My new 300Z from HELL
 

Hello everybody, i'm new here but you'll probably be hearing alot more from me. I recently purchased a 1990 Nissan 300ZX N/A from florida. It has 119,450 miles and is a peice of F**KING SH*T. I though i was purchasing a clean 300, but to my suprise i bought a lemon. I'm glad i signed an AS-IS before i bought it (stupid me). The thing is i talked to the guy over the phone and he said everything was alright and peachy. But everything i asked him about HE LIED, everything. To start out the car came with a Bra, when i got the car and took the bra off i found out why. Theres a hole in the bumper and the rest of it is cracked or theres some kind of damage. The rest of the body is in horrible condition including all the of seals fenders hood rear bumper and doors. The t-tops are leaking on the drivers side, oh wait did i say leaking i meant POORING through the t-tops. The door handle is coming out of the door on the drivers side. I never got a key for the doors or the t-tops just the ignition, so i cant lock the d*mn thing. The drivers side window went down, and never came back up until i pulled it up by hand. The clutch is blown, the battery is dead (and the battery mounts are missing so the battery just slides around in the bay) it runs like a diesel engine (HAHAHA entertains me very much) and i believe there is an exhaust leak. But no matter what i am stubborn and all of this is going to be fixed no matter what!!!!!! The car should be going to my mechanic to get fixed sometime this weak. I purchased a VG30DE TT motor and trans for it, Borla Cat-Back exhaust system 2.5", 2.5" downpipes, 2.5" high flow cats ( i got all of the exhaust by the way from ultimatez.com cause the gave me a deal for gettin all of that), i bought a new front bumper, new passenger side fog light assembly, Stillen Short Throw shifter, and a Greddy turbo timer with harness. All of this should be getting installed in the next month. Hopefully the car will be running after this and will be street legal. The plans for this car are endless and the money is not, but things will happen over time. Everyone i know tells me i'm crazy for doing this and its a waste of money, but this is my dream car since i was able to dream about cars and i'm not stopping till i think i should (which scares me cause i never stop at anything). I did take tons of pictures but my friend has my harnes for my camera so i cant import them onto the computer, but as soon as i do i will post them so ya'll can see what kinda piece of sh*t this car is. :( :mad:

sounds like a big mess to clean up, but hope it comes out to be a sweet Z. by the way... how much did you pay for it

Hehe heres the great part, i payed $4400.00 not including tax and $350.00 to get it shipped to PA. :doh:

I don't know what to say...

...welcome to the boards and all the best with your new project. Imagine how much you will appreciate your dream car when you get it to where you want it to be.

well heres some good news for once, i just talked to the tow truck driver and he's pickin it up tonight between 8 and 9 pm so finally its going into the shop

Like I always say, you pay for what you get. I paid $6,700 for my Z and it is FAR from a lemon. I also decided it was better for my to drive the 5 hours to get it instead of having it delivered, but man I hope it turns out for the best :rockon: .

I would have driven it home, but one problem i live in PA and the car was purchased in FL. That right there is atleast a 19 hour drive with a car that runs worse then, well, what am i talkin about the car doesnt run, basically. I would'nt be as upset if i payed like $2,000 but it upsets me that this guy was such an awful human being, he lied completely about everything he said. I wish i knew where he lived!!!!! :badpc: because he would be that computer. Whats funny is since i purchased the car he hasnt answered one of my phone calls. i'm a moron but everyone makes mistakes and this is one i'm glad i made, because seeing that VG30DE TT motor just sitting out is amazing, whats even more amazing is that it will soon be in my pile of metal.

First of all welcome to the forum, and sorry about your ride. Second, make sure that there are no major problems with the car such as bent frame or something, bc that is just going to be a money pit, not to mention it will never handle right. I hope thats not the case... Your car sounds like it just has some minor body damage, and i wish you luck

i already checked the frame thats what i was worried about also it looks to me like everything is alright now my major worry is rust under the drivers carpeting (because of my leak in the t-tops).

You can change the t-top seals and sand the floor before you have a flinstones-mobile

hey wassup man, that hella sux about ur car, but hey, its a Z!!! but anyways, i jsut wanted to tell u that i got a 1991 300ZX TT and its got borla cat back exhaust and OMFG, it sounds beautiful! its not too loud, and it doesnt sound like a bumble bee either. but when its around 1500-2500RPM's its sounds MEAN. its like a really DEEP SMOOTH sound to it. and plus they look nice too! and when u really hit the gas, the sound kinda fades away and u hear the engine roar along wit the turbos so its a really good exhaust system. just thought i'd let u know even though u probly already knew that but oh well. OH AND HEY EVERYBODY!!! I JUST GOT MY Z BACK FROM THE SHOP, AND ITS PAINTED CHERRY RED METALLIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

