I don't know how many of you guys read my post a week or two ago, but here is the 1991 300zx N/A with only 79,000 miles my friend GAVE me cuz he is moving to Washington state. Let me know what you think.

I plan on getting a UD pulley with 60k Service and Power Steering repair first, followed (one day) by :

Jspec front fascia, Stillen rear wing (MAYBE), paint job (haven't decided color), Pop Charger, 17" wheels, Pillar Pods (if I can figure them out). But, all of those goodies (Except the 60k) are probably gonna take quite a while. That's a lot of money and my wife wants a new car, so it's just gonna be bits and pieces for a long time.

Only problem as I can tell is that there is the aforementioned fact that there is no Power Steering. Gotta figure out what exactly is wrong with it and there is also a dent in the left rear quarter panel.

Do any of you guys know how difficult it is to do the 60k service yourself? I've changed waterpumps, belts and radiators in other cars, but never messed with the timing belt. Kinda paranoid about the whole thing.









Not a bad deal for $1 , huh?

 

What an awesome deal. You scored big time!
On the power steering, It's either the Rack and Pinion (Usually is) or the P/S pump (Could also be the hi-pressure hose or return hose). The rack is not a do it yourself kind of job unless you have a lot of experience.

Also, timing belt replacement should be left to someone with more experience and the right tools. You have two cams to deal with and it has to be done right or really bad things can happen. It's not an easy job even for an experienced tech. If you're unfamiliar with the territory, bite the bullet and have someone do it for you who you can trust to do it right.

I'm sure a few people might have some ideas as for what color to paint it. I am not a big fan of changing the color unless you really spend a lot of money and have it done right... Which means pretty much dis-assembling the car and stripping all the original paint off. You're talking huge money for a quality job. White's not a bad color for the Z32. It sucks on a Z33 though. The car in my sig used to be gold... The transformation to black set me back about ten times what the car will ever be worth, and it's not a great paint job. Put a nice kit on it and dress it up and white will look sweet.

Anyway's, Nice find man. I'm jealous. The only car anyone ever offered to give me for free was a ford escort

Rod.

 

Thanks RodMoyes. I appreciate the advice. I am leaning more towards letting someone else do it. But, the only place I've found so far in Columbia, SC, is the STEALership. I've heard it's gonna be close to $500 just in labor for the 60k service AND the PS rack replacement. So a rebuilt rack I found for 350, the 60k kit from Coz is 360 (550 if I want the UD pulley, which I do). So after it's all said and done, it looks like 2 grand, just to get it running right. Not including an all around tune up and all the FUN stuff I want to do. Anyway...gotta pay to play, right?

 

That's right, and if you think about it... Even if you spend two grand getting all ship shape then you're still only into the car for 2k and it's worth more than that. Better than being upside down in it from the start right? It's got such low mileage and it looks well cared for, so it's a great investment for 2k. You still scored

Rod.

 

yup... tell my wife that though I'm lookin to put about 5,000 in it. But it's one thing to make plans, another to actually come up with the money, but even worse to try to make the wife understand.

 

This write-up here is very thorough and well written. If you have a decent set of tools and some car knowledge, I would rate it a 7.

60k Maintenance

The safest thing is to pay to have it done. But after getting some quotes, you might decide that you're good enough to follow these instructions. I have a few tips-n-tricks from when I did mine. Let me know and I'll post them up.

If you don't know when the T-belt was last replaced, don't drive it too much.

 

Wow, that is a killer deal

 

yeah, if you could post that stuff, that would be great. I really want to work on this car myself as much as possible, especially the maintenance stuff. That's why I bought it, for a hobby car to work on and to have fun with.

I have a '99 Ranger as a back up car in case it takes me a while. I just know the consequences of screwing up on the timing belt can be REALLY bad. It would be pointless for me to blow the car up.

Thanks for that link too.

 

i just bought a 1990 that looks just like it for $3200.... i think you got a better deal thatn i did. Nice looking car..........

 

It's all in the presentation man. When I bought that 280ZX, it was a turd. I over paid for it by about 1K because I knew the lady that had owned it all of it's life to start with, so I was already in the hole. I told my wife that even though I was only paying 2K for the car, that it was in fact at least a 10-15K car when I got done "Making it mine". We made a deal. Every Dollar I spent on the Z for something other than a neccasary part or repair, I would let her spend an equal dollar on anything she wanted... fair is fair. This way, she was actually HAPPY when I went down and dropped 500 hundred to a thousand bucks on something!! She knew that meant she could drop that same amount on whatever she wanted... It's a great system.

Rod.

 

Write ups and info can be found in my Link Page.

I wouldn't change the color of the car without doin a thorough repaint as detailed as Rod stated.
Wouldn't look right otherwise, imo.

Take your time with her and enjoy. You got a helluva deal.

 

Wow Riz... that's a lot of info. In case no one has told you before, I really appreciate the time you put into that. It is DEFINATELY bookmarked.

 

Thank you.

 

Jesus Christ....looks EXACTLY like mine. lol Cept mines a 93'.

Freekin awesome gift....mine had 63k on it and cost me 18 grand from a toyota dealer...get this though. I got the whole "One owner who was alittle old lady and only used it on the weekends" BS story.....turned out to be TRUE. The lady had traded it in for a new Toyota the day before and had come in to finalize papers while I was there buying her old car...lol We had a great talk and learned more from her about the car than the dealer was giving out.

Turned out to be a great damn deal as she took awesome care of it.
Really the only things wrong with it were a slight hole in the carpet from her high heeled shoes and scratches on the steering wheel from her rings. lol

 

18 GRAND!!!?!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS???!!!? For $18,000 you could buy TWO Twin Turbos in good condition. Why did you pay that much?!

I'm not doggin ya, you just got ripped off. PLEASE tell me that 1 was accidentally slipped in before the 8 while you were typing. Cuz even then, you could have bought ONE Twin Turbo.

 

No, it wasnt a typo...but keep in mind that back in 2000 they actually bluebooked for 20k in good shape, so all things considered I did good with the 18k dealer price. One more payment too boot starting this month so I'm pretty stoked. If anything this has put me in great standing with the credit union I financed through so I should be in decent shape for the new Charger I want to pick up.

Heh, my Z will NOT be leaving my possesion anytime soon. In fact I make it kind of a game, I don't test drive anything from a dealer that assumes I'm trading it in.

 

i think we had a thread on that very subject in off topic.
I still find it funny that just cuz our car is older, salesmen think that the 350Z is better. LOL

 

Yeah, that price was a bit steap, but there are some things to think about. One, the car has at least 200,000 miles left in her if she is maintained correctly. That is the key with the Z. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. Another thing is that he bought it from a dealer. You are already going to pay about 10%-20% more due to short-life waranties, advertising costs, payrole costs and maintenance costs. Most dealerships do a whole once over on any car that is going to leave their lot. Another thing to figure into that price is the fact that $18,000 probably included tax and title, which can be quite costly.