The Z32/BNR32 Build Thread

[TWest]

I've been lurking the forums for a long time but hardly ever post, so I figured I might as well post a build thread since Winter is almost here.

I'll start off by saying that this is my first car that I've ever done any type of work on by myself (other than some simple audio installation and typical oil changes) so I have learned basically everything I know from working on this car.

I had originally planned on buying a S14, but after countless weeks of searching with next to no luck, I came across this car and decided to pull the trigger on it. A 1990 300zx N/A with 52k original miles on it. It was priced for a steal, or so I thought. (Given everything that I later found to be wrong with it, I still think I got a pretty good deal on it.)

Anyways, on to the build:

The day I bought the car (had to back the car onto the trailer because the only way the auto tranny would go was reverse.)




The engine bay was a mess when I bought it, the previous owner had completely neglected it. This pic was taken after I had already started taking things apart for the pull, but you get the idea.


Lovely injector wiring that had been rigged by whoever had previously replaced the injectors.


The car originally came with an automatic transmission that was busted when I bought it, so I picked up a 5 speed swap off of a local.

Obligatory clutch pedal/auto shifter shot


Spent the next day removing the auto transmission



Extension I had to piece together to get to the top bolt on the bell housing. Was a PITA


Didn't get any pics of the transmission being taken out, but once it was out I pulled the motor. Plan was originally just to replace all the gaskets/seals and do the 120k maintenance on it, but ended up deciding I didn't like anything that was going on in the bay at all.

Started off with some weight reduction



Prepping for the pull



Ugly thing is out


Plenum off to be cleaned up




What a mess





Left off here for a couple weeks, ended up getting really busy with school and work and didn't have that much time to work on the car. But finally I got caught up on things and was able to work on the car again.
There's a lot more progress past this point, I'll update soon.

[TWest]

Never realized this got approved. Anyway, here's an update.

Started going through the engine. The outside looked like shit but the inside was surprisingly not bad.




Went ahead and deleted the egr


Debated on whether to polish the plenum or powdercoat it..


Got tired of looking at the nasty valve covers so I painted them white. They will be powder coated eventually, but for now paint will have to do.


While the engine was out, I decided the bay could use some major degreasing. Loaded it onto the trailer and got it nice and clean.




Here is where the real fun began. I loved the z32 chassis but absolutely hated everything about the engine bay. I had already gotten rid of the cruise control, AIV, EGR, PRVR, Carbon Canister, and PCV.. so figured why not take it a little further....so the bodywork began.

Started off by cutting out the rust. My goal here was also to shave the various brackets etc that plagued the wheel wells on both sides of the engine bay. At this point I had no prior knowledge of how to do bodywork whatsoever. Looking back I probably would've tubbed it but at the time I just patched it with a smooth piece of sheet metal. I like how it turned out regardless.




Went ahead and relocated the fuse box to the frame rail underneath the drivers side headlight. Wires will be extended later, just needed it out of the way for now.




As you can probably tell from the fuse box pics, the rust was even worse on the drivers side. I didn't get any pics of it being cut out because it didn't cross my mind at the time, but I did manage to get some of the smoothing process.



Even after getting both wheel wells shaved and covered in primer I still had a big miss to deal with..


Went ahead and cleaned the oil pan up and painted it.



So much better


Decided to pull the sub frame to get everything nice and newish looking.


Also went ahead and cut out the battery tray (was spot welded in from the factory ), will be relocating the battery to the trunk.


Haven't taken any up to date pics, but as of now the engine bay is almost ready for paint. My goal is to get the car put back together and painted before I leave for BMT in January. I still have to patch up the rust on the rocker panels, delete the antenna and rear wiper, and repair a few door dings and it will be ready for paint. It's getting a complete color change so there's a lot of prep work that needs done still.

Once I get out of BMT and go to Tech School, I plan on stocking up on parts. I just had to get the car looking good before I could justify spending too much on parts for it.

I'll try to update again asap.. stay tuned!

[double zero]

so, what engine is going in this?? and eww on the 2+2 body!!

[TWest]

Originally Posted by double zero

so, what engine is going in this?? and eww on the 2+2 body!!

