Hayden's Cars- Annual update!

[Hayden]

Welcome to my car thread guys and gals. I've decided to post a quick run down and a nice photo of each of my cars here in the OP. If you have any questions about any of them just ask. I like talking about my cars

1992 Nissan 300ZX Convertible "The Vert"
Current use: Weekend cruiser
Owned since: May 2013
Powertrain: VG30DETT (3 Litre V6 Twin turbo) 5 speed manual FR
Purchased from: Sydney, flew up and drove it the 1200 kms back
Current Odometer: 205,xxx km
Modifications: Rays LMGT4 wheels, Sony head unit, red stitched boots, HID lights, Twin Turbo & 5 speed conversion, 2K front bar, 2k replica tail lights, TT wing, ZED plate
Future plans: The car will soon be dyno tuned and have some new tyres fitted. I would like to finish the fibreglass hardtop I began a couple years ago. I intend to keep this car for ever, continuing to slowly build it into something even more special.

2014.5 Toyota 86GT "Kenny"
Current Use: Daily driver
Owned since: September 2014
Powertrain: 4U-GSE (2 Litre 4 cylinder boxer) 6 Speed manual FR
Purchased from: Locally, issued by the insurance company as a replacement vehicle following an accident
Current Odometer: 32,xxxkm
Modifications: None
Future plans: I'd like to get some aftermarket tail lights and a rear lip spoiler for the 86. Apart from that it'll be my trusted daily (and occasional track car) until my girlfriend and I decide to have kids. That's a few years away yet, but the replacement will probably be a WRX STI, 300c SRT8 or something similar.


2005 Chrysler 300c "DUB" Edition
Current Use: Project in progress. 50/50 shared costs project with my dad.
Owned Since: July 2016
Powertrain: 5.7L Hemi V8- Stroked to 6.1L, 6 Speed Manual- Apx 850BHP
Purchased from: Unseen from a salvage vehicle auction in rural Victoria
Current Odometer: 135xxxkm
Modifications:
Roof repaired, Completely rebuilt, stroked engine, oversized pistons, ground crank, race cam, new lifters, long tube headers, Cold air intake, flash tuner, Dodge Challenger manual trans, Procharger P1x Supercharger, full roll cage, Cobra race seat, plastic side windows, pedders coilovers, DIY wing & splitter and heaps of stuff I can't think of right now.
Future plan: Continue making it faster and having fun in the process!

1992 Nissan 300zx 2 Seater "The Good One"
Current Use: 50/50 shared cost project with a friend
Owned since: August 2014
Powertrain: VG30DETT (3 litre V6 twin turbo), 5 speed manual, FR
Purchased from: Adelaide, brought back by truck
Current Odometer: 135xxxkm
Modifications: Done a whole heap of small repairs and tidy ups.
Future plans: Get it registered for street use and sell it on.

---/ Past cars /---
"Why do we fall sir? So we can learn to pick ourselves up"​

2013 Toyota 86GT
Owned: December 2013 - June 2014
Powertrain: 4U-GSE (2 Litre 4 cylinder boxer) 6 Speed manual FR
Purchased from: Locally, bought brand new from a dealer
Odometer: 16,854km
Modifications: I had the dealer put on some mud flaps. Does that count?
Story: I'm very sad to say that this car was unfortunately written off following an accident. The full story can be found here. This car will always hold a special place to me and I''ll never forget the 6 glorious months we spent together.

1991 Nissan 300zx 2 Seater "The Wreck"
Owned: March 2014 - Feb 2016
Powertrain: All removed. Was a VG30DETT (3 litre V6 twin turbo), 5 speed manual, FR
Purchased from: Melbourne, brought back by truck
Current Odometer: 127xxxkm
Modifications: Ripped the engine and gearbox out for the Vert. Completely gutted for parts.
Story: Bought as a donor car for the convertible and did its job well. My mate Cody and I practically destroyed the car and I sold everything of value. When I was done with it I put it up on Facebook as giveaway to the person with the coolest idea for its future. After many applications I eventually gave it away to somebody who intended to put a 351 Cleaveland in it and use it as a road car.

