DJ_Party_Favor

What about the 2000spec cluster? Which came from the factory with a boost guage for the later style cluster. I retro fitted one into my 89 jdm model and its great. I had to tear down a 94+ cluster and swap in all the new 2kspec gauges and stuff and then rewire my 89 cluster connectors to make it all work and power on to suit the later style cluster.

Your correct the version r was a 2+2 model only. The 99spec side skirts for example only came out for the 2+2 model. Imo the best model with the best all round options package avaliable at tge time was tge 1994 models which is when nissan started to add all the later model upgrades to the 300zx. Such as airbag steering wheel, eletric hicas new plenum i think the new injectors new interior etc etc.

Yup your right, obliviously a optional extra item you had to pay extra for when buying the car brand new. Ive looked at heaps of auctioned 99spec 300zx from japan during my build research many years ago and all of the photos i could find showed only manual climate control pods on every single model but yeah.

Well funny enough the 99spec models never came out with digital climate control pods from what ive seen in photos. Also cruise control was not an option either. i personally wanted a 2000spec model but they doesnt exist over here in australia. So i turned my 1989 model into a 2000 spec version r model as much as i could.

Just spotted this youtube video of scotty kilmer, a big time mechanic youtuber talking about selling his toyota celica for a nissan 300zx. I've watched a few of his videos in the past for servicing tips and so forth and I know he tells it like it is and doesnt bullshit, so to see him praise how easy it is to work on our cars as well and recommend buying one to collect is great in my opinion. What do you guys think?

Its all about making more money with youtube im afraid. I myself are so tempted to try and start my own yt channel for my 300zx car but unfortunately unless i keep posting videos of all kinds of different cars like Tavarish, hoovier etc etc do, my video content will eventually become stale and boring to my viewers after so many months of just me fixing my z over and over again. I still might try one day but im not sure who would really watch my content as alot of the 300X specific youtubers posting atm, are all the same with these make my z a slammed tt swapped race car on a budget. As for this car and me being a purist that i am this build is not giving me goose bumps with the 2jz swap at all. I would have loved the guys rebuild the vg30 for crazy horsepower numbers and then a put in a nice wide body kit or something keeping it all z related. All this 2jz crap is not impressing me at all the vg30 can do the same its just that jared can build 2jz's alot more easierly then a vg30 which i believe jared wouldnt know how to rebuild and increase the horsepower to crazy numbers. Let me put it this way it would be like putting a ferrari engine in a lambo chassis, it would be just a silly idea which is why no one does it but because the 300zx is i duno old and cheap engine swaps are the only thing you can do with them. I love my vg30 na engine and i would never swap it for another engine ever all because its the engine nissan put into the car from the factory but each to there own i guess.

Episode 17 is Live In this episode, jared gets the 2jz engine fired up and idling on its own, he slices up the old 2jz wiring harness and strips it down to bare bones. He then jimmies the fuel pump system up to the engine harness and ECU and then fires the 2jz up.

Episode 16 is Live In this episode, jared finishes off with all the 2jz enigne related jobs to do before putting it back into earl leekers engie bay perminately. First job to do is install the clutch and flywheel kit and then bolt the transmission to the 2zj block. Next is modifying the exhaust manifold to allow better airflow for the massive single turbo setup in the car and then bolt everthing together. And to finish off, jared fills the 2jz engine with enigne oil and installing the fuel pump and piping in the car.

Episode 15 is Live In this episode, jared reinforces the chassis frame near the new exhaust pipe he fabricated last episode. then he pulls the 2jz enigne out of earl and discovers crappy repair work done on the LH side chassis frame from a accident earl has had in the past. Jared then cleans and paints the engine bay in spray can black to complete the engine bay look the guys are going for.

Episode 14 is Live In this episode, jared fabricates new custom engine mounts out of steel tubing and old hockey pucks as well as fabricates a side exhaust pipe.

