Tips on buying my first 300

[Bigred*]

Im finally doing it!! Gonna buy my first 300zx, ive wanted one since the day i first saw one! Looking for some tips before i pull the trigger cuz i wanna go buy one tomorrow! Im very mechanically inclined and intend on upping the power eventually, but i also plan on owning this car for quite some time.. The biggest selling point for me now is the color, because i figure the rest i can do, either red or pearl white.. Havent found to many red ones but i have a beautiful pearl white once local to me, the body is decent, really the only bad part is the spoiler has split in half, so he removed it but it has discoloration where it use to be, has about 120,000 miles, not much engine mods, has some hks bov and a full hks exhaust which honestly i think sounds horrible, also has an exhaust leak.. The interior is soso, seats have tears in them, it has custom led lighting though, and its had the white leather interior put in, except not on the doors, but its dirty and is rough in a few spots, it also has a nifty little timer that keeps the car going for a few seconds after you pull the key out to help it cool off.. Anyways he wants $5500 and i kinda wanna get it

Theres another one in cali thats white instead of pearl.. Interior is much more rough, but says the engine is a jdm swap with 60,000 miles and transmission was rebuilt 30,000 miles ago he says with the mods it has between 390-420hp but other then headers he doesn't say what they are..and its got some flashy fenders on the front im not a fan of.. He also wants $5500, either of these sounds good? Or should i keep waiting.. Ive been looking on and off for the past couple years.. Only had one perfect red one i missed out on for $5000 i sadly missed.. I guess main question is how hard is it to reupholster the inside and how pricey is it? And should i opt for something with engine mods, or get a stock one and mod it myself so i know everything?

[NolimitZ32]

1. Welcome to NICO.
2. Read the "Everything you need to know " sticky, it has a lot of the information you are looking for.
3. What is your location, "decent" price will depend greatly on this factor.
4. If this is something you have been wanting for a long time and have the funds to buy and maintain such a car I suggest waiting until you find something you are 100% happy with, these cars can and do become a very expensive PITA if not maintained properly.

[Bigred*]

K ill take a look at that sticky, as far as prices go, most good condition na's go for about that much around here, he had it listed at 7k.. Theres one good condition red one, but he wants 11.5k and a beautiful dark red in perfect condition with 60000 original miles, but he wants $21,000! Think im gonna go for it, at the bank now lol, lets see. Im never hapoy lol, ive i get a red one, sometimes im gonna regret not getting pearl white and vice versa, either way i think ill be very happy

[evildky]

Unless you know these cars well I recommend against buying someone else's project. Buy the most original car you can find. A car that's had a engine swap and/or rebuild has gone through who knows what kind of abuse and corners may have been cut. Thats not to say someone project can't be the shining example but unless you are familiar enough with these cars to tell the difference try sticking to stock unmolested cars. also the guy who estimates his HP and does not have a dyno sheet, is a moron, walk away.

[Bigred*]

Haha that was exactly what i thought with that one car, i started thinking who the heck ball parks their numbers like that, who knows where else he cut corners, and how hard has pushed it to need both a new engine and transmission.. Anyways i got my local one!! I was super nervous earlier today though, i guess it didnt get hot enough on the test drive, and it was raining, after i get on it i get some blue clouds out the back when it revs down pretty sure its the turbos.. Then right in front of my office got on it hard, took off pretty good, but when i let off it died so i parked it in my office then it started pouring clouds of white smoke under the hood and there was coolant everywhere..

Well got home and started looking at this disaster i had just bought on a whim, ran a leak down test and was very happy with what i got, 3 cylinders had 35% leak and the other 3 had 25% leak, my tester says brand new engines should have at least 20% leak and its not bad till theyre at about 60% leak.. I like that, havent run a compression test yet though.. While doing this i noticed one of my coil packs was split down the middle and all melted.. That doesnt seem right, went and got a new one for $70 threw it all back together and wow, it sounded so different!! It sounds amazing now! Idled so smooth then i took it out and i am still in shock at how fast this thing takes off!! Im in love! Turns out it works a ton better when your using all 6 cylinders lol.. Idk what all has been done to this engine but once i got under there i could see it has a full after market exhaust and what look likes nice round exhaust manifold, which the stock ones are more squarish right? Still some leaks to fix, bad bearing in one wheel and an exhaust leak, really the biggest problem is the coolant thing which i need to resolve, but otherwise im so happy with this car, now that the engine is working right its a dream to drive, and all the electronis still work, this car is gonna be my baby.. Gonna change all the fluids to, maybe the oil is to high which could be causing the blue smoke, cuz i dont think its coning from the engine

[Bigred*]

Oh one more thing, all the clips that go to the coil packs are total $h!t theyre all broken and they were all held on with zip ties, which was actually very impressive how they fot them on there.. Anyways, where a good place to get new clips, cuz i definatly need all 6 replaced

[marty1mc]

I'm going to chime in here. I am a long time Z owner, 12+ yrs. First, I would raise my target price. In the $5k range you are probably going to find mostly Z's in need of a lot of work. I would steer clear of JDM swaps. If I were in the market for a new TT-Z, I would be looking for a mostly stock Z, with good maintenance records and current maintenance done, preferably in the sub 100k mile range. I would expect to pay from $8k to $12k. In the end, this is likely your cheapest option.