Hmmmmmm. I don't quite know where to begin. 1st off......welcome. 2nd,........good luck, I guess. If you haven't mastered the zen art of patience,.......you will. You have an uphill battle ahead of you, but it is a doable one, and it will be rewarding. If you didn't quite understand what Jatt ^^^^ was trying to say, don't worry, neither did we. I think he trying to say that your car will haul ass when you get it running with the TT in it. Did you buy just the motor and trans, or did you buy the TT front clip? If you didn't get the clip, then you'll be piecing lots of stuff together. Since you mentioned that the $ is endless (I wish I had that problem), what are you going to do to the TT engine? It is much easier to work on with it out of the car. If you hadn't thought about it, we can make a few suggestions. There are some fairly inexpensive things that can cause the current motor to run crappy. Have your mechanic do a compression test. If the compression test out good, then it may be worth it to fix the motor and sell it.

Take lots of pictures. Before and after shots are always amusing.

I agree with 91, if you have another car as your DD, don't rush this one. It's easier to work on the motor when it's out of the car and it's easier to do body work, when there's no motor in the car. Take your time and do everyhitng you want to to the motor and body and then assemble. The motor, if jdm, will need refreshing. Do a compression test. Replace the seals, hoses, and maybe gaskets. That will solve a lot of problems. Might want to go ahead and replace the clutch and have the flywheel upgraded or resurfaced. Do stuff like that. Good luck!

Welcome and good luck.
To reiterate what 91 said, you'll be spending more money and time on new parts that didn't come with your engine and trans to make your NA a TT.
At least it seems that you won't have the problem of busting your own knuckles wrenching on the car. Having an endless cash supply is definitely a problem I absolutely Need!!

Lol about the cash supply i meant i wish it was endless thats one of the problems, another is that this thing is gonna be a daily driver, so i cant let the engine sit out of it for to long cause i need a car. I am replacing all the seals and gaskets along with belts pumps filters hoses mounts radiator, pretty much almost all the little things under the hood. The new engine has been tested and everything, there are no leaks, there was a slight problem with the trans but the problem was welded back together. All of the hoses i forgot to buy or didnt my mechanic is gonna get those for me and put it in, i tried to order all of the things i thought i needed and the larger items. Oh yeah i didnt get a front clip i just bought a motor with trans but all the parts are gonna be purchased if not already. Here are some pictures i got the harness back.

It sounds likeyou haven't purchased the intercoolers yet. I just upgraded to Stillen SMIC's and will be selling my OEM IC's. There in pretty good shape. I'll also have the 4 hoses that clamp directly to the end tanks. PM me is you're interested; otherwiseI'll just put 'em on ebay. I also have my OEM oil cooler (upgraded to Z1). Actually, I have a lot of stuff that I'll be getting rid of, so if you need it, let me know. I may have it.

i havent purchased intercoolers yet, i was hoping to do that later, or should i do it now??? i believe i also need a new radiator cause the n/a one i believe is not the same as the tt, plus the mounts for it and the hoses and all. Hmm is there anything else that is really important that i am missing?????

You'll want intercooler on the motor before running it for sure. And did the motor come with turbos?

You'll need all of the intercooler piping from the turbos to the throttle bodies (find it used-auto wrecker). You may want to check on the wiring harness as well ($350). There are a couple electronic engine management things that the TT has that the N/A doesn't (boost control solenoids and maybe a few others). You can eliminate these solenoids with a boost controller. You'll need a TT ecu. I have my old TT radiator (upgraded to Howe). As far as when you buy the rest of the stuff, it's up to you. Try to take inventory and figure out exactly what you need. Let us know. It sounds like I have some of the stuff you need. We'll help as much as we can.

Yeah the motor came with both turbos, the engine showed up all in one piece tranny turbos turbo manifold wiring harness everything came mounted. They prob just ripped it out of a pre existing 300. If i dont put intercoolers on the car at first how much of a safety issue is that???(concerning the turbos)

If you do that, then you should just throw the motor away now because it won't run for long. My guess is 5-15 minutes of moderate boost. Do you completely understand how the turbos work and what the intercoolers do?

Agreed. you're gonna be looking at some melted parts.

The VG runs hot as it is. With hot air coming in, that might not go over well. On the other hand, z31 guys run without intercoolers. Also, were you just going to make custom pipes that go straight from the turbo to the throttle bodies or something? The piping goes from the turbo to the intercooler to cool the charge, then to the throttle bodies as compressed air. wihtout intercoolers, there's gonna be quite the boost leak. :p

That would be quite the intake setup. The air that comes from the turbo can exceed 180 degrees. The intercoolers bring that temperature closer to the ambient air temp. I can't imagine how these cars would run with 180 degree intake air temperatures

Basically, yes, get intercoolers.