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

And my crappy luck continues to flow…

Ive just been told by Garage24 that they’re not able to take the work on. 

So, if you want a job doing well I’ll have to do it myself. So after the paint shop has done their thing I’m getting the car dropped back to me.

I’ll then try and rearrange all the item, get what can be powder coated and plated, then put it back together myself ready for Jim to drop the forged engine, turbos, intercoolers and gear box.

Sadly I can see the car being ready for the summer now as I’ve also got to build an extension on the back of my house, and the wife will flip shit if I pie that job off for another year.

So now I need to find a How To on removing and refitting the front subframe and suspension assembly. Anyone able to point me in the right direction?

This is a great read if you have not seen it before.

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/thanks-everyone.15465/

FINALLY SOME REAL PROGRESS.

Luke at Tytherington Body & Paint has removed all the bits and bobs ready for the fully bare metal rub down. I finally feel the car is heading in the direction I want it to be going. ?

So glad you've managed to turn things around. They've done a good job there ?. Looking forward to the updates. 

3 minutes ago, Raja93 said:

So glad you've managed to turn things around. They've done a good job there ?. Looking forward to the updates. 

Thanks for your support. ?

Still a very long way to go but it’s great to finally get some good news.

Jim also contacted me to say the parts are ordered for the rebuild along with the “98 box and that he’s happy to store them until the cars ready. That was also a big weight off my mind.

1 hour ago, Chris300 said:

Thanks for your support. ?

Still a very long way to go but it’s great to finally get some good news.

Jim also contacted me to say the parts are ordered for the rebuild along with the “98 box and that he’s happy to store them until the cars ready. That was also a big weight off my mind.

Great news, glad you've gone with the 98 box, its a great way to improve reliability and future proof the Z. You will absolutely love how solid the shifter feel is, compared to an old box with worn out shifter bushings etc. 

What clutch have you gone with? or are you reusing existing clutch flywheel? 

27 minutes ago, Raja93 said:

Great news, glad you've gone with the 98 box, its a great way to improve reliability and future proof the Z. You will absolutely love how solid the shifter feel is, compared to an old box with worn out shifter bushings etc. 

What clutch have you gone with? or are you reusing existing clutch flywheel? 

 

In all honesty I don’t know the specifics of the build. ?

I gave Jim a budget with a brief of OEM+, stating that I want reliability over performance. 
So far we have;

”95 harness along with new trans and knock 
S2 PTU 
740cc Nismo injectors
“98 gearbox
forged piston set
Ams manifolds
8 new timing cover bolts
Z1 engine mounts
350z fork kit for smoother shifts
Stock turbo cartidges
Z1 high per clutch with light  action
New oil lines for turbos.
Timing belt
Gasket set
Z1 sidemount kit

 

and a load of ancillaries. Hopefully once it’s put back together we shouldn’t need to look under the hood again other than for servicing and show time.?

Jim just told me it’s this clutch. After suffering with a very heavy clutch previously I wanted something comfortable this time.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/z1-products/z1-motorsports/z1-300zx-twin-turbo-tt-performance-street-clutch-kit-p-1834.html?list_name=CategoryClutchandFlywheel&oid=1834%3A0%3A385%3A1&qid=034db3df7cf55ca547075456378bd4c8

Edited January 31, 20232 yr by Chris300

Sounds like a good solid list - can't go wrong with Jim's recommendations to be honest. Clutch looks decent and reviews are good. When I did mine, I just went and sat with him for a couple of hours, going through all the options. So much easier than when you're looking yourself, not knowing what's what!

Not having to pull apart the engine to fix leaks or niggles on a regular is something to really look forward to and will make you enjoy the Z so much more ?.

All back to metal, re-seamed with a primer on. ?

 

Hopefullyw colour goes on tomorrow. ?

Nice to see a proper bare metal job. Going to look fantastic once finished ?. 

20 minutes ago, Raja93 said:

Nice to see a proper bare metal job. Going to look fantastic once finished ?. 

Yup - what he said......

.....And that looks like an Aston DB4 in the background - and if so, then your Zed is in good company!

Great work Chris it will be worth it in the end mate.

Paint went down today, unfortunately the pictures are great but you can see the Pearl a little on some of them. Looks nice and lickable to me. ??

They're dropping the car back to me on Saturday. ?

That looks smashing mate ??

35 minutes ago, JaiKai said:

That looks smashing mate ??

Thanks Lee. I know Nissan didn’t bother to lay the paint down metallic and that there isn’t much area to enjoy the new colour but I think it’s worth the extra cost and effort to have it done properly. ?

Sweet ?

My goodness. My 300zx met the same fate with Matthew Hilliam who simply lied about progress and delivered no results. I eventually took back my car unfinished in pieces with thousands of pounds of stuff missing. Seems like this guy is a con man mechanic who doesn’t actually know what’s he’s doing and more or less just steals money and pretends it’s the fault of everyone and everything else. 

On 27/02/2023 at 06:54, DenisOtto said:

My goodness. My 300zx met the same fate with Matthew Hilliam who simply lied about progress and delivered no results. I eventually took back my car unfinished in pieces with thousands of pounds of stuff missing. Seems like this guy is a con man mechanic who doesn’t actually know what’s he’s doing and more or less just steals money and pretends it’s the fault of everyone and everything else. 

I guess it happens in every trade. Thankfully I wasn’t too deep financially with him as all his work was labour and I could see progress. All parts are being put through PowerZed whom I trust completely. 👍

Just had a great result with the 300zx. I complained to my credit card company that I felt I had had my pants pulled down by the arsehole that took my car apart and, after an investigation, they have credited my account the money I’d paid to him. 👍

As I’ve already said, it wasn’t a lot of money but it feels good to have got it back and it covers the transport costs of having to rescue it and drop it back to me.

Good to see that you got some recompense after all the grief you experienced dealing with that individual Chris.

Good news Chris.

Ok, it’s finally here, the RS6 is at a point where I can’t do anything else to the rear end suspension rebuild, my youngest Oscar is sleeping, my two other boys entertaining themselves and the wife is out.

 

🥳I CAN NOW WORK ON THE 300! 🥳

 

The problem is, where do I start? 🤪

We it’s finally starting to come together!

Last week the 300 and parts were collected and taken to a company that has done a number of jobs for me (replacing the head gasket and other work on the Toyota Alphard and a number of jobs on the RS6). They’re called DC Automotive and Tuning .

They have a passion and specialise in Japanese motors and seemed really excited to get involved in the 300. 🥳

Jimmer at PowerZed , who has been as patient as a saint, has also been in touch about the engine rebuild and is going to start work on this too.

I don’t hold out much hope that I’ll be driving her this season, as there’s a very long way to go, but it fills me with joy knowing that things are moving again. 😎

Morning all

So this build is making some progress again, although it’s not going to be attending any shows this year now. 😕

The latest stumbling block is a lack of communication from Greenline. So I’ve had everything I can powder coated and replaced up front but I’m struggling to get hold of the following parts. If anyone can point me in the right direction I’d be greatful.

Many thanks,

Chris.

•Mounting Tension rod bushes

•Arb bushes

• Front suspension upper link rh and lh

• Arb droplinks.