Haha, I like the longer wheelbase. 2+0's do look better though, no doubt.
As for the engine, I'm keeping the original VG30DE(NA) for now, simply due to the super low mileage it has on it. I do plan on eventually swapping it out, but that won't be until at least next year.

[Hatemy7]

good work seriously!!!

[Dolph_KYAS13]

these cars are seriously starting to grow on me. I just cant get over how much of a mess the engine bay is from factory.

[TWest]

Thanks guys. Small update, but figured I'd at least post something today. Changed my mind on the valve covers, this isn't going to be a trailer queen or anything so I figured I would end up getting tired of the white valve covers real quick due to them getting dirty so easy. So, I made a solution:


I like it a lot better personally. Keeps an OEM look without keeping it OEM. Still haven't got around to powder coating them yet, just used high temp engine enamel again. Powder will come later for all my engine parts once every things put back together and I decide I like the color scheme.

[TWest]

Engine bay is getting painted as soon as I can get around to it. Once it's painted I can finally start getting stuff done.

Got the EFI harness out. This thing was a total pain to pull through the firewall. Debating on getting a mil spec connector to use as a quick disconnect on the firewall so I don't have to do this again. Anyway, gonna rewrap the harness and extend some wires so the harness can be hidden away easier.


Oh, and here's a little teaser of my intake plenum.

[TWest]

Haven't been on here in a while, but progress has been made on the build.

As for a mini-update, I purchased a set of Stillen headers and a gasket kit on black friday. Just waiting on them to get here. In the meantime I've been taking apart the mess of EFI harness that I posted above, and extending/rewrapping it as well as deleting unnecessary wires/connections. Never realized it would be so time consuming, but I should've known.

Anyway, I'll post up pics of the painted suspension/engine bay when I get the chance to paint it and upload them.

[TWest]

Well, some things came up and I still haven't been able to get around to painting the engine bay yet.

First off, my fiance ended up having car trouble, so my past week or so has been spent trying to help her find a new car. She ended up getting a Toyota Celica GT-S. Shes wanting me to help her mod it so this is going to be her new project.


As for progress on paint, I'm just waiting on a few suspension parts to come in so I can reassemble my subframe and roll the car into the garage for paint. Should be done I'm hoping by next Monday.

Here is a picture of how it's sitting now (other than the hood being back on). Makes me cringe a little looking at it in this state.. but not much I can do at this point other than wait on parts.


In my last post I talked about ordering the Stillen headers and the gasket kit. They came in this week, but ended up having to go with Top Speed headers instead. Apparently the Stillen headers were on back order, so CZP contacted me to let me know, and told me that the Top Speed headers were actually identical. Apparently Top Speed manufactures the headers for Stillen. Wasn't a problem to me so I went ahead and told them to ship me the Top Speed ones instead.


I hate playing the waiting game, can't wait until I get the bay painted so I can finally start putting things back together and make it start looking like a car again. I'm really anxious to see how the paint turns out as well. It's getting a three stage paint, but I'll leave the color a surprise until I get pics of the outcome

[zenkiset]

props for another KY guy! any updates on this thing?

[Smartone]

I have a Z32 as well but I am doing an Ls swap. If you want I have a new used harness that only has 600 miles on it. It is for a TT and has already been wired to tuck it. I have some pictures I can post of my bay shave if you would like. Keep up the progress, it looks good!

[TWest]

Originally Posted by zenkiset

props for another KY guy! any updates on this thing?

Thanks! Will update soon, should be painting the bay either tomorrow or one of the following days (time permitted)

Originally Posted by Smartone

I have a Z32 as well but I am doing an Ls swap. If you want I have a new used harness that only has 600 miles on it. It is for a TT and has already been wired to tuck it. I have some pictures I can post of my bay shave if you would like. Keep up the progress, it looks good!

If I wasn't staying NA I would definitely be interested. I'll probably be swapping in something other than a VG once I'm done with the NA though. But yeah feel free to post up pics of your bay! If you have any pics of the tucked harness (out of the car) feel free to post those too. Still planning how I want to run mine. So far all I've got done is removing the wires/connectors for the AIV/EGR/PRVR solenoids and grouping everything else together.. I'll be mocking everything up once the motor is back in the car, hopefully it's not too much of a pain to extend what I need.

