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I picked up this car from a guy who needed to get rid of it quick. He didn't have a title and it didn't run. He said the engine was "recently rebuilt" which to me is code for the engine needs to be replaced. I was expecting the car to be stolen, but he had shown me photos from when he installed the exhaust and he looked way younger in the photos and that restored my faith that it was his car.
The good: It's a 2004 6 Speed DE with a K&N intake, borla headers, test pipes,, Y pipe and a borla catback, and a viper alarm system, body condition 9/10, saw a video of the guy doing a street pull in the car about 300 miles ago per the odometer and it sounded great.
The bad: doesn't start, since it had no battery, no stored codes.
Upon taking it home, i saw that the 120a battery fuse was blown, so i swapped it over from my other Z to see if it would be a simple fix, but no dice. Took out the Viper alarm system, every associated wire was connected with T-Taps, so it was relatively easy to remove. I checked all the fuses in the 3 locations and they were all intact.
After connecting a battery, I turned on the ignition. I could hear the fuel pump prime and when i fully turn the key, it doesn't click repeatedly, but once. Pretty hard thump. Figured even with rod knock aat worst, it would still turn over.
I don't want to dig too deep into this. But figured I could throw a few parts at it before just sending the ECU off to get re-flashed to get rid of nats and throwing in a fresh motor.
Let me hear your thoughts!
Last edited by Kevin Skene; Sep 15, 2019 at 08:52 PM.
A steal of 5 bills so long as title isn't an issue.
Yeah they're not quite my style haha. I'm still excited about it, even without title, after searching ebay and realizing that a used oem front fender, door and a pillar would be over 500!
Not sure what you've gotten and it could be a money pit, but how did you meet the original owner in the first place? It's got some useful mods if you want to turn it into a time trial or racecar. Why do you want to get rid of NATS if you've still got the original keys?
put a breaker bar on the crank pulley and see if you can turn it over..
then remove the plugs and look for physical damage and drain the oil and check for metal.
I am sure it could use new plugs and an oil change any ways.
If nothing un usual going on with the plugs and the oil looks okay that comes out. and you can turn it over with a breaker bar.
pull the starter and check it at the local parts house.
Did I read this wrong or did you literally say you only paid $500 for the car? If so, the market value on these things plummeted alot faster than any of us ever anticipated.
Not sure what you've gotten and it could be a money pit, but how did you meet the original owner in the first place? It's got some useful mods if you want to turn it into a time trial or racecar. Why do you want to get rid of NATS if you've still got the original keys?
I was on facebook 350z groups looking for people who may be selling a front fender & door, as i put my drift Z up against a wall, got a message from a guy saying he'd sell me his whole car for dirt cheap!
That's what im thinking too! Starter is starting to wear on my drift Z so if this ends up being a bust i'll have a home for the new starter anyways. Worth a shot.
Did I read this wrong or did you literally saw you only paid $500 for the car? If so, the market value on these things plummeted alot faster than any of us ever anticipated.
Yep, 500. It's worth way more. I just found a guy who needed to get rid of it quick. Seemed to me like he was looking to fund some other, self-destructive habits.
put a breaker bar on the crank pulley and see if you can turn it over..
then remove the plugs and look for physical damage and drain the oil and check for metal.
I am sure it could use new plugs and an oil change any ways.
If nothing un usual going on with the plugs and the oil looks okay that comes out. and you can turn it over with a breaker bar.
pull the starter and check it at the local parts house.
then report back.
Good advice. I really didn't plan on buying the car to actually run and drive, but it's too clean not too..
Last edited by Kevin Skene; Sep 16, 2019 at 09:28 AM.
Not sure what you've gotten and it could be a money pit, but how did you meet the original owner in the first place? It's got some useful mods if you want to turn it into a time trial or racecar. Why do you want to get rid of NATS if you've still got the original keys?
Honestly, not sure. Just figured that would eliminate any possible immobilizer issues that I've heard of people having when removing aftermarket alarm systems. I'm not too familiar with how the car WOULD behave if that immobilizer was enabled. Any ideas?
Plan A) Register it if possible and make it a basic drift car. Angle and a hand brake.
Plan B) Cant register it, motors blown: strip it, cage it, put a basic LS in it with a standalone setup.
Plan C) Keep the Fenders, Doors, and A pillars to put my drift Z back together and part out the rest.
Either way, i just have to wait a week or so till I move before tearing into it.
Excited!
Last edited by Kevin Skene; Sep 16, 2019 at 09:42 AM.
Well, I moved into a new house, tore down a sketchy "add-on" that was on the house and was left with a nice slab to move the $500 Z to. Today was the big day!
Slapped a wrench on the crank pulley bolt and it wouldn't budge. So I got down on my back to get a bit more leverage and saw this!
I'm guessing he calling the JDM import for getting an engine. For $500 and another engine, still a good deal. Not like me, $3500 and still need an engine
the good news is that the likelihood that it will start when he gets the new engine is very high.
Agh.. right?? Only "concern" is that I'm not sure whether or not the ECU was tuned. I could take the ECU from my 03 and throw it in this car.. Does the ECU have to match any other components of the Z?
$500 350z Revival
