The story of my 300zx

[jdmzipties]

Ever since i was little, i've been fascinated with cars, one of the first words i said was "Alternator" because my dad was always working on cars. So naturally, i got a job as soon as possible and started saving up for some sort of "sports car". After a few years (I'm 16 now) I found a 1992 300zx Twin turbo in my price range, my dad and drove down to check it out and decided to buy it. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I bought the car for 3500 $ and it came with a spare transmission, and had to drive it back home on a trailer because it didnt run right. We figured we got it for so cheap we could spend some money and still come out ahead since it only had 100k miles. So we gave it to the nissan shop and had them do a whole bunch of maintenance (new timing stuff, nismo 555 injectors etc) . It was there for 12 weeks, and had a lot of work done to it. 6 grand later it was running decent enough to drive home. The car didnt run perfect though, the previous owner had gt525 turbos put on from z1 motor sports, a 4 puck racing clutch, full greddy turbo back exhaust with divorced downpipes, a walboro 255 and a few other goodies, however it still had the stock ecu. I believe because of this, it would fuel cut past 4500 rpm. (i later discovered that my pcv valves were removed so there were two holes in my intake which might also cause fuel cut). After a few weeks of driving it, it started to smoke really really bad, and my transmission would grind in most gears. So we pulled the engine, had the turbos rebuilt by a shop, and put the spare transmission on. Im 17 now, and a few buddies and i did this work ourselves. I had run out of money and couldnt afford for the nissan shop to do it. While the engine was out we rebuilt a lot of stuff, so hopefully it wouldnt break anything for a while (new throwout bearing, new alternator, new starter motor etc. ). Today, i have both turbos and wrapped downpipes on with all new copper washers and oil lines, everything is installed and i've double checked everything. the only thing i have left is to find out where to connect the wastegate vacuum lines to (posted a thread about it earlier). on Sunday i'm hoping to put the engine in, and get this beast running FINALLY. ecu is on its way back from ashspec z so hopefully no more fuel cut too. as soon as its running unfortunately its going straight to craigslist, its just too difficult and expensive for me to work on. Do you guys have any tips, suggestions or pointers about putting my engine in, or things i should do before its in?
tl:dr bought a nightmare on wheels that i've spent all my money on, and learned a s*** about cars, but its finally about to run again, any tips?

[DCaff300ZX]

First off, welcome to NICO!
Hopefully you get some answers to your specific questions.

Unfortunately, you seem to have illustrated perfectly the problems and issues that can be possible with the Z32TT- improper/worn modifications from a previous owner causing mechanical issues/extensive rebuilding/high costs when a novice next owner tries to pick up the pieces. These cars are finicky especially when handled poorly, and require a knowledgeable owner/mechanic to maintain at a modified level.

I applaud your efforts and apparent willingness to do the required work correctly, but feel you are probably making a wise choice to pass the car on to an owner more able to deal with it...if you are able to do that since buying a modified Z32 is a somewhat well-known no-no for a knowledgeable prospective Z32 owner.
BE SURE to document all of your work and keep your receipts and contact information for the new owner, and to do your best to do OEM quality work or have a reputable person do it- this is most important with the turbo setup (clocking/oil supply/wastegate synching) and cooling system, and wiring.
Oh, and be SURE to replace that PCV setup before you look for the engine to run right!
Good Luck!

[jdmzipties]

Thanks for the reply! Yes unfortunately I learned about 300zx's AFTER i bought one, and had no idea what i should've done. welp i guess i learned the hard way haha. And hopefully i'll get a different car from the money when it sells, something much easier to work on.

[greendusk]

Almost 5 years ago now I got my 1st Z. I knew nothing about cars. NOTHING! NOT ONE THING! Now, "that tire looks low..... lets pull the engine"

But yeah sorry to hear your going to give it up.