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what would you do?

Coutes

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 3, 2006
Messages
113
I found this car the other day!! 1990 nissan 300zx. Its a 5 speed regular v6 engine putting out 200 hp, rear wheel drive. Its a 2 seater with t-top roof. I talked to the owner and he said the car was running but had 184,000 miles on it. He was asking 1000 for the car but said he was willing to negotiate. Would this be a worthy project? I could swapthe engine for the twin turbo engine. The engine with 40,000 miles on ebay cost 1,500 dollars. Would it be worth it? or should i just save for the turbo for my tour?

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1000 bucks buy it man..If the overall look is nice..My buddys got a Pearl white one.Beautiful car hes got about 150K on it..Non Turbo is use to be but the Previous owner removed the turbo.He plans on doing the turbo motor soon..I would buy it see how low he willing to go to..
 
how hard you think it is to swap those engines?? i honestly don't know too much about this all i know is that my friends dad is a mechanic willing to help...and if worse comes to worse i could drop it off at this vocational school down the street and have them do the work for free!! Just have to pay for parts...I love this car and know that this thing will move with the twin turbo..so tempting.. i don't know if i would have time to do this project myself!
 
how hard you think it is to swap those engines?? i honestly don't know too much about this all i know is that my friends dad is a mechanic willing to help...and if worse comes to worse i could drop it off at this vocational school down the street and have them do the work for free!! Just have to pay for parts...I love this car and know that this thing will move with the twin turbo..so tempting.. i don't know if i would have time to do this project myself!

maybe you should look for some nissan fourms.. they might be a bit more help.
 
i like the part that the twin turbo does a faster qtr mile than its lil bro the 350z. i want one of these too u should do it
 
i've been reading up on the TT conversion...Alot of money. Not sure if i'm willing. or if i am i see a loooooooooooong term project ahead of me...
 
its only expensive if you buy all new parts. the guys in the nissan 300zx forums told me that i could put down 400HP for under 1000 if i upgraded a stock TT engine..... and they said if i had about 2500 i could upgrade just about everything excluding the aesthetic stuff and make around 600 WHP on a stock longblock! the good news is they come with a very strong drivetrain stock. The only things people suggest doing is getting a good clutch and the RWS (rear wheel steering) delete kit. and of course all the poly bushings etc. i would go for it, unless your like me and just like the 4 door more?
 
i would love to get it and do it up trust me...money wise i'm in college and just don't have that much...this one isn't the TT its the regular 6 cylinder. The TT upgrade is 1,500 for the front clip but it says the conversion is a pita!! For mayb elike $700 i will grab it and decide..
 
from what i'm told, the non turbo is the exact same bottom end as the TT. so you would only have to buy turbos, manifolds, (the full exhaust really) and the intake stuff, and an ECU. you'd be paying way more though because why go with old stock junk at that point, you might as well go right for the good stuff. so i suppose your right, the cost would end up going through the roof.
 
Just buy it.

Don't do all the turbo stuff to it. Yes, it's possible to turbo a non-turbo car... you can do that any day down the road when the funds allow it.

My friend also has a nice '90 300ZX (non-turbo). They're very nice cars and have a great look to them for being so old. His drops injectors from time to time but that's about it. This one looks like a good deal as long as it's running OK and not beat to crap.

T
 
heres the plan. I'm probably going to buy the car...let it sit in my garage for a while..turbo the tour... work my a$$ of this summer and hopefully by next year this time i will have the money to put some serious work into the Z. I'm only working part time right now because going to school for mechanical engineering and it takes up all my time. Well i guess working on this z would be some great experience anyway...
 
Avoid that car. "Broke college kid" + 300ZX = Even more broke college kid. From the pictures, that car needs some serious TLC! You'll lose interest after the car sits for over a year. You're also relying on your friend's Dad to help you, which WILL become more of a headache than you'd like to think right now. Sure he's willing to help NOW, but once he knows how much is involved, I'm sure he's not going to want to come home after work, to do even more work for free. Sorry to be pesamistic here, but I smell a letdown.

Mark
 
i say go for it.. i love z's.. just search around for a rebuilt z motor or a vr-4 your bound to find something cheapp. they put out some pretty good power..
 
Avoid that car. "Broke college kid" + 300ZX = Even more broke college kid. From the pictures, that car needs some serious TLC! You'll lose interest after the car sits for over a year. You're also relying on your friend's Dad to help you, which WILL become more of a headache than you'd like to think right now. Sure he's willing to help NOW, but once he knows how much is involved, I'm sure he's not going to want to come home after work, to do even more work for free. Sorry to be pesamistic here, but I smell a letdown.

Mark

agreed

10
 
Don't do it. You never know if something goes wrong with the contour while you're working on the Z. Then you're s*** out of luck. You'll be broke and have no car. I'm a college kid and I knwo the temptations that arise. Let it go.
 
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