Murasakix13

Hi I just joined because im hopefully about to be able to purchase a z31 its a 1985 vg30e manual im not very familiar with cars all to well.

I was wondering if anyone close to south carolina may be willing to teach me about restoring or upgrading the stock z31.

I would love to learn but seems like alot to take in on my own this car has yelled at me since I saw it and I know this is my dream car so im just wanting a little help to learn all i can before i may screw something up.

Any general advice is welcome thank you.

zxguy1986

Welcome to ZDriver!

Pick up a free factory service manual (FSM) at XenonZ31 Reference along with all the other docs that look like they could apply. People here refer to them all the time. The FSM is full of great inspection and troubleshooting pages that are easy to follow and let you do a lot by yourself.

You maybe should post enough pics of the car here to give our Z31 pros enough info to have an opinion. Give as much info as you have on it, including mileage, transmission, body style, etc. Price, too, of course.

Our Z31 pros will have a lot of input for you. Meanwhile, sign in, go to User CP menu (upper left), click Edit Signature and add your Z model, year, shifter, turbo or NA, mileage, etc. Saves you having to add it every post. (Guys go crazy if you don't lock your Qs to your specific Z every single time you post...) Then click Edit Avatar and add a little Z pic under your nick. Cool. You will then be solid here.

Thanks and welcome!

rogerz

check with zcca.org and find out if there is a z car club close by. If so and you introduce yourself at a meeting you will usually find someone to talk your ear off about Z's. Find a turbo 84,85,86. manual tranny the slushboxes aren't too reliable. The later z31 have different setup but still reliable. I prefer the 85 or 86 mostly looks

Murasakix13

Thank you all.
I have gotten the manual I appreciate the info.
I am looking at a 1985 black z31 its 1800 locally owned so i don't have a reference clean interior and paint is pretty good for original paint not perfect.

From what I've seen it looks sound I am going to have a friend take a look as he knows a hell of a lot more about cars than I but he is mainly a American muscle type but he knows what to look for but that's also why I'm looking for someone to help me out with a car that would be familiar with a turbo instead of a supercharger and what all goes into upgrading a "foreign" vehicle.

Murasakix13

These are a few pics all stock no rust decent paint nice interior is brown and black forgot pics of interior.
1985 117,000 miles $1800
Does it look and sound like a good buy its running has updated stereo and guy just put new tires on it two weeks ago.

rogerz

if the po has some sort of written proof that the timing belt has been changed then maybe. I think 1800 is high. if no proof on timing belt then factor in 800 bucks of so to have it done. 250 if you do it yourself. Probably needs suspension work shocks, ball joint, tie rod ends, and bushings. another 250 if you diy. 1000 to 1200 running I would jump on it but I know enough about z31 to be aware of what I am getting into. I prefer getting one to work on because then I know the car. floor it in second and if the car squats in back then shocks are gone. probably gone anyway because most likely they are adjustables and they are surely scrap by now.

Murasakix13

I was thinking about offering 1400.
How hard is suspension work?
Timing belt I can have my stepdad help with.
I was wanting to replace the suspension brakes calipers and rotors immediately as those seemed to be big common problems. I know I want to redo the exhaust system I want to build it up just trying to figure out where to start.i appreciate any advice and help and I really appreciate what you told me to look for I definitely will

rogerz

don't worry about brakes and rotors until you get everything else working. Last thing that goes wrong. If you ain't racing don't sweat it. MY 86T stops plenty quick with stock. Before you buy it stand on the brakes pretty hard a couple times.

Offer a thousand and be prepared to go up if you really want to do it. Bring a stack of Benjies they do more that all the jawing in the world. when I bought my 86 guy wanted 2200. after some discussion (car had been listed for four weeks) I threw 900 on the hood and said that is my offer. you got keys I got money which one do you want. He couldn't go for less than a 1000 so I borrowed 100 from my son (preplanned operation he had couple 100 on him in case). Don't be afraid to walk away from the deal. biggest mistake people make is getting the hots and making a bad deal.

