My first project car

[almoststew1990]

At the ripe old age of 36 and having liked cars for maybe 35 of those years I've decided its time for a midlife crisis my first project car. I am not very good at making decisions because it is easier to just continue with the status quo, so I've been looking on and off for a car for a few years including this post a few years ago. But this week I finally stopped being wimpy and bought something - it helped that it was nearly a third of the price of that grey 300ZX.

I feel I am being a bit ambitious having barely changed a battery by myself in the past - parts are hard to come by!

On Saturday I spent an hour or so cleaning it up and giving it a more thorough inspection (I get excited and forgetful when I view cars as it happens every year or so). For a car that "doesn't have leaky t-tops" it definitely had mould in it - but I might put that down to being stored in under cover, damp, all winter. But it cleaned up OK.

It has spent many years in Spain not getting salty so the underside is actually OK except for the jacking points.

By coincedence (especially considering how rare these cars are) there is a guy a few miles from me that is breaking a couple of these so I can pick up a few parts locally.

Things to do (next couple of weekends):

• Replace driver seat with one from the spares man
• floor mats
• Oil Service
• replace the coolant as apparently it has been stored with no coolant in it which doesn't sound great and make myself comfortable the waterpump and thermostat are Ok because the coolant temperature gauge does not work.
• Get some tyres, or perhaps chavvy rims and tyres, as the current tyres are dated 2016
• Side lights do not work, tail lights do not work - check bulbs, fuses, visible wiring but after that it is likely to be the switches on the steering column which are pretty notorious for failing. I somehow didn't notice this when I viewed the car but I did check the lights...

With that done I will have some confidence to drive it. Over the next month or two I will pay a grown up to replace timing belt, water pump, thermostat, a couple of accessible sensors, as well as the radiator hoses. These parts have to be imported from the US.

 

[almoststew1990]

Today I picked up the service items (oil, filter, coolant, air filter, can't remember anything else) from Euro Carparts but more importantly some ramps:

I was then too chickenshit to do the oil service or coolant so instead I went to the parts guy to pick up the seat. Getting it back home I decided the best bet was to combine the good base from the spare with the good backrest from the seat in my car, but mount it on the good railes from my car. I then spent a few hours taking apart the spare:

However when I got the seat out of my car, I noted the base of the spare seat had much much worse corrosion. I decided that I would rather have crap leather but some actual solid metal under my butt so proceeded to put my own seat back together again. On the plus side I know how the seats come part now, and I could hoover up the rubbish that had accumulated under the seat.

I then re-mounted them in the car but forgot to re-attach the seatbelt house thing, so out came the seat again.

For someone who has an energy limiting condition, I am now completely knackered!

 

[Diddums]

Awesome dude. Gonna enjoy this one

 

[almoststew1990]

It rained a lot yesterday so I played Fallout 3 all day.

But today I decided to tackle the light issues. The side lights wouldn't work and the tail lights wouldn't work. After checking some bulbs and fuses the most likely culprit is the switch on the steering wheel.

So I took apart and removed the steering wheel removed a few screws and 40 year old plugs and plugged in a new switch. It is scary to see your car like this when you don't know what you're doing:

This was a junkyard switch but it all works so I now have tail lights and side lights (and headlights!) I was hoping you give it a "sleepy eye" look for side lights (I.e. don't raise the lights) like the child that I am but couldn't figure out what to unplug as the switch that opens the lights when you turn them on was already unplugged...

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Love the T bar roof, will keep an eye on this thread, very cool car.

 

[radderfire]

Are you going to get the leather seats repaired?

 

[Dis86]

T bar!

 

[Malevolence]

Nice. And a bonus being the Z31 has no four-wheel steering to go wrong and drive you to distraction.

 

[kaku]

Good stuff. It's a lot of fun getting stuck in and seeing how everything is put together isn't it?

I also spend probably 50% of the total servicing time getting the guts/energy to lift the car and get it on stands.

 

[almoststew1990]

Are you going to get the leather seats repaired?

Yes I think so but I am going to wait until the timing belt is sucessfully done and I've driven it before I spend hundreds on that

Good stuff. It's a lot of fun getting stuck in and seeing how everything is put together isn't it?

I also spend probably 50% of the total servicing time getting the guts/energy to lift the car and get it on stands.

So far, working on cars seems to be straight forward if awkward nuts and bolts, and watching how-to youtube videos in uncomfortable positions in, under and on my car. But yes it does seem a faff to get the car up on stands (or ramps). My dad has seen the car now and has got excited and is giving me some axle stands and a proper jack.

 

[almoststew1990]

New tyres are being fitted tomorrow but I will still probably repalce the wheels. I can't seem to decide what would actually look good on the car. However this site has been very helpful: https://www.thezenthusiast.com/wheelshow.html

I am fan of turbine style wheels and multi-spokes. So far wheels in contention (5x 114.3 16"x 6.5" or 7") are:

Japan Racing JR23

These Z31 special edition wheels which are about twice as expensive

I don't think 5 or 6 spokes will really work on it - it looks too old.

I am also trying to source an antenna plug as mine leaks and it turns out these cars have a backup aerial in the rear screen wiring anyway.

 

[almoststew1990]

I went on my first drive today. Absolutely terrifying lol. Almost as if it is an unloved, unrestored nearly 40 year old car.

Since having the tyres done the steering wheel now needs to be at 45 degrees to drive straight. It will drive straight with the steering wheel at 45d when I let go so I don't think its the tracking. I put it back on in the same position that it came off when I did the switches.

The temperature gauge doesn't work but I am assuming the thermostat works because during the 30 minute drive the car was not sitting in a cloud of steam. The top radiator hose (from the engine) was burning hot to touch when I got home but the bottom hose (to the engine) and the rad itself was quite cool. The engine bay was very hot when I got home. I guess this is how it is suppose to work, but I am paranoid about overheating. The fan didn't come on at any time I don't think but I was moving most of the time. The oil temperature gauge also doesn't work but the oil pressure gauge does at least.

When cold it stalled at very low speed / reversing / using the clutch. It takes a couple of seconds to start and the idle is all over the place when cold but happier when warmed up. I am wondering if this is an air leak?

But driving at 40/50mph out of town felt fine, "planted" as they say. I think it is just a confidence thing and I need to build trust, this is my first time with a "classic" car.

 

[radderfire]

Paste the following into Google Gemini re lumpy idle, and you will get a lot of things to check for:

"what causes lumpy idle in a 40 year old Nissan 300ZX?"