value in NO WAY reflects cost A 300zx is a TOY, not an investment. Expect that it WILL cost you money, at times lots of it. Sometimes the difference of a couple of thousand dollars in sale price is indicative of an extra $10000 spent. As your first car, you will be the envy of your friends while its running one day, then you can be the passenger in your mates $1500 Gemini the next day while you're saving for repairs the next. I wanted one from when I was 12, but settled for an earlier 260Z as a first car. Even when I did finally purchase one, it cost me just shy of $20000 and it still needed an extra $3000 spent on it at the time. Yes, the price has dropped significantly since then, but parts certainly haven't. Due to lack of driving, its since cost me another $10000 to get it somewhat respectable again, and I'd be lucky to sell it for $10000, not that I would EVER consider it. There is a fine line between passionate and stupidity, and you have to be sitting on the fence to be a happy Z owner.
I'm not expecting to get a million trouble free reliable kilometers out of the thing, I'm just expecting that it can take me to and from school 5 days a week which is about 30km away sitting on 90km/h without self destructing on me half way through. Maybe a few runs down the drag strip and blasting onto the occasional highway I don't really want the earth in power either, its a big step going from 72Kw at the fly to 160Kw which the 300ZX has (I know i know its going to be down due to age). So this should be plenty. I already have an investment anyway
I've never driven, nor been in an N/A 300, but I've owned many of the competition (Supra, RX-7's, etc). Honest to god, the 300zx is by far my favourite out of all of them. As mentioned earlier expect to pay out your arse for repairs if you cannot do them yourself. Ex. I was quoted $4000 to pull my TT's driver head (your passenger), to diagnose a 0psi compression problem in cylinder 4. Decided to do it myself instead, which cost me about $150 in extra tools (kept on getting new breaker bars and extensions :\), and I've used the extra cash to get new toys! (got boost/oil pressure/water temp gauges coming, carbon fibre DIN mount, ALL Motul fluids, Greddy oil catch can, new black strip + other labels, and hopefully getting the Plenum and Throttle bodies sent off to get powder coated in the next week or so. Next on the list is a Haltech Sport Platinum 2000 + pnp loom, a Billy Boat exhaust + and tuning to make use of my GT28RS'! Money better spent I think )
That's more of an incentive to get off my arse, spend heaps of money on tools and learn about how to fix my car rather than paying someone to do it for me . I can't have performance mods what so ever, so if i did any mods, it'd be painting and chroming some things on the engine, sillicon hoses etc to make it look real nice. On a side note, what viscosity oil do NA's take and how often does the filter and oil need to be changed?
I bought an NA in oct 2007 and havnt had a single issue to speak of bar normal maintinence(oil, coolant, tyres, brakes etc.). Just choose a good one, which is easier said then done these days, though it is a buyers market at the moment.. The main issues you'll have is with electrical connectors and the like as they become vulnerable with 20 years worth of engine heat. As for oil, use search...
With the connectors, would cleaning their contacts work good rather than replacing it? I found this, I take it is for 300ZX's. 10W-30/10W-40 looks like the ideal ones.
Yes cleaning connectors have sorted out many problems on aus300zx, also if they become brittle from the heat they may crack and not sit as tight though its a piece of piss to buy new ones and install them...
That sounds alright, what do you clean the contacts with? Some sort of spray and cotton bud or something? Can you pull them out with your fingers or do you need pliers?
I know you're obviously enthusiastic but please, have a search in the Tech section and use the 'search' function on the site. These things have been covered a LOT. If you get stuck, sure ask someone, but this is all highly covered material.
Reading the tech section now, whats with the temperature gauge needle? Its not very good going by the diagram there. I take it the number is fine though? Does that come standard with the car?
http://members.optusnet.com.au/markfield/stdguageVdigital.html Also, a lot of links in this article: http://www.pexcom.com.au/z32cms/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.465 Are 404ing.
What don't you get about the pics? Yeah the stock temp gauge won't start to rise past halfway until it's pretty much too late (ie. you've already overheated). Hence why many get an aftermarket gauge (though is wise to test this against actual ECU temp reading so you know how far the aftermarket one is out by) OR a TWD (temperature warning device, which is a little LED that lets you know when you hit a certain temp, but before the stock gauge does anything). It's not a fixable fault with the stock gauge, just a poor design I guess.
What I mean is you see that number, which lights up in front? That's just over the stock gauge, how much do they cost or are they standard?
correct, the stock gauge sucks...it wont move past half way until its too late to do anything that digital number is a temp gauge added by that person. it does not come standard with the car. i advise you buy an after market temp gauge, as that person has.
