So this is my project rewind.

 

The OLD mission

 

To restore a 94 UK manual TT back to bone stock. However the car will be run as an OEM+ to include larger wheels and a double din radio with OEM part ready to be refitted for the right occasion.

 

The NEW mission

 

To build my dream OEM+ 300zx

 

History

 

The car was registered in May 94 and given as a company car to a banker.

 

In May 96 the banker bought the car outright and covered a total of 94073 miles. Throughout these years the car was serviced at a local Nissan dealer.

 

In December 2001 a registered forum user bought the car. At this point the owner, Mark, had intended to keep the car and started to customise it. These modifications include the flip paint job, 5 way adjustable shocks, Mania 18inch wheels, custom exhaust, larger brakes, poly bushes to the dif and rear subframe, helix clutch, cone air filter, deleted headlight washer, ICE and a top hard pipe kit. Mark covered a further 15883 bringing the total to 109956.

Marks For Sale post

 

The car

 

Overall the condition of the car seemed good. The body work had a few issues including rust in the engine bay near both suspension mounts, paint bubbling on the spoiler and a cracked off side mirror surround. However the biggest issue with the car was the colour! The finish was very VERY good and to stand next to the car made it much more agreeable than any photo achieved, in fact I actually quite like it. The problem though is matching the colour: after talking to a few paint shops their verdicts were touch up work is impossible (thankfully there is 1/2ltr of the original paint which I'm hoping will cover the new spoiler and mirror). Eventually it will need a full re-spray.

The interior is in good shape for its age, a few scuff marks in the leather and it's looking very dry, a hole in the centre radio surround where I imagine an alarm light went and the alcantara is looking very flat.

 

 

So I hope you enjoy the following updates as I try to bring my car back to the 90s.

 

Cheers,

Chris.

Edited September 29, 20187 yr by Chris300

Looking good. Reminded me of when I did my engine bay a renewed and refinished everything and topped it off with a brand new later spec main engine harness and 740cc Nismo injectors. Plus some other new old stock parts that are nigh on impossible to get hold of such as brand new OEM Intake/boost hoses, OEM earth harness and clutch booster U-shaped hose. The only thing missing that I did after that was fit the spring style fuel line clips for the fuel filter and return lines - all other crap jubilee clamps had been removed.

 

It ran so beautifully with the new injectors and engine harness(es). Unbelievably smooth and responsive.

 

Edited October 14, 20223 yr by Funkysi

26 minutes ago, Funkysi said:

Looking good. Reminded me of when I did my engine bay a renewed and refinished everything and topped it off with a brand new later spec main engine harness and 740cc Nismo injectors. Plus some other new old stock parts that are nigh on impossible to get hold of such as brand new OEM Intake/boost hoses, OEM earth harness and clutch booster U-shaped hose. The only thing missing that I did after that was fit the spring style fuel line clips for the fuel filter and return lines - all other crap jubilee clamps had been removed.

 

It ran so beautifully with the new injectors and engine harness(es). Unbelievably smooth and responsive.

 

Hi Si

Your refurb post is amounts my favourites list and always looked at when I need inspiration and motivation.

Unfortunatly I couldn’t find new OEM hoses so went for Z1 mate black. Sadly they’re labled however I’m hoping the original sleeves will cover this.(if Jim hasn’t binned the sleeves ?)

Obviously got a long way to go yet.

 

Out of interest Si did you ever regret getting the bay painted black? I’m torn between white and black. Black looks smart and lends itself to any colour car but white looks cleaner and stock.

Thanks! Lots of blood sweat and tears went into it but it was very satisfying, looked great and ran better. I had quite a lot of help too from people in Japan and the US. One particular screw was proving a nightmare to get hold of and that's the little screw on the early cars that secures part of the harness via a little metal clip to one of the offside cam covers. Chris Karl is one of my friends (ZCCA President) with quite a large car and part collection - he has buckets of Nissan fasteners - quite the nerd's paradise). I believe that both those OEM harnesses are now NLA. I wanted to keep the original hoses (took me a long time to get them), 2 Jim actually had and the other two I got on Japan and brought them back in my suitcase! I found that the silicone hoses are just too flexible and have little structural rigidly and actually collapse reducing the aperture considerably. Consider getting Flexi couplings and hard lines (powder coated satin black) if you're able to.

18 minutes ago, Funkysi said:

Consider getting Flexi couplings and hard lines (powder coated satin black) if you're able to.

I’m not sure what these are but I’m sure Jim’s following this post and will bring it up with him. If you have any other advice please let me know.

