GasMan

I have a guy 2 miles from my house selling a 1990 Z32 for $800. Its N/A, 5 Speed, 150k miles. Car is really clean inside and out. 9/10 but he said it needs valve work. I went today to try and start it, and the car makes a really loud click/Hammer hitting steel once, kind of noise. It is really quick, and really loud one time then nothing. I have not yet tried turning over the crank manually due to him not having the right size socket. I was thinking engine is locked, he said possible the flywheel is locked. Any advice/opinions as to what i should check when i look at it tomorrow? Or common problems with these engines. Id prefer to get it running, but im going with a diff engine setup in 2-3 months anyways. Any advice/Links is greatly appreciated while i search around every Z forum i know of.

dtddemon

from my past experience and i have 2 zs now well that usually means that the starter is either going out and cant crank the car over or the teeth on the flywheel is bad and. u can verify that by using the socket if i remember right its a 27mm or 1inch. and take a look at them. not hard to do at all.....

Mrmoose

Valve work could mean he broke the timing belt and bent the valves... Which would cause it not to crank over, Which is good, don't try to unless you are sure the valves aren't bent! Then make sure you timing is correct, move on from there.

GasMan

He dropped it off at a shop before i could get there to take another look at it today, ill hear in the morning what they diagnosed it with, im hoping they didnt get it running. Id rather pay $800 for it and fix it myself.

hoov100

Timing belt was most likely never changed and it either stretched or broke and threw some valves into the pistons and worst case scenario the motor is completely ****ed.

GasMan

Well, the shop said its locked up for sure. Didnt tell him how lol. Lot of help they were, buts it good for me because instead of giving him $800 im giving him $600, which id easily pay 2k for the shape this car is in without an engine or tranny. It has both. Free to inspect the head, if its valves ill fix to get it running, but tax return is going to a V8. Just trying to figure out which one. Ls1, Lt1, 350, etc. Any advice would be appreciated. The car is going to be stripped and made into my new drift car since my 350z was stolen.

BlueKitsune

a V8 in a 300ZX? You lost my vote. Unless its a Nissan V8 then it makes a little more sense.

hoov100

ls2/t56 or vh45 if anything.

snwbrderphat540

Well since the motor is supposedly toast, I say go for whatever swap you want as long as it's not a 4 banger. lol. If you go american V8, stick with an LS motor, the other ones you listed are all cast iron blocks and to heavy.

A nissan V8 or even a skyline motor would be a pretty great swap to.

I wonder what happened to the motor that is in it.

hoov100

Isn't a dressed stock all iron Sbc lighter then a dressed TT long block?


also, the lq4/lm3...etc motors are only 60 pounds heavier then the ls counterparts.

GasMan

Sorry I lost your vote bluekitsune, but its my car and a v8 is the best application for what the car is going to used for. I own a '78 280z, with a turbo l28 swap (devil Z replica), and an '83 280zx turbo (show car.) I love all Z's and i am a firm believer in keeping these cars as jdm as possible, however when one of these cars is being fully gutted, and having every luxury option torn out for drifting purposes a v8 is the best option, In my opinion. With a Z32 stripped, 340-360 hp is all i need to compete with it. An Ls1/Ls2 is going to be more reliable, less costly, and more responses to the abuse its going to be put through. Just my reasoning for it, if you dont like it thats fine, i'm not building a car for somebody else to like, im building one to compete with.
I dont know what happened to the engine, im hoping i can just swap out the head/or rebuild the head and get it running, ive never owned a Z32 and would love to drive it around for a bit until the v8 is purchased and ready to be dropped. Plus i'd be able to sell the vg after the swap is completed. A win win in my book.

As for the vh45, i was researching these as well, a local has one in his Rx7-Fc, but i havent been able to find much pertaining to a swap of it into a Z32. Ill have to search around a few forums and see what i dig up. Down here in Texas any of these engines/tranny's are pretty plentiful for a decent price. Should be picking up the Z this week. Will post pics when i get it, along with some of my other Z's.

GasMan

http://forums.nicoclub.com/vh45de-sw...r-t316518.html

hoov100

First off the z32 is not "JDM" the z32 chassis was built and designed to be a LHD car primarily. (because a LARGE majority of it's market was the US)

Secondly, a vg30de isn't going to be worth crap, regardless if it's new from nissan or rebuilt/repaired, ontop of that you would probably be looking at $1-2k to replace ONE head.
and strip

Last off, how much work do you think it really is to drop in an ls1/t56 and strip it to be a drifter?

GasMan

By "JDM" I mean it is a japanese car. Yes it was designed for the US market but an import car non the less. I dont mean ricer with a fart cannon like a honda type JDM. complete engine is on craigslist/austin for $300 because the oil pan bottomed out and nailed the crank. There are the heads, and the north texas Z car club will buy a VG for around 1k-1500. So its def worth it. Stripping is easy, done in on my previous drifter and both my friends. As for the engine, that link i posted goes through the install process. Its not going to be an overnight thing, but once the engine is rdy to be put into the car, its a weekend project. Mounts, "massaging" the firewall etc, is all done while waiting on parts to come in, or machine work to be done. Ive never done a project this extreme, but its def going to be a nice learning process, and there are quite a few people who have done all of those engine swaps into a Z32. The link i posted has a nice example of how one guy did the VH45 swap.

domsgarage

theres too much whining going on in here.

go for the lt1. its common but its cool.