1991 Nissan R32 Skyline GTS4
Owned: June 2013 - June 2016
Powertrain: RB25DET NEO (2.5 Litre inline 6 Turbo) 5 Speed manual, part time 4WD
Purchased from: Locally, from a former co-worker
Current Odometer: 132xxx km (broken)
Modifications: RB25 Neo engine (from a Nissan Stagea) installed after the original engine decided it was a night club's smoke machine. It also got a new ECU tuned to the limit of it's ceramic turbo. Adjustable suspension, gutted interior, fire extinguisher and a couple stickers from parts suppliers. Dynoed at 211RWKW
Story: Bought as a 50/50 shared cost project with my dad, we imideately went to work turning the defected R32 into a track car. As time went by it evolved into a specialised drift car and we would go to drift days and have a blast together. As the years went by dad and I decided drifting wasn't for us and the Skyline was sold to fund the 300c project. It was an extremely fun machine and I'll always be grateful for the way it brought me together with my dad. The first car I've ever properly sold was one I will never forget.

Thanks for reading

 

[JrDarknes]

When I read the title. I started to laugh cause I thought you didn't know what a t-top was. Then I click and this thing is actually a CONVERTIBLE. I didn't know they came convertible.

Either way nice ride dude. It looks really nice especially the color. Also I agree with those wheels. Would to nice =p.

 

[Hayden]

Now whose laughing? Haha.

Cheers for the comments dude. The colour really is a strange one and until i saw it in the flesh, i really didn't think that highly of it. Metallic brown isn't an option on many cars, but Nissan gave it a crack and i'm certainly glad they did.

Maybe i'll change the thread title to reflect that it's a soft top...

EDIT: 23/3/14- Leaving the original OP here so I can update the actual one.

Howdy GTP! After more than three years here, I finally think I have a car worthy of it's own thread. So without further ado, here is my '92 Z32 Nissan Fairlady Z Convertible!

After seeing it on carsales just shy of a month ago, I decided to fly up to Sydney and check it out. Needless to say I didn't fly home and I've been enjoying it ever since. As with anything that's done nearly 200,000 k's she isn't perfect, but the feeling of having the roof down on a nice day makes it worth it!

It was a direct import in late 2002, and has had two other Aussie owners since. 300ZXs are pretty rare near here, so number 200 of only 500 or so RHD soft top convertibles really stands out amongst the 4x4s! I've had some strange looks at petrol stations and wierd comments from strangers already, including a mates dad proclaiming that he had a 260z and absoloutly loves my car .

Plans for the future include a good service from a Z specialist in Adelaide, a professional detail from a collision repairer, conversion to SA rego and maybe a set of Nismo LMGT4 wheels

Other than that, I'm just gonna continue to enjoy finally having a car worth talking about! I just wish Nissan made them with the twin turbo engine, but who knows... It's a popular conversion

Oh and just as a bonus, here's a photo i took when i found a giant koala on the drive home. I was in a bit of a hurry so didn't bother putting the top down

 

[nizmo_bro]

Wow, killer car. I honestly didn't know they made it convertible either. I'm not a fan of 300ZXs but the convertible looks real nice.

 

[wrapture]

Awesome car man! Now I'm off to find out how good my chances of finding a LHD convertible are.

 

[Spacegoat]

Very nice, mate. Really like the colour.👍 Mark me down as another who had no idea they made a convertible version.

 

[BobbyBRAKEaNek]

Nice pick with the drophead.
My brother works for Z1motorsports and they have a 1050hp, drop top, wide body, with tt that they built in their showroom. It's a BEAST..

 

[Hayden]

My understanding is that they made quite a few more convertibles left hand drive than right, so you may be able to pick one up relatively cheap 👍.

My brother works for Z1motorsports and they have a 1050hp, drop top, wide body, with tt that they built in their showroom. It's a BEAST..

That is epic!

Cheers all for the compliments, I really do appreciate what you guys have to say!

 

[Anathema]

I'm impressed. That color is very unique and I love it. Didn't know that the 300ZX came with a full convertible setup, and it's well suited to the car (especially with that color.)

Now, if I can just find a decent 300ZX...

 

[Moglet]

I absolutely love these cars, always have done since I had a toy one when I was little. I'm a fan of brown coloured paint at the minute too, it really suits this car. 👍

 

[Hayden]

Well, i've had it police checked and she came up as legit . So i took it to Motor Reg, got it transferred into my name, ordered my new number plates and registered it for a few months.

