Z32 ADAMZX's OEM+ 2000spec Version R Replica Conversion & Rebuild Project Build Thread

Discussion in 'Member's Garage' started by ADAMZX, Sep 18, 2022.

  1. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Me:
    Adam, born 1983, interests include movies, cars, computers and video games.

    Personal Information:
    Married to my beautiful wife Pauline in 2013, our first child Sebastian was born in 2014 and our second child Alessia was born in 2018.

    Current Job Employment:
    Working as a Retail Team Leader (RTL) for Repco Auto Parts, currently stationed at the Roxburgh Park store since 2016.

    300ZX Experience:
    Z32 enthusiast and novice mechanic since 2006.

    Model:
    12/89 Japanese Domestic Model (series I) None turbo 2+2 Automatic. chassis #GZ32-003944

    Build Description:
    Complete 2000 model retrofit and OEM+ restoration

    Mileage:
    Purchased with 97,220km and when I began this build project, the car had reached 190,483km

    Body Colour:
    OEM Metallic Silver (Paint Code: #673). resprayed in 2012 in same Metallic Silver.

    Bodykit:
    Complete OEM 2000 model body styling retrofit.

    Engine Type:
    OEM 3.0 Litre V6 2960 cc (Code: VG30DE) original engine.

    Transmission Type:
    Purchased with 4 Speed Automatic (Code #re4r01a). Replaced in 2007 and then replaced again in 2017

    Interior Colour:
    Purchased with original Grey Tweed (Code #G), retrofitted with OEM Blue Velour (series II) interior 2012.

    Arrival modifications:
    NOS Sticker on interior rear view mirror, otherwise bone stock fresh import from Japan.

    Bad parts on arrival:
    Cracked front bumper bar, plenty of minor scratches and marks on OEM body paint work, badly rusted battery tray, damaged drivers seat side bolster, missing OEM scissor jack and tool kit, no OEM stereo installed and the dashboard had the common lifted demister vent damage

    Date of purchase:
    September 2006

    Build Project Start Date:
    January 2012 to November 2021

    Build Budget:
    For Parts the budget was unlimited from 2007-2012 (estimated spend was around $60k-$70k)

    For paint/bodywork the budget was strictly $5k no more.

    Between 2012 to 2021 the budget for the build had diminished to almost nothing, with only essential repairs and general maintenance allowed to be spent on the car.

    My 300ZX’s Story:
    The 300zx was been a car that I fell in love with back in 1997 after playing the original Gran Turismo video game on my PlayStation gaming console as a young 14 year old, with the car’s stunning futuristic aerodynamic body styling being the biggest factor of why I love the 1990 Nissan 300ZX Z32 model.

    [​IMG]

    In 2006 after several years of looking, I finally found an affordable 1989 Nissan 300ZX Z32 to buy in a none turbo 2+2 automatic configuration which had recently been imported into Australia that same year from Japan. I purchased the car for $7550, and it was the biggest day in my life up to that point and I remember having the biggest smile on my face the whole trip home as I was thrilled to finally own my very own Nissan 300ZX.

    [​IMG]

    Over the next 5 years of ownership, I learned a great deal about the ins and outs regarding the Nissan 300ZX and the community that supports it. I attended many community events including tech days and several victorian based car cruises to places like the Great Ocean Road and the Goldfields to name a few. Over those 5 years I have also had the pleasure of meeting a great many amazing and passionate Z32 owners who like me love this car for what it is, a great and unquie japanese sports car. I am glad to have meet them and they will always be life friends to me.

    [​IMG]

    When I purchased my nissan 300ZX, I quickly developed a desire to not just restore my 300zx over time but I also wanted to upgrade it to that of the latest 300ZX model Nissan had ever produced, that being the 2000 Version R 300ZX model sold only in Japan, and are an uncommon sight to see here in Australia and still to this day.

