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When I was growing up my mother-in-law had a beautiful black 280ZX with a body kit and louvers. It looked like the bat mobile. When I was old enough she was generous and let me drive it often! It was quick and gorgeous, definitely turned a lot of heads on Friday night. I fell in love with Z's

Back in 2000 I was working as a maintenance guy an RV sales place (first job!) at the time and was making $5.15 an hour. One day while I was cleaning the lot this beautiful bright red 85 N/A drove slowly past me. The sound, the look, the style, it was awesome! I knew that the z31 was the Z for me.

I searched the paper everyday for several weeks. I test drove a few z31s, but most had major problems and the owners were asking for a small fortune. Then I came across an 85 N/A in the paper for $1,500. I drove out to see the car and the poor thing was sitting out in the sun on a 105 degree day. Windows up, no sunshade

Started her up and she idled great. Test drive was FUN. The owner looked nervous when I chirped the tires on the way out. There was a hesitation on acceleration that was occurring and it was very obvious between 25-40 mph. It turned out to be a great bargaining chip and I was able to talk him down to $1,200 when I came back and bought it two days later. I purchased it in cash using money that I had saved from my $5.15 hour wages (talk about earning it!). Took it to my mechanic at the time (when I used to take my Z to a mechanic). He changed out the spark plugs and spark plug wires, and as it turns out the spark plug wires were arcing like crazy!! No wonder it was missing . It ran like brand new after those were replaced...

I made so many wonderful memories while owning this car. First girlfriend, first car adrenaline rush, high school and college graduation and too many more to list. My Dad and I carted it 1,700 miles on a car trailer from Idaho to Missouri, etc.

Fast forward to 2008. I now have a two car garage, a turbo parts car, and a bunch of other parts, etc.

At this time I am focusing on interior restoration. As of today the only piece of the interior still in the car is the dash and the old front carpet (almost out!). Pictures:

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A while back 88hybrid hooked me up with Mark out at Z works and helped me get a great deal on an almost complete blue interior in amazing shape! I spent a whole day pulling the interior pieces out. Here are some pictures which include the interior from that car, interior from my car, and brand new carpet I will be putting in shortly:

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There are more details on the turbo parts car in the thread I created a while back regarding it. I believe it was a great investment as it has a w-series motor, turbo is in good shape, injector replacement two years ago, and more. I also replaced the timing belt, waterpump, crank and cam oil seals, and more, on the motor itself.

I compression tested the engine recently and cylinder 4 came up low. A few people here on the board have suggested I do a leak down test. I still need to pick up the equipment to do this. Once I have done the leak down test I am going to start disconnecting wires, etc., in preparation for pulling the motor. I picked up an engine stand and a shop crane recently. I started putting together the crane, but found out they shorted me some critical bolts. They should be here within a week. Here is the shop crane right now, lol:

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The turbo parts car has everything I need, so hopefully once I get deep into the swap I won't have too much trouble. I also have about half of the exhaust parts I need from CM Performance Exhaust (Certified Muffler). I would have ordered the whole thing, but it's hard to convince the wife to spend $600 on something I can't use right away. I'll pick up the rest as I get closer.

My goal is to have the interior swap and the turbo swap completed by Branson. That may be overly ambitious in my case however . I don't come from a mechanical background. I didn't have any family members that were savvy and I don't work in the business in any way (I'm a software developer) but I am passionate about these z31s. In my case, I feel letting someone else do the work on my z31 would be like letting someone else raise my child! I want to do everything that I can do myself. A machine shop will definitely be doing some or all of the internal engine repair work as needed, however.

In comparison to other z31 projects seen here on 88hybrid.com, this one will go slower. I can only work on the Z for an hour or two at a time after work and occasionally on the weekend. Time is very limited, as are my mechanical skills . It will get done however

Thanks for reading so far. I will do my best to keep this thread updated with pictures, etc., as I go forward.

