Hi all, im new here!

[blueblitzpup]

I recently picked up an '86 turbo and figured that I should probably get onto a site that will help me learn the car a little faster.

The car is in pretty rough shape (enough rust, had a blown head gasket when I got it), but I hope to be able to restore it to at least a reasonable state.

I have the head gasket set and some other parts already and on the way, and the car has 257,000 km's on the clock. digital dash, leather interior, not sure what's most common in these things.

With a new battery the engine ran, but it was smoking pretty bad and was definitely showing typical signs of a blown head gasket. the guy i bought it off of barely knew anything about it (or much else from what i gathered), but the word was that it was shut down rather quickly after the temperature started to rise. fingers crossed there's no real damage to the engine, but ive been told they're pretty strong. one peculiar thing we noticed when checking the timing is that the one cylinder head (passenger side) was a tooth out on timing. there wasnt any ticking or knocking when the engine was running, and there's decent compression, so i doubt that the valves have been tapped. but for nissan to have done the belt (records and stickers showing it) it seems pretty odd for it to have been set as it was. i couldnt find any records of this having happened before.

one other puzzling thing is the electronic suspension. I have read that if replacement front cartridges can be found, theyre expensive, and aftermarket ones dont work with the factory system. which leads to me asking; how on earth does the factory system work? i havent removed the cap on the strut tower yet, but im guessing there is a motor or something in there to adjust a valve in the factory strut? I have been unable to find any info on it.

anywho, Hi!. im from Saskatchewan, Canada and hope to learn a lot from you guys!

[WDRacing]

Welcome to Nico!

Throw some images up! Car guys need visuals!

[evildky]

The stock adjustable shocks have 2 positions, most aftermarkets off a lot more than that. The stock struts were made by tokiko, their aftermarket adjustables have a completely different adjuster that will not engage the stock adjuster motor. It's really just a novelty not worth trying to adapt.

When you buy a Nissan belt they give you the shiy metalesque sticker so some bonehead may have done their own belt used the nissan part and sticker, unless you have a dealer record it was probably not done at the dealer. That being said, If you take a Z31 to a nissan dealer they will have no idea what to do with it. Most of them don't even know what to do with a Z32. The dots on the rear timing cover are only approximate, the dots on the gears and belts are the ones that matter. Yes it is possible to run a tooth off and not hurt anything. Keep in mind the early turbo cars are only 8.3:1.

[blueblitzpup]

I'll get some photos up later when I have some more time.

I can get some regular shocks through my work, Monroe sensatracks, but what kind of advantages are there to having adjustable struts?

There were paint pen marks on the rear cover that lined up with the current timing, but the dimples did not line up with the one. So we weren't sure whether it was intended or not. We will put it back together using the marks that were stamped rather than the painted ones. The cam gears were also swapped, which was even more peculiar.

[evildky]

The selling point for the stock adjustables was you can cruise in comfort int he soft setting and if you want a more engaged driving experience on the twisties you set the suspension to firm. Although Z31 owners quickly found the ideal setting was to switch to firm, disconnect the front actuators then switch to soft. This gave you a stiffer front end while allowing the rear to be softer and maintain grip. I wouldn't put monroes on a car but I' enjoy autocross and track sessions. If it's just a street cruiser choose what is comfortable. The stock belt should have had dots on the belt IIRC. The tricky bit is lining up the crank pulley with the oil pump housing, while looking down at it.

[blueblitzpup]

The whole front end is off the car at the moment (doing a hit of a general cleanup and overhaul of sorts) so I can see straight on to the pulley and get it in time what way. I'll see what kinds of aftermarket shocks are in my price range and go from there; are tokicos a pretty decent replacement?

[evildky]

I like tokiko's, They only sell the adjustable tokiko's for the turbo and non adjustable for the n/a, the difference is in the gland nut, if you can do a bit of machining you can make either work. That being sad, adjustable tokiko's on their softest setting are likely stiffer than the OE's on their stiff setting, if you want to autocrossing they are great, if you want to turn hundreds of miles at a time on the street something softer might suit you better.

[blueblitzpup]

ok, so as promised Ive got the pictures.











I know its quite a few but the more details the better i figure. most of the interior is there, just a couple parts are missing or need replacing. im looking into it and am waiting to hear back from some people.
electrically, it seems pretty sound. all of the lights work, digital dash works, and so does the auto climate control. only issue is that some PO put in a "start button" (a switch that is hanging under the dash) and there is an old command start installed. I hope to remove those and restore it to its former electrical glory.
as for the engine, it was running after a new battery was put in, but was smoking pretty bad. tonight we got the passenger side head off and the damage to the gasket was fairly obvious. if you guys have any tips on getting the exhaust disconnected on the drivers side head that would be great. its hard to get to the turbo bolts and we arent sure if it'd just be easier to remove the turbo with the head and exhaust.
the exhaust is okay up until around the rear axle, where its torn and the muffler is broken off. Im thinking of putting together a modest system so it's a little louder but im not looking for those atrociously noisy mufflers. I have plans, i just need to put them to work.

one other thing I'd like to do down the road is put in a manual transmission in place of the automatic. it seems like a transmission guaranteed to fit these cars is fairly hard to come by so im wondering if there are any huge will-not-make-it-fit differences between our trannies and the ones off of say, a d21 or other vg30 based nissan. input on that would be appreciated!

and any questions, just ask. ill gladly answer them!

[evildky]

Certified Muffler is the only real source for exhaust on these cars but they make them to order to turn around is kinda slow, plan ahead. As for removing the exhaust manifold, I just remove the engine, it's a lot easier to work on sitting on a bench. I'm sure you can get it off in the car but it's gonna take a bit of work. As for the trans swap, You are far better off finding a donor as you'll need the pedals, hard lines and yoke to go with the trans.