Introduction to Nico

[GodofRichy]

Hey guys about 8 months ago i bought a 1986 Nissan 300zx N/A for 800 because the previous owner destroyed the counter gear inside his transmission.(He 'tried" to do a transmission fluid change, but never put any back in) I found another 71c transmission for 100 dollars at a junkyard in northern Alabama. At this current moment we are rebuilding the transmission because one of the bearings went out, but i have a few questions.
1. I was overheating for a long time even after i changed thermostats, flushed the radiator, changed the water pump, and checked all of the hoses. my fail-safe thermostat failed after 3 months in the, car but the overheating has slowed down when i bought the "premium" one from advance for 15$. Any ideas on how i can control the heating of this motor? I was planning on switching over with a Taurus electric fan and changing head gaskets.

2. I thought about the idea of turboing the car, I researched all over the web on how i could turbo my car(spent about a week reading Jason's site on all of his upgrades, not just the turbo conversion), but I found a offer in Chattanoga(excuse my spelling) for a 84 turbo going for $1000, but it needs a new head gasket. I'm debating on going for this because I graduate in about 3 weeks, and I don't want to spent all of my money maintaining 2 z31s and an 82 aries I can barely find parts for. Plus, I don't know if there would be any other problems associated with it. I live in northern alabama, and its either i plan on buying this Z; buying a 85(86?) turbo for $4000 from a car collector; or going through the hassle of turboing my own car. the VG30E in mine has 185k miles. Changed the timing belt about a month ago too.

3. I'm trying to decide on converting my headlights of my Z to HID. I found this 10k kit on ebay for about 70$ including the ballasts, bulbs, etc. I'll post a picture later today, but im debating on these cause my sealed bulbs have no low beams.

Thanks for reading this guys.

[NeilAnblowme]

Forget the NA2T conversoin and Get the Turbo! Skip the HID kit and go for LED Cree headlight bulbs for around $80. Works a lot better.

[GodofRichy]

my 86 has sealed beams, so i'd end up having to convert them anyway.

[evildky]

1. Could be a few things. For starters the radiator is located low and at an angle making it prone to collecting sediment and restricting flow especially if someone ever uses stop leak garbage.Air in the system, you have to bleed the air out of the system the heater must be on to do this, the valve is vacuum actuated and can sometimes be an issue. The throttle body is the highest point int he cooling system so bleeding out all the air can be troublesome, an air lift or spill proof funnel can aid in this process.

2.Finding all the parts for the N?A T conversion is the tricky part, a whole parts car is the ideal method, it sounds like you have a few options you'll have to choose from.

3. I'm not a fan of aftermarket HID's quality stock replacements are cheap and available.

[GodofRichy]

Talked to the guy in chattanoga about the 84 turbo and he still has it. planning on getting it sometime next week. two questions.

1. He wants $1000 for it even though the driver side head gasket is blown and the seats need to be recovered, but he's throwing in an intercooler and extra interior parts because someone wanted to change it from brown to black. 245k miles, so I'd probably end up driving it till it died and either: (1) overhaul the motor and have both the 86 N/A and the 84 turbo running, or (2) use it as a parts car. Debating on whether this is a good deal because theres a guy who's selling either an 85(86?) Turbo for 4k.

2. I was debating on the type of oil i should run in both of the cars. I put walmart 20-50 inside the N/A(too thick for the inconcistent Alabama weather), but it has a bosch oil filter. I was trying to get some ideas on running either 10-30 or 10-40 because the temperatures here in Alabama range from like 110F in the summer to sometimes 30F(then theres the freak low of 9 during the winter)
Thanks for reading this post guys, and hopefully I'll have an 84 turbo by next week.

[evildky]

1. Isn't a question

2. 20-50 is way too thick for winter, 10-30 should be fine throughout your temp range.

[BadQ45t]

The question on the 245k motor is when he did the last timing belt and what else he did at that time. These cars have cam seals that go out and water pumps that are good usually for about 90k and then start to leak, which negates the whole thing.

The mechanics of this engine are so simple that the motor could be serviceable and you could refresh it with a new timing belt, cam seals, etc. Does the car run? If so you should so how much lifter tapping happens when you start it up. That is a givea to me as the more you hear that not go away quickly the more you might have an engine rebuilt in front of you.

1k isn't a whole lot of money in this world, I just spent $1200 on new tires and wheels on my 84' so 1k for a whole car is a reasonable gamble. The donation places give $500 tax credit!! Good advice on the turbo vs. NA, don't go down the road of trying to do that job, just buy a Turbo and sell the NA for extra money to re-hab it or use the better interchangeable parts on the Turbo.

Also, suspension if not completely redone is in need, probably ready for a 3rd set of shocks struts if those were replaced, they really only last a good 60-90k.

Good luck.