No problems as we say Z content is Z content

Episode 12 is Live Due to jared's long commut to Tavarish shop, so the guys are putting Earl Leeker onto a trailer and then the car is being transffered to Jared's shop where more work can be done faster.

Episode 12 is Live The guys give the 2JZ engine a little bit of maintenance removing the top of the engine and checking things like the value seals and so forth. Once the engine is all back together we can get a sneak peek at the final engine layout in the bay which has also been slightly modified to make working on the engine in the future possible.

Episode 11 is Live In this episode the guys are test fitting the 2JZ engine into Earl Leeker's engine bay. Once inside the bay they can work out how the engine will need to be bolted into place in the Z's engine bay. Due to the 2JZ's longer block size, the engine sits way to far forward for the Z32's bay and so the guys plan to modify the bar alittle to make it reassembling the front of the engine possible and also use the rusted hole in the RH side wheel well as way to route the exhaust system out the side of the car.

Not really im a z purist so i dont like engine swaps at all on a z32 but each to their own.

Episode 10 is Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMxsd8nGNW4 Its a sad day for me on this episode Earl Leeker is getting his OEM VG30DE engine pulled so a crappy 2JZ motor can be dropped in all in the name of Horse Power:(. Apparantly the guys think the VG30 isn't ecomonical enough to produce the power they want for this build. Sigh The only positive that I found out of this episode was the fact the guys plan to tear down the VG30DE engine down in a future episode and show us all the parts of an engine.

Episode 9 is Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aR1uiKjvZE In this episode, jared is removing Earl Leeker's stock suspension shocks & coils and replacing them with a full set of "NEOMAX" coilovers. After the suspension overhaul Jared tries on Earl's future "Ultraform" wheel setup.

Episode 8 is Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg-rmaVY_UQ So for the first time we have 2 videos in 2 days and in this episode the guys are installing the rear qauter panel and side skirt addons for the wide body kit. Some fabrication was required to the wheel weels to to make the kit fit properly. Next episode the guys plan to do more mechanical work with the VH45 engine and maybe install it into the earl leeker.

Episode 7 is Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xrL0G3VVw After a long break, the guys have jump straight back into the Z project and this time they are installing a new wide body kit custom made by "pakmanz" to Earl 2.0. Though I have never heard of this famous Z person from over here in AUS, the body kit he has designed its pretty decent compared to some of the others I've seen over the years.

The only 2 items that i see of value on that car really is the front nose panel, the center console lid and the gear shifter all of which are oem smz parts

I could be wrong but i think that that ebay listing is of a fake smz model. Its missing the id plates from inside the car and in the engine bay. Its also missing the center shroud and foot pedals as well as the oem smz avs rims.

Having been a member of the aus300zx since 2006 i remember the hayday of the my forums and it was the best time to own a 300zx back then and i went on many Z cruises each year and the information in most of the threads back then were interesting and helpful. Nowdays the forums is a ghost town. Barely any new threads are been created and nothing really interesting happening at all. For me in victoria, going on Z cruises and tech days were one of the best things to do throughout the year. But those outings are now a thing of the past. The last cruise i went on was last year and before that was 3 years before. For me thats bad and such a shame. I dont have fb so i just have to wait for something to happen on the forums.

Episode 6 is Live In This Episode the VH45 engine gets removed from Earl 1.0.

Episode 5 Is Now Live:) The guys take a good look at the new Earl 2.0 and see exactly what condition this new Z is in. After attempting to start the car several times to no avail the guys pushed the car into position and got it up onto the lift where they found a few goodies including an unusual rusty but custom made cat back exhaust system and a decent sized rust hole under the battery tray.

Episode 4 Is Now Live Looks like Earl (first Z) is now no more, due to the long list of issues the car has the guys decided turn earl into a parts car. But the guys have brought a new Z this time a 2+0 NA and this one may be more original then the first Z but damn its still a pretty rough example. Hopefully they can turn this new Z into something decent.