| Everyone has a story of how they got into the Z32 world. Someone recently asked me how I got into the Z; asked me about my passion for the 300ZX and my obsession with anything automotive. I realized trying to explain this would be very long and complicated. To answer that question and chronicle the journey for myself, I decided to put together this post about my journey into the Z world. This post is EXTREMELY long and contains over 80 pictures and some stories. This took a while to compile a little at a time over the last week, but it's totally worth it. Enjoy. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...Just kidding. Let me start by taking you back to 1990 in Houston when I was only 8 years old and the Z32 had just been released. My older brother Asad, 15 at the time, was into cars and was reading lots of Car and Driver at the time. My parents were purchasing a Toyota Cressida which was at a Nissan dealer as a trade-in. I remember going there to purchase the car and my brother was flipping his shit because there was a row of brand new Z32s outside at the dealer. As my brother is checking out the cars, I specifically remember him joking with my parents to buy the Z instead, although my dad clearly didn't see how ideal the Z was for a 5 person family. We purchased the Cressida as planned and left. I remember my older brother constantly talking about several cars back then - the Z32, NSX, MR2 Turbo. All of this slowly started rubbing off onto me and I began looking through car magazines and reading up on all these cars too. This first picture was taken in 1991 and I can't believe I'm posting this. This is me at 9 years old in my pajamas showing off the advertisements I had ripped out of several car magazines to post up on my door. Look at the car I'm pointing to. My little bro Ali found this picture last year and it was such a nice surprise to see this. I wish I still had those old ads and magazines. But I am glad I don't have that afro anymore =) 
I got more and more into cars over the years growing up. Let's move forward to 1999, senior year of high school. My parents were going to buy me a car, but I didn't want to get the standard Integra which was super popular at the time. My little brother Ali suggested the Z32, it's ALL his fault that I got into the obsession all over again! As I started checking the prices for the Z32, the car I had dreamed about as a kid, I saw it was in a price range which was okay with my parents. It took a little convincing but my parents agreed to buy me the car. We had even looked at a few TTs, but bought this 1990 n/a. I don't have too many pics of this car since this was before digital cameras became common. We would come to find out this car wasn't maintained that well by the prior owner and would give me MANY headaches over the next 2 years. It came with an n/a fascia which was damaged, so I replaced it with this TT fascia.
The car was too low for me and I managed to damage the TT fascia. I bought this Bomex lip and attached it to the bottom of the fascia. The body shop did a horrible job on the paint match and the lip didn't fit properly. 
I'm in college at UT-Austin in 2000 and I joined tt.net as well as twinturbo.com. Check out the tv I had installed with Rich's help in 2001. I had a lot of fun with it, haha. No one else I knew had a tv in their car that early on. 
At this point in time, although I'm really into the car, I don't know how to work on cars at all. My technical knowledge is about a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. I was driving from Houston to Austin and I hear a loud metal on metal clanking and I'm losing power. I have no idea what's going on so I exit. As I'm pulling into a gas station, the engine shuts off and won't start again. It's seized. I had the car towed back to Houston to my mechanic. Later, he would tell me there was no oil in the car. I didn't know enough to ask him about what actually happened. Maybe a rod went through the oil pan? I did hear a loud metal on metal noise before the car died. I never truly found out the details. Any guesses? These 2 pictures are the day someone came to buy the as-is car. Looking back at it now, I was clearly not ready to own such a car at 17. I had no technical knowledge either and it was too much car for me. It didn't help the car had many issues prior to my ownership. The car was sold in Jan 2003. 
I was Z-less for most of 2003. I was at school in Austin and working so I saved up some cash to buy another Z. In October 2003, I found this blue 1992 2+2 n/a (5 speed) near my home in Houston. I bought the car. 
DIY taillights installed. 
Look at these next 2 pics. This is the result of going on a blind date with the ex-girlfriend of Texas Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams (yes, the former NFL runningback). It's a long ridiculous story, but it's very memorable, lol. It has got to be one of the worst first date stories EVER. No, there was not a 2nd date after that night.
Shortly after that mishap, I was standing at a red light when some lady decided she didn't want to stop and plowed into me. The rear bumper sustained a lot of damage. But look at this, the impact sent a "wave" of energy that put a dent just behind the driver door. The insurance thought I was lying, but they finally agreed to cover that too. With all the damage, I had all dings, dents fixed and the entire car repainted. 
Here is my n/a with brand new paint. I also picked up some VERY heavy ADR Cypher wheels. The car was very different to drive with cheap wheels. 
I sold the wheels and purchased a Stillen Type 3 lip.
This is the point where I started working on small things on the car myself. The previous owner had installed Eibach springs and I was having camber wear on my tires. With the help of Mike in Houston, we put in the 300 degree camber kit. This was my first real Z32 project of any kind. 
