Zinister

[RedDemon]

Hey all, I made an intro back in April and finally got the time to post a build thread for my 1988 300zx Shiro #71.

At the time my friend and I were looking to by a car together to fix up over the summer break after we graduated high school. We found a champagne coloured car with t-tops and all it had was a Z emblem on the front bumper. Ever since then, I was bit by the Z bug. I’ve went through a couple other Z’s until I found this one in Miami and got it shipped in January '10.

Alrighty, let’s get into this…

I had a used engine from an 84 zx just sitting in my garage so I decided to get it built to handle big power, the work done to it is as follows:

Heads:
-JWT S2 cams 266/266 .473” Deg.
-JWT valve springs
-RUSS cam gear
-Z31 parts fuel rail
-NGK 1 step colder plugs

Block:
-Wiseco Z32 Pistons 0.020” over
-SCAT Rods
-ARP Head studs
-ARP Main studs
-ARP Rod studs
-Top king Main bearing
-Top king Rod bearing
-Copper head gaskets
-Precision 780cc Injectors
-Gutted plenum
-Precision GT4067 67mm compressor, S housing, 4” inlet 2.5” outlet, 0.70 ar P-trim. Exhaust housing 0.81 ar with a 3 inch V band. 360 degree thrust bearing

Here is the head with it ringed

Copper Gasket installed

After putting the engine together and at this point I was waiting for a good chassis show up on Kijiji or CL

And my two baby’s

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 PM ----------

So I finally found a Zed to put the engine in. It’s was New York car for the first year of it’s life, then it lived for the rest of it’s life in Miami. It’s an Shiro Special #71 of 1001. I originally wanted an 87 but this car had a lot of aftermarket parts that I was going to buy regardless so I said what the hell.

What it came with:
Garrett t3/t04e .60 trim
HKS blow off valve
Tial 44 mm wategate
Polyurethane motor mounts.
ACT stage 3 heavy duty sprung 6 puck cluth and pressure plate
Innovate motorsports wideband
Intercooler setup
Mitsubishi starion rims
Walbro 255lpg fuel pump
Custom turbo manifold and down pipe
Spark plug wires
Full 3 inch turbo back exhaust with an HKS carbon fiber turbo muffler
Turbonetics manual boost controller
HKS turbo timer

When I got time, I started taking it apart and see what I had to fix and it didn’t take long lol.












(Funny looking back how it was and where it’s at right now)

---------- Post added at 09:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------

I took the dash out to get to the hvac and to the sound insulation. The sound insulation came out to 41 lbs. That doesn’t include the hvac, which I think weighs around 15-20 lbs. It’s incredible how much room there is now under the dash now that there will not be the heater core

I started work on the window frame rust. The first spot welds were pretty bad, didn’t penetrate well and looked weak. I adjusted the setting on the welder but it didn’t help. I finally got it right and it’s apparent from the pictures below.

First tacks of the day

Second round tacks (still looks shit)

Third time is the charm

Inside view

Working on the outside

Tacking the outside

I got a bit trigger happy and warped the metal a bit. I gotta work on that and get an auto dimming mask.

This is how it looks after grinding, bondo and 2-3 coats of primer.

Here’s after a couple of coats of undercoating

Installing the carpet

With the rear panels in

Refinished sued headliner

Headliner installed

Exterior shots of SS lip installed.

Was bored so I did a little photoshop work lol

---------- Post added at 10:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------

I bought KTS coilovers, stance adapter.

When I first got them

Installed

Cut the strut tubes

After some welds

As I was waiting for the struts to be welded, I picked up a set of Rota Grid 18x9.5 38 offset all around. I had to drive to Windsor to grab them, I left at 7:30pm and got back home with the wheels at 4:00am (chatted with the guy for an hour). I’m more into a concave face than deep dish wheels and these guys fit the bill. I ordered 38mm spacers to push them out to a 0 offset. I’m not proud for using such big spacers, but I’ll keep this till I feel like getting some awesome wheels :-). They have 245/40 on the back and 235/45 on the front.

Serious 4x4 happening in this picture

After lowering it…I love this picture. 0 offset is very nice on the Z’s!

I wanted to take out the engine to clean up the bay and paint it black and hopefully have time to FINALLY put my rebuilt engine in.

Getting a heart transplant. It almost looks like it’s happy getting all cleaned up and a new strong heart lol

Ugly disgusting engine bay

After 1 day of srtipping

This is what I was working with

Then I shot 3 coats of primer

After that, I shot 3 coats of flat black

I also ordered NIStune and took much longer to install then I thought it would take. I would not have been able to do this without my buddy, too complicated for me lol.

[MP_B240]

really enjoyed looking through all this, awesome job man!
are you going to paint it red like that photoshop pic you made?

