soates4

My first car i wanted something quick, cool, and something that could take the beating of a 17 year old driver. with 1000 dollars in my pocket, i bought a 1988 nissan 300zx 2+2. it was rusted, an aweful sky blue color, and the engine bay was half painted purple. There was no way i was going to buy this car at first sight, but when the seller handed me the keys and said, "here is an empty road that is straight for miles." it was game over. i instantly fell in love with the car, so for 900 dollars, i bought the car over looking the many electrical problems, the rust, the worn synchro rings, and the fact that it was a 4 seater... I drove it for about 4 months doing small repairs (mostly cooling) along the way. until finally at 205000 miles the timing belt jumped a few teeth and left me with some bent valves and some dented up pistons. so i made the call to totally rebuild it. i pulled the engine, tore it down, and sent it off to be resurfaced, along with the heads. and then i bought a used transmission online. during this time, another Z enthusiast told me about a shell he had lying around, which he would be happy to give to me for free, as long as it didnt go to the crusher. Straight frame, no rust, gold, and a 2 seater, it would be perfect to build my dream 300z, the only draw back was that it was an automatic... i pulled the autotragic transmission from the shell, and manual swapped it. its all ready just need to adjust the electrical connections to work with the transmission. the fenders and bumpers had been taken off the shell by the previous owner, so i stripped the blue ones and painted them gold to match. moved the gas tank because the shell didnt have one, and am now in the middle of reassembling my vg30e engine. bought new pistons, rod bolts, rod bearing, main bearing, and plan to order some schneider cams with springs and retainers, some headers, and a new intake because the stock one is crap. hopefully all goes well when i turn the key in a few months, its been a long and fun project and will be keep updating it to show the progress. feel free to respond with any suggestions

zxguy1986

Lotsa good work there! Gonna be a great ride. Congratulations.

Donn144

Wow! Big time!