I decided that now that i have a nice car, shelling out the $200 for personalised plates over plain jane ones would be money well spent for overall presentation value. I thought about it for a while and settled on VERT-32. Thoughts?

Oh and i took one last NSW plated photo down by the local lake. 8)

 

[Anna+Reece]

YES!

You don't understand how much I love Vert Z32s. One of my dream cars is a stock Twin Turbo Z32 Vert, 6 Speed in White for a daily driver. I love these cars!

Do cool stuff to it. Far too often people ruin these poor cars... LMGT4s and Coilovers would be AMAZING Do the Twin Turbo swap, too!

This is wonderful. I love the color too. I am honestly jealous. Have fun with it!

 

[Thatman]

I also did not know of vert 32s ....Well lookin good so far. 👍

Planning to change the stock rims? Just curious.

Also don't forget, your car and a diablo share the same lights.

 

[Hayden]

Well... Tonight was a game changer. My dad and i are just a few days shy of getting our hands on a track car! It's an old work mates R32 GTST that he spent a fair chunk on to get it pretty cool... Until it was defected a few years ago. Plenty of go fast bits, a manual box and a very low price tag. Coincidentally there's a gymkhana day at my local (huh, try 250ks away) race track on sunday.

The old man and I have been tossing about the idea of going halves in a TT z32 as a track car project since i bought the Vert, and up till this arvo, i was very keen on buying a particular one from QLD. Together though, we decided that by the time shipping came into it, this R32 was the better value car.

So anyway, we plan on picking it up on saturday, leaving it on the trailer and taking it straight to Tailem Bend on sunday!

 

[Anna+Reece]

Well... Tonight was a game changer. My dad and i are just a few days shy of getting our hands on a track car! It's an old work mates R32 GTST that he spent a fair chunk on to get it pretty cool... Until it was defected a few years ago. Plenty of go fast bits, a manual box and a very low price tag. Coincidentally there's a gymkhana day at my local (huh, try 250ks away) race track on sunday.

The old man and I have been tossing about the idea of going halves in a TT z32 as a track car project since i bought the Vert, and up till this arvo, i was very keen on buying a particular one from QLD. Together though, we decided that by the time shipping came into it, this R32 was the better value car.

So anyway, we plan on picking it up on saturday, leaving it on the trailer and taking it straight to Tailem Bend on sunday!

An R32 and a Vert Z31... you essentially own my dream garage

 

[Hayden]

Cheers mate!

We picked up the R32 on Friday, and as it turns out it's not a GTS-T, but a GTS4. Apparently it's rear wheel drive until the car decides "hey, this guys in over his head, put the power to the front to drag the idiot out." Or something like that

We spent yesterday doing some under bonnet fiddling to get it ready for today. Oil, battery clamp, alternator, rerunning the boost gauge wires... Oh and we put a fire extinguisher in and took off the defect sticker

Edit: Here's a pic from before we left

Edit 2: Well that was a hell of a lot of fun! I certainly wasn't the quickest Gymkhana'rer (is that a word ) there, but it was my first time driving the car and gymkhana'ing (again?) at all.. Forgetting all that, the important thing is that ii spent a good period of time sideways in a cloud of smoke. No amount of spinning out, torque/under steer or even the news that a new turbo has forced it's way onto my shopping list could take the smile off of my face. Some bad news i heard on the way home certainly did, but that's out of my control and is more important than any car, so i won't talk about it here.

Anywho, i'll make a new post later with a video or 2 of me thrashing the R32 and tell ya a little more about it

 

[Anna+Reece]

Pleeeeaaaaase tell me you are turning this car into a drift car..

 

[Hayden]

The plan is to get it set up so it can do whatever motorsport is on, on any given weekend. Thanks to a fuse which we already pulled for a run on sunday, the car can easily be made RWD. So yea, drifting is on the table

Here's a pic from today, with it still on the trailer from after the event. Keen viewers will notice that it's bleeding a little on to the trailer. That will apparently stop with the new turbo.

I've researched a little but can find very little about these wheels... Anyone know anything about them?

