Evening all.

 

Just signed up. Looking to purchase my very first Z. Been hankering for one for a while. Selling my current car to make way for one.

 

Well, I'm sure 1.4 million similar threads of this nature have been posted before. But though I'd not bump old threads with my questions, so I started afresh.

 

Looking primarily to buy a Fairlady rather than a UK spec Z which seem to be few and far between, especially with low mileage. SWB model would be my choice, but those fetch above my budget really and are also seldom available.

 

Choice now is a manual version, in preferably Silver, Red or pearl white.

 

Now I don't know much about them unfortunately, I've tried doing some research, but thought it best to ask every day owners what problems they suffer from and how they generally feel about the cars.

 

I understand that prices for spares can be astronomical, which is not so bad as it will only be a second car and shan't be modifying it to a great degree.

 

What I'd like to know is what are the trouble spots with the car? I gather that rear diffs are costly and do go wrong. Generally the standard engines are really reliable, but turbos can suffer along with bottom ends.

 

Is there anything else I need to look for?

 

I've been speaking to 'Amplified-Performance' about getting a suitable low mileage Z for me from Japan. Saw one last week, but unfortunately it's already been sold. I'm after a totally standard one, as little modifications as possible.

 

Any info thrown this way for a newbie would be greatly appreciated...we all have to start somewhere I guess.

 

Cheers for reading.

 

Si :)

If you suscribe i am positive a member who lives by you would be more than willing to come and see a Z with you before you buy it, as 99.9% of the people on this forum are top people.

Many thanks. I may well do that. Once my current car is sold and I have a total budget, that looks like the ideal thing to do...but if I buy blind through an agent, that may not be possible.

You will be waiting for a while as manuals are not common and SWB are even less common, but they are out there.

 

But in the mean time go look at some 2+2 so you will get an idea of what you are looking out for.

 

Good luck with the search.

All i am saying is be carefull, I bought the first Z i saw because it just looked a thing of beauty and sounded great, and it cost me a small fortune to put right. But weell worth it in the end. :) :) :)

Cheers SRRAE, Amplified-Performance last week had 3 manual versions and when I spoke to the agent last week, they said they'd be able to get me one if I wanted.

 

I know they are relatively rare, but I'd rather hold out for a manual one really. SWB isn't really feasable as they are, as you say, very rare. Moreover, they go for more than I currently want to spend on one, so that idea is shelved.

Welcome :D

 

Your just down the road from me. Keep an eye out in the South West meets section for furture meets, and come along to JAE at the end of July and meet everyone from the club.

 

I'll try and write a more coherent reply to some of your questions when Im a little less drunk, tomorrow ;)

Welcome Si

 

Glad you're looking for a Z - they're an absolute stunner.

 

Just make sure you buy a good one - regardless of wheelbase and gearbox. There's a few nails out there - but plenty of nice ones too. Get a decent one and you'll be chuffed whatever model it is.

Morning mate. As already said, a UK SWB manual (and i suppose a TT) is the rarest Z you can get (perhaps apart from the convertible of course) and it may be better to look at a few LWBs and choose a decent one of them, as opposed to waiting for an SWB and it turning out to be a dawg. There's not a vast amount of difference between the two - better a good LWB than an arse SWB. Don't even think about not taking a forum member with you to see it tho :D

Heres a link to our buyers guide mate: http://www.300zx.co.uk/tech/BuyingZ.htm

 

I too would get a zed as standard as possible and then do any mods urself. , Im sure if u look about you shouldnt have too much trouble finding a SWB, I noticed there seems to be a few about lately.

 

Lastly if possible id deffo advise to get a Zed from a member on here , At least u will know what you are getting and can also look on the sellers posts for any past history problems. Or if you are off to look at a zed there are various people who will go with you, Either members as a favour or Mechanics in the traders section ( i can personallly recommend ryan @ ztech who will offer u a second to none inspection service and is a top bloke as many on here will tell you!!) They know eactly what to look for and at least u wont buy a dud , As these cars can be VERY costly to sort if you get a knakered ones. Its deffo worth paying the money and gettin a professional opinion ( I did when i saw my 1st one and it came back that it was a right doozy !! But looked and sounded lovely!! Just goes to show you!)

 

Ol and the rear diffs are bulletproof mate , So dunno who told you otherwise !!

And regards colour Excellent choice with silver , you will so find out that SILVER ones are the fastest about !! :dance: :dance:

So good luck mate and enjoy !!

.....I understand that prices for spares can be astronomical, which is not so bad as it will only be a second car and shan't be modifying it to a great degree...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Yeah, thats what I said :rofl: :rofl:

 

Welcome to the club, you'll soon get the bug mate :D . One day you'll look back and remember the day you said that, that's just after you've spent thousands modifying it :D ;)

SWB, manual - way to go mate :) Are you looking for a TT or NA??

 

As has already been said take your time and look at a few, preferably with a forum member.

 

Parts aren't too bad as there are a lot of people selling secondhand or breaking.

Fuel economy from my NA= 23-25 mpg and insurance = £330 fully comp on a Classic Car policy. Car is used a daily driver as well :dance:

 

Good luck in your search and don't forget some pix once your sorted.

Thanks for the warm welcome chaps, much appreciated.

 

Legrath, where abouts are you just out of interest?

 

Craig David, yeah, I am not ‘too’ fussy, but really do want a manual version.

 

Skylinedave, yeah, I am going to settle for a LWB version, more than happy with those anyway.

 

karlosg, thanks for the link, interesting info there. Yup, do want a standard on, even if I do lightly mod it, I’ll want it to be my taste, so will steer clear of vehicles with HUGE rear wings, fibreglass bodykits and such like.

