Newbie here, I just bought my first Z and have a couple of questions. It's a 1990 300zx tt, with 107k miles. I got it from the original owner's wife, he had recently passed away and she didn't know much about what service work had been done to the car, there was some service records, but they were not complete. I am not sure if the timming belt has been changed, can this be checked via the VIN # at the dealership?, also the muffles need to be replaced, I would like to replace them with something with a little more mellow sound, but not loud, any suggestions?

The car seems to be in excellent condition, but are there any other things I should have checked out before I drive it much? Thanks in advance, I think I'm gonna' love this car.

 

timing belt could have been changed by anyone at any time. it's very unlikely that running the vin will help you.

congratulations on the car. you'll have a lot of fun with it. standard things to do when you get a used car are bleed the brakes, new pads (new rotors with them if you do it right), change the gear oils, and stuff like that.

past that, you need to start saving for when an injector goes out because it'll happen soon unless it's already been updated to new styles.

 

Thanks for the info......any suggestion on an aftermarket muffler?

 

i don't know of one that will make your car quieter. stock is probably as quiet as it gets.

if you're after performance, HKS and specialty Z are the only systems i'd consider using, with specialty z being the better/more expensive. both are fairly loud.

 

Thanks again. I will check them out.

BTW......Great site, lots of interesting information here.

 

yeah it is. it's the first z site i started using and i can't imagine ever breaking myself of it! not a whole lot of traffic in the Z32 sections but most of your questions can be answered here.

 

I am thinking about adding a few after market things to the Z32, just wondered what you had done to yours? btw sharp car !

 

intake and exhaust are good places to start. like i said, HKS and specialty Z are good. JWT is proven through testing to be the best for the money by a pretty good margin. i don't know what level you plan to get to, but i'm a fan of mods that "free up" power, and in turn raise gas mileage as well as power output. a UD pulley is good, light weight flywheels (not worth the clutch job in itself, but if you're changing the clutch, it's a good one). good light wheels and brake upgrades are the next thing on my personal preference list. if you're interested in suspension, there are several different routes you could go there, so i'd have to know how much you wanted to spend/what you use the car for.

i don't know man. get more detailed with what you want to do and i'll get more detailed with how to do it.

as far as my car, i have a 1-piece drive shaft, JWT intake, crappy "welded up" cat-back and a fidanza light weight flywheel. it's really a pretty poorly conditioned N/A that was abused for a long time, and i haven't gotten to give the cosmetics any attention because i've been spending all my time and money on mechanical emergency fixes for the 2 years that i've had it. i sure do love it though.

 

I think I'm going to do the exhaust first and maybe up grade the brakes later, from there I am not sure yet. Thanks again for your input and suggestions. I am really enjoying this little car, it's a ball to drive!!

 

good stuff. post up when deciding which kits/parts to use. there's a lot of research that goes into making a good decision on z parts, and we can help out pretty quickly most of the time.

 

put magnaflows on mine. if you don't know the timing belt status and you don't want to blow your engine I'd change the belt now and know you have 60k miles of trouble free driving. worst case the guy did it at 60K and needs doing at 120K so you haven't lost much. look at your tension rod bush and see if they are wet. Nissan used breast implant silicone sacs and they are prone to breaking. ball joints, outer tie rod links and bushings aren't probably necessary at 107K but how long you figure on keeping that rascal?

 

I got lucky, talk with the mechanic who has been doing the service work on the car for the past ten years, the timing belt was changed at 70k so I have a few miles before I have to worry about it again. He also is getting a complete file togther for me on what has been done to the car, leaves me a little more cash for the upgrades.
Not sure how long I plan to keep it, but so far, it looks like a well maintained little car I will hang on to for a while and enjoy, as a Sunday driver.

 

you can have as much fun as you want to with this car man. it's the best! there are very few for which i'd trade mine.

 

I use to do some drag racing back in the 60's, had a few fast cars, I wish I had back, 65 GTO, 65 vett,365 hp, 63. 421 ci tri power Pont.......anyway i guess I've always like speed and power and this little Z is the first car I.ve had in a long time, that will flat out scoot. I got a change to stretch it out a little a few days ago,got up to 127 on the gps, it felt great and it still had more left.What is top end on thses little "HOTRODS" ?

 

electronically governed to 155. i believe with that off, stock top speed is in the 160's.

 

Wow! 155, thats pretty impressive.

I noticed that one of my fog lights is not working, I assume the bulb is blown. How do I remove the fog light housing to get to the bulb, should I replace both sides while Im at it?

Thanks

 

i'm almost certain that there are just two screws on the fog light cover that allow it to pop off so you can twist the bulb out. if there aren't then i've just forgotten.

 

Thanks Kasbe, but there are no screws,other than an adjustment screw. I did a search and found that you have to remove the parking lights to get access to the back of the fog lights, there are 3 or 4, 10mm nuts you have to remove and push the fog lights housing out the front.
I still have not decided on exhaust yet, I may just change the muffles at this point, looking for something with a deep mellow tone. Do you like FlowMasters or MagnaFlows? Thanks again for your input, I am really starting to love this car.

 

sorry i can't help you with the fog lights.

no i'm not a fan of magnaflows. HKS and specialtyz really are the only exhausts that i'd consider, with specialtyz being just about the best, and hks being the best for a lower cost. HKS is pretty deep and mellow.

 

My idle rpm is around 1250, seems a little high to me. What is normal for a 300 tt, anyway to adjust it ?