    [​IMG]

    To complish my goal I spent 10's of thousands of dollars sourcing and collecting brand new, rare and optional OEM 300ZX Z32 parts from the United States and Japan over the span of 4 years in an attempt to create the world’s first fully optional Nissan 300ZX that could have ever existed.

    [​IMG]

    In 2012 I had to begin the build phase of the project ahead of sechdule as my partner and I were in the process of organising our wedding day and honeymoon events that following year and so in order for me to help out with paying for some parts of the wedding, I stopped my part sourcing efforts and began the complex task of planning out the dismantling and reassembling phase of the project.

    It took me 12 months of hard work to strip down my car and then reassemble it using all of the new and used parts that I had been sourcing over the last 4 years to make it as close to a 2000 special edition model as I could. I was extremely proud of the amazing work my Dad and I had accomplished with the build and I brought the car to its first official outing on the 2012 GOR cruise and the response from the community was very positive and lots of intrigue.

    [​IMG]

    After 2012, my new and improved daily driver was driven as much as possible, almost everyday. The car collected over 100,000 kms after 10 years of driving and though the car was basically finished, I still managed to find more and more rare and optional parts as the years past by and depending on finances new additions to the car we installed but the car remained as is for last 11 years or so.

    My 300ZX’s Big Accident 2021:

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C1grLg1adv8

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/i4WgxyzfhJk

    Rebuild Project Start Date:
    November 2021 - ongoing

    Rebuild Budget:
    Insurance payout was $8k after the accident, but the budget has since blown out to an additional $2k with more finances required to complete the rebuild.

    Rebuild Project Plans:
    Obliviously the main goal of the rebuild is to get the car back to a drivable state and repair the damage, so the car will look like it did before the accident occured. I also feel this is a golden opportunity for me to continue finishing off my original build project that I never really finished back in late 2012.
     
    geron and MintZ32 like this.
  2. lidz

    lidz Well-Known Member

    Great to finally see a build thread Adam, looking forward to following this & your rebuild journey!
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  3. MintZ32

    MintZ32 Active Member

    I'll be following along Adam! good luck to you and the youtube growth!
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  4. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 1) 2022

     
    lidz and BigCol like this.
  5. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 2) 2022

     
    lidz likes this.
  6. badxtc

    badxtc kirby's bitch

    good to see your still around adam , shame about the accident , but youll be back better then ever ,
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  7. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Thanks alex, i definately learned a valuable lesson thats for sure and I hope I never have to go through that kind of thing every again. But I'll always be here, as I will never sell my pride and joy, unless it was completely totalled and couldnt be repaired. If that did happened, I would just buy another 300ZX to replace it as the 300ZX is my dream car, I couldnt imagine my life without this awesome cool sports car in my life, and when I finally finish making my first full length video about my 300ZX origins story, you'll see how much the 300ZX means to me and how this amazing car literally changed my life forever.

    Incase any of you who havent checked out either my instagram page and or youtube channel yet, here are direct links to each of my social media channels and if you would like to help support my project, you can follow or subscribe to me and whenever I post up any kind of updates about the car, you'll be notified straight away.

    My youtube Channel

    Instagram: @adamzx_z32
     
    geron and badxtc like this.
  8. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 3) 2022

     
  9. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 4) 2022

     
  10. jimmeyz

    jimmeyz Member

    I called Nissan recently, about the Xenon headlights, apparently there are six right hand side headlights in stock. I can't remember if they were at Nissan Melbourne or Japan, if that helps.
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  11. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Thanks for the the suggestion jim, i made enquiries with carcraze back when i first was hunting for a brand new set but they comfirmed to me that according to them, that all of the xenon headlights were now discontinued from nissan, so i had to opt for the other options mentioned in my video.

    Nearly a year later now and i am happy with how things have ended up, as i not only have had the lights repaired but i also have had them restored and also modified to make them look as exotic as say a lamborighini diablo headlight would be but more on that later.
     
