Hey guys,
I recently decided to stop looking at cars and start learning about them and decided to jump right in an start up some sort of project car as a way to have and learn at the same time. I am a handy and have some engineering experience but have no car experience. I have been doing research on possible options and decided that either a 240sx, 300zx, or 350z meet my requirements as to possible performance and price but was wondering what people more knowledgeable then myself had to say on the matter.

The goal is a 300ish whp reliable vehicle with good to excellent handling characteristics for daily driving while also providing me a platform to learn how to maintain and fix a vehicle. I would be doing most to all of the work myself and would like to stay away from taking the engine apart right away, though I imagine I would be more comfortable doing so as time went on.

The first platform I am considering would be a SR20DET swapped 240sx. I considered doing the swap myself, found a rolling chassis for 800 or so, but figured an engine install as first experience turning a wrench was probably ambitious to the point of hubris, not to mention the parts list I came up with was a tad steep for upfront costs. Getting an already swapped vehicle looks to be rather economical and the lighter weight should make it sufficiently peppy until I get additional funds to buy the 300whp performance upgrades. And the engine does not have to come apart.

300zx NA was the second option, NA because of the simpler (I imagine) maintenance and I can't find a TT. I would by open to a TT option if I could find one or just pushing the NA motor to 240ish WHP then considering a NA TT conversion. This is probably my current favorite option since it looks like their would be plenty to do to keep my involved but I worry about the costs involved with either TTing the car or with the motor internal improvements that seem to be needed to get close to the 300whp number. Also, some have said the car is just difficult to work on.

Last option is the 350z, mainly because its cheap, can easily get the desired power numbers, newer, and thus, supposedly, more reliable. I also would not need a turbo to hit desired power numbers nor any engine internals.

What are yalls thoughts? Particularly curious to know if any of my information is wrong and which path yall would recommend.

Thanks

While I haven't had one, I would suspect the SR20-swapped 240 would likely be the easiest to maintain, just by nature of it being an in-line 4.

I also can't speak to the 350Z directly, either, but as you noted, it's also likely to have better reliability engineered into it, as it's newer. Newer = more abundant = higher parts demand = easier to source parts. You see plenty around.

I do have a '91TT - bought last June, and have been diving deeper into it recently. I got it off an original owner who really didn't do anything to the car. That, and being it's the only Z32 I've had, I'm starting from scratch as well. There's guys on here who have dealt with N/As, but I really don't think the presence of the turbos has an effect on required maintenance. Critical items/systems are pretty much the same - there's just more plumbing under the hood. Yes, the engine is shoe-horned in there, and it's very, very compacted with everything else under the hood, but given the right tools and guidance (tech articles here and via twinturbo.net, youtube), I believe it's as daunting as you want it to be. That being said, I wouldn't personally rely on it as a 100% DD - component failures due to age will bite you from time to time. It's inevitable.

While I probably could write all day, I'll leave some for the other guys. I may be biased, but I have no doubt that the Z32 is the sexiest by far. It's an absolute blast to drive - a driving machine in its purest sense, IMO. Being a bit more rare, it's a head-turner, too. Hey, once I spotted one after not seeing one for a long time, I couldn't start looking. The toughest part will be finding a good one at a reasonable price - it took me a few months and I had to fly to go get it. Take your time and learn as much as you can prior to looking at one in person.

Good luck with your search - all of the cars you're looking at do have quite a following, so regardless of what you get, you should have no problem with forum support.

...welcome to the forum, by the way!

Welcome to NICOclub!

I'll post a more detailed input later, but for now, my recommendation is a 350Z. An older 370Z shouldn't be ignored either, but the important thing is - what's your budget for your project? There are a lot of different options to achieve what you're after, but the budget part is important.

RicerX wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:28 am

Welcome to NICOclub!

I'll post a more detailed input later, but for now, my recommendation is a 350Z. An older 370Z shouldn't be ignored either, but the important thing is - what's your budget for your project? There are a lot of different options to achieve what you're after, but the budget part is important.

Budget is more of a "how much at once" question then a "how much overall" question. The excel spreadsheets I am coming up with estimate 12k or so for both the 350z and the 300zx. So 15k or so with contingencies but that is primarily just for building the car to the point I want it. Maintenance is independent and probably around 5-7k in parts to get the car reliable. The performance parts budget also includes upgrades to some maintenance items such as injectors/fuel rail, new suspension, clutch + flywheel, and silicon hoses all around so those would come out of the performance budget not maintenance. Also, the Concept Z performance shop is nearby if I got super stuck.

Based on what I can tell the 350 or 370z would be cheaper in parts but more up front for the car and vice versa for the 300zx. Main worry with the 350z is not having enough to do to it. That and the pre 07 hood is ugly....

As far as I'm concerned there is no bad choice. but +1 for the 350Z. the 240SX is probably the least complex of the 3, but like the 300zx you're talking older cars so age related issues are going to inevitably haunt you. The 350/370Z are not as old, plentiful, already have about a 300 hp baseline stock, handle great stock, there's plenty of parts and support, and are still depreciating. Yes, I'm biased too as I have a non-DD '03 350Z, but I''ve kept mine pretty much stock except for brakes. Though I disagree on a very minor point with Tempest. I don't think the pre-'07 hood is ugly.

I understand that when you say 300zx you are referring to the z32, but I would honestly recommend the z31 over the z32 for the backyard mechanic. In my experience, the vg30e is cheap, plentiful, and robust. Also, you are far enough away from your power goals to incrementally get there and learn quite a bit without breaking the bank. Since parts are so abundant, you could easily source spare engines to build while still driving your car.

The biggest bonus to me though is the amount of room you have in the engine bay. The pipes on pipes on pipes layout of the z32 will make wrenching on things frustrating. If you start with an N/a z31, your engine bay will only be as complicated as you want it to be.
z32 TT:


z31 turbo:

Any reason why you would recommend an NA z31? It looks like the first thing I would do to make some power would be to turbo it, rest of the bolt on gambit doesnt seem to help much.

So I’ve been trying to find a part number for front and rear camber kits for a 2015 Infiniti q70 3.7L AWD can anyone help? I repeat I have the AWD version NOT the RWD version.

yogi561 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:22 pm

So I’ve been trying to find a part number for front and rear camber kits for a 2015 Infiniti q70 3.7L AWD can anyone help? I repeat I have the AWD version NOT the RWD version.

2015 Infiniti Q70 Performance Control Arms more details on - https://www.carid.com/2015-infiniti-q70 ... l+Drive%29

I would happily say a 300zx would be the most affordable and a good learning project. You would have to do your research on aftermarket parts. Maybe swap the engine. There is plenty of room, and it’s not as easy or a repeat if every 240 out there.

The car you want is a 240sx with sr20det

Very easy to work on, light weight, lots of engine bay room to work on it. Lots of aftermarket parts if needed. And the OEM parts from Nissan are basically high performance parts, better than aftermarket most of the time.

The 300 is a very heavy car. With an inefficient engine that has tons of cramped, terrible ideas embedded. Steer clear of that car and V6 in general.
The V6 configuration has all of the headache/annoyances of a V8 but without the 2 extra cylinder.
if you are serious about learning and maintaining something, you need an easy engine to work on, something with plugs that are easy to access and parts that are easy to fit your hand around the back side. That means a 4-cyl or a straight six. None of that V stuff

Please see my build/maintenance thread for sr20 car
http://www.freshalloy.com/showthread.ph ... nd-Restore

That should give you an idea of how easy to car is to work on and maintain.