New to me 93 Convertible

[mdublu]

I have just taken over maintenance of my mother-in-laws 93 300ZX with 55k. It has been sitting in a Las Vegas garage for probably eight years with occasional driving once every couple years--I'm guessing less than 1k total. I have contacted Nissan dealers and have come up with no records. I'm guessing it has had little or no service during this time. Where should I start after the oil change I'm doing tomorrow? I have tightened all the fuel line screws which were mostly loose. I have the 60K service coming up but that may be a few years off--maybe I do it early?

It has a suspension or tire issue. Bad shake at highway speeds and sometime rough at lower speeds but no always--it usually drives fine, does not pull left or right. I'm looking into having the tire condition, suspension and bushings checked out. The tires are only a few years old but car has been sitting.

[VStar650CL]

Over that length of time, I doubt the tires are even safe anymore. You have to consider all the rubber parts on the car as suspect, buna loses integrity over time even if it's sitting in a dark closet. So that's the place to start.

[AZhitman]

I've rehabbed several "sitting for years" cars, most recently a 90 Z32 with 50k miles.

You're probably not going to like this, but exactly what VStar said is accurate. Plan on tires, now. They're flat-spotted, from sitting, and you're not fixing it by driving (the steel belts take a shape and stay there).

Timing belt is due (based on age, not miles). With that, you're gonna do water pump, front seals, all coolant hoses, serpentine belt and idler, and everything cooling related.

Fuel hoses should all be replaced. The clamps were loose because the rubber is dissipating away. Fuel filter should be done as well.

Anything rubber (suspension bushings) should be on your list. Brake fluid and trans fluid should be flushed, and diff should be serviced - but don't be surprised if you see some oil or trans leaks in the next few weeks. Without normal use, those seals shrink and fail.

Invariably, someone will read this and say, "No way, it's got low miles." And they'd be wrong. And then, one thing after another fails (just as water finds its level, failures move on to the next-weakest part of the system).

[Zcarvert]

I agree with the hitman, I have a 93 Convertible and drove it 5 years and ignored the timing belt cause it had only 40,000 miles on it. Bad move It died at a stop light and my heads miraculously were un damaged. Bought new heads because all my Z guys said the heads would have damaged valves. but the pistons and valves all had no sign of damage ..any way I had to pull the engine, rebuild the transmission, and remove egr and manifold hoses, etc ..two years later and its back on the road turniing heads everywhere!

[mdublu]

Thanks all. I had new tires put on yesterday--Hankook Ventus V2 Concept 2. Big improvement. Although I have no records it looks like the fuel lines were replaced as the clamps and hoses look new. I'm having timing and drive belts, water pump, etc replaced in a few weeks. After that shocks and replace the terrible stereo perhaps.

[mdublu]

I agree with the hitman, I have a 93 Convertible and drove it 5 years and ignored the timing belt cause it had only 40,000 miles on it. Bad move It died at a stop light and my heads miraculously were un damaged. Bought new heads because all my Z guys said the heads would have damaged valves. but the pistons and valves all had no sign of damage ..any way I had to pull the engine, rebuild the transmission, and remove egr and manifold hoses, etc ..two years later and its back on the road turniing heads everywhere!

I was sitting at a roundabout last week and this guy driving through in a black Ferrari convertible drives buy and he's pointing at the Z.

[Daspyda]

I would also consider doing rear main seal, rebuild steering rack, bearings, brake fluid and cylinders.

Also, the stock trannys have weak 2nd and 3rd gear synchros. Gear grinding is the symptom. A rebuild is almost as much as a new OEM 96+ JDM transmission from Z1 Motorsports. It was redesigned with strengthened synchros.

For the paint, have a shop do a "cut and buff" to remove oxidation on the paint.

I bought my car from the original owner, and did a mechanical restoration. It drives as new.