Now, if you are set on the $5k range, you need to do some work:

First, on any Z you look at, do a compression check. Make sure the engine is warm and you have the throttle body at WOT (a common mistake when doing a compression is not to open the throttle fully and let air in). This means you need to either disconnect the CAS or at least disable the fuel pump (fuse/relay). You don't want to allow the injectors to pump gas into the cylinders while doing a compression test and wash down the cylinder. If the compression test is good, great (no 2 adjoining cylinders vary more the 10%). I usually don't worry too much about the overall number as gauges vary, but the compression must be consistent. A compression of 150-170 is good, just make sure you don't get 170 on one cylinder and 150 on the adjacent one (that's beyond the 10% rule).

Visual - Bodywork - Open the doors and hatch and hood. Run you fingers (if you are right handed, use your left as it is more sensitive) along the edges and feel for ridges. Ridges usually means that it's been painted. Painting isn't necessarily bad, but it can mean it's been wrecked. Look at the radiator core support on the bottom. They can get hammered as well.

Inspect the fluids - A). check the steering reservoir - should not be empty and have red fluid, not clear. The Z uses Dexron III transmission or equivalent. It's not the end of the world if it's filled with clear, but it does tell you the guy didn't know much about his Z. Power steering fluid can develop leaks easier than with Dexron III.
B). How does the oil look? Is it full? Also make sure it doesn't look like molasses.
C). Brake fluid? Clean or coke?
D). Radiator fluid - look in the radiator, is the fluid green or a dingy yellow? Are there deposits on the inside of the radiator (white calcium looking deposits)? if so, don't believe the standard claim of "well maintained".

2). Look for leaks -A). Feel the alternator and see if you hand comes out wet with the same color that was in the power steering reservoir. If it does, that's a very common problem and NEEDS correction. The high pressure hose for the power steering is leaking. It's an expensive item and has another hose (depending on year) for the HICAS in the rear as well. Plus, the leaking fluid will likely result in your alternator blowing (ask me how I know).
B). Look under the car and see if it generally wet or dry. If it's wet, what is it? Radiator fluid, green, or oil. Oil can mean you need a variety of things and can get them all if you do a 120k kit properly and change the valve cover gaskets. Radiator fluid means either the radiator, water pump (120k kit), or hoses need attention.
C). inspect the brake lines and calipers, they should be dry.
D). See if there is any aftermarket boost controller on it. If there is, just ask two questions in this sequence: 1) How high does it boost? 2) Do you have upgraded injectors and ECU? Be enthusiastic when asking about boost. You want him to brag. But, You really want to find out if he's been ragging it. If he says 15 or 16lbs and he doesn't have upgraded injectors and ECU, walk away. Actually, run. The Z32 can handle about 13-14lbs of boost on stock injectors, then it leans out which is very bad.

3). Inspect the inside of the tires. If there is camber wear evident, you will need to spend money on suspension kits to allow modification of camber. (figure between $500 to $1000 for all 4 wheels if you do it right and you do the labor).

4). Start the car and listen. Valve tick is somewhat normal on these cars, unfortunately. It can be a PITA to get it to go away short of rebuilding/replacing lifters. But, if the oil is clean and the motor quiets down after a minute or so, then good. I am assuming it's from cold start here.

5). Take two test drives. One where you drive and one where you follow. A). Drive the Z and feel if it is smooth. Does it shift smoothly, run smoothly up and down the range. After it has been running for 5 minutes or so, open it up and feel the boost. The Z motor is one of the smoothest running I have seen and boost should be strong. It should hit about 9 lbs (stock).
Also, shift up and down the range. Listen for gear grind from 5th to 4th. It is a common problem with the manuals and usually shows up around 80-100k miles. It is the syncro going. Switching to Redline MT90 helps, but the ultimate fix is to either rebuild (at some point) or swap in a 98+ transmission with redesigned syncros. (That's what I did).
B). Next have him drive it and follow. Look for smoke out of one or both exhausts. If you see a lot of blue, then know you probably have a repair coming up. Its most likely turbo seals if the compression was good. That's an engine pull and about $800-$1000 for new CHRA's (Center Housing Rotating Assemblies). Never rebuild the turbos, you can replace the guts and it's well worth it.
If you see lots of white smoke, it's burning radiator fluid. A blow HG is very rare on these cars, so it could again be the turbos, but I would be nervous.

Lastly, the carfax is good, but I would run an AutoCheck as well. I worked in a dealership and we used Autocheck. I have seen too many cars come in with a carfax that was clean or minor wreck but the Autocheck revealed that frame damage was reported at the auction. Carfax does not gather auction data, Autocheck does. Carfax has better dealer information for service than Autocheck, so you might do both if you get serious.

So, when you get done with this you should have a pretty good idea if you want the car and how much additional capital it's going to consume once you get it home.

Good Luck and I hope this helps!

[NolimitZ32]

Who the hell told you a leakdown of 25% is ok? The standard for a healthy engine is no more than 10% fully warmed up.