Best Friends New 1989 Z31 n/a

[seejaytoo]

My best friend just picked up a n/a '89 300zx on Saturday. I've been tooling around the web these past couple of days to try and get a little more knowledge on the car and such. My friend hasn't done a whole lot of mechanical work in his days, so this is his first real learning experience (his own car+ something actually worthwhile to put time and passion into). Overall the Z is in decent shape, runs fair (after warm-up). Body has the usual dings and small dents here and there, but panels all line up nice and I can't find a spot of rust on her. Suspension is a mess that needs to be sorted out asap. I'm speculating that a full makeover here will be necessary. Struts are blown to crap, bushings must be rotten, and I'm expecting to find some surprises elsewhere in the footwork because this thing is a very nervous ride at the moment. Any tips as far as specifics to look out for, or common issues with the Z31 suspension are most appreciated. The exhaust is probably #2 on the list behind the suspension. This thing sounds like crap, some genius welded a Flowmaster muffler on and managed to pinch the piping to about 50% blockage from what i can see Which brings me to a question.Where are the catback systems for the Z31? I googled and looked for a decent amount of time last night with no real ends. Am I really missing something here? I found one system from The Z Store, MSA was the brand, it doesnt look spectacular but a whole lot better than the current setup. But thats it (well besides Pacesetters rear section junk). What are some of you guys running as far as exhaust, custom I suppose? Any info on this would be great.

As far as the engine and what not is concerned the only real issue I see, or hear, as of now is a whine (like a low power steering fluid whine) coming from what seems to be timing cover/ idler pulley area top rightish on motor. My suggestion was to start with the idler pulley and go from there but I wasn't sure if maybe it was characteristic of timing belt/ tensioner issues. Anybody have a word on this?

Thats all I've really got for now I'll try and get some pics posted up later. I'm encouraging my friend to join this wonderful sea of knowledge I know there is much for him to learn on here. So he may get his own thread goin if not, I'll update this one with our adventures as I'm certain there will be many. Thanks in advance for any help Peace -CJ

[Perrenial Badass]

runs fair (after warm-up).

CHTS or the CHTS subharness. ~$40 from Nissan, change it when you do the timing belt.

As far as the engine and what not is concerned the only real issue I see, or hear, as of now is a whine (like a low power steering fluid whine) coming from what seems to be timing cover/ idler pulley area top rightish on motor. My suggestion was to start with the idler pulley and go from there but I wasn't sure if maybe it was characteristic of timing belt/ tensioner issues. Anybody have a word on this?

Sometimes if the timing belt is too tight it will make a noise. If you don't know when that was dealt with last, go ahead and change it. Along with the tensioner, crank and cam seals, thermostat and rad cap.

As for exhaust:http://www.cmperformanceexhaus....html

FSM:http://xenonz31.com/files/1989_300zx.zip

Suspension:http://z31parts.com/suspensionparts.htm ... parts.html+ Whatever dampers you want to match those springs, Tokico Illuminas are popular but I personally favor the Koni reds. Tokico Blues should hold those springs pretty well as they are pretty much an Illumina set to 3 permanently. Suspension Techniques makes a spring set that is ~$100 cheaper but the rates are softer as well. Eibach makes good springs for the Z31 but they would only really be good for a daily driver as they would be too soft for track use (IMO).

[kelloggman]

http://www.az-zbum.com/information.springs.shtmlsome good info. az bum is the z31 guru