| This is a recap of the story of my convertible - many know it, but I hope some will enjoy reading the details of what was involved (besides $$$) in the process. And thus began what is probably the most involved car project of my life. A Twin Turbo and 5 speed swap on a 1993 300zx Convertible. Early Feb - My 1994 Twin Turbo is hit by a minivan, and the DS frame rail is bent (damn me and my liability only insurance stupidity). Police rule it my fault, and the wheels start turning in my head. After talking to a trusted body man, and evaluating the cost and ROI of fixing the car I decide to use everything in it as a donor for a TT swap. Bernie is enthusiastic about the proposition, especially given that I am leaning towards a convertible - which he has always wanted to do a conversion on.
02/28/06 (Tuesday) - 08:00 - I am happy to see my tax return and my annual bonus from my employer have hit my bank account. I've been looking around online for a convertible, and have settled on a nice looking specimen @ United Auto Sales - 5spd Black on Black, 119k miles. Looks Good! Still available
I get cleaned up, and call Bernie @ 8:30AM! No luck, no answer. Notoriously thick skulled and impossible to raise from a slumber. Figure I'll head into work and see if we can't regroup - possibly tomorrow.
 
My office is 35 miles from my house, and I was understandably excited - imagine a twin turbo convertible, what a great summer car. The commute takes about an hour as usual, and my mind was running in circles thinking of all the work it'd take, but what a fun car it'd be. Bernie gets online and we begin discussing the details of the car @ UAS. On a whim, Bernie suggests I check cars.com for a vert. I do so, and lo and behold there is one for $4500 less than 10 miles from my office. Interesting.
I check the ad, and the owner indicates that the low, low price is due to his having recently popped the timing belt. He also indicates that he will not take any offers below $4000. I call him immediately and offer him $4000 cash that evening. He responds that he already has an offer at that price, so I offer him $4250 - he accepts and we agree to meet that evening. I print up duplicate bills of sale, and of course inform Bernie his attendance will be required. Luckily, he was already planning on taking his parents to the airport, so he was to be on location regardless. Bernie and I meet up @ the owner’s house and take a good look at the car. The owner was not available until later on, so his wife gave us the tour of the car. It was originally a Hawaii car, and was clearly garaged. The only real body/paint issue - other than the occasional rock chip - was a rough spot on the hood where a tarp rubbed it during transport. The owners took the insurance money and blew it on nonsense, instead of fixing it. oh well. Interior was beautiful, however the battery was not only drained, it had been removed and placed in the trunk. We reinstalled the battery, and used jumper cables to power it enough to ensure the lights, windows, blinkers, brakes, etc were in working order. The radio did not turn on, but that was not a big deal at the time. Neither Bernie nor I had ever operated a 300ZX convertible top, so we had the wife instruct us in its use. Top worked flawlessly. As Bernie and I walked around the car one last time, he informed that if I did not buy the car that he would, and patted his back pocket where his check book was stashed. With that, I handed the wife $4250 cash, and had her sign both copies of the bill of sale. Bernie and I then left with the keys and joined some friends for Thai.
On the day Bernie and I were to go retrieve the car, I took half a day off of work and met him for lunch near his office in Arlington. Over lunch, the first of many payments for parts were exchanged - as I recall, a deposit on a lightly used set of Sport 500 turbos, used Brembo Grand Turismo Brake setup, and buying off of him a set of 17 inch R33 GTR wheels (which in reality he had purchased on my behalf, even though my 94 was wrecked).
We retrieve the car, and stash it on Bernie’s driveway, its new home for the next few months.
Soon after, a local 2+2 automatic owner comes up needing an automatic transmission - and wondered if Bernie might know where he could find one. Needless to say, that weekend the auto tranny out of the vert was back to life in the 2+2. Very soon after that, we also got the Brembo BBK installed on the car, along with the Hipari equipped R33 wheels on the front.
Throughout the month of March, we did allot of miscellaneous work. Prepped the 94 for engine removal, as well as working on customers cars, and pulled a few engines along the way. One of which was the NA engine from the vert.
This was the second engine we pulled that day, and by that time we were pretty tired for sure. As I recall, I also did a suspension swap for a local guy, and several other cars were worked on that day as well.
The months of March and April were also important for collecting parts - given that the MSP Manifolds were still an unknown quantity, I split the difference and ordered a set of ported manifolds from Stillen. They arrived in good time, however they were cracked - inside and out =( .
By April first, the engine bay of the 94 Twin Turbo was gutted. Engine, Trans, exhaust, etc. All of it gone. We were planning on using the TT AC, as well - so much care had to be taken in removing that. We did miscalculate on one thing - the TT Power Steering return line. Save this and save yourself a few hundred on a new one.
We lagged behind a bit in April, but in May redoubled out efforts. We had a month to Z-Con! Turbos were not on the engines, and there was a huge pile of parts in the attic!
Bernie also surprised me by coming up with a set of the MSP Manifolds! (Woo Hoooo!) These are beautiful pieces and I believe really help eliminate allot of lag. 
We quickly stripped off the front of the car, removing carbon canister, etc. and preparing for the three dimensional puzzle consisting of AC lines, IC Piping, IC's, and PS return line. I've reinstalled these components several times on this car now, it's an interesting process, but can be frustrating the first time. 
SPL fender braces went in
Manifolds, Turbos and down pipes go on in a hurry, it's already the second week of May!
 I skipped out the weekend of May 14th for my Birthday celebrations, but we were right back in it the weekend of the 21st, Engine is finally prepped, Boost Controller hard lines run to waste gate, plenum is on, 740cc injectors installed into JWT machined lower plenum, and AN fittings are on the fuel rail. Nismo Oil cooler, intake plumbing, Stillen SMIC's, etc are all in place. 
The next morning, the engine finally sits in the engine bay!
All the while, we had to address some 'issues' that came up along the way. The previous owner had literally CUT the door panels, with a razor knife to remove the tizzite speakers he had installed by some stereo shop. Cleaned up some door panels from Bernie’s 93 project car, and cobbled together some replacements from Z1 as well. Cleaned them thoroughly and I think they look pretty good myself. Also replaced the windshield wiper motor, which was blown in the vert. I guess they don't use those much in Hawaii. I was also frantically searching for a B&B exhaust. I found one in Alabama, and had it shipped up in a hurry. I'm a fan of the quad round myself...
 Suddenly, we are very close - we quickly progress from here
to here
Thursday the 25th of May, she fires to life! It was great hearing her rumble for the first time, and we quickly get her on the road..
To the gas station for a fill up. This was about 5AM Thursday morning, so I just drove to Nissan and slept in the parking lot.
When they opened, I had the alignment done and AC recharged. Friday night, Spee and I bled the clutch again, and Saturday we left for Dallas! The trip was incident free, and the car runs like a top. There have been a few minor issues, boost leaks, a squealing belt and some warped rotors - but that's it!
Of course loads of thanks to everyone involved Bernie
Spencer
Ashley
Wayne
JPM
Cameron and anyone else I may have missed. :) Enjoy the ride indeed.
IZCC #8358
1993 Ultra Red Z32 TT Convertible
1994 Black Emerald Z32 TT - Decreased
1997 Black Emerald A32 It's tantric...
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If you don't buy this car, I will. - YugoBernie 03/01/06 - 
19:44:29 06/22/06