Here is another mini-project I completed recently

Looks good. Just keep moving forward and eventually you will get to where you want the Z to be. Took me well over a year (and many thousand of dollars) to transform my 85T from a broken down rusting hulk to the sparkling example you see today. When you finish, it will seem all worth it to have a rare car you passionately love.

Only one thing from me, Take your time and do things right the first time. It will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.

I cant wait to see the end product.

looks very good stu... i cant wait to see it done.

i've been waiting for this one for a while, awesome story stu

Should look awesome when It's finished!

Do you think you could take a couple pictures of the rear metal speaker mounts? Im thinking about taking mine out to make custom speaker covers and was wondering how hard they are to remove. Are they just bolted on or spot welded? Thanks

Thanks for all of the comments and support! That was fast! I have this picture in my mind of how sweet it will all be when its done. Hurts to think about sometimes because it seems so far away.



Sure, I'll take some pictures over the weekend and post them up on Monday

I'm going to try and get the old front carpet out this weekend. I'm ready to start putting stuff back in. Taking stuff out has been kind of depressing because it feels like I'm moving backwards!! Hehe.

I am also seriously considering resealing the quarter windows. The sealant or whatever it is (black stuff) melted sometime ago and looks bad and messy. There is a good writeup at franks old site. We will see!

Check the tail lights too. 24 years and I bet it is pretty bad too.

good luck with the project STU !! i can't wait to see the finished product.

Does your parts car have a turbo lip? If so, you should put it on yours

Thanks!!



I'll check that out while I am at it! Thanks Scott!



It does have the turbo lip but it's in pretty rough shape. Unfortunately I can take almost no body parts off the car. Even the reflectors were cracked! That's why I got such a good deal on it . Mechanically it was a gold mine for what I paid though.

The "window stuff" is called window ribbon sealant. Awesome writ-up. I can't wait to see it done. I know what it's like to "raise a Z", but I DID make the mistake of letting somebody else put in my JDM Turbo motor.......never again.

Thanks for the info. Resealing the quarter windows will definitely be a learning experience. They are in need however, and it is a great time to do it while everything is out.

I've had some bad experiences with mechanics where I've been ripped off and didn't know it until later. One time I was charged for a new catalytic converter and when I got under the car months later for something else I noticed the catalytic converter was the old/original. Must have just cleaned it out. Charged me a fortune for the "new" one. Besides, I love that feeling of knowing its done right, or if its not done right, its my own fault!

Had some free time last night

I was able to get the front carpet up and out of the car. Many thanks again to FlyingT and michaelp for cluing me in on the fact that I could do this job without removing the dash. Another fellow z31er told me that I would have to and I was ready to do so blindly

Pictures!



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D A M N that old carpet was DIRTY!!!

where did you get the new stuff from??

Man, that carpet was nasty! How did it get that dirty by the side of the seat?

Yup! That's why I was so hip on replacing it . It was really bringing the rest of the interior work I was doing down

Carpet is from MSA, but I think they get it from someone else because the box it came in said "Auto Carpet Deals" and FlyingT had mentioned getting his carpet from Auto Carpet Deals if I remember correctly. As you can see it came in quite a different shade of blue, but I like it so I am going to run with it. I need to make several cuts, etc, to the new carpet. Then I have to decide if I want to cut the rear carpet for the straps. I may leave the rear carpet as is and have someone who can sew make a professional cut and sew job on it while comparing it to the old carpet I have. We'll see! Rear carpet is easy to get in and out.



All that nastiness was from previous owners. I had a no drink/food policy (unless drinks are bottled) which will continue with the new carpet. I have a feeling that one of the previous owners lost there morning coffee down the side several different times. It looks like a drink spilled and dribbled down

Nice writeup Stu. Looks like your doing a thorough job!

how much did the new hatch carpet anyways? my z really needs a freshning up in the interior department

good job stu freakin nice and looks like no rust in floor

very nice stu... you are doing a great job..... msa gets all there stuff from other places and put there name on it.... like there cans... yea.. snider does them.... and a bunch of other stuff....