Well, I recently picked up a N/A 1990 z32 that's absolutely gorgeous. Slightly modified, but to my liking. Picked it up with a bit over 96,000 miles and paperwork for over $4,000 in transmission and engine cleanup. Almost all the seals, belt, etc. were replaced. Unfortunately, the vacuum lines weren't.

With that said, there's a vacuum leak somewhere. Any place in particular I should start? There's only about 10 dozen vacuum lines in these things..lol
When I take the car out of gear at say a red light, the rpms go up and kinda bounce around until they settle down. The car drives fine otherwise and doesn't really bog out that I've noticed.

Issue #2; gas tank seems to build up pressure. Not sure if it's normal in these cars or not, but when I take the gas cap off to refuel there's a slight hiss each time of air escaping. When I first start the car, and pull out in 1st gear only using the clutch, once I release the clutch there's another hiss that sounds something like Darth Vader inhaling coming from the area of the rear passenger-side strut. Not sure if it's related or what..

Issue #3; the heat/ac doesn't work...not sure if it's just the blower motor or what but when I put the air/heat on the rpms raise a bit and there's a squeaking/screeching noise every now and then, which is why I figure it's just the blower motor.

Lastly, I'm more than likely going to swap the engine. Now, what are your guys' suggestions? The car is going to see a fair amount of track time, especially drifting. I'm thinking of something that I could get to about 400hp+ in the long run without having to build the motor/internals. I plan to do the swap myself with the help of a few friends so I'm not too worried about labor costs, but parts wise I'm looking to spend no more than something slightly north of $2000. I've heard that the vg30dett with full boltons and a good tune can make north of 400hp and handle that on stock internals.

So, the motors I have in mind; vg30dett, rb25, or 1jz.
Pros, cons? I'm gonna be indulging in all the info I can about these in the upcoming days, so bear with me lol

 

I bet the darth vader sound is the HICAS

HICAS and SuperHICAS (for High Capacity Active Suspension) was a system that would turn the rear wheels up to one degree both in-phase and counter-phase with the front wheels, depending on the input of various sensors (vehicle speed, steering angle, etc). Unlike other rear-steering systems of the time, it did not assist in parking, and was only activated at 55MPH+. It was designed to allow drivers to enter turns, connect slalom terms, and change lanes quickly and safely without the rear-end "fishtailing" out of control.

I think the pressurized gas tank is normal, part of the vapor control system I believe.

Go buy about 20 feet of vacuum tube, replace them all, one at a time, if the rubber is still good and you have plenty of slack, cut it back to a fresher spot.
Your AC systems venting is worked off the car vacuum, if you have a leak, all the systems can be effected.

 

Thanks for the info! Looks like it'll be a long weekend with those lines, but should be able to learn a lot.
Now with the HICAS, is that something I should replace? Is it even still there if the suspension has been altered? Right now, it's on Megan Racing coilovers.

I added some pictures to original post.

 

A lot of Z32's have had the rear steer disabled or deleted, I read something about it ages ago, only reason I remembered about your car. Some versions are better than others, I guess you need to crawl around a bit, or get her on a lift and check out what you have, coil overs might work with the stock system, but on that I couldn't say.

 

Well from what I found only the TT 300zx came with the HICAS. Looks like I'm gonna have to have my friend sit in the trunk while I pull out.
Wait...that didn't sound right..

 

You will need to let him out, that new banging sound is your buddy trying to get your attention over your new audio system, that weird thump thump isn't your sub, its your bub

 

Oh yeah that's another thing...it has some bose touch screen in it, but half the speakers are blown. I'm assuming some decent speakers won't draw on the alternator too much as long as I don't install S!CK SUBZ in there...heard the alternator isn't the most reliable on these.

 

There are a few alternator swaps available for your car, up the amps, I think a GM will fit with a new plug. Bose makes terrible quality speakers, the actual materials the use are cheap, they are a big, all profit no quality company. Go with polk or some other good brand.

 

Yeah it's just the head unit...has a snap on touch screen and a speaker in the bottom portion. Going to be a busy weekend

 

so kinda had it blow up on me today...not really, but my power steering stopped working as I was getting off the highway. Bit scary as I was going about 65 on an off ramp and couldn't really turn...
Turns out the pulley somehow came out...never heard of that happening before but I guess I'm gonna need a new one as well as a new PS pump. :/

 

Gotta agree. Bose' marketing genius is never publishing their specs - even for their head units and speakers. You get to buy the 'Bose mystique.' They are way overpriced for their quality. Polk or Pioneer, etc. are fine for most systems. If you are pumping 200-300+ serious watts into anything, go easy with those built-in 4 and 6-inchers. They get stressed (shredded) easy... Been there, done that.

 

Well, I've just realized the Bose stuff I was talking about came stock with the car....I'm still learning, give me a bit lol

 

I also just picked up a 1990 z32. its a n/a, manual, power everything, digital hvac.

I too seem to have a crazy hiss coming from my passenger dash area when on the throttle.
along with no heat coming from the hvac system.

my shift linkage bushings were completely gone too lol, grabbed a set of the bronze bearings and now it feels fantastic.