Positive Ape Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Well, I finally got a project up on Oldschool! We moved back to NZ in Feb and I bought this very soon after, but it's been sitting at my mate's place while I organised somewhere to store it. Now it's all warm and dry I can fix the issues that are preventing it from getting a warrant. These being: leaking power steering rack play in left rear wheel bearing electrical gremlins that are stopping the wipers and washers from going Some pics at home in the new shed Is anybody interested in a swap for these wheels? I want to put some standard wheels back on, so I'd swap them for a set of standard alloys with good tyres. These wheels are pretty massive, rear tyres are 255s and fronts are 235s. Rears are warrantable, and the fronts are new. front wheel interior isn't the best. Would like to rip out that electric seat one day and put something lighter in. Something that would give me a tad more headroom would be good too This car is base model, two seater, non-turbo spec. So no t-tops, manual trans, no hicas, no airbags, no cruise control. Quite a rare beast because of that I think. It was also made in 1989 so it has a very low serial number. From memory, it's 1000 and something. Needs a bit more low I suppose, but that's not really on my to-do list. I have lots of other "projects" in my life at the moment, so the plan is to just get it on the road and enjoy it. Oh, apart from ripping out the air-con, I think I might do that, oh, and swapping the wheels if that can be done cheaply chur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EURON8 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 thse wheels are hawt. Giz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_Star Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Agree, Wheels are tough! If I had something to put them on I would try and suss something, also mad nostalgia, I owned one of these several years ago, most expensive car I ever bought lol... would love another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positive Ape Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yeah, my mate likes the wheels too. They probably look better than the 16 inch originals, but all I can think of is the added weight and the added cost in tyres. Oh, and the increased fuel consumption! Sadly, I'm a bit of a purist... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Get rid of those kingstars ASAP! Also, great spec. Two seater manual hardtop. Turbo it later and it'll be awesome. Too many whale-spec 2+2 T-tops out there! They look so much better as a 2-seater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Don't tell anyone but I kind of like these cars. Those wheels are cool as hell, keep em and polish up those lips. Black Z32 slammed on those will look outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegreatestben Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 I want the wheels but dont have standard ones to give you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positive Ape Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 hey, ho, an update after six months of nought. my mate Justin gave me some serious encouragement to do something to this beast, so today I cracked out the spanners and attacked the steering rack. 2 hours he reckoned, and I would have it out. ha ha. I started at 11 and had it removed by 5. That included one trip to Supercheap to buy a flare nut spanner that didn't work anyway. Tomorrow I will attempt to put in the replacement rack that has been sitting in the shed since the last update. I followed the instructions on this helpful step by step guide http://www.pexcom.com.au/z32cms/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.243 pics to follow Esprit, today I finally understood what you mean by Kingstars! I thought you meant the wheels, but you mean the tyres. Are they shite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cletus Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 kingstars will try to kill you at the slightest hint of any moisture near the roads surface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabe Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I too are interested in those wheels but do not have 300ZX wheels to trade. Only have some 14 inch steels or some standard Camry 15s. Unless you want some 15x8s and 15x10s? lol. Looking forward to this build. Mate used to have one of these. I hated wrenching on it, but such a sweeet cruiser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncie Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 I owned a TT 1990 300zx i picked it up for a straight swap for my extremely dodgy vn commodore. had a dead trans join up to the http://www.300zx.co.nz the guys on there looked after me with parts and advice within 2 weeks i got mine on road chipped and making 380hp it gave me no probs service for 2 years before my wife caught babies from me and i had to sell it and buy a wagon...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positive Ape Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Sweet, powersteering is go! Putting the rack back in was a bit easier than taking it out, but it was pretty nerve-racking when it came time to test my handywork. I failed on the pics, but there isn't much to see. Just murky undercar shots. I also replaced the broken drivers-side mirror with a secondhand one I bought some time ago. Justin reckons it has an earthing problem because there is quite a long list of electrical gremlins, including front indicators, wipers, washer, and power mirrors. Next step will be to track that down Wannabe, just get hold of some 300zx wheels and swap me! Need to have legal tyres though. The only reason I need to swap is that I'm not allowed to spend any money on this project while the house is unfinished. And I wouldn't get too excited about this project - expect 6 monthly updates and no pics! Muncie, good to hear that you used to have one. I thought I wanted NA for insurance and fuel consumption purposes (am hoping to use it as a daily) but TT would probably be better for smiles per mile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smackface Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I used to have a Twin Turbo Manual one of these when I was about 19 or something, blew a head gasket when I was between jobs and had to let it go for cheap, always wanted another one but yeah would want an NA, 2 seat manual hard top like this, mean chassis, hell of a lot better than the 4 seat targa top boat I had. Hope you enjoy the project, don't give up on NA too hastily either, huge after market for these cars even without boost, and at least that way you keep the weight down on the lightest possible combo Z32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positive Ape Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 ok, so some things have happened over the last couple of months. First up, here's a pic of the new door mirror Yay. After that I tried my best to solve the electrical problems by chasing down the earths, but to no avail - earths were good. So I called up my resident mechanic again, Justin, and he bowled around one Sunday morning to have a look. Now, being a professional, he actually tests things, none of this "ask on an internet forum and have a go" stuff, which was quite a revelation. The problem with the front indicators turned out to be a faulty earth in the bulb holders. Both of them, left and right were stuffed in the same way. So he pulled the earth wire out and jammed it in alongside the bulb - problem solved. Next up was the wipers/washer/aircon problem and this took a lot more work to find. I printed out all the wiring diagrams so we could see what was connected to what. The first clue came when we discovered that all the wiring under the steering column had been cut at some time. Either from an alarm or a hotwire attempt we weren't sure, but it got us (Justin!) thinking about possible short circuits and the consequences of. As we traced everything back we realised that the accessory relay was a common factor in all the non-operational circuits. Everything else we could test, but we couldn't get to the relay because it was behind the fuse block. This is the fuse block that sits way down in the driver's footwell so at this point Justin said "pull that relay out and get it tested" and he went home -lol. I couldn't blame him, there were plugs and wires all over the place, but eventually I got the fuse block out and the following day I confirmed that the accessory relay was stuffed. Fuse block in situ After buying a new relay I put everything back together and, to my great relief, it all worked so that was great progress on the way to a WOF. Fuse block after I took it apart to check it Now I'm just waiting until I can clear a few things out of the shed before I have a look at the wheel bearing. Thanks for reading -Positive Ape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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