Zswap's Z (journal)

[zswap0429]

First of I want to thank some of the other members here for the idea I.e. z owned, dcaff, 300ZXttZMAN.

With that said, here is a little about me and my car.

I was currently deployed to Japan back in 2010 and between getting sent out to every freakin Asian country there is, I started looking for a 300zx. My goal was a twin turbo but I would pretty much settle for anything. I found an ad for a low miles Brown 300 n/a. Called the guy from Japan and had my brother go by to test drive the car. Ended up talking the guy down from $8500 to $7000 (from the other side of the World... Pretty impressive ifi do say so myself) bought the car without even seeing it and came home to my <30,000 mile 93 z.

The next day after I got home I installed a k&n filter in it.

It had a huge bend in one of the stock wheels so those were quickly replaced. I bought a used set of 5ziegen typhoon wheels and tires front 17x8.5 with 245/45/17 back 17x9 with 275/40/17. All for $500.

After that I did some minor paint work on the car to parts that looked like they needed it. (Calipers and some engine cover parts)
I also took some time and 2-toned the bottom with a gloss black and a silver stripe to match the rims.


soon after I found a non running tt down the street from me and bought it. After 2 weeks and $2000 I got it running just to find out the driver side turbo was blowing a ton of oil into the engine. So that was a big friggin waste

So I started stealing parts from it to add to my n/a. Took the entire black interior. My light tan was looking rough. The rear sway bar, some mystery exhaust, and a few other small parts.


I also got a z1 short shifter, z1 ecu, tien Street lowering Springs and a few other small things while I was home once.

Ended up moving to cali and my tt got sent home to ga.
a few weeks in cali and this happened.
drove it home to Ga and the next day this happens while I'm in a store buying a drink

I ended up deploying again a few weeks later so the z was left in a body shop.
I had them steal all the parts from my tt to fix cocoa and I took that time to buy a jspec front bumper

I also bought a few parts for my engine as well. Just because I haven't gotten my hands dirty in a few months.

Day after I finished with my car I got arrested for driving on a suspended license. And I'm like "I've been deployed for the last 7 months. what havei done to get it suspended?"

Here is one of those pictures you see on tv to make you feel sad and get you to donate to some charity.


So I've had a few extra days to play around with my car.
currently moving the battery to the trunk And bypassing the coolant lines. What else can I do until I get this court thing settled?

[300ZXttZMAN]

Love it!

Now all you need to do is put a link in your signature.

[zswap0429]

Just a few small things today. I had the back of my car lifted today to change the back tires so I went ahead and took a few pictures while I was at it.

Here is the mystery exhaust. Looks like it might just be a custom set up. Either way I love the way it sounds.


Here is the current location of my battery. Working on making a new box for it.


And here is another problem I have. How can I get rid of this without tearing up to much of my engine bay.


And finally. How do you replace the coil pack connectors? Mine are fried so I bought a new set. But I can't get the wires out of the old ones.

[DCaff300ZX]

Wow, and you have a Sapphire TT too??? OMG me SOOOOO jelly...DAMN!
Glad to see you do a thread, and to see that like many of us there's a lot of extra stuff involved in keeping a Z happy for a long period of time.
Seems we both have had to do a little dancing for our girl, congrats for sticking with it and doing a really nice job with her...and my thoughts go out to you to find a way for Sapphire too! We both gotta find a way to get our #2's back in action again...

[zswap0429]

Thanks. It hasn't exactly been easy. With deploying and allot of financial problems is been hard to really give them the attention they need. But I love both my cars so I'm going to get them both the way i want them some day.
And I agree. That poor tt looks so neglected right now compared to my n/a.
Good luck to you on your #2

[zswap0429]

Today's update.
so far I moved my ptu to under the nose panel. Had a bit of corrosion on one of the connectors. Hopefully that was my idle problem.

Replacing the coil pack connectors. I had an extra set from my tt build.

