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

[BrandonBoww]

Looking for tuner wheels, hopefully 18”. The tire side wall is huge and want to minimize that.

Its part of the look of the car - and the period - IMO, I wouldnt go with larger wheels & shorter sidewalls.

Yeah I get that. I am planning on updating the car though. I want to make it look like a race car lol. Its my first cool car that I can do anything with so I want to make it exciting. I am definitely not going to make it a ricer though, I had my fun with that on the saturn.

I also planning on actually taking my car to the track. Someday


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[.RJ]

I demand street glow

[JPolen01]

I would not go 18s on this. It won't look right, the ride will be rough with that small of a sidewall, and the cost of tires is much much more compared to 17s.

[BrandonBoww]

I would not go 18s on this. It won't look right, the ride will be rough with that small of a sidewall, and the cost of tires is much much more compared to 17s.

Good point. We will see. I am going to keep running my stock wheels and tires till they bald then decide what I want to do.

I demand street glow

Hahaha I dont know about that


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[ScottyB]

18's are going to look like wagon wheels if you aren't planning to do a fairly decent bit of suspension work to compliment it and take advantage of the grip.  also keep in mind that its not a powerful car in N/A form, so you'll feel the higher weight/rotating mass slow you down a bit on acceleration.

i think 17's will do you right for the time being, be cheaper to buy tires for, and look perfect when you do suspension later.  like so:


16's would be perfect for "period correct" but they're harder to buy tires for.

[Senor_Taylor]

18's are going to look like wagon wheels if you aren't planning to do a fairly decent bit of suspension work to compliment it and take advantage of the grip.  also keep in mind that its not a powerful car in N/A form, so you'll feel the higher weight/rotating mass slow you down a bit on acceleration.

i think 17's will do you right for the time being, be cheaper to buy tires for, and look perfect when you do suspension later.  like so:


16's would be perfect for "period correct" but they're harder to buy tires for.

Have we gotten to that point? 15s aren't hard to find, but maybe that's because of E30/Miata type cars using them.

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[BrandonBoww]

18's are going to look like wagon wheels if you aren't planning to do a fairly decent bit of suspension work to compliment it and take advantage of the grip.  also keep in mind that its not a powerful car in N/A form, so you'll feel the higher weight/rotating mass slow you down a bit on acceleration.

i think 17's will do you right for the time being, be cheaper to buy tires for, and look perfect when you do suspension later.  like so:


16's would be perfect for "period correct" but they're harder to buy tires for.

What do you mean by period correct?
Also you guys are probably right, I will definitely take all this into consideration when I do get new wheels


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[JPolen01]

What do you mean by period correct?



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The period is the "era" from which the car came. These cars didn't come equipped with 18" wheels so to keep with the time period/theme of the car you would typically go with the same size that was equipped from the factory (if you were doing a period correct theme).

[BrandonBoww]

What do you mean by period correct?



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The period is the "era" from which the car came. These cars didn't come equipped with 18" wheels so to keep with the time period/theme of the car you would typically go with the same size that was equipped from the factory (if you were doing a period correct theme).

Gotcha thanks


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[ScottyB]

Have we gotten to that point? 15s aren't hard to find, but maybe that's because of E30/Miata type cars using them.

wide 16in tires are hard to find in newer tires, yes. 15's not so much yet since they still apply to such a large range of old, small cars.

What do you mean by period correct?

that's when you modify a car using aftermarket parts that would have been around during that car's hay-day. it makes the car feel more authentic and look more appropriate for its design constraints at the time. its not for everyone but some cars simply don't look or behave right with modifications that belong to modern cars, which are waaay different nowadays.

this 510 is period correct with performance carbs, 13 inch wheels and simple springs/shocks. if you went back in time to 1972 to find one of these in modified form, this is what you could expect to find parked on the street or maybe the track.


this is not: huge wheels/brakes, big turbo EFI engine, probably coilovers underneath. clearly a modernized car.

[BrandonBoww]

Have we gotten to that point? 15s aren't hard to find, but maybe that's because of E30/Miata type cars using them.

wide 16in tires are hard to find in newer tires, yes. 15's not so much yet since they still apply to such a large range of old, small cars.

What do you mean by period correct?

that's when you modify a car using aftermarket parts that would have been around during that car's hay-day. it makes the car feel more authentic and look more appropriate for its design constraints at the time. its not for everyone but some cars simply don't look or behave right with modifications that belong to modern cars, which are waaay different nowadays.

this 510 is period correct with performance carbs, 13 inch wheels and simple springs/shocks. if you went back in time to 1972 to find one of these in modified form, this is what you could expect to find parked on the street or maybe the track.


this is not: huge wheels/brakes, big turbo EFI engine, probably coilovers underneath. clearly a modernized car.

Yeah I can appreciate both. I definitely want to take the Z down the modernized route though! Gonna be sweet.