 

Anyone have any other recommendations as to good sources for reasonably priced cars? My budget for the car initially is around £4,000 not an awful lot, but should be able to pick up a lowish mileage Fairlady for that from what I’ve seen.

 

LOL @ Daves new ZX....well yeah, I’m sure I’ll end up doing a few things to it, not much though. Some replacement wheels, uprated suspension and maybe a larger I/C.

 

PS, I've not actually driven a TT version. Whilst at university many moons ago, I did have a job working at 'Motorway' in Southampton and got chance to drive quite a lot of vehicles. Fell in love with the GTO which is also a 3.0 V6 TT, not as keen on the shape as the Z of which I only drove an N/A (still nice). So need to have a drive in one really at some point.....which is tricky.

do a local search on auto trader and see if there's one near you at a garage. and take it for a spin.

oh and welcome to the club

Thanks for the warm welcome chaps, much appreciated.

 

Legrath, where abouts are you just out of interest?

 

Craig David, yeah, I am not ‘too’ fussy, but really do want a manual version.

 

Skylinedave, yeah, I am going to settle for a LWB version, more than happy with those anyway.

 

karlosg, thanks for the link, interesting info there. Yup, do want a standard on, even if I do lightly mod it, I’ll want it to be my taste, so will steer clear of vehicles with HUGE rear wings, fibreglass bodykits and such like.

 

Anyone have any other recommendations as to good sources for reasonably priced cars? My budget for the car initially is around £4,000 not an awful lot, but should be able to pick up a lowish mileage Fairlady for that from what I’ve seen.

 

LOL @ Daves new ZX....well yeah, I’m sure I’ll end up doing a few things to it, not much though. Some replacement wheels, uprated suspension and maybe a larger I/C.

 

PS, I've not actually driven a TT version. Whilst at university many moons ago, I did have a job working at 'Motorway' in Southampton and got chance to drive quite a lot of vehicles. Fell in love with the GTO which is also a 3.0 V6 TT, not as keen on the shape as the Z of which I only drove an N/A (still nice). So need to have a drive in one really at some point.....which is tricky.

 

 

The t/t will certainly put a smile on ur face mate !!!

Morning mate. As already said, a UK SWB manual (and i suppose a TT) is the rarest Z you can get (perhaps apart from the convertible of course) and it may be better to look at a few LWBs and choose a decent one of them, as opposed to waiting for an SWB and it turning out to be a dawg. There's not a vast amount of difference between the two - better a good LWB than an arse SWB. Don't even think about not taking a forum member with you to see it tho :D

 

SWB are all imports - UK LWB only I think.

Yeah, uk = 2+2 TT only, all with leather (iirc).

Oh & welcome to the forum mate, good luck in your search for

a z, hold out for a good'un, keep looking, they are out there!

Good luck with the search mate.

Beautiful cars.

I looked at the GTO as well - really wanted one of them but couldn't see a good one.

Frirst time I sat in a Z wasn't a good experience - not comfortable at all.

Almost didn't buy one but loved the looks and performance.

Got lucky that I bought mine from a guy that knows a bit about them.

Even after I got it - took about a fortnight of fiddling with the seat to get comfy.

Taking longer than that to get use to the power. :)

My own experience of problems - check the exhaust is ok, expensive.

Check for power steering leaking - mine is, currently topping up every two weeks.

That'sit for now.

Usual checks apply for any used car, but check them well.

What I'd like to know is what are the trouble spots with the car? I gather that rear diffs are costly and do go wrong. Generally the standard engines are really reliable, but turbos can suffer along with bottom ends.

 

Is there anything else I need to look for?

 

 

Morning Si and welcome to the forum.

 

As everyone has said already, get a good one and you'll have very little trouble as they are generally reliable cars. But as with any car of 10-15 years old, especially a high performance car, you must expect some things to give up.

 

I've not heard anything bad about the rear diff :confused:

Engines are pretty tough as are the turbos but the latter's life expectancy is down to use and servicing intervals. If the turbos are properly warmed up before hard use, then left to cool down properly and you change the oil every 3-4K miles using good synthetic oil they should last 120K+ miles no problem.The weak spot in the turbos are the rear oil seals.

 

Take your time and look for a good one - buy the best you can afford as a cheap ZX will cost you much more in repairs sooner than you think! Look in the cars for sale section here - buying from a forum member is always a good idea as it will have been looked after properly.

 

Good luck

 

Richard :cool:

Morning all, once again, thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks also for all the information.

 

What I meant by the rear diff, was actually the rear wheel steering….badly worded, sorry. But since no one’s touched on the subject, I gather this system is pretty reliable too.

 

Well, I seem to have provisionally sold my current car, so with a few pounds lurking somewhere, my budget for a car will be from around 4,500 – 5,000. Now looking at some of the cars for sale on Autotrader….and seemingly on here, I should be able to get a very good one for that price. Would that seem realistic?

 

Like I said, I want as close to standard as possible, with main preference being manual transmission.

 

With regards to synthetic oil on older engines (unless rebuilt), could this not cause problems, especially with turbo seals? Fully synthetic is too thin in some applications and can sometimes seep through the seals. Does anyone find this?

Morning all, once again, thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks also for all the information.

 

What I meant by the rear diff, was actually the rear wheel steering….badly worded, sorry. But since no one’s touched on the subject, I gather this system is pretty reliable too.

Hello bud, You mean the Hicas system ;) no one really has a problem with the system not working correctly, its just alot of us have it taken off because we want to be in control of the car not the other way round ;)

"Hope you find the Z you are looking for" (OB1 Knobe voice) :D take a good look at a few of them is all i am going to say.

:D But SWB TT Manual in BLACK is the Z you want....:bow: :rofl: