I just got my headers in the mail, and it got me thinking..

I did more research on my old Z and was woundering, what exactly makes the european Z faster than the american one. Both are 300zx 2+2 N/a 1986

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...tedpics048.jpg Euro
VS.
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...tedpics050.jpg US

its kinda weird, the Euro Z had

adjustable suspension with a venting system
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...tedpics055.jpg )
fins and a pump to cool the Diff. fluid. It also had the not sealed beam headlights, i mean, you can replace the internals instead of taking the whole bulb assembly out. I dont know what the gearing is on this car, because realisticly, I should not be outrunning brand new VW golfs and such.. in GERMANY! The home of the stupidly fast station wagons.

So I guess what I am asking, is.. where can I find a site that would say what is in this car, so that I dont have to tear it apart to see what I should splice into my american beauty?
any help.. if any would be extreamly appreciated!!

 

They're both NAs and the euro is that much faster?

Swap motors, ECUs, and wiring harness.

The euro Z31s supposedly got ABS.

Beyond that, there really isn't a whole lot of difference. Oh, except stupid little stuff like SAE vs Metric readings.

Can't really think of much else that would be different anyway. Never seen a site listing all the specific differences either.

 

see, thats what I want to do, BUT.. how do I get that back into the states? what all do I have to be ready for when they process this Z back into the states?

 

well, if you now own a US market Z31, and you swap the Euro Z31 motor into it, the only real issues are if you will pass visual or sniffer emissions in the states.

 

lol, next week, I will post pics of the different engines.... you can tell, in the euro one, you can see the ground, thats how much stuff is gone.

another weird thing about the euro Z is that the analog guages are from a 87+ when this car was made early 86, I think its birthdate was like feb or something,

 

I'm fairly certain the Euro Z's have a little diffirent cam. Longer duration I think.

 

and if thats true, then would the engine not have diff. pistons, heads? see, this is why I am asking, so far I think I am going to rebuild the euro engine and put the american sensors on it so it will pass the emissions crap, but keep a logg, so I know what to take off onc e it gets old enough to really play with.

 

heads, pistons, and all that other stuff isn't different. if it were, there would be too many differences to make it cost effective to sell.

I wasn't aware that the NA versions were different. I knew the turbos had different cams.

Hmmm.... Just looking at the specs now.

Bore and stroke and compression ratios are the same.

Market-Type: HP/TQ
US-NA: 160/173
US-T: 200/227
Euro-NA: 167/174
Euro-T: 225/240

CAM Info:
http://www.redz31.com/pages/caminfo.html

 

If you go here: http://www.nismoparts.com/catalog/?section=313
It's for the Euro Turbo cams, but does mention the NA ones as well.

 

so, the cams are the onlything producing the extra 7hp? if so, I could just pull that out and refinish it. I have never rebuilt this motor, how much smog stuff is there? or is it best to just keep the old engine for vin reasons?

 

No one cares about matching numbers on the Z31. Probably never will. And the only place to have the comparison data for VIN to engine serial number is Nissan.

 

You might want to just swap the heads. and maybe port and polish them.

 

i have not done any machine work, how hard would it be to port and polish them?

 

as hard as taking them to a shop with the proper equipment and knowledge.

 

hehe, I have access to a machine shop, but they wont do it for me, since noone has done that before, thats why I am asking. the shop I have access to has tons of toys, I mean, you enter a few digets and poof, out comes a rim. some real cool stuff in there not that they have done that. besides, I am in germany, a 2" pipe to make my muffler fit correctly cost me 90 euros, becasue the charge 1 hour min labor. I am really getting sick of this country. so, I have decided that I am on my own. maybe you can describe what to do? to port and polish, and I will find the tools to do it. thanx all, and one more thing, is it really worth it to port/ polish?

 

do other stuff first. gains will be minimal.

 

http://www.az-zbum.com/modification.port.polish.shtml

 

well, see, I kno that the gains will be minimal, but I have the euro engine that I am working on, so I figured, while I have it apart, I might as well do it right? i already will have this car to 167 hp at least, just by switching the cams,


does anyone know how much hp headers will free up? I have those in my living room. before any of you burn me for buying without knowing, its because i had a major exhaust leak, and figured whil I had it apart, might as well. by the way, http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...21/headers.jpg will those hook up to my stock system? I have not gotton the exhaust pipes yet, but was told this hooks up to my stock, but I am not seeing it, sense it has to go over the tranny to the left side.

 

it goes under the transmission now.

 

it should still hook up to the stock exhaust right? I am waiting for the rest of it to get here via mail. so I could put the headers in and hook the rest up later since the headers will take way more time then the pipes will

 

waiting for the rest of what? That looks pretty damn complete to me.

Unless you mean the gaskets.

 

the new o2 and the pipes after the headers