You guys need wayyy more subs! Thanks for keeping the Z31 alive, I LOVE these cars. Wish I had the skill and knowledge to work on them like you do. Keep up the great work!
glad I found you. I used to own a 84 slicktop and man do I miss that car. Getting to watch someone actually dig into these cars and care for them is really awesome to see.
Thanks a lot! I would always have guys stop and talk to me about the Z cars they used to have. Unfortunately, the stories are mostly the same; they either wrapped it around a telephone pole or sold it. I don't plan on doing either of those things just yet.
What a great video. I'm currently swapping motor/trans/engine harness from a rusty 85 NA to a clean 86 NA body. Super intimidated by the wiring harness swapping, but this video gave me some courage. Thanks :)
Its doable but a lot of work. What was maybe a couple minutes on screen turned into half a day of wiring fun. This was also with the car already disassembled with no interior. Check the FSM for 85 and 86 to verify if there are any differences before diving into the harness swap.
@@Dan_And_Daves_Garage I've been pouring over the FSM harness layouts and talking to a buddy who's owned/worked on many z31's. He's pretty confident we can swap some of harness. And luckily I've got an 86 ECU if the 85 ECU doesn't work. Luckily everything in 86 is pretty mint, and I won't have to swap over too much other than the motor. Anyway, thanks for the feed back :). Pulling the motor tonight so wish me luck
Grand work guys. All that tearing apart and putting together over the years in the family garage (thanks MOM and DAD) is paying off. This also shows why both of you are also successful professional Engineers. You think. You try. You don't give up. You get results. Pleasure to watch.
We definitely learned a lot trying to build the original 300ZX turbo over the years. I've actually mentioned this project during job interviews and got a lot of surprised and interesting feedback. It really was a gut punch of finding out the rust was worse than we thought when we dug into it. I know for some it doesn't look too bad, but not mentioned is that the chassis was definitely involved in some front end collision because with the whole fascia off, you could see it was tweaked and there was non-matching seam sealer in the front clip. The frame rails were also crushed and caved in from being improperly lifted (partly our fault). So on top of all the rust, it just snowballed out of control until we could source a rust free shell.
Working on these is easy. You just have follow one easy rule that will save you plenty of headaches and time. Buy the best one you can. Trying to go cheap you will end up hating it and spending more time wrenching than driving. This project made sense for us, sort of, because we already had a ton of parts + donor car + decade of knowledge working on them. Parts are getting harder to find and more expensive. I would really suggest splurging on a turbo model with the 5spd as well.
I used to own two 1984 300ZXs. One Slicktop 2+2 and one T-Top with the digital dash. I tried to make one good car out of both, but both ended up too rusty for me to save. Due to moving all over Virginia early in my career I could not dedicate time to saving them before the rust go too bad. I moved out of Virginia last year for work, and it makes me so happy to see someone back home have such a passion for these wonderfully 80s silly machines. They are great machines, the VG30 is bulletproof, it is just such a shame that the metal Nissan used back then was so bad. I watched all the way to the end and I am curious about your previous videos since you mentioned and had some footage of the white car. Absolute sub, lots of memories with those rust buckets!
Thanks a lot and I'm glad I'm not the only one with the Z bug. The other Z is an 86 NA in pure 80's spec, cocaine white with the red interior and digital dash. I have a part one out of the white Z fixing a bunch of issues after it sat for a couple years and getting it ready for the summer. However, the views didn't do too well initially and there wasn't a ton of interest in it so I didn't bother filming part 2. But now that video got a little more traction and I'm getting a ton of positive feedback on both so I'm going to film a part two of the white car, and I'm actively working on getting this 86 Turbo on the road again. Again, thanks a lot for the feedback and comment as it helps keep us motivated to get these done.
Z31 is a good thing to get into right now. I feel like they're gonna come up in value in a few years so while they're still worthless is the best time. I got my 86 n/a and an 87 turbo parts car for free in November cuz nobody else wanted them haha
Z31s are pretty slept I think because of the truck engines stuck in them. If these VG30ETs had more tuning potential from stock it would be a no brainer. No factory intercooler means you are fabricating one yourself and that's a pretty big hurdle for most. Aftermarket kits are long gone which makes it really tempting to copy the HKS kit I have and produce my own version. Injectors are tiny and need immediate upgrade along with the turbo which is tiny and archaic by today's standard as well. Making any amount of power means a whole lot of parts and even more money. Kind of understandable if you can just buy something newer with more power and better parts. Even 350Zs stock have more HP than base upgraded Z31s. In the end, upgrading a z31 you still end up with a lot less money and an 80s shitbox. So I will enjoy mine for what it is (an 80s shitbox), and continue to have fun with its pop up head lights
Good stuff. Bringing my 87 to life after sitting in the woods 12+ years had similar issues with fuel, ignition and 86/87 parts interchange weirdness. Will be following the progress.
