Very good article and points Dave, well said. As a very good friend once said to me, never give up on your dream, for it is the only true piece of reality in your life.
awww come on Niall you know that one day i'll have that 2000hp quad turbo'd convertible with 205/35/24 mega deep dish chromed rims and twin 5" mufflers and 10,000 watts of pimpin' music.
And see that's why I got out when I did. By looking at the hard lessons OTHERS had learned and deciding that, at that time, for me, the Z32 was NOT worth the continued spend. I opted to count my losses and run BEFORE even entering the rabbit hole. And that wasn't rebuilding. That was just "fixing" lol. I think the best advice I've seen on "project cars" was on an Ingition DVD (so it must be true), and that was actually a Z32, blue with white stripes. The advice was to visualize your project at the START and dont deviate (too much). And I think that's where I see people go wrong. They get distracted by the latest "shiny group buy" and change their mind about what they want. And then they see a mate in a lightly modified S15 running easy 12's lol. Maybe the other issue is THINKING you can afford to build something over time when in fact, you can't. Let's face it, spending $40K on a 25 year old Nissan worth $8K is slightly...erm....retarded. If it's your dream, then hey, dont let anyone stop you. But if it's not your dream, then it's never going to happen. And that was my fear after me and the guys pulled apart Simons zed to "help him out". Because a car sitting in bits for 8 months, soon becomes a car that will NEVER see the road again. I'm glad we're motivated enough to see this one through.
In April 2013 I drove my 100% working NA Aus Spec into the workshop. A week later I had the NA engine out. The plan was to do a TT conversion. I had assistance from Dennis (sandy69), Rob (Dodgy) and Chris (ezzupturbo). Most parts were purchased from Chris or Jamie (chilledpain), with some from Laurence (gimpie). Apologies if I left anyone out. I got a hold of a TT engine (hydrolocked, but otherwise probably good) and some stock turbo's, plus a bunch of TT intake bits. Slowly but surely, the plan evolved. I ended up with the following bits: Nistune ECU 18" wheels and tyres All adjustable steering components (FUCA, RUCA etc) Gizmo EBC HKS (knockoff) BOV's TT 52mm radiator TT AC condenser TT AC compressor TT AC lines TT Alternator TT cluster GT2860 turbo's 740cc Deatschwerk Injectors Z1 gearbox starter motor adapter shim plate Z1 1-piece braided clutch line Vented bonnet 324 mm slotted front rotors UR lightweight UDP 6 puck heavy duty clutch 2.5" catback stainless system 2.5" front half of exhaust (with hi-flow cats) 5 bolt dumps NA front bar with 'custom' cutouts TT rear bar (with side markers) (I'm certain there is other stuff I haven't listed) I sold and installed the NA engine pretty quickly to a guy that had blown a head gasket. That's a pretty good incentive to get your conversion done. (ie take away the ability to go back to NA) Work proceeded quite slowly, in line with my budget (I have had, finished and lost a few contracts in the last 18 months) Last week I got her tuned. Yesterday I got the exhaust hangers put on. Yesterday I put my trim pieces back to the stock velour Tuesday the air conditioning will be serviced and re-gassed. The EBC doesn't work properly (I'm using a Turbotech T-piece) and I still have a vacuum leak, but otherwise she's back on the road. I still haven't done anything with the bonnet, steering components, brakes or rear bar. The front bar needs to be replaced (with 2k spec), and I still have the scrape/small dent from the bastard that hit the passenger fender/door whilst at the train station carpark. Yes, it has taken me about 18 months, and I have spent maybe $6000, but for that I kept myself sane whilst unemployed, given myself a goal (to see her back on the road), and doubled the power from 120RWkW to 240RWkW. Problems? You bet. Happy? YES! Ready to sell the car? HELL NO. Would I do it again? I don't know - the nerves are still raw and the blood is still wet, so ask me in 6 months time. [TIS] :zlove:
I think ppl are looking at these cars from the wrong perspective.... who cares if it will never be as competitive as a similarly built evo, gtr etc on the track. I bet the gap is not that large if you really compare the numbers...ppl spend money on the wrong things and the problem with these cars is its expensive if you dont get it right and have to do stuff again. For me its about 'how does the car make you feel"... i also own a renault clio sport cup. These are arguably one of the best hot hatches ever made. The trophy edition which only ads sachs dampers on top of mine can keep pace with ALOT of cars of tight tracks.....they are very quick point to point and in the twisties. My car is far from stock and yes its had some $$$ spent on it (only due to my obsession with trial and error). But when i jump in the zed once or twice a fortnight the clio doesnt even compare to the way it feels......a well built zed with the right mods is very nice to drive and feels very special IMHO. If you want a nice zed from my trial and error this is what you need to do from the start to not break the bank and have a very capable and fun zed. This is stuff that is not way over the top but makes the car great without emptying your wallet. * it to a zed specialist to get serving and shit in order *Good coilovers or Shock + spring combo: Keep an eye out of 2nd hand bilsteins + spring combos and get them revalved and rebuilt (Bakers Bros are the goods). Steer clear of cheap coilovers, they will RUIN all the fun... I was lucky enough to get some zeals cheap and they are excellent, tein are OK.... I would still dig to find Bilsteins though....GTR ones will suit with a really small amount of grinding. *Front Sway Bar or even put some poly bushes on the stock ones. *324MM front brake kit + good pads + fluid all around + slotted rotors *Brace the car where ever you can including fenders brace, solid 1 PIECE F+ R strut towers etc *Brake master cylinder *Caster rods *Solid diff bushes *Rear camber arms - Slightly lowering it will introducing more camber at the rear. You want it at about -0.5. Leave the front arms as you want a little camber there and the stock front arms are the strongest *Make sure its NOT to lowered.... at least 1-1.5 inches off gaurds (otherwise it ruins handling) *Toshi Tune - Ask for a Torquey tune... so much more fun on street *Bigger wheels, light ones if possible - Quality tyres, this is the best thing I ever did (R1R or R888 or Federal RSR). Look on ebay for deals, hardly used 2nd hands. They are consumables...... *Upgraded coolers (had Rx7 side mounts custom modified (ex-Wokburners), front mount) Have Stillens SMIC and HKS FMIC at home I need to try....overall the Rx7 ones Wokburner made were AWESOME but looked SHIT! *Filter upgrade *Boost controller - I would go with electronic after having V1+V2 Turbo tech manuals + Apexi ARVC and GFB Force. (told you I am a trial and error guy) And for the last piece a GOOD alignment, makes a MASSIVE difference i.e Heasmans, spinning wheels etc. No bob jaynes etc. Look for the right specs before going. * Make sure bushings are not stuffed There you have it, without breaking the bank you CAN have a awesome 300zx without being stupid and ending up with no wife.
I hear that, i sold my NA motor too so i wouldn't be able to back out of the conversion. Wish i just spent the coin and rebuilt that with the money i spent getting this TT engine up to scratch. Remember guys just because it has good compression doesn't mean its any good, mine had burned bearings and i spent heaps getting the thing fixed. Oh well, in due time, spent too much to back out.
That's easier said than done and doesn't always reap the rewards you pay for. In fact the BEST thing I ever did with mine was learn how to work on it myself. Sure my fingernails didn't get as dirty as most people on here, but I sure learned the pleasure of working on it and hearing it fire up again knowing I'd fixed it.