We’re in the early stages of what to do next. I think he wants to nail the fueling issue down before moving onto the engine out, which makes sense. Unfortunately it’s something I’ve done as I gave it to him without the plenum on and prior to removal it was, other than the failed injector, running smoothly.

I'd fit these over the soft silicone ones which don't hold their shape and cause restrictions.

 

https://conceptzperformance.com/czp-upper-intercooler-piping-hardpipe-kit-polished-twin-turbo-tt-nissan-300zx-90-96-z32-14464-hpk-xx_p_1925.php

1 hour ago, Funkysi said:

I'd fit these over the soft silicone ones which don't hold their shape and cause restrictions.

 

https://conceptzperformance.com/czp-upper-intercooler-piping-hardpipe-kit-polished-twin-turbo-tt-nissan-300zx-90-96-z32-14464-hpk-xx_p_1925.php

I see. I actually had a set of them when I brought the car but sold them due to appearance.

Maybe there’s a way to internally line the silicone hoses with ally pipe to keep the structural integrity under load whist not requiring all the clips.

Bought.....you've said brought twice now. Unless you took it somewhere to get them. ???

 

These are only $150. It would be more hassle to get someone made up to keep them rigid. I only say this as I've lost track of the number of TTs with silicone intake hoses fitted only for them to have lost shape around the bends. Mainly affects the hoses for the throttles from memory. Just have a look when they're fitted and see if they have held their shape. Some do, but a lot don't. It's just because of the material, silicone has little structural rigidity despite being a tough material.

On 11/10/2022 at 09:27, Chris300 said:

Well this project is about to take a massive leap forward.

Unfortunatly, after Jim had fitted all these lovely new bits for me, the car is running really badly filling the workshop up with smoke before running like a three legged horse. It’s got no compression on a cylinder and a fuelling issue. ????

Jim sent the injectors away for testing, after trying some of the other potential issues, as there was a small possibility that they weren’t originals but thankfully they are. ?

So the next step sadly is to pull the engine. ?

As it’s always been my intention to get the engine out at some point I’m trying to look at this from a positive perspective and will be tasking Jim with a lot more work than intended. ??

So the first thing on my list will be to get the engine bay properly prepared and painted. I had some remedial body work done in there after I first acquired the car but I was unhappy with the seaming around the work. This will be a good opportunity to get that properly sorted before painting.

Ill also have the engine bay painted white! I’ve always wanted a UK white manual and I know I would not be happy with just paining the external body work. I’ve yet to decide what white to go for so will be looking around, in the meantime if you have any suggestions please let me know. ?

Obviously all tin will need to be sent off for powder coating and nuts and bolt re plated.

The clutch has always felt way too heavy so this will need to be replaced and may very well lead to a “98 spec box’s as again now seems to be a good time.?

Regarding the engine work, this will be discussed with Jim. I’m not looking for big numbers, just reliability, however if forged is the best way to achieve this bows the time.?

 

If anyone has any ideas and suggestions please let me know. ?

 

If funds allow, I would get a forged rebuild. That way you can pretty much guarantee reliability and drive it as much as you want, for as many miles as you want, with a peace of mind. When not going for big numbers, you won't have to fork out on the bits needed for big power, which will help your wallet. The rebuild involves replacing all the different gaskets and seals throughout the engine, so no more worrying about any leaks also. Highly recommend going this route.

2 hours ago, Raja93 said:

If funds allow, I would get a forged rebuild. That way you can pretty much guarantee reliability and drive it as much as you want, for as many miles as you want, with a peace of mind. When not going for big numbers, you won't have to fork out on the bits needed for big power, which will help your wallet. The rebuild involves replacing all the different gaskets and seals throughout the engine, so no more worrying about any leaks also. Highly recommend going this route.

Cheers for your input mate. I think you’re absolutely right.

Jim is currently getting the engine out now. Hopefully this will expose what the issue is and then we can look at how to move forward.

So things are starting to move forward. Jim has the engine and gearbox out ready for her to be taken away to Alfie’s Autobahn who will be painting the engine bay and sorting out all the powder coating that’s going on up front. ?

Zed woes aside, at least you know your car is in safe hands with Sir Jimmer......?

9 hours ago, RichardS said:

Zed woes aside, at least you know your car is in safe hands with Sir Jimmer......?

Absolutely, however I do worry that he’s getting fed up with me and my car. ?

So now that Jim has the engine and gearbox out the next stage was to get the chassis to the body shop.