I just picked up a 1987 base model 300ZX from the original owner and am facing some challenges with the engine but overall the body and interior is pristine. My buddy says to flip it but I am leaning more toward holding on to it and rebuilding the motor and replace what is needed. Your video inspired me, and now my vision is clear. Thanks guys! Love your dogs btw!
Thanks a lot! This is definitely keeping me busy. Next video is going to get this to "run and drive", focusing on brakes, suspension, and cooling. If things get tough I may reach out
Hey you can't rope me into subscribing just because I watched it all! What da heck?! Well ok then. Some day if you ever get everything repainted, maybe the parts that are green now should be a green pearl of that same paste-ee pea shade. Green bastard lives on! We must honor it!
I've been slowly going back and forth if it should stay black or go for a darker british racing green. There's been progress but it's been slow as other things are taking precedent at the moment. If you are keen on more 300ZX content check out the video I did with our white NA 300ZX and fixed decades of deferred maintenance.
Glad you’re getting another Z31 on the road! Can I ask for some assistance?… 1) I want to connect the coolant lines of the turbo and the back on the engine but idk how to cancel or route them. 2) I notice my oil pan has another hole next to the drain plug . It seems as it has threads do I need a plug for it ?
For your first question, go ahead and download the FSM which is available on xenonzcar website or on nicoclub. Then go to the "lubrication and cooling" section, and on page LC-14 it will have a diagram of the turbo and where the lines route. Inlet: outside of turbo, between turbo and engine bay Outlet: inside of turbo between engine and turbo Air regulator -> Inlet Outlet -> throttle chamber Hopefully this helps. For your second question. If you have a hole in your oil pan you're going to have a bad time. I believe there is an oil temp sensor that you may be referring to and if you cannot find a replacement sensor, just seal it off with a plug that's the correct thread size and pitch. The wire to mine is broken, so it's not a big deal to me if it doesn't work
I owned a Z31 turbo. I regret selling it. Ended up buying an RX7 non turbo. Wanted to do an LS swap when I lost compression. Couldn't afford the LS at the time😢. So in a matter of a year and a half, lost two dream cars. I eventually would like to get another Z31 and do my dream RB26 swap. Is it possible? IDK. Lots of fab work I'm sure.
RBs nowadays are getting hella expensive. Any engine swap in these is a pain as everything is custom built and $$$. Not really worth it in my opinion. There is decent enough support now for the VG engines that running VG33 truck blocks and boosting them to the moon is pretty doable
hey there is there anywhere that I can message you, I have some trouble with my 300zx and it sounds very off when it cranks I was wondering if I could get an opinion of yours on what the problem may be.
Looks like it's piss easy to switch one of these over to RHD. All it looks like you'd need for it to look correct is either a custom or a JDM dash cover.
You'd probably still at minimum need a RHD steering rack, dash, dash support, relocate brake/clutch master cylinder, fabricate new lines because of course those aren't available new.... seems like a lot of effort so not sure why anyone would convert it
Send me an email at dananddavesgarage@gmail.com because I dont get notifications on replies. I still have the shell and the lower corners are solid on hatch if that is what you need.
We were both located in VA, but David is currently up in NH. We are working on best coordinating projects and when we can be on screen together vs just working on our own individual projects
You guys need wayyy more subs! Thanks for keeping the Z31 alive, I LOVE these cars. Wish I had the skill and knowledge to work on them like you do. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Let us know what Z31 content you would like to see! We are always open to suggestions.
Really awesome seeing a build video like this, not a lot of content on the Z31 so its nice to see.
Thanks a lot!
glad I found you. I used to own a 84 slicktop and man do I miss that car. Getting to watch someone actually dig into these cars and care for them is really awesome to see.
Thanks a lot! I would always have guys stop and talk to me about the Z cars they used to have. Unfortunately, the stories are mostly the same; they either wrapped it around a telephone pole or sold it. I don't plan on doing either of those things just yet.
What a great video. I'm currently swapping motor/trans/engine harness from a rusty 85 NA to a clean 86 NA body. Super intimidated by the wiring harness swapping, but this video gave me some courage. Thanks :)
Its doable but a lot of work. What was maybe a couple minutes on screen turned into half a day of wiring fun. This was also with the car already disassembled with no interior. Check the FSM for 85 and 86 to verify if there are any differences before diving into the harness swap.
