JLarson's build thread

[JLarson]

This thread is a little late, as I'm currently just about 1 year deep into ownership of my 370, but since I greatly enjoy reading all of your build threads, maybe you'll enjoy mine too! I'll try to tell the story in such fashion that you'll enjoy it

If you want nothing but info on my 370, start with post 2, but in post 1 I'm going to talk about who I am, and how I came to love Z cars.

My name is Josh, and I'm the Director of Quality Assurance for a manufacturing company up in northeast Philadelphia. I've been a Z owner for about the past 12 years, and a true enthusiast for maybe the last 5 or 6.

My accidental love affair started with a 1985 300zx, non turbo. The interior was classic 80s - complete with the digital dashboard, and the voice of "bitching Betty" reminding you periodically that "Door is open" and "Lights are on". The tape deck didn't work, the air conditioner didn't work, and the exterior appeared to have been repainted by a palsied seizure victim using a textured gray suitable for covering concrete floors; but by God, that car ran.

And ran.
And ran.

By the time I bought it at age 22 or 23, it was already a 20 year old vehicle, but it gave me 5 virtually trouble free years of operation, reliable through some of the hardest times in my life.

Prior to the housing market crash in 07/08, I worked in a family business doing construction. Initially, thanks to strong customer loyalty and a large backlog of jobs (we had a 2 year waiting list - we were the kind of family business you actually wanted doing work for you) we were insulated from the worst of the crash, but that eventually ran out. By early 2011, my savings were gone (the sort of savings you build up buying 20 year old vehicles, and eating knock-off brand knorr packaged noodles instead of going out with your friends on Friday nights) and our business was basically dead. I'd get maybe a week of work in a given month. I couldn't hold out any more, so I went to highway construction for a blessedly brief period of time, sometimes driving over 100 miles per day (not compensated for it by my company). The Z held on.

A friend of my dad's gave me a referral which helped get me in as a QA clerk in a local aerospace machine shop. Within a year, by the grace of God, I was elevated to QA Manager. I was still driving my aged 300zx. Still faithfully carrying me to and from work, day after day, but I knew it was approaching the time where I'd have to put ol' Betsy out to pasture. The digital dashboard now functioned only intermittently. One headlight occasionally didn't come up. My wheel bearings were shot. Suspension hadn't ever really been good, but was getting much worse. I fantasized about a working air conditioner!

So my search for a new vehicle began. My pay had risen with my new position (not by much, but a fortune compared to what I had been making) and I set my eyes on a Z32. My Z31 had been so reliable, I naturally (and foolishly) assumed I'd have the same kind of experience with a Z32. I wanted a TT, but I had an NA budget, and eventually found a 1990 300zx that appeared to be in decent enough shape in NJ. Turns out, that was a lie. The aftermarket exhaust hid the whine of a failing differential. A test revealed tragically low compression in all cylinders. The radiator began leaking like a sieve. I was quoted $9k to get it in working order - money I did not have. I had no skill to do the work myself.

I started walking to work, hitched rides when I needed to. Pondered my next move. My dad did the initial research on the 350z, told me to check out one of those. I didn't have the money, was averse to a loan, but it seemed like the only path forward. I found a 2006 350z Touring at a local Subaru dealership, and went for at test drive. The car hugged curves like a good pair of underpants. It had a working stereo, and air conditioning. Heated seats. It was so far beyond what I had ever driven that I couldn't believe my good fortune. I bit the bullet, financed the car.

Meanwhile, I still owned the 300zx, and my mind still slowly processed what to do with it. I determined I would learn about cars, not just what I liked, but how to maintain my own. I had no tools, but I had the internet, so I read everything I could find on the Z32.

I had never even changed my own oil - I could build a house, but not replace my brake pads. I had become a rocket scientist (not exactly, but it sounds good) and I had never checked an intake filter.

I started buying tools, acquiring what I would need. I worked on the 350 first, because it already ran. Installed a 5/16ths plenum spacer. I felt triumphant. Installed ART pipes. I was a hero. A Motordyne TDX V2 exhaust. This was awesome. I could actually do this stuff myself!

I started planning and acquiring parts for the 300zx to perform a TT swap. Picked up a used TT engine that would need a rebuild, intercooler piping, leather seats in decent shape. Engine hoist, engine stand, ramps, more tools, more sockets.

I left the machine shop and started a new job at my current company. My salary more than doubled.