And I'm almost finished with my coolant line bypass. Once that is done I can finally rebuild the engine and take her to go get a 2013 tag. I'm a little late on that one I guess.

On a personal note. I talked to the county clerk and all I have to do is show up at court and show my receipt from passing my ticket and I get my case dismissed. Which means I get my license back!

[DCaff300ZX]

[zswap0429]

Well I put my engine together. And it looks good. .. Only problem is. It doesn't run Good. My injectors now have to be replaced. So my car won't be running for a few weeks.



while I'm waiting I'm redoing my interior trim. Instead of spending 200 on a pre made kit. I'm making my own. I'm using a black micro mesh material and it looks fantastic.



Here is the armrest I just finished.

[zswap0429]

Home for a couple days so i decided to try to finish up with this thing. First step is the fuel injector problem. I did some research and think it was just the orings. So I got a new set from z1 and swapped those out. (My old ones were cracked so let's hope this was the problem)

once I get this thing running smoothly I can go get my emissions done and get it registered.

And lastly I need to finish up that interior I started last time I Was here

[DCaff300ZX]

Looking good, get to it!

[300ZXttZMAN]

Wow the arm rest turned out great! This is the first time I have seen it. Good job on that man! Keep it up!

[zswap0429]

Well I've finished up the majority of the interior. Here are just a few pics of what I've finished.

This was the original factory fabric.



and here are a few of the finished pieces.






and here was the drivers door. It took me 3 his to do this one.

[DCaff300ZX]

^^^Those door panels are a biatch to do for sure, getting the material tucked into the groove and still getting everything to form to the contours takes a LOT of patience as I remember from doing my NA.
Looks great!!

[zswap0429]

Yeah it doesn't look nearly as good as the other panels. I going to redo it later

[zswap0429]

Just a few parting shots of the interior before I head back to cali.

[Zleepin]

Looks amazing! keep up the great work!

[zswap0429]

Well I'm in the Airport on the way back to California. So it will be a little while before I get back to it.

Sadly the injectors still need to be replaced. Which means I need money to buy them. So it looks like I'm waiting.

And the door panels both need to be redone.

Hopefully I can get both those done before z-nationals at z1 october 4th-6th. At least i have a deadline this time.

[zswap0429]

Finally got the new style injectors in!

She even managed to pass emission

[DCaff300ZX]

Finally got the new style injectors in!

She even managed to pass emission

Nice!
Mine passed as well this year, although as the weather has changed it's become apparent that one of my injectors is becoming unhappy without constant Lucas upper cylinder lube additive and so I will be saving for injectors as well...

[zswap0429]

Finally got her off the ground.


Then cleaned out some of the inside


There was over 10lbs of useless wires and such from the previos owners obsession with crappy sound system parts

[Slizz]

I wish I knew how to do interior work haha looks great, didnt you sell the cocoa one?

[zswap0429]

I did sell it. Now I want to fix the tt

[DCaff300ZX]

Good news!
Just LOVE the sapphire blue color as well, you were always that guy with my 2 fav colors I don't have...can't wait to see her back in action!

[zswap0429]

Yeah. But its going to be a couple years before I get it running

[atljeepguy]

Any idea why your buyer is already trying to get rid of it? Anything wrong with it at time of sale?

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/4441689686.html

I am interested in it but its a bit sketch that he would sell so fast

[zswap0429]

She claims that she needs the money for a new truck. Hers broke down right after. But I would not pay her 8.5 for it since she only paid about 5k for it

With that being said... it is still a project car and I didn't get to finish everything I wanted to do to it. So there are some loose ends that I don't think she would have fixed. But the over all car was amazing. I've been trying to get it back ever since I sold it

[punkncat]

I was actually curious about that myself and am glad to see you posting about the sale. Reading this thread and thinking...didn't I just see that car on Atl CL???

I just picked up a vert myself and am dealing with the headaches of getting it right again. Fun stuff.