  12. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 5) 2022

     
    MintZ32 likes this.
  13. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 6)

     
  14. MORBOOST

    MORBOOST Active Member

    stillen panel looks good, why us spec reinforcement?
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  15. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    You and me both mate, after deciding against the louvered nose panel design back in 2012, i have now enbraced it fully and i cant wait to see how the new front end will now look once assembled. This will include the now repaired xenon headlights with carbon fiber lambo trim covers, stillen smz nose panel and a twinz type 2 front lip to really enhance the oem look of my car.

    As for why i went with the usdm reo bar setup, it was more of a case of showing people something different, as i never really looked into the differences between the us and jdm reo bars and i liked how the shock absorber mounts design inserted inside the frame rail making the hole in the front of the frames mean something.

    I also figured replacing the usdm reo bar would be alot easier in the future as places like ebay and z1 motoraports seem to have a plentiful supply of them to source from, if i was ever in another accident like this again (knock on wood).
     
  16. lidz

    lidz Well-Known Member

    Nice progress Adam, must be very happy with how it's coming together
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  17. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    I differently am tim, i am really excited to see the finished product when the car is finally fully repaired and back on the road once again. But there is so much work still to do and my initial goal is to finish the car when my new townhouse is finally built which is about 7 months away from happening. So i really need to make an effort over the next 7 months to get this car finished before then.

    Im also enjoying the content making process and i know these shorts videos arn't exactly ground breaking entertainment for you guys to watch but its a stepping stone for me to learn the ropes of content creation and i have learned a ton over the past year about why, how and when to make videos for the rebuild project. I still have so much more to learn when it comes to making full length videos which i cant wait to start production on which will include more footage, more technical information, tips and tricks, and how to guides all part of my dedication to this amazing japanese sports car but also to the 300zx community in general.
     
    MintZ32 likes this.
  18. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Rebuilding my Nissan 300ZX (Part 7)

     
    harty and ZOE NZX300 like this.
  19. MORBOOST

    MORBOOST Active Member

    hows this coming along keeping the dream alive?
     
    ADAMZX likes this.
  20. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Yes of course I'm not going anywhere and the project is still ongoing, I'm more focused then ever to get my car back on the road.

    So my current goal is to have the car back on the road by the end of June this year but I doubt I'm going to hit that mark, but I'm going to try.

    I have been posting most of my recent updates on Instagram, as I find it a lot easier to post content there currently then trying to create any sort of video content ATM but I am trying to film as much as I can and though I am filming kinda all over the place with what I'm working on from week to week, I'm hoping I'll get better at the art of filming things and be able to make high quality 300zx in the future.

    For a brief progress report on the car, the painting process has gone really well and I can't thank my dad enough for his efforts getting most of the paint work done by himself mind you. All that's left to do at this point is time, is wet sanding and polishing the paint to a high glossy finish, which of course will just take time for my dad and I get perfect the finish but once it's done it's full steam ahead with the reassemble phase of the rebuild.

    I have also been working on figuring out and test fitting several new parts I plan to install on the car, like the 2kspec intercooler ducts for the front bar and the early model horns covers to name a few.

    A lot of the old OEM fasteners and brackets that came off the car I've found have deteriorated and formed rust. So I've been chemically de-rusting and super cleaning everything and it's been really amazing to see parts go into a solution and came out almost brand new but I've been looking into replacing a lot of my old OEM fasteners with titanium or stainless steel ones to make sure they will last the test of time instead of rusting on me again.

    And lastly I've been spending a lot of time organizing all of my car parts and trying to group everything in their own sections from the parts fiche. This was done to help reducing the overwhelming scale of the rebuild and better prepare me for when I'm finally ready to reassemble my car back together again. If I achieve my goal with this, I'm hoping I might be able to get the car finish over the span of a weekend if I'm lucky.

    It's just taking me tons and tons of time like all car projects do, I keep putting huge goals in front of me trying to achieve things no other 300zx owner has ever done before me and it can be overwhelming and expensive sometimes but mark my words i will never give up on this dream 300zx build and i will finish it whether it happen this year or the next.
     
    MORBOOST, geron and lidz like this.

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