Project cars and the old 8-series bmw

Jeffblue · 11-22-2011, 12:01 PM

the 8 series bmw.... parts are asrtonomically expensive... did anyone see that top gear where clarkson bought the 8 series bmw and spent like 3x what he paid for it within a month.

300zx: be ready to drop 10k on the car on top of what you paid for it. honestly if you really want a 300zx try and find a really good chassis and assume the motor is shot. don't expect to get much life out of the stock motor in a 100k+ mile factory twin turbo, especially since you'll want to mod it that will only decrease its life.

supra... you'll pay a huge premium to get a supra... best bet would prolly be get an NA and buy a 2jz and do a swap.... a good alternative is getting a lexus sc300 and doing a 2jz swap. a factory TT supra will probably cost you more than those ferrari's you were thinking of.

if you are willing to spend some cash and know you are going to put the car under the knife, do a proper 240sx build.... get a clean chassis, put in an sr20 or an rb25/26, s14 kouki front end. Would be a fun car. a lot of them end up looking like crap because people dont want to put the money into them they need. but dont bother getting one if you are just going to keep the KA motor because it's slow as sh1T.

vividracing · 11-22-2011, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

the 8 series bmw.... parts are asrtonomically expensive... did anyone see that top gear where clarkson bought the 8 series bmw and spent like 3x what he paid for it within a month.

300zx: be ready to drop 10k on the car on top of what you paid for it. honestly if you really want a 300zx try and find a really good chassis and assume the motor is shot. don't expect to get much life out of the stock motor in a 100k+ mile factory twin turbo, especially since you'll want to mod it that will only decrease its life.

supra... you'll pay a huge premium to get a supra... best bet would prolly be get an NA and buy a 2jz and do a swap.... a good alternative is getting a lexus sc300 and doing a 2jz swap. a factory TT supra will probably cost you more than those ferrari's you were thinking of.

if you are willing to spend some cash and know you are going to put the car under the knife, do a proper 240sx build.... get a clean chassis, put in an sr20 or an rb25/26, s14 kouki front end. Would be a fun car. a lot of them end up looking like crap because people dont want to put the money into them they need. but dont bother getting one if you are just going to keep the KA motor because it's slow as sh1T.

I'd agree on all points except the 240SX. 240s usually look beat because they are beat. It's the most popular drift platform, and that's what the majority of them are. Also, for the price of an SR and for much less than an RB, you can take the stock KA and have it completely rebuilt w/ OEM water and oil pump, OEM gaskets, forged rods and pistons, and a decent turbo kit. 300whp is easily achieved, and you'll have a zero-mile 300whp turbo car. I prefer the KA-T route because parts for a KA are more common than for an SR and the SR is the fanboy route. Plus, 0-mile engine built by a good shop sounds a LOT better than some 140k mile engine that's been beat to crap by 2 or 3 dudes in Japan, then shipped to the US and beaten on by who knows how many people.

Based on your original post, the only 2 I'd consider would be the RX-7 or Supra. If you're not talking about Mk IV Supra and FD RX-7, then it comes to just the RX-7. FC RX-7s look awesome, but I'm not a big fan of Mk III Supras.

Armonster · 11-22-2011, 12:39 PM

Thanks for the responses. To clarify I was talking about a Mk IV supra and a FD rx-7; the older models look too dated to me. Same with the 944. I think you guys are right that there is a big premium on some of these cars because of their popularity.

I looked into 8-series a bit more and they don't seem to have the same sort of premium. Most of them sell for under $15k, even with a bunch of work put into them. The downside is the cost of parts, but I wonder if it would be worth buying a really well-done 8 and then upgrading/fixing things one at a time. I don't mind having one or two minor projects/issues on my hands at any given time, but I don't have the knowledge or time to be doing full engine swaps or builds. Then again, if something breaks on the 8 it won't necessarily be "minor." Jeffblue do you have a link to that episode you were talking about?

The 240z is an interesting option. I don't know too much about them, so maybe I'll check that out. Never been a big fan of the 240zx but it's the right idea.

So many options out there!

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11-22-2011, 12:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jeffblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Age: 38 Posts: 9,192 Drives: Z32TT & 335xi Coupe Rep Power: 39	the 8 series bmw.... parts are asrtonomically expensive... did anyone see that top gear where clarkson bought the 8 series bmw and spent like 3x what he paid for it within a month. 300zx: be ready to drop 10k on the car on top of what you paid for it. honestly if you really want a 300zx try and find a really good chassis and assume the motor is shot. don't expect to get much life out of the stock motor in a 100k+ mile factory twin turbo, especially since you'll want to mod it that will only decrease its life. supra... you'll pay a huge premium to get a supra... best bet would prolly be get an NA and buy a 2jz and do a swap.... a good alternative is getting a lexus sc300 and doing a 2jz swap. a factory TT supra will probably cost you more than those ferrari's you were thinking of. if you are willing to spend some cash and know you are going to put the car under the knife, do a proper 240sx build.... get a clean chassis, put in an sr20 or an rb25/26, s14 kouki front end. Would be a fun car. a lot of them end up looking like crap because people dont want to put the money into them they need. but dont bother getting one if you are just going to keep the KA motor because it's slow as sh1T.

11-22-2011, 12:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
Armonster Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 270 Drives: 2010 370z t/sp/6mt Rep Power: 16	Thanks for the responses. To clarify I was talking about a Mk IV supra and a FD rx-7; the older models look too dated to me. Same with the 944. I think you guys are right that there is a big premium on some of these cars because of their popularity. I looked into 8-series a bit more and they don't seem to have the same sort of premium. Most of them sell for under $15k, even with a bunch of work put into them. The downside is the cost of parts, but I wonder if it would be worth buying a really well-done 8 and then upgrading/fixing things one at a time. I don't mind having one or two minor projects/issues on my hands at any given time, but I don't have the knowledge or time to be doing full engine swaps or builds. Then again, if something breaks on the 8 it won't necessarily be "minor." Jeffblue do you have a link to that episode you were talking about? The 240z is an interesting option. I don't know too much about them, so maybe I'll check that out. Never been a big fan of the 240zx but it's the right idea. So many options out there!