@@Dan_And_Daves_Garage I've been pouring over the FSM harness layouts and talking to a buddy who's owned/worked on many z31's. He's pretty confident we can swap some of harness. And luckily I've got an 86 ECU if the 85 ECU doesn't work. Luckily everything in 86 is pretty mint, and I won't have to swap over too much other than the motor. Anyway, thanks for the feed back :). Pulling the motor tonight so wish me luck
Grand work guys. All that tearing apart and putting together over the years in the family garage (thanks MOM and DAD) is paying off. This also shows why both of you are also successful professional Engineers. You think. You try. You don't give up. You get results. Pleasure to watch.
We definitely learned a lot trying to build the original 300ZX turbo over the years. I've actually mentioned this project during job interviews and got a lot of surprised and interesting feedback. It really was a gut punch of finding out the rust was worse than we thought when we dug into it.
I know for some it doesn't look too bad, but not mentioned is that the chassis was definitely involved in some front end collision because with the whole fascia off, you could see it was tweaked and there was non-matching seam sealer in the front clip. The frame rails were also crushed and caved in from being improperly lifted (partly our fault). So on top of all the rust, it just snowballed out of control until we could source a rust free shell.
Love this channel! helps me understand my dream car a little bit more and gives me the confidence of owning one in hopes i can do work on it myself
Working on these is easy. You just have follow one easy rule that will save you plenty of headaches and time. Buy the best one you can. Trying to go cheap you will end up hating it and spending more time wrenching than driving. This project made sense for us, sort of, because we already had a ton of parts + donor car + decade of knowledge working on them. Parts are getting harder to find and more expensive. I would really suggest splurging on a turbo model with the 5spd as well.
@@Dan_And_Daves_Garageappreciate the advice so much thank you really!
I used to own two 1984 300ZXs. One Slicktop 2+2 and one T-Top with the digital dash. I tried to make one good car out of both, but both ended up too rusty for me to save. Due to moving all over Virginia early in my career I could not dedicate time to saving them before the rust go too bad. I moved out of Virginia last year for work, and it makes me so happy to see someone back home have such a passion for these wonderfully 80s silly machines. They are great machines, the VG30 is bulletproof, it is just such a shame that the metal Nissan used back then was so bad. I watched all the way to the end and I am curious about your previous videos since you mentioned and had some footage of the white car. Absolute sub, lots of memories with those rust buckets!
Thanks a lot and I'm glad I'm not the only one with the Z bug. The other Z is an 86 NA in pure 80's spec, cocaine white with the red interior and digital dash. I have a part one out of the white Z fixing a bunch of issues after it sat for a couple years and getting it ready for the summer. However, the views didn't do too well initially and there wasn't a ton of interest in it so I didn't bother filming part 2. But now that video got a little more traction and I'm getting a ton of positive feedback on both so I'm going to film a part two of the white car, and I'm actively working on getting this 86 Turbo on the road again. Again, thanks a lot for the feedback and comment as it helps keep us motivated to get these done.
Z31 is a good thing to get into right now. I feel like they're gonna come up in value in a few years so while they're still worthless is the best time. I got my 86 n/a and an 87 turbo parts car for free in November cuz nobody else wanted them haha
Z31s are pretty slept I think because of the truck engines stuck in them. If these VG30ETs had more tuning potential from stock it would be a no brainer. No factory intercooler means you are fabricating one yourself and that's a pretty big hurdle for most. Aftermarket kits are long gone which makes it really tempting to copy the HKS kit I have and produce my own version.
Injectors are tiny and need immediate upgrade along with the turbo which is tiny and archaic by today's standard as well.
Making any amount of power means a whole lot of parts and even more money. Kind of understandable if you can just buy something newer with more power and better parts. Even 350Zs stock have more HP than base upgraded Z31s.
In the end, upgrading a z31 you still end up with a lot less money and an 80s shitbox. So I will enjoy mine for what it is (an 80s shitbox), and continue to have fun with its pop up head lights
Good stuff. Bringing my 87 to life after sitting in the woods 12+ years had similar issues with fuel, ignition and 86/87 parts interchange weirdness. Will be following the progress.
Thanks a lot!
Im with you! My 88 na is coming along nicely. Thanks for the vid
Just put out another 300ZX video, be sure to check it out!
I just picked up a 1987 base model 300ZX from the original owner and am facing some challenges with the engine but overall the body and interior is pristine. My buddy says to flip it but I am leaning more toward holding on to it and rebuilding the motor and replace what is needed. Your video inspired me, and now my vision is clear. Thanks guys! Love your dogs btw!
