I have been working on my 300ZX for about a year now and have finally decided to start a build thread to show my progress and receive helpful advice. My Z is a 2+2, targa top, twin-turbo, gunmetal, automatic. I've started off with 2 identical Zs matching the above description, however one had been in a head on collision and the other had a stripped timing belt and damage caused to the head by the camshaft and poor maintenance. My plan was to get the engine running in the wreck then remove it and swap it into the other Z that already had a stuffed engine. For both cars I paid $3500. $2000 for the one with the stuffed engine and $1500 for the wreck. It was a little difficult at first to get the engine running in the wreck however after earthing the FPCU and doing a quick diagnosis using the paperclip method I read about on the forum and a few other things, I was able to get the engine running. As the engine would run, I then proceeded to take it out of the car and get it ready for a 100k service and fit any parts that needed replacing as preventative maintenance. Engine out of the car I then did the 100k service, fitted a GFB UDP in the process and painted the timing belt covers red. Also removed the plenum and polished it up myself. Plenum in the process Plenum done
Throughout the whole build I've been collecting parts as I go some of the parts I've bought were KYB coils - off Elias Converted tail lights with EL light up panel in RED installed Vented nose panel - from Gonzo Larger Chrome Throttle bodies And quite a few other things which I didn't take pictures of at the time including: Japtek SMICs Modified Valve Body aka Shift Kit 3rd brake light in-fill panel (for the Brazilian.) Nistune LED dash conversion kit RED
Before fitting the polished plenum I painted the valve covers red to match the timing belt covers and also gave the CAS a bit of a polish Fitted new NGK Iridium Spark plugs Chromed front water pipes with new sensors fitted Ordered a Nismo Oil Filler cap but got a radiator cap instead from Concept Z Performance.. Luckily they were kind enough to let me keep the radiator cap free of charge and send me the Oil cap Installed some new OEM fuel injectors, fuel rails and fuel temp sensors.
liking it so far man! cant wait to see this on the road! all that hard work and attention to detail will payoff
I removed the EGR system completely. Painted the throttle cable cover red and bought a stainless steel strip for the middle as well as stainless lettering. I was really happy with how this turned out Changed the rear water pipes that go to the heater and fitted new O2 sensors as well. Then after cleaning the engine a bit more.. and smoothing back the runners on the plenum (on the inside with a bit of sandpaper by hand to help with airflow a little bit.) AND also boring out the intake holes to suit the new throttle bodies. I proceeded to fit it to the engine. Also put on the water pump overdrive pulley with some new stainless steel nylock nuts.
Looking great. Have you got any photos of the back of your motor so I can see where the turbo coolant hoses go? Gotta love bling..
Thanks Yes I have a few pictures of the back of the motor around the turbo hoses. I took a series of photos showing where you run water hoses after removing that hard pipes under the plenum, if that's what you were interested in? Here they are anyways. The first picture shows the coolant pipe coming from the passenger side turbo. The pipe that runs all the way up to the front of the engine here can be shortened back further, as originally it would carry water to the throttle bodies to warm them up. This pictures shows the driver side turbo coolant pipe and where it should connect up to at the back of engine if you would bypass the plenum hard pipes. And the last one is also on the drivers side.
These pics should be included in the tech section , much clearer to work out than the articles there . Your motors looking great by the way , hows the rest of the car looking ?
Thank you. Yeah I thought the pictures I took made things clearer (to me anyways.) when I was doing the plenum pull. The rest of the car is looking pretty average at the moment. Got a bit of dust over it as it's been sitting in the shed for a while now whilst I've been getting the engine ready. However I can't wait to get the engine back in the car and get it going.. then give it a good clean and polish inside and out. I've got a few pictures which show the state of the car from the exterior and interior as it is at the moment. This is the one I bought for $2500 with the stuffed engine. It still has the original cassette player. Original floor mats .. in very good condition too. Autostrada Modenas Hmm dusty.. can't wait to give it a wash and polish it up. As far as the exterior goes I've got a genuine kaminari rear bar ready to be fitted once it's been painted, stillen type III urethane side skirts on the way from AMS, and the front bar will be Greddy Gracer. I'm not 100% sure what kind of wheels I'll end up putting on it in the end.. although I've been pretty interested in a set of TE37SL's.. but I'm just not sure how they'll look being graphite coloured and the car being grey also. Also have a 3rd brake light panel ready to fit once the spoiler is removed, J-spec converted rear lights with RED EL light up panel in the center.
looking sexy mate :zlove::zlove: keep it up you can further cancel out some of those coolant pipes, should be nothing under the plenum
Thanks, which pipes do you mean? There are absolutely no pipes left under my plenum at all. Just one running to the front throttle body which will eventually be shortened. Only exception would be the new PCV hoses and new PCV valves on the underside of the plenum, while they can be modified to go elsewhere I thought it was easier to leave them as is.
Here are some of the more recent pictures of where the engine is currently at. I've just finished fitting the new larger chrome throttle bodies with titanium bolts I bought through a recent GB, as well as polishing up the throttle linkage bracket that goes in between. While the Titanium bolts did not fit at first due to having a larger head than the OEM ones (found out after buying them that they make an OEM style head that fits well with aftermarket throttle bodies.) after machining the the outside of the head off to reduce the diameter using a lathe, they fit perfectly. Also fitted the coil packs back on using titanium bolts too. They look great
Swapped The Carbon Canister Today. The Z32 carbon canister is massive.. so I swapped it out for an S13, SR20 carbon canister which is much smaller and looks so much neater when mounted up properly in the original location. I had to shorten some of the original lines and carefully bend them to face around the right way without putting kinks in the pipes, and also flare the ends using a double flaring tool. Here's a picture of the new set up. I'm not 100% sure on what the pipe and T-piece inside the green square is for but if someone knows that would be great Otherwise i'll just connect it back up to the bottom of the carbon canister where the Red line is drawn in. Bending the pipes back like this looks much neater than how they were originally curving all over the place, and also should leave more space to fit my Japtek intercoolers. If you take note of where the original carbon can sits in regards to the bolt locations around it, it gives you a fair idea of how much space can be saved.
Why keep the carbon canister, just get rid of it all together mate. Loving the workmanship mate, geez and people say i must have too much spare time with my build (there is a thread in builds) but holy crap man, so...purdy.... going to do your underbody suspension etc? plans for interior etc? out of interest, why buy brand new oem injectors? should have been able to get some nice upgrade ones for a bit extra. and perhaps do a few other goodies?
Thanks, yes I've got plans to change over the suspension to some KYB shocks with matched springs that I bought a while ago, as for the interior I'll probably be doing that last, but I do have a fair idea of what I'd like it to look like. Mostly black with red stitching on the seats and trim, I've been thinking of moving the battery to the boot on the passenger's side, I might change the speakers around for some higher quality ones, but I don't think I'll do the whole massive stereo system thing. Maybe a few red defi gauges, racing seats either Recaro or Brides, overall I'd just like it to look clean and updated and purposeful.. not too outrageous. Ah yeah, with the injectors, I probably should have gone the next size up in hindsight, however the price of these brand new OEM ones was ridiculously cheap. But the OEM ones should be able to handle the 12psi from the Z1 GT535 turbos I'm waiting on, and hopefully I'll be able to sell off the stock turbos to go towards 555cc Nismo injectors in the future if needed.
After reading a few threads about the carbon canister by other people I decided I would like to keep it so that the fuel tank has somewhere to relieve pressure that gets built up by expanding fuel/vapors.. and also stop the smell of fuel coming from the front of the car, which has been experienced by some people and not others, but I thought I'd play it safe.