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[*insertusernamehere*]

Have we gotten to that point? 15s aren't hard to find, but maybe that's because of E30/Miata type cars using them.

wide 16in tires are hard to find in newer tires, yes.  15's not so much yet since they still apply to such a large range of old, small cars.

What do you mean by period correct?

that's when you modify a car using aftermarket parts that would have been around during that car's hay-day.  it makes the car feel more authentic and look more appropriate for its design constraints at the time.  its not for everyone but some cars simply don't look or behave right with modifications that belong to modern cars, which are waaay different nowadays.

this 510 is period correct with performance carbs, 13 inch wheels and simple springs/shocks.  if you went back in time to 1972 to find one of these in modified form, this is what you could expect to find parked on the street or maybe the track.


this is not: huge wheels/brakes, big turbo EFI engine, probably coilovers underneath.  clearly a modernized car.

Yeah I can appreciate both. I definitely want to take the Z down the modernized route though! Gonna be sweet.


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I appreciate that Brandon, go forth, but choose wisely!

[BrandonBoww]

Have we gotten to that point? 15s aren't hard to find, but maybe that's because of E30/Miata type cars using them.

wide 16in tires are hard to find in newer tires, yes.  15's not so much yet since they still apply to such a large range of old, small cars.

What do you mean by period correct?

that's when you modify a car using aftermarket parts that would have been around during that car's hay-day.  it makes the car feel more authentic and look more appropriate for its design constraints at the time.  its not for everyone but some cars simply don't look or behave right with modifications that belong to modern cars, which are waaay different nowadays.

this 510 is period correct with performance carbs, 13 inch wheels and simple springs/shocks.  if you went back in time to 1972 to find one of these in modified form, this is what you could expect to find parked on the street or maybe the track.


this is not: huge wheels/brakes, big turbo EFI engine, probably coilovers underneath.  clearly a modernized car.

Yeah I can appreciate both. I definitely want to take the Z down the modernized route though! Gonna be sweet.


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I appreciate that Brandon, go forth, but choose wisely!

Lol thanks man!


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[RawrImAMonster]

I'm with you on the resto-mod path rather than just straight period correct restoration. If it's not some super rare car, you may as well do something interesting in the process of restoring it.

Having said that, I think 17's are about as big of a wheel as I'd go on a z31.

[Deceus]

Did someone say resto-mod!? Just prepare for a LOT of headaches is all I gotta say. If I could redo my 73, I just would've bought one of the few bolt-on front ends and dropped a modern Hemi crate motor in it. Sure I think it's a lot cooler since literally everything has my own personal touch to it the way it is now but then again had I done it the other way I'd probably actually be driving it.

[.RJ]

Every resto-mod project ever:

- I have a few things to fix
- Let's make it a little better
- Let's swap the motor
- OOOOH motor needs a turbo BECAUSE RACECAR
- fast forward 5 years....
- I wish I could drive it...

[BrandonBoww]

Finally got a new wheel. Bought a real nrg wheel. Suuuper solid. Sued bc it seems cool. Probably not going to think that in a few weeks when it gets crazy dirty.
Also fixed the mirror
Highly recommend going to this place for any glass work you need, they gave me the mirror free and were very nice people
Also put in wood trunk. this is just a fix for now and I wanted to see if I liked it. The carpet looked like this.
The car show and my first auto cross event is this weekend! Hoping to get some new wheels because my plasta dip is cringy af. I really like the black wheels but might pull the dip to make it look like a respectable car (up close) also want to make a nice shift boot. We will see how much time I have after school and stuff this week.

Also is this ok for auto cross? It wiggles a little....


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[Senor_Taylor]

Nice progress!

Battery can not move AT ALL for autocross. They will wiggle it. Check your wheel bearings as well. No play is allowed. Make sure your brake isn't excessively soft.

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[BrandonBoww]

Nice progress!

Battery can not move AT ALL for autocross. They will wiggle it. Check your wheel bearings as well. No play is allowed. Make sure your brake isn't excessively soft.

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Ok sweet! Sorry I am replying late just saw this






Yep she broke down. Message the mm chat and got some good info from some nice people. I was very angry because I had work that day and had to leave my car in the school parking lot with a bunch of kids that dont know how to drive and dont car about cars . I was very happy when I returned the next day and found NO dents in my doors! The chat told suggested to me that it was a vacuum leak so I searched. I did the sketchy way and used some carb and choke cleaner, but I was suuuper careful and actually had a fire extinguisher on hand! I was quite delighted when I found the problem AREA. The problem was I could not be specific enough to narrow it down to one line. I decided to just replace all of the lines in that area. I am very happy I did this because the car is from 84 and would need it done eventually anyway. Also it only cost me $3 to get 4 lines! Very very happy I went to napa instead of my local autozone because they are all scumbags (at auto-zone) and I bet it would be more expensive there anyways! The car is running superb now! Only one down day


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[WRXtranceformed]

Nice! Cheap and easy fixes are the best fixes