Hi All,

 

I mentioned in various previous posts that I would start a thread about my new and first 300zx. I’ve copy and pasted an introduction that I posted in the newbie section a while back (with some updates) so you can get an overview of the car;

 

Almost two months ago at the spur of the moment I went and bought a lovely Jap spec blue 300zx TT Manual LWB with 98k miles.

 

An over view of the cars spec is;

- 390bhp tuned by ProTuner

- stock turbos and internals

- 800cc injectors, selin twin maf conversion

- Kakimoto mid and rear section exhausts

- aftermarket turbo elbows, downpipes, front pipes etc.

- 98 spec fairly new manual gearbox

- K Sport big front brakes, stock rears

- Veilside Andrews racing split rim wheels in gunmetal grey

- two tone grey/black leather seats, hicas lock out, fairly new polybushed rear end and BC Racing shocks. List goes on but that's some key bits from memory.

- 98k miles

- Has been very well maintained with a lever arch of service history from the previous owners.

 

I've got plenty of plans consisting of refreshing the car including modernising where possible to create an OEM+ look (no cheap chav bits don't worry).

 

The Zed was booked into the bodyshop 23rd March but sadly due to the coronavirus lockdown, these works are now postponed. The works were to fit;

 

- 99 spec front bumper

- Respray to bonnet, both front arches to get rid of peeling lacquer, drivers door, rear bumper and getting rid of surface rust to around rear lights/boot

- Replace side indicators with genuine Nismo clear indicators as existing clears ones seals have fallen apart

- Fit new trims that were missing between boot and rear lights

 

I’ll have all this done as soon as the lockdown is over and the bodyshop is back open.

 

I’ve got on the to do list the following;

 

- Source a 2nd hand AC compressor and get it reconditioned and then installed as the previous item exploded under the last owners ownership

- Full leather retrim as existing leather is cracking up/poor quality.

- Get a double din music system trim kit so I can fit a nice double din screen unit with modern features such as bluetooth etc. and also change all speakers

- Paint the stock rear Z32 brakes in black to match the K Sport fronts

- Sills need re-doing as they have rusted in areas from where its been jacked up in the wrong location!! Paint has obviously been damaged and flaked off leaving the bare metal to rust so will get this sorted

- Fit Michellin PS4 tyres when the current tyres have worn out

- Probably go for more power in about a years time maybe but for now coming from a 2 tonne 270bhp 4x4, 390bhp is more than enough to make me giggle.

 

I’ll start a new post with what I’ve done so far with photos of course!

 

Pics of the car when I bought it;

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I went OTT with getting both the BDE engine mounts and transmission mount. At idle the car vibrates too much, which although I don’t mind too much, I’d prefer it back the way it was. I used to have a Nismo transmission mount which had been on the car since before my ownership. Sold that to Lexx thinking I’ll never need it again - Doh! Sourced a shiny new replacement now from Amayama so all good. 

I haven’t brought the Z out since very early November. Once I get the tinware and bolts back, I will put it all back together and get her out and down to Jimmer for an oil change, general check over and swap out this transmission mount. Fingers crossed a nice summer to look forward to 😎. 

Edited April 7, 20232 yr by Raja93

Nice work mate. Zinc hardware does look nice.

Sounds like the right choice on the trans mount too. Comfort is important.

On 05/04/2023 at 20:28, Raja93 said:

Top tip with your Z1 silicon boost hoses. As you have a very stock looking engine bay, you can maintain that look by sliding the sleeves from the OEM boost hoses over the Z1 hoses. I have the same hoses as you…
 

Quote

Amazing work mate, great to see the car looking so well.

 

20 hours ago, Joely P said:

Top tip with your Z1 silicon boost hoses. As you have a very stock looking engine bay, you can maintain that look by sliding the sleeves from the OEM boost hoses over the Z1 hoses. I have the same hoses as you…
 

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the tip 🙂. On another note, what brand is your brake stopper? Need to get ahold of one. 

On 07/04/2023 at 18:11, Raja93 said:

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the tip 🙂. On another note, what brand is your brake stopper? Need to get ahold of one. 

I think it’s 300degree.

I get more excited about this type of stuff, than the big works like the engine build. 

Both the metal platers and powdercoaters turned it around quicker than quoted, and at great prices, so very happy. 

Oh so shiny 😍….

Finished putting the engine bay back together this morning and got out on the road. Went straight to Shell and filled up with V power and pumped tyres up. Bought one of those fancy Ctek battery chargers which reconditioned it and fully charged before I got her out. Started right up trouble free. Few pics of the engine bay below. Hard to appreciate the new powder coated bits and zinc coated bolts without seeing it in person. 

Driving it was absolutely glorious. Forgot the attention this thing gets - within a few hours had 3 different people talking to me about it!

God Dam I missed driving the beast 😍. 