I was attending a lot Z related events, car shows, cruises, etc. I met a number of people. My friend Ali helped me tackle the 120k on the car. This was HUGE for me because I had bought my own tools finally. We used the write up in the tech section here on tt.net. It seemed like an impossible task, but going slowly with the help of a friend, we managed to do the job correctly over 3 weekends. I was very happy with this accomplishment. 
Here is Ali and myself at work. 
stupid crank sprocket
I graduated from UT-Austin in 2005 and moved back to Houston. Since ZCON was in Dallas in 2006, I knew I had to go. This was my first real ZCON with my car, and it was spectacular. I met so many people from tt.net during this ZCON. My favorite part was in the parking lot at midnight. We had rows and rows of Z32s, everyone is hanging out, and others are getting their cars ready for the track day the next morning. I had also signed up for the track day, it was my first time on the track. Here are a few shots. I absolutely loved my first track experience at MSR, it was a complete blast. Then the cherry on top was the tt.net dinner. 
I'm starting grad school at UH in Houston in August 2006 and I also decide it's time to take the leap to the darkside. I searched for 3 months before finding a 1991 TT in Oklahoma that I wanted to buy. I flew up there, checked out the car which was very clean (also had stage 3 mods). I was very impressed with the car and we make the deal. I was giddy and couldn't believe how fast this car was. My joy ended quickly as I started overheating within 30 mins of purchasing the car. I had the car towed to a local dealer. They say it's the aux fan, and I'm not sure. The previous owner splits the bill with me. I spend an extra day in Oklahoma, but the dealer was unable to fix it. Now I'm scared I bought a car with blown head gasket or something. I decide to tow the car back to Houston, and this is where the fun starts. I'm poking around the engine bay and stick my finger into the aux fan, and it was not a pretty sight. I thought the fan was off, it was a stupid mistake. My finger is cut open and bleeding pretty bad, but I'm trying to get to Dallas that night to stay with a friend so I leave. I leave Tulsa at 8pm thinking I'll be in Dallas by 12. My finger is heavily bandaged now. Along the way, I received wrong directions from the tollway clerk. Then after a while, I know something is wrong. I pull over the Uhaul with my Z on the back. The guy at the gas station starts laughing saying I'm the 2nd person who missed the freeway exit for Dallas because the sign didn't clearly say "Dallas" (WTF Oklahoma). So I start back tracking and take a shortcut he suggested. At this point, my finger is still bleeding profusely and is in pain; I take Tylenol and continue. I've been using my cell phone a lot and see it's dying, so I shut it off to save the battery b/c I know I will need it later. I'm driving through the back roads of Oklahoma and I'm scared shitless b/c it's late at night. This is also the point where I'm running out of fuel in the Uhaul, great. I'm getting awfully close to empty, and all the damn gas stations in these boonie towns are closed. Finally, I find an open gas station with the empty light staring at me. Close call. I finally get back to civilzation and find I-10 south to Dallas, score! I'm driving to stay with Nazeer, also a Z32 owner at the time. I exit for his place but don't have the address. I call him and tell him I'm at a bank near his house and he needs to come get me b/c my cell phone is dying. I swear, I barely finished that sentence when my cell phone died. At this point, I don't know if he heard that last part and I'm totally screwed b/c I don't know where his house is and he wouldn't know where I am either. So I just sit there trying to figure out what to do. Within 5 minutes, he arrives. Whew, another close call. That 4 hour drive took 6 hours! We go to his house and he happens to be a physician. He looks at my ripped up finger and says "If you ever want to have feeling in that finger again, we need to go to the ER now." So it's almost 3am now, and we go to the ER. The nurse and doctors there made fun of me for doing what I did. I'm laughing at this point, because what I just went through was crazy. Here is me cracking up at the hospital. I'll spare you from the pics of my finger. I got stitched up and we left the hospital at 5am. I still have the scar from this. I'm still worried there is something seriously wrong with my new bought TT, but it will have to wait till I get back to Houston. This has to be one of the most ridiculous stories ever for someone to buy a 300ZX. 
This is the next day when I got back to Houston. 
This overheating issue made me an expert on the cooling system very very quickly. After some testing I found that my fan clutch was no good. I ordered a new OEM part, and put the new fan clutch in. Overheating solved! I was relieved it wasn't something major. Here are pictures of my TT as I bought her. 
I still own the n/a at this point, but I sold the car within a few months. 
I'm loving the new TT and having a lot of fun at the car shows and cruises. At this point, I'm using her as a daily driver. 
HIDs going in 
turbo timer in, thanks Brian 
This is February 2007. I park my Z at the mall and come back to this. Looks like someone had a field day with a crow bar on my Z. Those security videos are completely useless b/c the quality is crap (I saw it and all I could see was a white car and a guy getting out to vandalize car my over 25 seconds, then leave). Months later, I would find out that this happened to several people in the mall lot. They found that a group of teens was doing this to random cars, who knows why. 