Answers... hey Damo... firstly welcome.... just to start... your young..so listen to us! As we are not a bunch of noob fanboys.. we know our Shit generally! Your a young lad so stay away from the TT. Its too expensive to upkeep.. (just like a porsche or ferrari) and even though you may well afford it.. whats the point going weeek by week just to fix a TT.. have an Na enjoy it for what it is and save your money for the future... Aus Specs are worth the money. I own one, have done for 4 and a bit years. got her at 19... I got an aussie spec cos i liked the idea of not payin "grey import insurance" which was much more cosly than "local" car insurance. hence im with RAA and have been the whole time. circa 800 per annum for Full comp. At the time a grey import NA was 2500 per annum and a TT was 3500 negative value. This was the first reason why i said i would wait for TT... For such an exotic sports car and only paying local car insurance its a smart idea. 15K should get you a nice 300zx to say the least. They have come down. 4 years ago mine was advertised for 16,500 but it was stock with no 100k service and i was able to get him down. body was good and kms represented the age of the car... my car on adverage as done 11,000kms per year since new... its now 20 years old and has done 225,000kms.. do the math. The aussie cars come with a simpler air con setup (no screen), lockable targas, manual cruise controll, adr seatbelts mounted on the pillars (no cut outs in the doors) and thats about the only difference.. (a slight ecu mod for the hotter climate but nothing that affects peak power) Fule mileage is all relative to how often its serviced and looked after and of course, your right foot makes most of the differece.. WOT (wide open throttle) will drastically reduce its fuel consumpiton. So dont gun it every day.. and it wont go down so fast! you should get 480kms on a tank of city stop/start driving.. over 550 on the freeway. Those numbers arnt in concrete tho. Modding and aftermarket parts are not limited to the NA 300ZX but not many give loads of imoproved power. All the TT brake and suspension mods fit the NA so theres plenty of fun to be had modding the ride and driveability of the NA.. the power mods are harder to get. circa 1200 for a tune that can give you 15% more power (not much but you can feel it)... Nos is the only other big power upgrade. A nice twin system with flowing mufflers works a treat but dont make the mistake of going too big or sill rice cannon mufflers. do it properly. :zlove: You can mod your clutch and flywheel, front pulley and tailshaft for more driveability which brings more power.... The NA zed is best setup for hills driving rathier than dragging in a straight line. expect a 1/4mile of high 14s if modded or mid 15s if its stock. Not bad for a 20 year old car when a New NA holden or ford still is in the 15s and costs 30 grand. To give you an idea of straight line speed.. the NA is nicely geared so 0-100is quite fun with a still rear end and firm clutch you can beat most 5L EFI v8s & other na jap cars, v8 soarers, 2j supras & the like. (dont do it on the public road ) With fuels i have run the normal 95 oct because the factory Aus Spec Ecu is tuned exactly for it. run 98 but you wont see any benefit unless you run another chip that suits it (remember a tune is 1200 roughly) With maintainance you have this community for all your questions... Get a zed and run through the checklist we have in the tech... ie 100k service, engine mounts, heater cores, cooling system, comp test and so on. We have it all. If i could do it again i wouldnt get an 89 series I.... id be going 1994+ cos there are some subtle upgrades and generally cos its 4 or 5 years newer. Jameszx 25th anaversary na zed is a rare zed you probably wont see ever agiain in that condidion. Id be snaping that up TODAY NOW! Overall i love my NA aussie spec.. its cost me bugger all since buying it... ive had heaps of fun in 5 years.. love the hills and the feeling it gives when going for it up there... the targas are like hollywood, especially for the first time or after not being off for a long time.. I run coilvers and 19x9.5s and it sets it off with a stock body. others like body kits but each to their own. just my 2c and good luck.
Thanks for the huge reply, I can't legally drive a TT anyway due to the new laws for P platers so thats out of the question right away. I got an insurance quote for an Aus-Spec 300ZX at 17 years old and justcar returned $2143 for full comp, which isn't that bad (Considering a while ago I got quoted $2200 for a BA Fairlane). That's in my name, so I can get a NCB later on for cheaper insurance. 90% of my driving will be highway as I live out in the sticks, the only thing I am real worried about is if I hit a pothole, I might crunch the front bar due to how low the car sits and heat issues but the other guys re-assured me that its fine if everything is in good condition (thanks). I might take it up the twisties near my place up the mountain sometime, might get my cousin with his MX5 to come too I would be snapping up that 25th anniversary 300ZX now today if $10,000 of my money wasn't locked up in a term deposit until April >.< That is my main problem at the moment. But hey, the bank is giving me $200 for nothing so I'm not really complaining about it, $200 for doing nothing is better than $0. That a free tyre from the bank!
I really doubt a 300zx will bottom out on a pot hole, yes they're low, but they're not killer low. Wanna see killer low? Take a look at my old RX-7 (it doesn't look low from that angle, but this picture puts it into perspective) Now, with that ride height, a big pothole could do some serious damage; learn to avoid them