Going down to Jimmers in May for an oil change, swap transmission mount to a Nismo one, replace the power steering J hose as I noticed that’s cracking at the bottom of the power steering tank and to re seal the coolant hose from the engine to rad, which seems to be seeping at the join. Noticed my original transmission mount had some corrosion on the mating faces so dropped to the powdercoaters to get blasted and refinished and ordered all new hardware. 

That’ll be it for Z spending this year as I am absolutely skint now!! 😅. Now time to drive and enjoy 😎. 

Lovely pics of your car's engine bay Raj. Very much looking forward to seeing your car in the metal soon.

1 hour ago, AndrewG said:

Lovely pics of your car's engine bay Raj. Very much looking forward to seeing your car in the metal soon.

Thanks 🙂 and likewise Andrew, be great to see you and your beautiful Z - it's been too long!

That looks amazing, hats off to you dude.

Looks fantastic buddy well done… like you say enjoy it while you can 👍

Outstanding bud😎👍

A real credit to you mate that engine bay is out standing.

Plenum looks spotless, was that sprayed silver or was it shot blasted to clean it up ?

 

 

For reference - you can achieve very respectable results with this product:

https://www.frost.co.uk/frost-ali-clean-alloy-aluminium-castings-cleaner/

The product is great at cleaning aluminium castings such as plenums and I've used it on a number of occasions with excellent results.

Very little effort is required, just spray on and work in with a stiff nylon bristled brush and leave for a few minutes then

rinse with water. The result above was achieved with three applications.

My plenum was previously polished, and has very badly tarnished, tried to give it a clean but it still looks terrible.

 

Its the only part i'm not good with and was looking for a company to do it for me.

9 hours ago, JaiKai said:

Plenum looks spotless, was that sprayed silver or was it shot blasted to clean it up ?

 

 

Jimmer painted it as part of the rebuild process, along with some other engine bay bits like the balance bar, so best to ask him for paint specs. I guess he just deep cleaned, light prep and paint only - it looks very OEM. The results Andrew shows with that product looks like the same finish as mine is TBH. I do like the polished look but no way I could stomach having to maintain the finish! I'd say spray it or powder coat it. 

Edited May 2, 20232 yr by Raja93

26 minutes ago, Raja93 said:

Jimmer painted it as part of the rebuild process, along with some other engine bay bits like the balance bar, so best to ask him for paint specs. I guess he just deep cleaned, light prep and paint only - it looks very OEM. The results Andrew shows with that product looks like the same finish as mine is TBH. I do like the polished look but no way I could stomach having to maintain the finish! I'd say spray it or powder coat it. 

I was going to powder coat mine but how would you do the throttle bodies?

15 hours ago, JaiKai said:

I was going to powder coat mine but how would you do the throttle bodies?

I have seen chrome powder coats being done. You could chrome powder the plenum and just focus on the TBs for manual polishing perhaps?

21 hours ago, JaiKai said:

I was going to powder coat mine but how would you do the throttle bodies?

I seem to remember on Funkysi's engine bay refresh thread that he dismantled the throttle bodies completely by taking apart the linkage rod (that connects both TB's) and the flaps themselves, so he could bore out the TB's. I guess you would have to go to that extent in stripping them apart, then tape up the openings of course and get the outsides powder coated to match the plenum. 

Chrome powder coating not a bad shout by Peage. Had a thought that chrome plating may be an option but came across this thread, which highlights possible heat dissipation issues with plating (makes sense tbh): 

 

Went down to PowerZed on Wednesday, left at 5:30am with my friends driving my daily down in a convoy. Always a good drive down the M4 😁. Got my oil and filter changed, power steering J hose swapped for a genuine item, coolant leak fixed which was due to my original rad to engine coolant pipe pitting by the hose join, letting fluid seep out and my BDE transmission mount swapped for a new Nismo one.

My old transmission mount was powdercoated and new hardware was sourced, so all fitted squeaky clean. I polished the beautiful Kakimoto exhausts with some Autosol, whilst they were off the car and they look brand new again!

Dropped the Z off at the bodyshop afterwards to:-

- refix the targa A pillar rubber which wasn’t put on right on the passenger side

- fit replacement tail lights as my original ones cracked when the tuner left it out for a month in last years august heatwave

- fix the drivers side sill which the tuner bent, minor straightening of the passenger one

- sort some heat damage to the T bar area paint from last august and polish out some lacquer burn.

They’ll finish it off by a 3 stage polish to the areas not PPF’d (from the doors and back) and new ceramic coating. 

Hoping to pick up next weekend and enjoy for the rest of summer 😍😀. Jim donated a used engine harness bracket for the left of the plenum as the loom is loose currently - worried it may damage the left strut tower paint from rubbing. Going to powdercoat and fit it soon. Got a plan to refinish all the throttle linkages - Jim suggested he could send me some spare bits he’s got so I can refinish at my local metal platers, then I can go down to him to simply swap it all over, rather than have any downtime. 
 

 

 

Edited May 14, 20232 yr by Raja93

Jim must hate working on these tatty Zeds 😂 

I miss the car more every time I see your posts mate!