The Fairest of them all. My Nissan 300zx Z31 build

[BrandonBoww]

Nice! Cheap and easy fixes are the best fixes

Definitely!


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[Senor_Taylor]

Glad to hear you got them fixed! I chased a vacuum leak on my E30 for months and never really got it sorted.

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[GTBrandon]

Gawd $3 for hoses on your car sounds like heaven, I forgot what it was like to own a car that wasn’t German when buying parts [emoji24]

[BrandonBoww]

Glad to hear you got them fixed! I chased a vacuum leak on my E30 for months and never really got it sorted.

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Thanks, and dang thats rough. This event has showed me how crucial a solid/closed air system is so I plan to change all of the lines. Its pretty cheap and the car is sooo old I imagine those will fail as well.


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Gawd $3 for hoses on your car sounds like heaven, I forgot what it was like to own a car that wasn’t German when buying parts [emoji24]

[emoji23] yeah its nice having a nissan. They are very universal hoses too. Don’t think its a big deal tho.


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[BrandonBoww]

Time to catch up. I haven’t posted in a bit because A LOT has happened. First of all the vacuum leak was not the problem. It was a problem but not the problem.

I was gonna write the whole story of what happened but I am not gonna because it is way too much. I am gonna give a very brief summary

The next day after I fixed the vacuum leak the car broke again. Would not turn over. I thought it was an air problem because I just fixed a vacuum leak and it might of put strain on the air system. Somehow got to the conclusion it was my maf. Bought a new maf. Not the problem. Thought it was the fuel system. Bought a new fuel pressure regulator. Not the problem. That left me with spark. Bought a new coil pack. Finally worked.

Most people will call me a part hanger and thats fine. My dd and only car is an 84 thats honestly the ugly duckling of its family so there is not a lot of information. I do have to say tho that most of those parts were needed. The car kept getting closer the more parts I put in. I also (tried to) diagnose the problem and bought parts accordingly. I did not just buy parts and hoped it would work. I was working on my car every night after school for about a month I believe try to figure it out.

Also I love my car so its all worth it. Thats why I can admit its the ugly duckling and still work on it day in and day out just to get it back on the road.

So. I fixed it. Its been awhile so I cant recall everything but this is what has happened since- fixed the car-hurt my battery during it-> finally new alternator and steering pump belts to stop the squeaking-> new head unit and painted some stuff.

I also order a new distributor cap and rotor because mine is chewed up some how :/

I am glad I am getting new parts because I plan to keep this car for a while. I also got an offer for close to double what I paid for the car for yesterday but said no because I really enjoy this car and I worked to get it and I do not see how that can be equivalent to cash.

I am gonna post my parts list so far too I guess.


Head unit

New parts

School is out but I am going to Spain for 3 weeks so I am gonna miss the shit out of my Z. But I am gonna be able to do my upgrades and work more on my car when I get back!

Also going to get wheels for joes miata and lowering springs today. As well as install the distributor cap and rotor!


The Z lives!


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[.RJ]

Cool to see its moving forward. Keep it up.

[ScottyB]

nice job! i should have made mention of the distributor earlier - they do wear out and its totally normal to need a new cap/rotor every 150k or so. our xterra will be getting that treatment soon.

[BrandonBoww]

Thanks guys! Just did the distributor
Nice screws make me happy
There seemed to be some oil? Kinda scary

Also here were the marks I was concerned about.
When I installed the new rotor I cleaned the bottom surface.

All in all I am happy, especially with the screws lol.


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[BrandonBoww]

Haha its about time. Finally did the trans fluid! It started grinding enough that I decided it was time. I have also been ridiculously busy with an exchange student and I also when to Spain lol

Ok back to the build. Weeeeeeellll this has definitely been the smoothest/easiest job Joe and I have performed yet!

We did it in joes little “garage”
Fit perfect
Brandon let me use his jacks too
So I was smart and loosened the fill plug first which went swimmingly then I unscrewed the drain plug and this is what it looked like
O well. I showed joe and he laughed at me. Then I cleaned both plugs.
Here are some more metal chips/flakes
I told joe it was weight reduction to make myself feel better. I tried to use vacuum line but it was too slow so I eventually just used the tip
And thats it. Marching band is starting again so I will be broke and busy for a few months. Plan on doing coil overs as soon as I get some money lol.


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[Senor_Taylor]

Honestly those shavings don't look awful for a vehicle of that age. Large chunks are what you worry about. Good on you for maintenance.

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[ScottyB]

Honestly those shavings don't look awful for a vehicle of that age. Large chunks are what you worry about. Good on you for maintenance.

yup, especially if that's original fluid.  nothing to worry about.

[BrandonBoww]

Awesome! Happy to hear that lol. Also second day driving it and still feels really good.


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[Senor_Taylor]

Did you use GL4 or GL5? GL5 will destroy brass synchros. Not sure if your car has brass in the trans.

[Jake]

Ayyy those are my old jackstands! Glad they are serving the club well already.

For transmission and diff re-fills, go to Home Depot and buy a garden sprayer for about $9. Dump the fluid in there, cut the tip off the sprayer wand and stick it in the fill hole. You can pump up the sprayer for pressure and "lock" the wand, so fluid just comes out and you don't have to lay under the car pumping and spilling half of it in your hair.

[BrandonBoww]

Did you use GL4 or GL5? GL5 will destroy brass synchros. Not sure if your car has brass in the trans.

Not sure I will do some research.


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Ayyy those are my old jackstands! Glad they are serving the club well already.

For transmission and diff re-fills, go to Home Depot and buy a garden sprayer for about $9. Dump the fluid in there, cut the tip off the sprayer wand and stick it in the fill hole. You can pump up the sprayer for pressure and "lock" the wand, so fluid just comes out and you don't have to lay under the car pumping and spilling half of it in your hair.

Interesting, will definitely use this method next time!


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[BrandonBoww]

Its interesting how somethings work out. Joe and I bought our cars together. Worked on them together. And are now selling them together. I think its funny that the my first message to joe today was a few minutes ago and it was a link to the craigslist ad. He replied “mines up too”. We didnt talk about selling our cars today but we both put them up on craigslist together the same day, his 9 hours before mine.
Its funny how my ad has several pictures with the miata and his picture was on taken on one of our photoshoots. I appreciate this journey joe and I have gone on with the Z and Miata and I cant wait to see what we embark on next. I also appreciate all the things I have learned though my time with the Z. I am going to miss it just like the saturn but I would never change a thing.

These are all of my favorite photos of the Z from most recent to the very beginning.




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[.RJ]

Moving it on? Glad you learned something from it and passed the car on in better shape than you found it

[Jake]

Why are you both selling them?

[BrandonBoww]

Thanks .RJ! I believe Joe is selling the Miata because it is a hard DD for him. I am selling the Z because I want something newer and faster. I also really want a turbo and it would be a project to turbo this car and make it less reliable. I am considering buying a Volvo S60r. I also miss good fuel economy and 4 doors. This car would be an amazing weekend car or track car for someone who likes old cars or wants to learn how to drift. I have just been DDing it for sometime now and I want to move on.

[.RJ]

DD'ing an old car can suck for sure, but its fun wondering if your shit will start up in the morning