When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello everyone,
I recently picked up Nismo #1251 from a guy in San Marcos, TX. After putting the word about to the San Antonio Z Club / Capital Z a friend of mine, who helped me find my previous track model, found this Nismo. At the price it was a good deal, even though it needed some love, and had a bit high mileage. I don't care about the miles as I'm going to drive and enjoy the car.
My previous car was a 2004 Track model with a nice list of modifications
Really love the oldschool Nismo/RAYs LMGT1 wheels on the newer body car.
Unfortunately, in March she was totaled. A teenager driving a Jeep Liberty, was startled by the merging traffic from the 405 to the 101 North, and overreacted by slamming on his brakes. This completely caught me off guard and resulted in a wreck. No injuries, didn't get a ticket, insurance was cool and gave me above market value, so all in all....but damn do I miss that car.....R.I.P Zoey we had a great 8 years
So to jump forward, thank goodness for Uber and Lyft as I didn't immediately jump into another car, and had time to really think about what I wanted, thus leading me to get a Nismo 350z. The previous owner had LED cop and spot lights all in the car for some reason, and drilled into some of the plastic panels, the paint was unloved and the typical faded red, as well as the varrstoen which were curb kissed. With 130k miles on the girl she was in need of love. The previous owner did properly maintain her as he kept records and receipts, so that was a plus.
Since I've picked her up last Thursday (May 17th), I touched up the curb damage wheels by sanding them down and just hitting them with some matte black spray paint. I'm not to invested in these wheels as they will come off the car, and I'll put my LMGT1s on it. I gave her a through cleaning inside and out and took note of the damaged interior panels, and exterior paint. The Nismo exhaust was either caked in dirt or was sprayed with some paint, which came off after some serious polishing, more which is needed to happen.
I dropped her off at the body shop for a respray on Monday, and should hopefully have her back Saturday (I'll post pictures of my in progress). The car is in need of a new Nismo V3 bumper as the one currently on it is a bit smashed from poor driver attention, but I'll do that once I get it back to L.A.
Here are some pictures of the Nismo as she was...
Here are a few pictures from cleaning her up, and out and about...
I'm headed to the body shop to check on the progress, and will post pictures as I bring the car back to life. Looking forward to living the Nismo life
Last edited by LunchBox20; May 23, 2018 at 10:12 AM.
Just stopped by the body shop to see what they've started on. So far the surface prep has began, and as always I went back and added things to the list. Figure if you're going to do it, do it once and do it right. Obviously this isn't a show car, but still paying attention to the details
Can't say enough how good it feels to be back in a Z. Since the previous owner(s) did a lot of questionable things, I've been going through the car and fixing, or replacing whatever they changed.
the list as I have it now:
-Repair worn driver seat bolters
-Replace interior plastics that were drilled in or damaged -replace oil pressure sending sensor / the gauge is pegged out -remove and redo widow tint -replace front bumper / refinish / new oem mounting hardware and tabs
-replace OEM fender liners -check suspension/bushings/etc
a few things I've ordered and awaiting to install -CSF aluminum radiator
-Z1 aluminum lower splash shield to replace lower OEM bumper part
-oil cooler
-AMS short shifter -install Nismo titanium shift **** from previous car
-Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings
-sway bars
-SPL aluminium shock mount bushings
-have the car corner balanced
-Nismo cold air intake -Double DIN bluetooth CD/DVD -Install Nismo/RAYS LMGT1s tires are 265/35-18 AND 275/35-18
-shorty antenna
-Z1 brake master cylinder brace
-Z1 10mm wheel spacer and extended wheel studs w/ Muteki lug nuts
Last thing have the car fully detailed inside out
Last edited by LunchBox20; Nov 23, 2020 at 07:07 PM.
There are some special people in the world, like those who think neon underbody lighting is cool 😧
. As I crawled under the car to fix a under pabel that was rattling, I found neon LED strips stuck under neath.
pulled them off with ease, then followed the wiring which was fortunately easy to trace through the car and remove.
Really glad I was able to join my brother today at the TAMSCC autox practice. Did a few runs in the car, but didn't push to hard as these tires need to make it back to L.A. from Texas.
. Can't wait to get the polyurethane bushings in, and make some adjustments to the suspension.
UPDATE: So I just had the car serviced, and fully checked over.
Everything underneath looks good, and ready for the roadtrip. I did have a small scare with the oil pressure sending unit, I replaced it with an Oriley's Auto part, and though it did fix the pegged out gauge, it wasn't reading correctly, and also gave me worry that the oil galley seals were bad.
I replaced the sensor with an OEM one, and now it works fine and no signs of the issue.
Nice car, and I love those wheels! I've been dreaming of finding a set of LMGT4's that I'm willing to pony up for.... now I'd be happy to find either!
I came across this set which was mix matched, perfect for the Z since these were staggered.
18x9.5 +14
18x10 +20
need to have the rear quarters rolled and use a 10mm spacer to get the rears to set where I want them. Also looking at doing updated step lips in chrome, thought it'd pop with the red.
Im really excited about this car amnd where I'll go with it.
I love these type of posts....definitely subscribed to see a good Z being brought back to GREATNESS. Keep up the good work Lunchbox.
Shawn
Thanks you guys. Its going to be a process. I can't wait to have EVERYTHING finished so that she can get a full detail. There are a list of misc things that my OCD-ness wants to fix asap. Finding a doner Z to get the interior plastics I need has proved to be harder than I thought so far. Going to check out a dismantle place and see if I can find what I need, or will order new from Nissan
After recent events in Los Angeles with these stupid side show car meet people I've decided to re-register the car in Texas. This way I can have my window tint redone to Texas 25% legal, and put on some non CARB legal mods
Nismo #1251