[RedDemon]

Thanks,

I’ll be keeping it white. All 1001 shiro were pearl white from the factory and I want to keep it that way. I have the black Volvo and I think it’ll be nice to have the white Z.

[RedDemon]

So, I’m almost up to date with the build.

I didn’t get too much done over the summer because I had to wait for a bunch of shit in the mail. I bought an rx-7 radiator and two 10" fans and a treadstone intercooler to put together my “v” mount.

I had to clock the turbocharger so it faced the right way for the piping

and how it all looks when put together temporarily

The S14 subframe with bings arms and stance offset bushings required for the swap. You can kinda see the Q45 VLSD diff + half shafts.

As I was taking out the gas tank, I decided to double check that the car did indeed come with a walbro pump and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I took out the pump…



I kid you not the LAST place I ever want the red wire and black wire touching is in a gas tank!!

I am also working on a hammer head style oil pan with baffling where the pick-up tube sits.



wanted to make sure it didn’t leak after welding it, which it didn’t, but I don’t know how to put pressure to make sure 100% that there will be no leaking.

—All the work from here on in was completed last week—

So, after waiting a couple months for the subframe kit, I decided to get right on it.

What the kit does is essential convert the z31 into an s13 and of course, to use the s14 subframe you have to buy the offset bushings.

First step was to get the bushings pressed in and the rear bar/studs welded

Next step was to cut notches in the frame to clear the subframe

After that was to extend the front to match the original mount location

There were about million test fitting and I still have to fully weld the rear bar to the chassis which I hope I’ll have done this weekend so I can test fit everything as if I’m done before taking everything apart and cover up the notches made in the beginning.

[MP_B240]

lol you’re one of the few people that actually clocks their turbo instead of making up some wacky and stupid ic pipes

[91S131]

totally rad car, good work

[braden]

jizz all over, love vg30ets

[a_ahmed]

SICK build, ive seen ppl before put s14 subframe and s13 front end/coilover parts… if u did something along those lines u could use some drop spindles too thus low + shock travel = win

I ALWAYS loved the shape of the z31… so slick/mean/aggressive/sharp/edged… the rear end/tail lights are sexy, the overall shape and the front the way u intend to make it looks mean too Cool stuff!

[RedDemon]

Thank guys, love the good vibe!

Ahmed, you hit the nail on the head but you forgot one thing and that it’s rare factor in Ontario. The only other z31 I’ve seen this year so far has been one, so not too many people (young people) know of it. They always assume I’m talking about the z32’s lol. I used to drive a beat up 88z 2+2 and even though it look bad. Older people used to come to me and say how they used to have a z31 and what they ended up doing with it.

The subframe is 90% finished. I’ve test fitted all the arms and I think I have one more days worth of work and it’ll be 100% complete. I have to trim a bit of metal off where the RUCA bolt to the subframe and then box the notches + paint to prevent rust.

This is with the max low (RUCA hitting the chassis)

and my favorite shot

[S13GG]

no fooling aroud here…

nice effort…

[forrestall]

that looks great man. nice job

[gandza]

<3

[crazywoody]

gitten err done, good luck with the build man

[shero78]

solid build, looks like alot of hard work. keep it up!

[RedDemon]

Thanks guys,

“Looks like a lot of hard work” is an understatement lol, but with this car, there’s always the I can’t wait to get this done aspect to it. I can’t wait to get it caged then I can’t wait to get it running and tuned then I can’t wait to buy BBK for the front then lastly I can’t wait to buy wheels for it.

[RedDemon]

I finally have all of what is needed for my brake upgrade (still reading up on the MC and which size to buy). I’ve decided to go with 350z track rotors with Wilwood 4 pot calipers, Wilwood s13 brake lines, Wilwood pads, and of course the bracket making it all come together.

The rear gets the usual upgrade…z32 calipers, rotors, e-brake assembly + R33 e-brake cables (waiting in the mail).

Rears

Front

11.7"

12.76"

Shits and giggles (11" rotors)

Front

Rear

(pads sticking out slightly because everything is not yet bolted down)

[kennedy8383]

Look good and would have sand blast the entire car…

[S13counterpart]

Seriously. No one gives a shit what YOU would have done to THEIR car…

Build your own fucking car and stop posting useless fucking shit…

[RedDemon]

eh, he’s trying to build his post count since, I believe, he’s one of those people who thinks that the higher the post count, the cooler they are?

He’s been registered for 10 days and has 3 less posts than me and I’ve been part of the forum for 8 months lol. You need to sit back and observe for a bit and see how a forum operates.

To answer you question… I never thought about sandblasting the car and even if I had, I wouldn’t have done it. The car is pretty clean minus a couple of areas…

[sharpe_corners]

That keneddy guy is a moron. Wicked build man.