And to end the post, a pretty shonky pic of the two together

 

[nizmo_bro]

Lovely. GTS4 sounds more of a nightmare than HICAS, but at least it can be easily eliminated.

I'm jealous, but I am saving my money for next year when the R32 will be 25 years old. To my understanding, it will be legal in the US. Not too sure on the details yet, but I'm hoping to import a GTS-t. Hopefully I won't have to jump through hoops to get one.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Lovely. GTS4 sounds more of a nightmare than HICAS, but at least it can be easily eliminated.

I'm jealous, but I am saving my money for next year when the R32 will be 25 years old. To my understanding, it will be legal in the US. Not too sure on the details yet, but I'm hoping to import a GTS-t. Hopefully I won't have to jump through hoops to get one.

Here's your problem: 1989 model R32s that aren't GT-Rs seem to pretty much not exist last I was looking... Probably has something to do with a May 1989 intro date and there being 1989 MY R31s as well.

Anyway, nice one on the R32 Hayden! Looking to become a pretty nice pair of Nissans you've got.

 

[Hayden]

Cheers guys! Good luck with the R32 chasing mate, it'll be a real head turner if you can land one there 👍 Oh and good news, the 300zx's number plates arrived

I had to bend the edges of the back plate to make it fit the space, but it's not too noticeable (especially in the dark )

 

[Hayden]

Hate to double post, but it's update time. We've done some research and replacing the R32's turbo with a stock unit isn't really worth it for BHP-$ value. Likewise, replacing it with an aftermarket one brings on a whole bunch of extra costs, so we've all but decided that an engine upgrade (probably an RB25 or RB26) will work out better in the long run. It will also leave us open to bigger potential down the track.

 

[Conbon14]

Rb26. 👍

 

[Hayden]

Rb26. 👍

Man it would've been epic to source and RB26 for the R32, but a RB25DET NEO from a 2001 model Stagea poked it's head up for a price which simply couldn't be turned down. We drove to Ballarat and picked it up last week, complete with engine cover. The bloke said he though it would be cool to see that in an R32. On that note i asked if we could get the RS Four badge off the boot, he peeled it off and gave it to us for free. I thought that would look cool on an R32! Photos of all that will come after the transplant has taken place

And really good news for the Z! I just spoke to a lad from Melbourne who had his LM GT4s for sale on the internet. It only had one photo on the listing, but they're the right colour, the perfect size and the right price. I rang him up (had a bit of trouble controlling my excitement ), and he's gonna send me more photos tomorrow. If all goes well i'll put a deposit down tomorrow night, and pay the rest when I pick them up in a months time.

I've been searching high and low for these ever since I picked up the Vert, so keen i am!

Edit: Well it's tomorrow night, the deposit is down and the fella sent me some more photos! Here's one of them...

He had them on his R34 and he sent me a pic of the car. it looked damn clean*. When i mentioned my intention for the wheels, he sent me this photo he saw by chance the other day. I can't describe how awesome i think these wheels suit these cars!


And for future reference, i have a few plans for the Z after the wheels arrive.... First will be a service and some little stuff i need from Z1 motorsports. Lowered springs may follow and with the new wheels it should look tops.

Down the track a little further, a kaminari rear wing and a twin turbo 300zx's front bumper should go on when i get the paint touched up in about 6 months time. My goal is to have it look like it actually came out the factory as is, while in reality these two little changes should go a long way in the looks department.

And finally, in 12 months time i'm hoping to be able to source a damaged/defected/project 300zx TT with a manual gearbox. I've done some research on that already and $3000 can get me such a car. I believe that i could make enough selling parts off of the donor to nearly pay for the labour of getting the engine installed into the convertible.

With all of that put out there i just want to say that most of it is me just thinking out loud. If it all happens to plan though, in a years time i could probably have one of the nicest 300zx convertibles in the country. Well... That's the theory haha

 

[Hayden]

Ok, so long story short I took the Z to a mechanic to get a dash light fixed and came out with a bill, a still broken dash light, a fried head unit and a toasted amp. Saying i was annoyed is an understatement 👎

On the positive side it meant I had to go get a new head unit, and while i was at it o got one which i could use bluetooth with to avoid any messy wires and the such.