I got a new door skin, new sideview mirrors, and decided to re-paint the front bumper with a black "moustache" and install air ducts. 
Here is the after. 
Time for a 120K on the TT now, 2nd time doing this service. 
Labeled baggies are key! 
Lots of receipts as of 2007. This has grown since. 
Picked up these SSR Integrals for a STEAL b/c one wheel was bent. 
courtesy of Brad's editing 
Getting ready for the Z Club of Houston show in 2007. I had been going to shows all over Texas and met A LOT of the Texas Z32 guys. I had met a lot of great people at all these events and became good friends with several of them. I had a great time with all the shows and events. My cat Tipsy in the shot here. 
This was about the time my injectors started going out. I replaced one using the dremel method, and then another. I knew I had to bite the bullet and go with the 300 degree fuel rails and new Nismo injectors. I had another local guy, Paul, help me with the plenum pull. He had never done one before either. With the infamous plenum pull pdf, we succeeded after a few hiccups. I learned a lot through doing the 120k and plenum pull. 
Now, it's 2008. I had a chance to go track my Z at Texas World Speedway with a bunch of Z guys from all over Texas. This was a blast! 
I had a guy well known in the import community do this photoshoot of my car that summer. Some of you probably remember this picture. 
I finished my MBA and had a job offer from Sears corporate in Chicago. I moved to Chicago in July 2008 with my Z in tow. 
I knew absolutely no one in Chicago and it was a tough move. But from being on tt.net and ChicagoZ.com, I met several of the Z32 guys in Chicago. I quickly became involved in the community here and was able to spend a lot of time doing Z related stuff in Chicago. These guys have been great to me. Here's a big Z32 meet a few years back. 
A photoshoot Brad did for me. some of these were used in print or in a calendar. At this point, I did buy a daily driver Maxima for the upcoming Chicago winter, so my Z finally got a breather. 
I decided I needed a winter project at the end of 2008. I decided to go all chrome in the engine bay. I pulled the plenum on my own this time, pulling the plenum with all the deletes made it much easier too! 
still did the labeled bags! 
Big thanks to Luis in San Antonio for doing all the leg work after I sent him all the parts from Chicago. 
I put the car back together with all the new shiny chrome parts and here we are in summer 2009 (engine bay has changed some since these pictures). As of today, there is more I want to delete and clean-up. Maybe in the winter. 
I thought this was really awesome. Twinturbo.net and Z Sport used a pic of my car in the tt.net sponsor page in the ZCON 2009 booklet. I flew down there for ZCON without my Z and again had the most amazing time reconnecting with all the people I've met and spoken to over the years.
Here is me at the autocross in Chicago. 
My car was featured twice in Nissan Sport Magazine. The article on the left talked about the story of how I bought my TT mentioned above, and the one on the right used that same popular picture again to represent the Z32 in their Best Nissans issue. 
I got married in April 2010. My wife is VERY supportive of my addiction to cars in general (and my new photography obsession). She comes to some events when possible and she "gets it" when it comes to this obsession. Got me a keeper.
I decided to install SZ downpipes, SZ test pipes, and fix an oil leak. The parts were a wedding gift from some fellow Z'ers (thanks Luis, Brian, Ali, and Nazeer!). I had never dropped a tranny before, so the local guys - Ryan, Eric, and Mark - were happy to help me with this task, appreciate it guys! It was indeed a learning experience. Shortly after, my clutch started slipping. Eric was happy to help me put in a new clutch with a 2nd tranny drop since I don't have the space or proper tools for a tranny drop. 
Last summer, I found a set of 19 inch SSR GT3s on craigslist. I picked them up to change things up a bit. I really loved the way they looked. But the roads in Chicago are complete shit and I was constantly scared driving on these. I sold them to a fellow tt.netter and went back to my Integrals.
And here we are, my Z in her present shape. 
That was a summary of my Z32 experience thus far. As you can see, it's been a long time since I was dreaming about this car back in 1991. I have gotten the chance to do and experience soooo many car related (and just life related) things I never thought I would do. I've had the time of my life taking part in all the car shows, track days, cruises, late night meets, tech days, etc. However, the best part has been all the amazing people I have met since 1999 and all the good friends I have made throughout the nation. I'm hoping to make some international friends too since I am going on the Z Crazies trip this November that Mad Mike puts together (funny enough, the trip is Mad Mike plus 6 Z32 owners). So many people have helped me work on my car over the years. Thank you to everyone (I'm sorry if I didn't mention you). I have tried to help others the same when possible and return the favor. I'm not sure what it is, but the Z "brotherhood" is one-of-a-kind. This community is unmatched. Thank you to everyone who has made it this far in this post and read my journey. Thanks to tt.net for still being here and connecting the community. I've been a Z32 owner for 13 years now, and hope to be one for much longer.
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My Z32 Story - 