Thanks a lot! Sorry I didn't mean to be such a bad influence haha. Good luck with the project and don't forget to have fun!
How much did you pay? I've been researching what the beat value to get this car for.
AWESOME!Ever need any help just reach out! I'm working on Z number 6 right now. 1987 with a totally rotted floor. You kick ass!
Thanks a lot! This is definitely keeping me busy. Next video is going to get this to "run and drive", focusing on brakes, suspension, and cooling. If things get tough I may reach out
Hey you can't rope me into subscribing just because I watched it all! What da heck?! Well ok then. Some day if you ever get everything repainted, maybe the parts that are green now should be a green pearl of that same paste-ee pea shade. Green bastard lives on! We must honor it!
I've been slowly going back and forth if it should stay black or go for a darker british racing green. There's been progress but it's been slow as other things are taking precedent at the moment.
If you are keen on more 300ZX content check out the video I did with our white NA 300ZX and fixed decades of deferred maintenance.
Would love you to work on my original1985 300zx turbo. Garaged.
Restored paint and body….
Engine is amazing!!! Great torque/ compression
Unfortunately I don't work on other people's cars, all the work and none of the reward of getting to enjoy driving it haha.
Glad you’re getting another Z31 on the road! Can I ask for some assistance?… 1) I want to connect the coolant lines of the turbo and the back on the engine but idk how to cancel or route them. 2) I notice my oil pan has another hole next to the drain plug . It seems as it has threads do I need a plug for it ?
For your first question, go ahead and download the FSM which is available on xenonzcar website or on nicoclub. Then go to the "lubrication and cooling" section, and on page LC-14 it will have a diagram of the turbo and where the lines route.
Inlet: outside of turbo, between turbo and engine bay
Outlet: inside of turbo between engine and turbo
Air regulator -> Inlet
Outlet -> throttle chamber
Hopefully this helps.
For your second question. If you have a hole in your oil pan you're going to have a bad time. I believe there is an oil temp sensor that you may be referring to and if you cannot find a replacement sensor, just seal it off with a plug that's the correct thread size and pitch. The wire to mine is broken, so it's not a big deal to me if it doesn't work
I owned a Z31 turbo. I regret selling it. Ended up buying an RX7 non turbo. Wanted to do an LS swap when I lost compression. Couldn't afford the LS at the time😢. So in a matter of a year and a half, lost two dream cars. I eventually would like to get another Z31 and do my dream RB26 swap. Is it possible? IDK. Lots of fab work I'm sure.
RBs nowadays are getting hella expensive. Any engine swap in these is a pain as everything is custom built and $$$. Not really worth it in my opinion. There is decent enough support now for the VG engines that running VG33 truck blocks and boosting them to the moon is pretty doable
Nice!!! I’m restoring a Supra
Nice. What year? Turbo?
hey there is there anywhere that I can message you, I have some trouble with my 300zx and it sounds very off when it cranks I was wondering if I could get an opinion of yours on what the problem may be.
Send us an email at dananddavesgarage@gmail.com and we'll see if we can help
Looks like it's piss easy to switch one of these over to RHD. All it looks like you'd need for it to look correct is either a custom or a JDM dash cover.
You'd probably still at minimum need a RHD steering rack, dash, dash support, relocate brake/clutch master cylinder, fabricate new lines because of course those aren't available new.... seems like a lot of effort so not sure why anyone would convert it
@@Dan_And_Daves_Garage Does the dash support not just swap to the other side?
What kind of motor is that, I must have missed that part?
It's the original VG30ET from the green 300ZX. That is the stock engine the Z31 300ZX Turbo's came with.
@@Dan_And_Daves_Garage Ok thanks. I'm subscribed
Thanks! Good to hear!
I have 1986 300zx nontubo for sale engine runs need clutch
That starter don’t sound too healthy engaging the flywheel 😬
hi do you still have the old hatch? i need a corner cut from one and some other bits if you still have the shall. do you have Facebook ?
I have the old hatch. Which corner did you need? There is some rust on the old one so just want to make sure it works for you.
i need the left side@@Dan_And_Daves_Garage
anything is better in the left corner than what i have there is no inner on mine
Send me an email at dananddavesgarage@gmail.com because I dont get notifications on replies. I still have the shell and the lower corners are solid on hatch if that is what you need.
Are you guys in VA new to the channel
We were both located in VA, but David is currently up in NH. We are working on best coordinating projects and when we can be on screen together vs just working on our own individual projects
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