300zx

[dodgeshadowchik]

hey! im just wondering what your opinion is on say a 1984 300xz turbo. i saw one for sale for like 995$. it looked in decent shape and has t-tops. im looking for soemthing cheap to drive around as a daily driver.....so i can get my project v6 shadow off the road again for repairs/turbo project/more body work.

[Spirit300]

A buddy of mine has an 85 2+2 that he is getting back on the road. It seems to be a pretty decent car but like others I believe it is a little costly to repair in the case that it needs it.

[DarkWolf]

I was thinking about buying one of those instead of the mustang but decided against it. Neat little cars and the 86 turbo I drove was pretty peppy. I don't think the 84s had water cooled turbos if I remember right.
http://z31.com/
that place has a lot of info on them

[dodgeshadowchik]

well im going to so look at it. i know a firend of mine who will gladly buy it off of me when im through with it. i'm just brainstorming. thanks for that website, it helped alot!

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

If it's not beat to hell, go for it, I've seen a couple run low 13's on stock internals with more fuel and boost.

[dodgeshadowchik]

ok the 300xz runs great! the turbo spools nicely. the only thing is it has a valve cover leak. needs struts in the back. the body has some rusting but the major parts like the floorpans are solid. im thinking about getting it. he said he'll take 900$ for it. it does have like 130,000miles. but it runs so quiet and smooth. so do you think its worth it?

im also looking at a 1992 leboarn convertible with a 3.0. has mulitple oil leaks like they all do. he wants 1500$.

[1badtgp]

Grab the 300. A little pricey on repairs, but luckily if taken care of and not beat to snot, dont really break very often(older ones anyhow).

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

Yeah, go for the 300ZX, it will cost you less to fix it, new rear struts can't run you more than 100 bucks or so. And the leaky valve cover is probably just a gasket. A 3.0 with multiple oil leaks can turn in to a very expensive ordeal, as sometimes the seals on the crank and camshafts go bad, and take allot of time and money to replace. Have fun tuning that 300ZX, you can make them fast, is it auto or manual?

[dodgeshadowchik]

it's an automatic. that's the only downside. but it was pretty peppy when i test drove it. :big grin:

seems like it'd be a pretty fun little car.

thanks for the input. im going to look it over one last time tomorrow.

[dodgeshadowchik]

btw, are these nissan 3.0's interference engines? i keep reading about regualr timing belt changes...usually that means interference...like the stealth and the talon/eclipse

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

Yeah, I think they are, allot of OHC V6's are interfearence motors, it's nothing to worry about, they are a rwd car too, so it's gotta be easier to chance than a fwd V6. You should go ahead and inspect the belt, and if it looks worn, replace it, if it looks good, run it for a while. And get yourself a Haynes manual, for stuff like that, they are invaluable.

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

Once again, if you really wanted a 5 speed, it shouldn't be too hard to find, and being a RWD car, it should be much easier to swap than a FWD car. Those old 300Z's are pretty common in junk yards, too bad you didn't find it two months ago, I know a local yard that had a turbo 300 with a good manual tranny. I don't know if the Turbo's had a different manual from the non-tubo 300ZX, but they might be the same. Let me ask some of my Nissan buddies about a good 300ZX board, they might be able to answer any questions you may have better.

Here is one from a quick search: http://www.300zxclub.com/
Not too many members from your parts, but they might be helpfull.

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

My friend recomende the previously listed website and this one for Z31 300ZX turbo info. http://www.z31.com

[dodgeshadowchik]

thanks!

i went back over the car yesterday. took it out for alonger test drive. i noticed the only thing thast wasn't functional was the gas gauge....i did read that the digital gauges were known to go bad, but are fairly easy to repair. i mean for the age of the car and the only thing not working was a gauge...that's pretty good. all the other power stuff worked like the seats windows and mirrors. so it looks like im going to get it, probably by friday. ill drive it around with an auto for a while and do regualr maitence on it. perhaps over the winter ill look into getting a stick shift for it.

heck, i did a stick shift swap on my shadow over the winter.... that wasn;t too terribly bad. the results were 100% worth it!

[Bl4ckD34m0n]

Awsome, good luck hope it runs great for you!