Hey all, I have been looking for the perfect Z for about a year now. Being 19 and a student at uni, i had no money. But after seeing a few promising Z's popping up on Gumtree and Facebook, i thought it was about time to get my shit together. Took 2 jobs over the 2018 summer period down the coast in Lorne, Vic, working 80 hours a week almost, I had saved up enough to find a good Z. Then this 1991 2+0 NA came up on Facebook and the price was just too good. Paint looks like its faded? or just really dirty? In a manual <3 Grey tweed which I can live with for now bonus even has the cargo cover It was listed by a mechanic who was selling it on behalf of a client who had moved interstate and the car was just sitting in his lot. It was listed for 5.5k but he would accept 5k since rego was coming up that week. The day i went to go inspect it and before the cash was handed over, he tells me the owner put another 3 months rego onto it, at that point it was say no more, hand over the money, and now shes mine. On the way back to Geelong from North Melbourne, first fill up of many to come I have HUGE plans for this car. For the long foreseeable future i do not plan on getting rid of it, build it to where I can be happy then just enjoy the car for what it is. THE MISSION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NA > TT Swap Fully rebuild a TT ground up, take my time and do it properly 500 RHP, usable on street but also enough for the track Full Suspension re work to get it handling like on rails Update the styling with 2k spec parts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some pics from when I got her home Paint cleaned up really nicely, it was just absolute fucking disgusting from sitting under a tree for so long, sap/bid shit/ dust the whole lot. best pic of the rear I could find on my phone looks so good in the sun If anyone is wondering why the build is called Mid Night, I'll give a brief history lesson of why I think the name suits this and really all our cars, and is also the theme I'm going for with this build. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mid Night Club (Also known as “Mid Night Racing Team”) was a Japanese street racing association that hosted illegal top speed races on the on the Shuto Expressway between Tokyo and Yokohama. Formed in 1982 and lasted until 1999, where a devastating crash broke up the team. To join the club, first you needed a car that was capable of going over 250km/h for over 10-15 min straight for prolonged periods, as racing speeds of 300km/h was common. The clubs only goal in racing was achieving 'maximum velocity'. All members of the club had stickers on their bumpers 'Mid Night Car Speciall' and a window banner. The group were very secretive, a Club leader would place an ad in a Tokyo local newspaper, under the "Classifieds" section. Usually, it would read something entirely different than any sort of racing meeting, in order to not draw unwanted attention from law enforcement. Something like this: For sale: Small handbags at discount prices. For more information, I am available for meetup at Daikoku Parking Area on Thursday, between 11PM and 2AM. Thank you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 300 or lambo? All members of this club were extremely wealthy and successful business men. It's rumored that the red 300ZX in the first picture had a prototype engine that was eventually used in the JUN-BLITZ Bonneville Z32 that set the land speed record in 1991, and that he was able to achieve incredible speeds upwards of 300+ on the expressway. This club reminds me of this old 300ZX commercial for some reason: So yeah this has inspired me to go along with this 'Mid-Night' theme for the Z and adopt the core principles of this club and how that would translate and look like in the present day. Done with the history lesson now I hope you guys enjoyed the read, I'll be updating this as I go along, already have a bunch of stuff ordered and ready to put in. I will end up needing lots of advice from you guys the experts but that will all come In good time. Cheers
UPDATE 1 Last night threw on some clear smoked indicators from RGS. Old orange ones were looking a bit faded and dull. I think this really lifts the front end. Out with the old In with the new One problem I have had is I cant decide what to do with the rear spoiler. I'm not a fan of the back profile how it looks, but i think the side profile of the car suits it somewhat. Regardless ended up finding a really good deal on a (94+ 4 Leg Spolier [think thats what its called?] ), only catch was this guy was all the way out on the NSW border, but for only $100 how could i refuse? Drove up like 9 or so hour round trip with traffic worth it tho. Here are some pics, also its fiberglass which is a plus, not that foam that will just cause problems in the future for me. Still haven't decided If I'm 100% on it or not, but it'll do for now. Bit confused on how it mounts though, are there bolts missing? If anyone who has put one on could give me some tips on how to get it right that'd be great. That's all for this update cheers
UPDATE 2 This is a big one. Was away in Bali for 2 weeks to blow off some steam but back now and ready to crack on with the build. Got a fair few parts that have come in but I haven't had the time to install them all in between work and life getting in the way, for the mean time just storing parts wherever I can, in the Z and the shed. Tackled a 'quick' job the night before I left for Bali. New leather boots came in from Interior Innovations which I was keen to get installed. Here's some before and after. They look shit and they're old so perfect time to freshen up the interior and start restoring everything. Fitting the new leather boot to the metal plate was a bitch of a job. The leather was very tight and it was annoying trying to get the leather holes to hook onto all the little metal clips to stretch it out. Glad that's fkn over. Heaps better than the old shit. Second thing on my list was wheels. Always have had an appreciation for the stock Z wheels, it was a design and function ahead of its time. But in my mission to update this car I found myself looking around for some new shoes for her. Found a good deal on this set of wheels. I think they will suit the car perfectly and look awesome. Cant wait to get these installed and fitted up. Have always been a fan of Japanese wheels and i think these Rays TE37RT's will look dope. (and theyre 19's) Picking them up They are a staggered set. Specs are: 19x8.5 +35 Front 19x9.5 +35 Rear Now for paint. Have been deciding on a color for a while. Have always liked the look of fully blacked out Z's. But dam Nissan got it so right with Midnight Purple. I was having a look at LP2 (MP1) which some of our Z's came with stock. I like it but I like a different variation of the color that came on the R34 GTR's LX0 (MP3). They look stunning and have the perfect blend between deep purple/midnight blue and a copper/bronze. This is the paint sample that came in. I'm so stoked with this, it changes color from every different angle you look at it and when light hits it a certain way, think we have a winner. Here is a few miscellaneous things I got to update the car some more. 99 Spec Lights and a Nissan Fairlady Z decal to go on once i restore the third brake light panel to black. Here's my last update for today. Finally got my hands on a genuine Kakimoto Racing Exhaust, the 2 rear muffler pieces and the resonator. Only catch is this was off a 2+2 and my car is a 2+0. So its going to need some encouragement to fit properly. I'm so happy with this as I think Z's with this exhaust hit just the right note and sound amazing. Its gonna take some work to fit it up but it will be well worth it. I think i might delete the resonator and replace it with an X pipe, along with high flow cats. But for now I'v spent the last couple hours every day after work cleaning it up nice and shiny. I know you only see the muffler tips but my OCD tells me and I need to make the whole thing look clean and nice. So off I go. Materials used: Wet/Dry Sandpaper - 80 grit - 2000 grit Wire brush Wire wheel drill Metal polish Soapy water Girlfriend decided to help me out with this one she said I looked sad doing it by myself. Here is the difference once I've cleaned off all the shit and worked my way through just the sandpaper grades, already heaps better. Time for some polish You can see the part where I've polished vs where i haven't at half way Cant see too well because it's night time. But in person It looks so good, everything is clean and shiny couldn't be happier. Coming up in the near future i have some front/rear strut braces, stillen rear camber arms, Tein Flex Z coilovers, Series 2 PTU install, hopefully get wheels fitted up, and a few other bits and pieces that I have probably forgotten. Cheers for reading guys see you next time. Just realized its Easter as well so Happy 2019 Easter to everyone.
Just a quick update for today. Finally finished cleaning the other exhaust pipe. So here are the final before and after pics. Really happy with the result. Cannot wait to get these guys in. The Fairlady will be sounding sweet.