 

I’ve taken the car to Alfies Autobahn in Westbury, Wiltshire, which is not a million miles away from Jim. Matt, the owner, is not unfamiliar with the 300zx having completed a manual conversion on another 300 last year.

Matts brief is to drop the front subframe and suspension for powder coating, prep and spray the engine bay in Aston Martin Morning Frost.

The bay has now been documented and thankfully there’s no structural issues found.

Here are a few pictures from the bay pre removal of parts.

 

Edited January 14, 20232 yr by Chris300

Edited January 14, 20232 yr by Chris300

Loads of pictures and most not really relevant but let’s face it, we all love pictures.

Hopefully be able to post the post strip down pictures tonight. ??

Guys, I’m looking for OEM or Nismo bushes to go in the newly powder coated front end rebuild.

Any ideas where I can get these in the UK, Luke website is down until March. ?

5 hours ago, Chris300 said:

Guys, I’m looking for OEM or Nismo bushes to go in the newly powder coated front end rebuild.

Any ideas where I can get these in the UK, Luke website is down until March. ?

I'm not sure on UK supply for OEM/Nismo stuff apart from Nissan, but they would still need to import most of them. 

I ordered mine earlier in the year from Greenline Japan and they weren't too bad on delivery time. Arrived in just over a week from being dispatched, but they can take a bit of time to respond to emails.

7 hours ago, Adam D said:

I'm not sure on UK supply for OEM/Nismo stuff apart from Nissan, but they would still need to import most of them. 

I ordered mine earlier in the year from Greenline Japan and they weren't too bad on delivery time. Arrived in just over a week from being dispatched, but they can take a bit of time to respond to emails.

Thanks for the info Adam.

I ordered mine from Greenline japan too. As Adam says, about a week delivery which is the same amount of time it took for my daily drivers fluids order to turn up from the West Country! [emoji38]

From memory they didn’t have steering rack bushes or anti roll bar ones available, so I think I bought energy suspension versions from Concept Z Performance for those. Stock availability may have changed since I bought the parts though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well this project continues to try and break me. ?

Last week I received a message from the Matt, the owner of Alfies Autobahn, the company who I sent my car to to have the front subframe, suspension and engine bay stripped ready for paint and powder coating before reinstalling, telling me that the owner of the workshop had kicked him out and changed the locks and that he had until the 19th of January to get everything out before the bailiffs seized everything. ??

Thankfully I did get a bit of luck here after contacting the company who Matt had sent parts to for powder coating, Craig at Platinum Wheel Repairs. Craig told me that Matt had sent over a load of parts but there were a number of bushes that hadn’t been removed so hadn’t processed the work. 

Craig put me in touch with another business who would be able to remove the bushes and repress new ones once powder coated, James of Garage24 motorsport.

After talking to James it turned out that his business specialise in Jap cars and has a thing for restoration. James was also local to Matt and offered to rescue everything. With time pressing and me desperate to get my car out of the clutches of the evil Matt, he rushed down to Alfie’s Autobahn picked up my car and parts. James was horrified at the state of Matts workshop and how my parts were stored. ? However he gathered everything up, loaded the trailer and saved the day.

Not wanting to have my pants pulled down again I decided to visit James so we could talk face to face and check out his garage. I’m so pleased I did, his workshop and work was immaculate. I have absolutely zero concerns about his work and his integrity. 

So at the moment I stand around £1k  out of pocket by sending the car to Matt, a car with the front end in pieces and very few clues of how to put it back together.

On the plus side I now feel that my car is surrounded by professionals.

The next stage is to find a company to do the paint work. Again James has given me a few contacts and I’m awaiting details and prices.

A few pictures of how she currently stands. Structurally the bay is in fantastic condition, I want to get the caulking redone before paint but other than that there’s only minor surface rust. ??

James also wants to put a few more hours in to get the last parts out before sending to paint. ?

Hope all goes well this time mate. Keep the faith.

Such a shame this happened, really feel for you. Hopefully the Garage 24 guys sort you out. Had a look at their Instagram and appears they do really high standard work on some special cars to say the least - fingers crossed they find a decent body shop for you.

Your engine bay is in great condition which will save on rust repairs, so that's a bonus. 

That’s a real blow, good luck with the new people. Will be very nice when finished.

That’s some rotten luck dude! Glad you’ve found a resolve and are getting back on track. ?

Thanks guys. I’ve now found a new paint shop and she’s booked in for the second week of February. The paint shop is called Tytherington Body & Paint in Warminster, again they appear to be very professional. ?