New to the forum, potential owner.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Good morning Z owners, I've been a lurker on the site for about a year now, have always loved the Z and am trying to get a TT one as soon as I can, but before I jump into this head first, I have some questions....
Let me begin, I'm looking at an imported actual JDM car, a 90 TT 5 speed, listed price is 16K, with about 40k miles.... Lol (always skeptical). Here's my problem, idk anything about Japanese imports, is fuel going to be an issue, because murica? What about when I have an issue, are there reliable places to find these parts? How much of the US spec stuff can I use to fix JDM spec issues...o2 sensors, MAF, or any sensors for that matter? All of those types of questions, I've seen the general difference pages, but am wondering if there is anything more seeing as it's not just a JDM engine, but the entire car, so I have to think about finding and fixing ANYTHING that goes wrong

once I have more posts and what not I'll explore more, potentially check classified for sale, maybe potentially trade my current KDM car, meh, who knows lol idk how to post pictures from my phone or I'd show that off here

[MrFeesLaw]

I would say the biggest issue you will find is emissions. Even though it is an old enough car to not need them, many replacement parts you order will come fitted for the U.S. emission parts. Such as exhaust coming with 02 bungs, or engine parts coming ready to mate with egr valves or pcv valves or other such things. Most of these will still work the same if you just plug up the holes though. Other than that The general layout of the engine bay should be relatively the same. The heads, the oil pan, mufflers, and whatever else should all be fine to swap with U.S. parts.

Welcome to the site!!!

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Thank you for the response, almost thought this was a ghost town here, that's kind of what I figured though, and that type of stuff is exactly the type of feedback I'm looking for, I've been around a lot of cars, but have never touched a z32, or an actual imported car either, so I'm not sure about suspension differences, emissions, exhaust specifically, I believe I seen something about how they are different due to the cats not being present on a JDM spec model, a lot of little questions and research before I jump head first into it I suppose

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Bueller... Anyone?
Looking for more information about chassis differences, sensors, etc... Any JDM (full car) owners here that can message me?
And the big thing, parts availability, are the harness connectors the same? Can I go to autozone to buy replacement o2 sensors or is everything special order Nissan parts?
Also block/heads differences? Eventually I want to go the IPP built engine route, any reason I can't do that?

[nissanfreak12]

You can get all the parts from autozone, but these cars can be very particular what part it wants to use.

O2 sensors will work from the auto parts store, but bosch type sometimes will cause odd running issues.

MAF sensors need to have N62 on them or will cause running issues.

These cars seem to be real picky on what they get put on the car, but if you need something for the last minute, it should work.

JDM engines are the same as USDM, except for minor differences like the oil pressure sensor is on the opposite side, but they use the same same sensor. Going to IPP for an engine rebuild is suggested, and will not cause any issues. These cars are not like hondas where jdm and USDM are different. Japan does get 2+2 TT's, we dont. Harness's are different, left hand drive vs right hand drive, but you can get new harnesses for both at wiring specialties.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

There we go, so now chassis/suspension should be interchangeable correct? Not familiar with differences between LHD/RHD stuff. What about intercooler piping/routing/ turbo kit stuff, all interchangeable? Idk if the steering and such being on the other side flips anything because I haven't had a chance to tinker with either Z. Trying to get the info before I pull the trigger, because I don't want to go balls deep in a JDM Z if it's going to cause parts to be non existent. If that's the case I'd rather go USDM.

[itsa300zx]

99% of the mech/engine stuff will be the same. Steering rack and some interior trim will differ.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Anyone know the best place to pick up aftermarket stuff for the specific pieces that are different? Ex. Pillar pod for passenger side that kind of stuff?

[nissanfreak12]

99% of the mech/engine stuff will be the same. Steering rack and some interior trim will differ.

This right here^^^^^ Seats, steering rack, gauge pods, door panels, seats, dash, wiring, minor other things.

Turbo piping etc will all be the same, transmission, engine and so on.

Conceptzperformance.com

specialtyz.com

Z1performance.com

These are good for go fast parts and hard to find parts. Ebay is for plastic pieces like gauge pods stuff like that, but always keep an eye on the sites listed for deals that may beat ebay.

[grayman_TT]

The service manual is very good to have as it outlines the lhd and rhd platforms. As with the items that other members have covered, there are also some differences in the engine bay (line routing for brake booster/cluch master cylinder).

You may also find some service shops will not touch the car as it is rhd. I had some issues while trying to safety mine. If you perform your own repairs then no problem.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

I do about 90% of my own service and repairs, so that's the good news I suppose, it honestly seems like a RHD car won't be as big of a headache as I expected

[nissanfreak12]

I think the biggest headache is when you go through a drive-thru, you will either have to go in reverse or have a passenger with you. lol

[evildky]

RHD JDM models of cars available here as LHD are worth less than their US counterpart. Very few people want one. If you do have at but when it's time to sell your market will be fraction of those looking for the LHD version.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

I'm looking to make this my long term "forever" kind of car, so I'm not so worried about resale value, but it's good to know so I can bring that up at the point of purchase and maybe save a couple dollars, as soon as my current show at is sold I'll be on to this new Z project

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Ok, so I'm not a fitment guru unless I measure everything myself, but I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if the wheels off my show car will fit on the Z. It's 5x114, 19x9.5 +20/19x11 +23, don't remember the tire size, but it's a mild stretch, they are work VS-XX not that it matters lol

[nissanfreak12]

They will be huge on the Z. 9.5 with that offset may rub in the front. Rears might as well. Both will not be flush, they will stick out quite a bit.

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Any idea what the widest/flush setup numbers are?

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Also, I think my last stupid question is what about tuning, are the ecu's identical? Are the chips universal? What tuners do the Z community trust? Can the ECU be tuned? Or do I have to have a standalone? Or something of that nature? I'm just outside of New York City if anyone knows anyone in that area. You guys have been a huge help, have someone coming to look at my car this weekend, once it's sold I'm jumping on my new project Z

[Kyle.whitbeck]

Well ladies and gents, my show car is sold, the Z is on its way to me, and I'm having a brain fart, but, it's a JDM spec, and someone mentioned something about the exhaust being different than USDM, and the fix for it, and I don't remember what was said or if it was even said here :/, help me so I can order stuffs!

[Kyle.whitbeck]

I'm guessing this forum doesn't have a lot of active users? Lol was kind of hoping for some real back and forth with some of the zed veterans