[Apex Eight]

Wish all threads were as well-documented as this one. In for more updates. Keep up the good work man

[TWest]

UPDATE!!!! No more Black Z! Well.. no more black engine bay anyway.

Before I post pics of paint, here's a little progress on the suspension.
In case you missed the pic earlier in the thread, here is how the suspension used to look:


Got the crossmember stripped down to bare metal and painted black


More pieces in process of being prepped (plus intake valve covers)


Starting to come together nicely


I have the rest of the suspension painted as well, just have yet to take pics yet. Anyway, on to what most of you are probably reading this for...the paint change!

I decided to go with a white base with a blue pearl. The blue pearl is hard to photograph but it looks really good in person. I'll try to get better pics this weekend with my DSLR, but for now all I have is cell phone pictures... anyway, here you go:

Before wet sanding


Showing me how to paint, haha



Caught me off guard


Base coat progress




Final product



Yellow lines in pic is from lighting..like I said paint looks much better in person



Feels good to finally be done with the engine bay (for the most part). Now to reassemble everything..
I'll keep you guys updated when I make any noteworthy changes. Hopefully I get all the new gaskets/seals installed sometime this weekend/next week. It'll get done as soon as I find the time to tear the motor down the rest of the way. Stay tuned!

[Kingbaby]

nice work man...in for more

[shephurd]

good work, do you attend Ohio University?

[TWest]

Originally Posted by shephurd

good work, do you attend Ohio University?

Used to, just enlisted in the Air Force about 6 months ago. Going to finish up my degree while I'm in.

Quick little update, got the freshly painted suspension bolted up. I love the way the steering rack turned out! The color really goes well against the black cross member. Haven't taken any pics with the rest of the suspension bolted in yet, but everything has been taken down to bare metal and repainted so it all looks brand new again. I will be upgrading my suspension one step at a time later on, but I'm more than satisfied with this for now.

Excuse the dusty bay. I guess that's what happens when dealing with 23 year old suspension parts. :P




Everything is bolted in now suspension wise. I will be changing my fuel lines to SS braided hose and AN fittings, so the old nasty bracket in the pics will be gone before too long.

[TWest]

Just a quick update, will finally be tearing down the motor to replace all the seals/gaskets this weekend. Shouldn't take too long, I'll post an update once it's done. I'm leaving for basic training on the 14th, so I'm trying to get as much as I can done before then. Going to try and get everything in the engine bay put back together before I leave that way when I come back on leave after tech school all I have left to do will be a little body work and paint. The next couple weeks is gonna be kinda hectic but I should be able to get everything done in time. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Night drifte89]

Loving this, subscribed dude

[Lockiess15]

Don't often see these being modified [least in New Zealand] so nice to see one getting bit of love. Good work so far

[juvi22003]

That engine bay tho

[TWest]

Thanks guys. Just ordered some last minute parts.. hopefully they come in this coming week since I'll be leaving the Tuesday after next. Teardown on the engine should start tomorrow.. hopefully I have it all back together by Monday.

[sterlinge]

Nice work! I like the white with blue pearl on the engine bay. Almost like..wait that is the same as mine. haha

[TWest]

Originally Posted by sterlinge

Nice work! I like the white with blue pearl on the engine bay. Almost like..wait that is the same as mine. haha

Haha really? That's awesome man. Feel free to post up a pic!

[Kingbaby]

congrats on enlisting...won't regret it!

<---Sailor

[sleepyS14se]

nice work on the z32!! they are very curvy bodied cars...always loved em just never loved em enough to deal with the engine bay of one.

[sleepyS14se]

2+2 and 2+0 were different wheelbase?!!! whaatt

[TWest]

Originally Posted by sleepyS14se

2+2 and 2+0 were different wheelbase?!!! whaatt

Yep.

2+2 overall length = 4525mm
2+0 overall length = 4305mm

So 2+2 is actually about 9" longer than the 2+0.

[Bumpkin203]

Originally Posted by Kingbaby

congrats on enlisting...won't regret it!

<---Sailor

Depending on the job and where he goes haha (AF as well). Nice job OP, would love to do a z32 to go with my z33 daily. Keep it up man.