for those are sills are almost non-existant. That'll cost you another £500 - £750

3, re-upholster interior seats and replace all cloth on door cards and dash, consul etc.....if in leather, that'll be £500 - £1,000 depending on quality and whether you do it yourself or not

4. new carpet - second hand is best bet - new will cost as much as a respray!

5. reseal underneath and waxoil for hours.

 

So, add it all together, worst case scenario, including the cost of the car would be about £10k with all that, best case scenario about £6k - to get a pretty much standard car.

 

Usually when people restore a Z they'll be starting off with something that either needs paint or an engine - when they need a lot of both and have a lot of rust, it becomes uneconomically viable because there are better project cars out there. You'd be more sensible to break what you have for spares and hold out for a tidy one. I understand you might want to restore it, but you can buy a good one to start off with with the money you'd throw at that.

I know, it goes into scary money. Ive done a few up over the past 5 years, the worst being a rs2000 mk2 escort. Lost 5k on her plus. The 911 I broke even on. The ZX I've learned a thing or two and great contacts so I would say 5k will see her right. Ive another mechanic coming in the morning who thinks its not the engine trouble as he got me to do a few simple tests this morning as she was holding her own. He thinks its minor and that my other guy just condemned her. Be interesting to hear his verdict. Then this will be rebuilt or sell on and as you said buy a better one.

Si is right Derek it would be far cheaper in the long run to buy one in good condition but I know you Fermanagh men its not the cost or work involved its taking a dying car and restoring it just for the love of doing it. You have done a few cars before so you know what's involved. Good luck with whatever path you take with the 300 and either way we are here to help where we can.

Thanks Gary. She really looks alright but Im a fussy shite so they have to be perfect when Im driving them. My mr2 stands me 10k and its worth 3k. but it will never be sold.

 

Can or are you allowed to send me your number, I wouldn't mind a chat if you've time on the phone from another owners experience and pitfalls before I decide.

 

Thanks

Any time Derek 07764194080 but warn you now I have never done any body or engine work on any car but over the years of reading what members have gone threw in working with these cars I can tell you that it takes a specialist to work on the z32 engine plus the body if very bad will take a lot of work to get it right. But if you have the time and money it can be done.

Il level with you.

Taking the heads off and reseating the valves, skimming it all etc is a fools erron if that's all you do. Even getting the heads off will require engine removal. The engine layout means manifolds cannot be removed with the turbos still in situe. So they have to come off to get the head off. By that point your whole life was quicker just removing the block and doing it on the bench. The engine in these cars are solid, like 600+hp on stock internals or 300k miles, IF WELL looked after. Yours I'm guessing overheats if it's overflowing the rad to that degree...that would tell me it hasn't been well looked after.

 

Now you've decided to do a courageous expensive and worthwhile thing, I applaud you for this. First things first is to work out just how good/bad that engine is. Once that's done it's simply a case of doing it right, if the block is dead as a do do, joe down at the local garage will not be able to be competitive quality and maybe price wise to a professional VG30DETT engine builder. Getting to know your way round these engines reduces labour considerably. There is only one professional engine builder in this country for these cars, fortunately not only is he a nice bloke he's damn good at his job. A quick chat with him by calling powerzed will let you go forward.

 

With a solid and reliable engine, the bodywork taken care of you will be laughing in a quick comfy 90s super gt with as much power as you decided upon.

 

Good luck

The only garage that I know of in the North here is these guys. Neil has worked on 300zx's before and has good feed back

 

http://www.snjmotors.co.uk/index2.html

Hi guys,

 

think Ive just bought a lemon. Had a mechanic friend lok over it and he says the head gaskets are gone. Its done 110k kms but the back pressure from driving the car just over a mile she nearly empties the rad once the caps removed. He says she should be just rippling the water and no more. Oil pressure at idle 2.5 bars rising to 3.5 to 4 driving..

 

is she knackered??

 

is there any mayo in the oil filler cap ?

no shes as clean as a whistle under the cap and running today for 30 mins and jumped of a cylinder but cam back on again herself and temp hand sitting about quarter way up. My other guy cant make it today but hes coming over Thursday to go over her. He thins the other guy is mad?? anyway ive started stripping her off for a coat of paint so unless shes rotten, here goes the resto......(lock me up)

no shes as clean as a whistle under the cap and running today for 30 mins and jumped of a cylinder but cam back on again herself and temp hand sitting about quarter way up.

 

Temp sound a little low after 30 minutes running, I would be looking for a shade under half way.

Maybe you have a thermostat stuck open?

Not a bad thing, easy fix really.

Just a thought.

When running with rad cap on does it do anthing alarming

 

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Just an update. The guy Ive been waiting on eventually got time to call this morning and he has gone over her with a fine tooth comb. Its either a duff plug coil pack or connector. The car has the old diagnostic plug so he couldn't plug in to see what faults are coming up. But he did have a good laugh at the other mechanic saying the heads were gone. He is calling back down during the week with a set of plugs as he says most motor factors wont carry the correct plug for her, so I might have bought one that just needs tiding. :phone:

Just an update. The guy Ive been waiting on eventually got time to call this morning and he has gone over her with a fine tooth comb. Its either a duff plug coil pack or connector. The car has the old diagnostic plug so he couldn't plug in to see what faults are coming up. But he did have a good laugh at the other mechanic saying the heads were gone. He is calling back down during the week with a set of plugs as he says most motor factors wont carry the correct plug for her, so I might have bought one that just needs tiding. :phone:

 

That's potential good news mate - fingers crossed for you....:clover:

Good news Derek and the spark plugs are NGK PFR6B 11c

Thanks Gary

Just an update. The guy Ive been waiting on eventually got time to call this morning and he has gone over her with a fine tooth comb. Its either a duff plug coil pack or connector. The car has the old diagnostic plug so he couldn't plug in to see what faults are coming up. But he did have a good laugh at the other mechanic saying the heads were gone. He is calling back down during the week with a set of plugs as he says most motor factors wont carry the correct plug for her, so I might have bought one that just needs tiding. :phone:

 

i persume he tried to plug the OBDII into the port...needs Conzult/datascan ect to retrieve codes. Good news on her anyway mate.