It's a Sony Xplod unit that I've hooked up to an 800W Sony Amp to run through the Alpine speakers that came with the car. As a surprise bonus the colours of the lights on it match those of the (since repaired) cluster.


The wheels are about 3 weeks away from being payed for, the RB20 is out of the skyline and once we get the clutch delivered it will be ready for RB25 power

 

[Hayden]

They've arrived! I made a trip into town late last night with a mate to get the LMGT4s and put them on. The moment i took off the first piece of cardboard (that the seller had wrapped them in) i knew i had made the right decision!

I'd like to thank the seller for being very understanding and letting me pay them off slowly. These wheels are pretty darn rare and if it weren't for him i may never have got my hands on a set.

I've just gotta get some centre caps for them and get some replacement Nismo stickers. Other than that they're fantastic

 

[Anna+Reece]

Those look fantastic! Ugh I need to get 5 lug hubs and a set of old Nismo wheels for my car. I love every Nismo wheel, so much. But the ones that are 4x114 are even rarer than those

Can't wait to see what else you do with her.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Beautiful wheels, and fit the car perfectly. They were kind of what I was looking for when I went wheel shopping, but weren't available in 19's.

There was another member with a 300zx that had a pair as well, not sure if he's still active though.

Edit: Found a thread of his with some pictures...
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=127378&highlight=LMGT4

 

[Hayden]

Cheers guys, and thanks for the link to that thread SVR. That is one very nice Z32 👍

Third attempt at this post now (damn you computer!)

Recently a mate asked me just how many soft top ZX's were made and I couldn't give him an honest answer. This annoyed me very much and I went into a frenzy of research, trying to answer his question and my curiosity. The first breakthrough I made was found here, where I discovered that 3846 were made LHD for the targeted Californian market. Of those 103 (or 2.68%) were in my colour. I kept looking and found the American 300zx registry which said that 48 out of those were automatics and none had my interior. Which left me thinking to myself...

Hayden's subconscious
Well that's all great and all but I'm not American and my car isn't left hand drive... I wonder how many JDM convertibles were made

However, this would prove to be a battle and made up stats are very widespread. This guy says that 700 RHDs were made. While a couple forum members throw around numbers both higher and lower than that. I was about to give up when I found this post from 12 years ago from a poster who claims to have spoken to the father of the Z car. It says that in 1993 the earliest listed model year just 80 were made for Japan on the way to a total of less than 200... Which I assumed must be wrong, seeing as my chassis number designates it as the 200th one made and this site says that it's an October 92 car.

So I kept on digging and found this link which had my chassis number too low a number to be a '93 but in the correct format, being a HZ32 which someone here says means convertible. To make matters worse the site gives yet another number for the amount of the bloody things made, totalling 242...

And with that I'm stuck.Unfortunately it's just very difficult to get exact numbers for Japanese spec vehicles compared to American compiled ones. I estimate by using the American statistics that between 5 and 40 were made RHD in this colour, the automatic gearbox lowers that figure and the perplexing chassis number has left me wondering. All that aside I feel confident in saying that less than 200 of this car, colour and gearbox were produced in total. I would have loved a more precise number but sometimes you just can't win ...

Moving on to yet more research I've undertaken I have a picture to show y'all (once flikr wants to work)

That is a photo of my zed from a Z car meet around the year 2005. I found the female owner who had it before the guy I bought it from on a forum trying to sell it and did a lot of digging to find that photo! It's definitely the same car, as the build year, KMs, sale location, (now replaced) Alpine head unit and broken aerial are all mentioned. I think that's pretty darn cool

And onto today's final order of business, the air deflector. Now, until about a month ago (when I was incidentally looking for an aftermarket soloution) I had no idea that the 300zx convertible even had a behind seat diffuser. When I first used it I was blown away with how little I was blown away. Uhh yea, It did a pretty good job . I've been using it ever since and the only problem I've had with this new discovery is that it looks kinda cheap and random back there. Some digging on an S2000 forum brought me to a 440 post thread with people putting stickers on them. I scrolled through them and decided that the most popular one was certainly the one I liked best. A couple days ago it arrived

I wanted to fit it in the centre of the deflector, but a clip in the middle made this more trouble than it was worth.

