moding stock 300zx

[marty1mc]

Make sure your maintenance is up to date before doing the mods, specifically timing belt/pulleys, water pump, seals, belts. I would even upgrade the timing belt pulley studs to Ramey's. Then you should be able to mod it safely. I would hate to have all that nice stuff on a blown motor.

[BigTDogg (MA)]

Make sure your maintenance is up to date before doing the mods, specifically timing belt/pulleys, water pump, seals, belts. I would even upgrade the timing belt pulley studs to Ramey's. Then you should be able to mod it safely. I would hate to have all that nice stuff on a blown motor.

And get the Z1 silicone coolant bypass lines when you do the timing belt. I'd also get a new fuel filter, spark plugs, clean the throttle bodies and make sure everything else is current. Yeah, I can't believe it was the 23rd post before someone said maintenance.

1) Power:

IMHO, take it for what it's worth or ignore it, but there's not a lot which is financially intelligent to do on the NA Z32 for power.

Most cost efficient: Small block swap.

Otherwise:

-JWT POP Charger. Best intake for the Z32, dyno proven.
-Cat back exhaust of your choosing, with testpipes. Either the cat back or TPs should be resonated, otherwise you'll sound like a fart-can honduh.
-ASP Underdrive pulley and HI water pump overdrive pulley.
-Lightweight flywheel
-Custom dyno tune - should run about $400 and will yield better results than an off-the-shelf ECU.

After that, I'd stop, as the cost/benefit ratio goes downhill from there. Injectors won't help, unless you're running a dry nitrous shot. Headers can be a PITA to install with the engine in, and I haven't seen anything to show a sizable gain. Headwork and plenum porting have minimal results, and an electric fan isn't worth the hassle.

The NA will still be a very peppy, fun car at this powerlevel, thanks to the 4.08 final drive ratio, versus the TT's 3.69.

If that power level is good for you needs now, then I'd go to step two:

2) Everything else:

Upgrade suspension - tons of options, depends on what you're going to use the car for, and how the roads are around you. Oh, and how much you want to spend. Honad did a slicktop build thread here, maybe this page or next page of threads. Very nice setup.

Brakes - stock sized rotors, stainless lines, nice pads and good fluid with a 300° brake master cylinder brace is very street competent.

Wheels - If you have stock sized wheels now, you already have the best performing wheels for your car. The only other wheel would be the OEM TT rear wheels, in all four corners. TT rears are 8.5" wide, so you can fit bigger tires in all four corners, which will help with your handling. The OEM wheels are light, have built in brake cooling, and look like they belong on the car. Bigger wheels and tires will offer a crisper turn-in, but will undoutbly weigh more. When trying to squeeze power and performance from your car; the lighter the better with wheels, tires and brakes. Not only is this weight lost, it's unsprung weight. Lighter rotating assemblies mean better acceleration, better braking and better steering response. If you decide to get bigger wheels, just keep that last statement in mind.

3) Audio, interior and other subjective stuff.


Just my $0.01. Yes, that's the dollar's value in this crappy economy.