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Hi everybody,

my name is Owen, thought id say hello as im hopefully going to be buying a 300zx soon. Im looking at one later on today, its a twin turbo auto, 74k miles k reg import. Ive always wanted one of these cars and made the mistake last year of settling for my second choice of a 200sx and throwing money at it to get it to stage 2. Got bored of it and got rid. Before that i had a mk3 supra 3l turbo which was a really nice drive and i missed it quite a bit.

Im not going to bother with all that modding business this time round, just exhaust and some nice rims and leave the car standard apart from that.

 

Ive read the buyers guide on here so i know roughly what to lookout for but if anyones got any extra pointers it would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

Featured Replies

Hello and welcome! :) Good luck on the Zed hunt....

 

If you search you'll see loads of threads with pointers ;)

Hello and welcome to the nut house.

 

Good luck with the hunt. If there is anything wrong with the car you are looking at today then walk away. They can cost a lot of money if they are a wrong un.

 

Darrell

Welcome Bud :D

 

Everything has already been said really, just make sure you spend a little extra on a good one as in the long run it will save you money! :)

Welcome and good luck with your purchase.

 

There are a LOT and I mean a LOT of rough examples out there unfortunately, try to avoid buying the first you see, however tempting, unless your certain it really its a gem.

 

Most expensive problems your likely to encounter is Engine damage from overheating, turbo seal failure and Autobox failure. So be sure that there are no leaks, no smoke and that the box changes quickly and smoothly.

 

Being an Import there is much less chance of there being body corrosion, but if its been in the Uk for a number of years the dreaded rust could of taken hold - Check the rear part of the sills, the metal under the rear bumper just behind back wheel, and along the welds near the suspension turrets in engine bay,

 

Also bear in mind that the 60k cambelt service will cost you around £500 from a specialist (or £1000 from nissan dealer) so make sure its been done.

Edited by Yowser

  • Author
Being an Import there is much less chance of there being body corrosion, but if its been in the Uk for a number of years the dreaded rust could of taken hold - Check the rear part of the sills, the metal under the rear bumper just behind back wheel, and along the welds near the suspension turrets in engine bay,

 

apparantly its been in the uk only 4 years so hopefully it wont have got rusty yet, but ill have a good look in those spots you mentioned. The dash is still jap spec i suppose as its in kmh and hasnt got psi for the oil or boost gauges. There does appear however to be after market gauges in that hopefully will indicate those values in numbers i understand.

 

Also bear in mind that the 60k cambelt service will cost you around £500 from a specialist (or £1000 from nissan dealer) so make sure its been done.

 

I was aware that a cam belt for one of these wasnt a quick job but apparantly this one was done 7k miles ago, i wont be taking his word for it if he hasnt got a reciept/bill then ill be walking. Mind you it might be in jap if it was done before export and could be a order for sweet and sour chiken for all I know

 

Thanks

  • Author
btw... according to babelfish, this is sweet and sour chicken in japanese...

 

甘酸っぱい鶏

 

hope this helps

 

Ideal, thanks for that, the reciept he had for the cam belt wasnt all that convincing. It was on headed paper from 4 years ago (about 7k miles) but the belt was priced at £24 and the labour was £48 so im highly suspicious of that. I took the phone number from the bill and will ring them tomorrow to see if they can shed any light on it.

 

Anyway, very slight smoke on start up looked normal to me, no noticeable smoke under boost and none at idel after a bit of a caning. I didnt see any rust whatsoever anywhere but the sills were covered.

It did have slight vibration on the steering wheel at around 80mph but none under baking.

 

The 3 gauges in the centre console didnt work and i dont know what they are for, any ideas?

 

escort038.jpg

 

I would like opinions though on the gauges as i dont know the conversion but the arrows ive put on indicate the min and max positions of the needles.

 

dash.jpg

 

I think im hooked, beautiful car lovely drive/sound.

  • Author

forgot to mention, the guy said "oh theres some gizmo in the boot that isnt plugged in, dunno what it is though" and there sat an electronic boost controller. niice.

welcome to the club mate. the position of the needles looks pretty much spot on. i take it the oil pressure goes a fair bit higher when cold - but for normal running they look ok to me.

i may stand corrected but the 3 gauges look like water temp, oil temp and boost (not sure what the oil pressure would be tho)

welcome lefty where abouts are you in pz? Im in hayle if I can help.

 

dan.:smash:

  • Author

Hi dannyzx, im in crowlas actually not quite penzance. I might take you up on that offer, i wanted to get an opinion on the oil and boost gauge readings but apart from that i think ill be a proud new owner if matey hasnt flogged it before i get back to him.

no worries, Im still learning so Im a bit got all the gear and no idea at the moment but Im getting there:rofl: you got retro who is in pz as well, got the conzult so can check for faults ect.

 

dan.:smash:

no worries, Im still learning so Im a bit got all the gear and no idea at the moment but Im getting there:rofl: you got retro who is in pz as well, got the conzult so can check for faults ect.

 

dan.:smash:

 

learning my ass you tell me whats wrong with your car :D

learning my ass you tell me whats wrong with your car :D

 

what can I say your a good teacher!xx

 

dan.:smash:

  • Author

I just rang the number for the garage and some fella answered, even at this time of night. He rekons it was done but said the regardless of the miles it should be done soon anyway because its been 4 years. That probably sounds about right to me whats the general opinion ?

I just rang the number for the garage and some fella answered, even at this time of night. He rekons it was done but said the regardless of the miles it should be done soon anyway because its been 4 years. That probably sounds about right to me whats the general opinion ?

 

worth a look, I took all advise and went to manchester for mine and fell in love with it as soon as i saw parked in the chaps drive. drove it home and blew the engine up the following week:headvswal

 

dan.:smash:

Not sure on teh Z but most belts are xxK miles or 4 years whichever is sooner...i.e even if it had done 10 miles if its been 4 years then worth changing as rubber corrodes and breaks down too!!

And there's some other stuff which should be done at the same time obviously as it's the BIG service. And other stuff it's considered wise to do that's not on the schedule - water pump or something etc etc

  • Author
And there's some other stuff which should be done at the same time obviously as it's the BIG service. And other stuff it's considered wise to do that's not on the schedule - water pump or something etc etc

 

Right thanks people, im picking it up tomorrow and i rekon ill just drive it till the next mot and if its not a knackered rusty pile of junk by then ill get it sorted. Ill post some pics when i pick her up:hyper:

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