I think other than the screwed up W () it looks pretty darn cool. The only problem is that the other side looks kinda blank now. I'm hoping that Adelaide Z cars (who will be doing the service at the 200k service at the end of this month) have a nice white sticker to put there

So that's it, all up to date until right about now. I'm searching for centre caps for the wheels and the Skyline is currently about 2 weekends away from drivable.

Thanks for reading all that y'all. Take a cookie

EDIT: Not really worthy of a thread bump, so i'll just put it here...
Ok, so this week promises to be something of a big one for both the Skyline and the Zed, with both of them making the journey to Adelaide. The Zed as i've already said is getting it's 200k service done and getting a list of other little things fixed up by Adelaide Z cars. Meanwhile the Skyline is going to Turbo Tune to get it's wiring done, it's ECU programmed and a run on the Dyno. Now I'll be driving the Z up on friday and the Skyline will be trailered up by my dad, then he'll give me a lift home. If all goes well, both cars will be ready by next saturday and we'll do the same thing again.

Now I know I've been a little quiet on the Skyline lately and thats for a few reasons. Number one is that the Gymkhana events usual photographer wasn't there so no photos got taken. Number two is that progress has been painfully slow and dependent on getting spare time. But anyway... I found a video of the event we went too which will make it perfectly clear why the RB20 got pulled. It's a long, long, long video but it's been done really well. Skip to 4.02 to see me taking a cone like a grandma, and 9.30 to see the R32 smoking like a Cuban mob boss

Unfortunately, the next Oz Gymkhana event is this weekend so we've missed out on that, but at least the project is up and moving


Also a couple photos, firstly the old engine...

...and secondly, the RB25 first touching down. Not visible is that it now has a new "racing" clutch and solid engine mounts.

Man, if i make my posts any longer I don't think a cookie would be enough persuasion to get you guys through!

EDIT: whoops i did it again haha...

So today's the day and i'm reporting to you live from the outskirts of South Australia's capital city. Unfortunately the Skyline simply wasn't ready, so I made the trip solo in the Zed. I feel more then confident that it's in the hands of someone that knows what there doing too. He mentioned while we were running through what i needed done that he has people shipping cars from Australia wide and has even hade a 300zx transported from New Zealand just for him to work on it

No doubt that if i ever do go the TT route, he'll be the man to do the swap. Having him say that I got the car at a steal was a definite bonus too

 

[Hayden]

Thread bump time!
I have picked the 300zx up from the mechanic and holy mackerel, he's been a very busy man! The service was done, all new belts, hoses, clamps, caster rod bushes, steering rack boots, water pump, cam gear springs, rear brake pads and a new thermostat and radio antennae.

The only thing he couldn't fix was my cruise control which he believes is tied back into my gauge cluster. Now i thought that it was just an aftermarket unit, but the Z specialist reckons that it's an american piece. He also told me that my speedo seems to be a fair way out, so i bought a GPS so i could check it myself. The GPS now resides in the car full time and the chances of an accidental speeding fine have dissipated

Speaking of the police, while cruising around Adelaide, I got pulled in to a alcohol testing bay. I pulled up next to two officers with a breathalyser and had the guy say good luck to me before walking away. This left just me and the lady copper who was quick to mention she had a car just like mine but silver. I thought she meant a normal 300zx so i asked her if it was a targa top. She said nope, it's just like this one. The lady continued to say it amazed her when she saw me come around the corner and that she'd only ever seen 1 other like her's in person before then. Out of all the police officers in the state I got bretho'd by one who not only knew what my car was, but actually owned one! Pretty darn cool!

As any South Aussie car guy knows, the best part about Adelaide are the great driving roads that are strewn throughout the hills. It turned out to be the perfect place to see where all my money went. I wasn't disappointed!

This brings me to an absolute crossroads. The car is now about as good as it can get before money spent is non retrievable. I've been doing a lot of thought recently about what I should do and I keep drawing a blank. My choices are to either keep the zed, make it perfect cosmetically and eventually go the TT way. Or to sell it on for a decent profit now and get something else. If I do sell it, I'll probably get either a 350Z or S2000. The main reason I want to sell it is that the timing is right (coming into summer) and it would be good to get myself something slightly more modern. Anyone got any ideas on this?

* Check the edit in the post above for Skyline video and pics *