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History of my Z32
I purchased my 1990 Nissan 300ZX NA 5-speed 2+0 on July 7, 2005, from a student at Northwestern University. As usual, it
wasn't the most well-planned purchase, but I at least had a few days to think it over. I had a few grand burning a hole
in my pocket from my summer job, and I had come to the conclusion that my '89 couldn't be the car I wanted it to be, especially
with the extensive rust and other problems. I had browsed Cars.com and AutoTrader on and off for a Z32 (1990-1996 300ZX),
but not seriously, as most clean NAs go for $5,000 at least. Considering that just a year ago I had never even heard of
the 300ZX, the idea of buying a second car, yet alone another 300ZX, seemed a little psychotic. I hadn't even seen a Z32
in real life, but it was a car that I could see myself driving to a job interview or professional function in ten years. The
Z32 has a certain amount of class and style that distinguishes itself from the Z31. The Z31 was a blast to drive, and could
be made very quick for comparatively little money, but I just knew that there was a Z32 in my future.
I found my Z32 on Cars.com, advertised at $3,500 or best offer. The auction didn't mention the mileage, and the car seemed a
little rough around the edges, but at the time the price was right. I contacted the seller, and made the drive the next
day to take a look at the car. Having never been in or around a Z32, I was excited to see it parked on the street, and
it just looked impressive as I pulled up in my Z31. I talked with the seller for a while, and he had a folder with some
receipts in it. I learned that the car had 195,445 miles on it, and was originally a Florida car. This was a huge selling
point for me, because rust derailed my dreams for the Z31, and I wanted a clean body on my next Z. The only rust spot was
bubbling on the driver's side T-top, which is isolated and minor.
The rest of the car seemed to be in average condition. The seller had some panels repainted, as he said they had acquired
door dings and scratches while at college. The front bumper was missing a good deal of paint, and it was black underneath
(OEM is normally yellowish). These didn't trigger any warning sirens in my head, although knowing what I know now, I probably
would have said thanks but no thanks. About half of the other body panels were an off-shade gold, as the seller had a 'friend'
do the painting for him. The pass. side headlight was also a little crooked, but again, I didn't totally know what I was
looking for.
The interior was messy but seemed to be alright. The steering wheel cover was torn, the seats had cheap black covers on them,
and underneath the leather was completely shot. The panels in the back were scuffed up, and there were a handful of other
minor cosmetic problems. It has a cheap Sony cassette headunit installed, that only worked intermittently. The power
driver's seat didn't move forward or back, making the test drive a little uncomfortable, as the seller was a bit shorter
than myself.
I loved the feel of the car during the test drive. The shifter and clutch were much more precise than my Z31, and had an
extra 60HP at the flywheel. It was late and raining during the first test drive, so I was able to test the anti-lock
brakes, and drive with the aftermarket H.I.D.s (one of the few good things the seller had done to the car). Afterwards, he
told me that he had another person who wanted to buy it for $3,200 in a few days, so I had to make a decision pretty much
by the next day. I thanked him and went home to think about it.
The next day, I came back, with my buddy, who happened to be the younger brother of the friend who helped me bring my
Z31 home (gotta give another plug to DJ's
Auto & Truck in Plainfield). He poked around the car a bit, took it for a little test drive, and said that he didn't
see any major red flags. I came back later that day, paid the seller $3,100 in cash, got the title signed over, and started
home. It might be worth mentioning that I didn't bother to buy temp. plates, so I drove from the north side of Chicago
to my house with no plates (or insurance...). In retrospect, a very dumb move, especially with a new and unfamiliar car,
but I made it home in one piece.
First week home
I sifted through the receipts and what history I could find on the Z, and it had been a Florida car until 2002, when it
was brought to Chicago. In Florida, it had a J30 VG30DE swapped in at Ahren's Z Car Specialist, for unknown reasons. I later
found out, thanks to Chris at Ultimate Z that the passenger side fender had been replaced
in 1997, and that both it and the front fascia were cheap aftermarket OEM replicas. That explained the poor fitment, and
why the passenger side headlight was off, because it had been in a minor front-end collision. The radiator support was
pushed back slightly, but the damage didn't appear to be severe.
At this point, I'm still trying to bring the car back to the look and feel it had fresh off the Nissan lot. I've had to perform
quite a bit of service on it, from replacing the detonation sensor to swapping in a fresh transmission. I've got big plans
to accomplish this, including a new OEM fender, JDM fascia, full repaint (stock EJ0 Gold, of course), JDM taillights,
18" '06 Infiniti G35 wheels, custom charcoal / black leather interior, and the list goes on. Once I replace the differential
and take care of the last mechanical gremlins, I can focus on the above aesthetics. Some of my work involves undoing old
'fixes', however. Below is a picture of the stereo when I removed it from the console:
Cardboard used as a space between them
Yes, that's packaging tape.
Lastly, here's a shot of Chris's (1990 FairladyZ) 1990 300ZX. It is very clean, and while I don't plan to follow exactly
the same modification list, his Z is a prime example of the style I'd like mine to have:
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