Just bought a Z31, have a stupid question...
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
Just bought a Z31, have a stupid question...
Hi!
Yeah, it's of those stupid newbie posts
My name is Thomas, I just bought a Z31 on ebay. I've owned 3 S13 and S14s before, so it's not my first Nissan.
The Z31 I bought is a bit of a patch job... The previous owner had lots of weird stories about how he owned the car, then sold it to a friend who did this and that to it, then another friend bought it and so and so on, and at some point he bought it back.
He says it doesn't run (haven't even tried yet) because the shop he had it at installed the wrong injectors, and patched some lines up with tape, and what have you. Also I found an ECU lying in the trunk, and the one that's installed clearly is from a junk yard (has sharpie writing on saying "300ZX" etc).
Anyway, here's my first of probably a long list of stupid question, and it's probably the stupidest one What engine do I have?!
Look at this pic:
When I saw this on ebay, I looked at the wiki article for the Z31 and did some googling, and to me this looks like a VG30ET. Right? Cause the pics I saw of the VG30E looked a lot different.
Anyway, the owner said it's not a turbo, and sure enough, there's no turbo on it. The intake actually goes down, bends forward, and then goes into the snorkel in the front.
Is that normal? What do I have here? Did someone remove the turbo? Or put a turbo head on a N/A block? The VIN also says it's a N/A, and it has the N/A wheels as well.
Here's the link to the ebay auction with more pics:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-NISSAN-300ZX-/121266480853?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&_trkparms=ga1m%3DT0%26ga2m%3DT0%26ga3m%3DT1%26ga4m%3DT6&nma=true&si=DVDgnreZBe404JY4LKIlRbkY1Kw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Thanks in advance,
Thomas
Yeah, it's of those stupid newbie posts
My name is Thomas, I just bought a Z31 on ebay. I've owned 3 S13 and S14s before, so it's not my first Nissan.
The Z31 I bought is a bit of a patch job... The previous owner had lots of weird stories about how he owned the car, then sold it to a friend who did this and that to it, then another friend bought it and so and so on, and at some point he bought it back.
He says it doesn't run (haven't even tried yet) because the shop he had it at installed the wrong injectors, and patched some lines up with tape, and what have you. Also I found an ECU lying in the trunk, and the one that's installed clearly is from a junk yard (has sharpie writing on saying "300ZX" etc).
Anyway, here's my first of probably a long list of stupid question, and it's probably the stupidest one
What engine do I have?!Look at this pic:
When I saw this on ebay, I looked at the wiki article for the Z31 and did some googling, and to me this looks like a VG30ET. Right? Cause the pics I saw of the VG30E looked a lot different.
Anyway, the owner said it's not a turbo, and sure enough, there's no turbo on it. The intake actually goes down, bends forward, and then goes into the snorkel in the front.
Is that normal? What do I have here? Did someone remove the turbo? Or put a turbo head on a N/A block? The VIN also says it's a N/A, and it has the N/A wheels as well.
Here's the link to the ebay auction with more pics:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-NISSAN-300ZX-/121266480853?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&_trkparms=ga1m%3DT0%26ga2m%3DT0%26ga3m%3DT1%26ga4m%3DT6&nma=true&si=DVDgnreZBe404JY4LKIlRbkY1Kw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
Thanks in advance,
Thomas
The Good Twin
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 20,639
From: Wild Wild West, UTAH!
Welcome to ZDriver!
Looks like you have a normal VG30E non-turbo Z31 to me...
Click: ZBUM's New Nissan Z31 300ZX Homepage
Also make sure you download the FSM: XenonZ31 Reference
Looks like you have a normal VG30E non-turbo Z31 to me...
Click: ZBUM's New Nissan Z31 300ZX Homepage
Also make sure you download the FSM: XenonZ31 Reference
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
Hm, but all the pics I found for the VG30E look like this here, with the rounded intake cover. While all the VG30ET ones have the square one:
Nissan VG engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I guess I'll pull it then and put something else in it... I saw there's lots of information about swaps, now just to find the right one...
Nissan VG engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I guess I'll pull it then and put something else in it... I saw there's lots of information about swaps, now just to find the right one...
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 20
I second that; it's an NA Z31. You can tell by the intake plenum cover, the turbo version says turbo on it for starters.
Oddly enough I was following that Z31 on ebay as well as I am keeping an eye for another one for the coming spring.
Oddly enough I was following that Z31 on ebay as well as I am keeping an eye for another one for the coming spring.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
@Delecroix: Huh! How weird is that, that you looked at the same auction. Well, if you find a turbo model come spring and want to trade engines with me, I'm up or it
I think I'll get this one running first and see how it drives/handles, and then potentially decide on a swap (or turbo addition) at some point.
I think I'll get this one running first and see how it drives/handles, and then potentially decide on a swap (or turbo addition) at some point.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
Yeah, the weird thing is, the car actually looks a lot cleaner in real life than in the pictures. Never thought I'd experience this way around on ebay The body has none of the black stains that you can see in the auction pics, and the engine bay (while not perfect) isn't nearly as bad as the pics. Very odd... but I'm not complaining
The body has none of the black stains that you can see in the auction pics, and the engine bay (while not perfect) isn't nearly as bad as the pics. Very odd... but I'm not complaining
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,032
From: A Shady Tree in Boise
day and night
It used to look like this, under all that gunk. Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you.
Good luck and welcome to ZDriver !!
Cheers
Good luck and welcome to ZDriver !!
Cheers
Last edited by PredatorZ; Feb 12, 2014 at 06:01 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 37
youve got quite a bit of work to do getting rid of all that rust on the front of the engine before shes ready to fly. id recommend disassembling the fan clutch and you should pull the timing covers out and knock out all the maintenance **** thats hiding under there thats probably never been done (timing belt, water pump, thermostat, etc)
but as far as i see this is a pretty legit vehicle to start with. my car wasnt (still isnt) cosmetically as nice as yours. if i were you id try to find a Turbo motor for sale and just swap it. Much much easier that attempting to install a turbo with the engine still in the vehicle. as you can see there is not much room to work with down there with that damn motor mount right in the way.
but as far as i see this is a pretty legit vehicle to start with. my car wasnt (still isnt) cosmetically as nice as yours. if i were you id try to find a Turbo motor for sale and just swap it. Much much easier that attempting to install a turbo with the engine still in the vehicle. as you can see there is not much room to work with down there with that damn motor mount right in the way.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Bookmarks