If you have some decent tools and wrench experience you could change out ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks and bushings in under 8 hours. Remember you need to get car realigned after that. probably another 80-90. So drive that price down! it all adds up and before you know it you just dropped another 1200. Those wheels are pretty funky looking too.

need jackstands and jack of course. Check Harbor Freight they are your friend for tools. I wouldn't buy some of their stuff if I knew I was going to use it everyday . But the average guy work on your car weekends plenty good quality.

Murasakix13

Ill give it a shot shoot low see what i can get to bite like a cheap fishing trip.
I have access to tools and my step dads a mechanic.

I'm just not too savvy with working on cars beside regular maintenance.
I can get an alignment done for next to nothing so no worries there.

I can do wrench work I'm just learning what does what on a car besides put gas here combustion you move I got a late start in learning the trade but I want to have some knowledge in working on cars as i want to build the Z31 up I just don't know exactly where to start which is what led me here.

So far you guys are answering everything I put here but i just don't want to sound stupid or ignorant because I'm trying to learn so if i say anything stupid just let me know.

SO my first stupid question is after going over the car replacing what needs to be replaced what do I do first to start building it up I don't want a track drag car just something i can cruise in and if I get revved at i wanna race hard.

A lot of people are saying intake and exhaust is a good starting point but where to from there.

rogerz

first grasshopper get it running reliably. once you do that you may have learned enough to think about bumping the horse power. with an n/a engine you got it intake and exhaust. look around for junk turbo and go from there. cam bigger injectors megasquirt. all get beat by a turbo. My buddy has his 86T up to 300HP but he has the patience of Job and likes to tinker a lot. Me i got it so Hondas with 6 inch tailpipes get lost behind me. 10 psi boost she scoots still use regular gasoline. New timing belt so I am confident it will run another 80K miles. Nissan made some fairly rugged stuff. there are things on my 86 you didn't get until the late nineties and it still works.

rogerz

here is the first things you ought to do:
Get your battery load tested. Be sure you have clean, tight corrosion free terminals on both ends of your battery cables. Be sure the ground (negative) cable goes to a bolt into the frame before going to the starter. grounding through the starter is not a reliable connection. Z's don't like low voltage. causes the electronics to act funny. it is possible to have enough amps to crank but not enough voltage to run the electronics. If you have one size fit all cheapo clamp on terminals they are a problem waiting to happen. Usually on a rainy night around Oh Dark Thirty.

Clean the connectors for the maf or afm, ecu and tps. Deoxit by CAIG is probably the best connector cleaner on the market. spray with CorrosionX after cleaning and before putting together this will help prevent any further corrosion. DON'T USE DIELECTRIC GREASE.

Replace outer tie rod ends, and ball joints. replace the bushings with poly (don't forget to lube them as directed unless you like squeaky things). New shocks. Get new boots for power steering. all those things will make you think you are driving a different car. doing them piece meal is a waste you won't see a great improvement until you do the complete job. You need to get the car realigned after messing with the front. Have your tires in good shape and rebalance. Rear bushings nice too but more work and you won't notice as great an improvement. Rear shocks also because if the fronts are gone so are the rears. if car squats when you jump on the gas the rears are gone. If you have the electro adjustable shocks they are DEFINITELY GONE.

If you are doing a turbo car shocks (electro adjust I think may be only on the turbos) then you need the adapter plates to fit modern shocks to the car. Easiest way is find an n/a at the junkyard and take the mounting plates. They may be available thru NAPA (listed) but I had the n/a plates.

Murasakix13

Yeah I want to go the turbo route so first i will be looking and fixing what i can on the car and then I will post back with what all it needs and what ill be doing thanks again for the advice and help

86tcoupe

you might want to check on the insurance cost 1st
Z31's were always high for young drivers, turbo's more too, they were mostly driven by top or rising professionals or college grads who landed a nice job back then as I observed when they came in the shop