So, I've always wanted a turbo Nissan. Mainly a skyline. Up until I had my zed I'd had an EA fairmont that I put a 2003 XR6 engine in with the help of my friends, an XF ute, a 5 speed VT and AU falcon and my last car...
My last car was an XH ute with a lot of work. It was NA and pushing out 200rwhp with a 5 speed box and a locked diff. It wasn't a lot of power but it would fry tyres rolling it on through first and second and drifted like a smaller car that was set up for it. This was it:
I'd ALWAYS wanted a turbo nissan, like I mentioned before, but I didn't want one that was non turbo. I didn't see the point in a non turbo import if they didn't have the performance to match their looks. Enter the Zed...
I'd been looking on Boost Cruising for a Turbo Nissan and came across this:
http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319912
The owner said he wanted a ute, so I sent him an offer for a trade. He was interested, so we checked out each others cars. He said yes on the day and then backed out, but luckily I had a buyer for my ute not long after.
The zed I bought was in awesome condition apart from some paint missing on the rear hatch where it had been brazillianed and a few other tiny spots of paint. The interior is fantastic and these were the mods:
Trust side mount intercoolers
42mm radiator
Adjustable fuel pressure reg
040 fuel pump
Haltech EllV2 ecu
New engine mounts
2 1/2" twin exhaust out of dumps into single 3" exhaust from cat back to a 5" cannon
UAS braided clutch line
Air con has been removed, along with a lot of other non used items that have been suggested for removal to decrease the weight of the car
Full tein suspension, height adjustable coilovers, all bushes, tension rods
HICAS elimination bar
Rear subframe bushes
Adjustable camber bolts
Single piece tailshaft from driveline services
4 brand new 235/35/19 tyres, space saver in the boot and also a spare 245/35/19 rubber only
Alpine 7" touch screen dvd/cd player
Alpine 6 1/2 tyre r front speakers
Infinity 4x6 rear speakers
Sony 500w 4 channel amp
HKS turbo timer
Garrett boost gauge and speco water temp gauge, spare slot for a 3rd gauge of choice
Optima red top dry cell battery relocated to the boot in a battery box
The car had everything the seller had mentioned, it had been his baby. I snapped it up and didn't look back. The transition wasn't smooth, as I was worried about getting the money for my ute on time and scared to death that the Zed would sell, but it didn't and I took it home. I was extremely happy to have my first ever turbo car, I was in awe at how well it handled compared to the family commuters that I'd been driving for the last few years.
Not long after I got it, it started sounding like a bag of nails. MagicMike noticed that the sump had a sizeable dent in it and it looked like it had died due to oil starvation. I was devestated, but it wasn't long until Mike informed me that his mate Cam was selling an engine and I snatched that up, too.
The dent:
It was worse than that in real life.
I bought a compression tester to compression test Cams engine and I was pleased that the results came back positive. The lowest reading I saw was 135, but all other cylinders were floating between 145 and 150.
I bought the engine, Cam's FMIC to fix up the dirty gap in the front end of the car and a 100k service kit. The plan was to get Eric at A2Zed to do the engine swap, fit the 100k service kit and my old turbos as cams were blown and then I'd fit the FMIC and get it tuned.
Cams engine coming out:
The engine was pulled out and Cam dropped it at A2Zed for me along with the 100k service kit and the FMIC. Not long after that Eric got to work and did the swap for me, which was awesome!
Which brings us to the present and here is what I've done since having the car back, which is fit the front mount and lower it.
Taking everything off:
Dummy fit to see what needed to be attacked:
Let the modding begin:
Done:
Cut the grey part out of the front bar for looks and airflow:
Get low:
Gave her a wash and here she is:
It will be going in for a tune soon and I'm hoping for 230 KW and anything else will be a fantastic bonus. The tune at the moment is really crappy, only 170rwkw, a very rich and laggy 170rwkw at that.
Future plans:
Nice rims, Jap style rims with Fitment, but not too extreme. I want the car to be able to be pushed hard on the track without suffering. I want to find the happy medium between looks and performance.
Steering mods for more lock. I want to drift this car. It won't be drifted competitively and close to other cars where it will become ruined, just at track days and things like that.
More power, injectors, turbos, etc. all in good time.
A veil side EC1 wing, a nice front bar and rear bar and subtle skirts. I want it to look subtle but mean.
Probably a respray.
These are very distant mods as the tank is empty at the moment, but I've spent a fair bit on it at this point and I am planning on keeping it for a long time.
I'll invest in some good SMIC's and a different front bar in the future, but for now I'm happy.
