1986 Nissan 300ZX

Coupe

3.0L 2960CC V6 GAS SOHC Naturally Aspirated

Manual

JN1HZ14S0GX137454

Clear

GAS

I bought this vehicle from a nice gentleman in Chattanooga who had become to ill to work on it specifically to refurbish it and sell. For a 28 year old car, this really is a stunner. The paint is far from perfect, but is shiny and looks good. I have been driving it around town today and have been stopped several times by people asking about the car. Someone even asked what kind it was!? Am I really that old? But I digress. I have shown the car to mechanics and parts store managers and friends today and all have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of this antique sports car. It is a blast to drive and gives young guys major car envy as soon as you pull up. So much fun. I grew up in the 80's when this car was Awesome.....and what else can you say about a car that is still awesome nearly 30 years later? To quote a famous comedian "Ding! Lights are on!" Yes this is that car, and this feature still works. As for the refurbishing, I will start at that beautiful pointy nose. I installed 2 brand new performance headlights. I had the radiator sealed up and cleaned up by a very good local radiator shop and they gave it a clean bill of health. A new fan clutch was installed by the man I bought it from. I installed a new thermostat and flushed the system till it ran crystal clear. Ran the car with clean water in the system for a while, then drained it again and re filled with distilled water and anti-freeze to a 50/50 mix. The temperature gauge stays dead center once the car is warmed up and does not move. Excellent! I have replaced the entire rack and pinion, both tie rod ends, and both lower ball joints. Filled the reservoir with new power steering fluid, and took the car for professional alignment this morning, and now the car goes straight down the road. I have also replaced the brake master cylinder and bled all four corners until pretty new brake fluid is the only kind in the entire system. Now it stops well and straight. Radical! I installed a new fuel filter and checked the air filter and left it because it looks new. I started to set the ignition timing, but could not see the timing mark with the strobe. On further inspection, I found the crank pulley was installed upside down, so I took it off and re-installed it right side up and tried again. Success! 5 gallons of Amoco Ultimate premium fuel for the tank and now the engine runs sweetly! Party Time!! Since it's just not fair for me to have all the fun, I have left a few things for the new owner to do to fix up his new ride. The hood shocks and the hatchback shocks need replaced. The cruise control does not work. The power antenna does not work, the motor runs, it just does not go up. This is an air conditioner car, but it currently does not have any r-12 in it and the idler pulley and bracket for it have been removed by the previous owner. I have the parts and they come with the car. I have not been able to get the fog lights to come on. The catalytic converter has been removed and replaced with a straight pipe. The baffles have come loose in the muffler and at certain RPM's, the muffler buzzes. The dash pad is sun baked and cracked badly and needs replaced. The push pull lever for the fuel door and hatchback does not work. (You can access the fuel door by pulling on the cable from inside the hatch) There is a slight vibration about 65 mph. Since so much of the front suspension is new, the problem is a tire or a tire out of balance, however, the tires look decent, and I would take off to go anywhere in this car tomorrow without hesitation. It's possible one of the tires is a little flat spotted from sitting for so long and I just haven't driven it enough to make it round again, but it's so much fun to drive, I'm enjoying working on it!! Now for the good stuff! This is a wonderfully original and complete survivor. It has been painted, but the rest of it is insanely original. I can't find any signs of rust on the body nor any evidence of body filler in the fender or quarter wheel arches. My weak refrigerator magnet will readily stick to the body all the way around the wheel arches on all four corners. The flip-up headlights work perfectly. The engine idles perfectly and runs smoothly. There is an Optima red top battery in it with loads of cranking power. The car only has 144,036 miles on it. It will have more when you pick it up, it gets great mileage and is just too much fun to drive! The transmission works smoothly and confidently, and the clutch engages with authority. There are absolutely no aftermarket modifications to this car. It still has the factory stereo in the dash, and it works. All the gauges work properly. Both power windows work, and both power window buttons work. The power mirrors work. The passenger side mirror is broken, but I have already purchased a replacement and it goes with the car. I am planning to install it before you pick the car up. Turn signals and headlights work. Wipers work well, and have a working intermittent mode. Rear wiper works, though it does need a wiper blade. Heater and blower work. The glove box is in fantastic condition and works. There is not a rip in either seat, and the three electrically adjustable lumbar and back supports in the driver's seat work perfectly. That funky headrest adjustment works on both seats too. The little tool boxes behind the seats open and close no problem. The rear carpet was apparently replaced by someone with dull scissors, but it looks ok. The original tire change tool kit is complete and appears original. The T-Top covers are still with this car! The original weird little spare is with the car too, although it looks to have given up on it's relationship with the rim. I have tried to the best of my ability to describe the good and bad with great detail so you know exactly what you are getting. I have also taken a great number of pictures, which I have been told are worth a thousand words each, making the pictures worth only slightly more than this description. I hope to have a video of a test drive of this car up on YouTube very soon, as schedule and weather permit. I will update the listing when I do. The car is available for inspection in Cookeville, TN. just about any time. I will take a picture for you if you need something specific. I will happily and honestly answer any questions you may have. I have and will continue to do my part in this. All I ask of you is the following: Do not turn the car away because of something in this description or something you can obviously see in one of my pictures. If you have a question or a doubt, please ask! Please please be willing to pick the car up, paying cash, by May 19th. My 24th wedding anniversary is on the 20th and I have sunk so much money in this car I will have to take my wife out to Mickey D's if you don't. Please do not put this stress on my marriage. If you have made it this far, I thank you for hanging in there through my entire rambling. This is a no reserve auction, and I will happily hand this beautiful and fun car over to it's lucky new owner next weekend. Happy Bidding!JamesOn May-13-14 at 06:21:32 PDT, seller added the following information: On May-13-14 at 06:24:22 PDT, seller added the following information: I have uploaded a test drive video. Sorry for the noisy audio, we had the windows down.On May-13-14 at 10:55:59 PDT, seller added the following information: I have added another test drive video. This one is less shaky and I remembered to roll the windows up a few seconds in so you can hear how good the engine is. On May-13-14 at 11:25:47 PDT, seller added the following information:                                                                                                                                        I really want to show how good this car is, so I decided to do a 0-60 video. Road and Track had this car at 9.1 seconds, according to the article I found. In this video, from the time the speedometer first moves to the time I see the needle get to 60, by the stopwatch on my cel phone, I get about 10 seconds. In a 28 year old car, this would be impossible if the engine had a weakness of any kind or if the clutch was slipping at all, especially considering this car is bone stock (Not to mention my driving skills may be somewhat suspect). I am very proud of this car, and you will be too! Enjoy!On May-15-14 at 15:04:11 PDT, seller added the following information: I have replaced the passenger mirror and cleaned up under the hood. I have posted some new pictures that show the improvements. I have also done a walk around of the car on video.Thanks again!James On May-15-14 at 15:47:41 PDT, seller added the following information: When I put the mirror on and cleaned up under the hood I also checked the tire inflation. One of the rear tires was down to 20 psi., so I inflated it to the proper level. This helped the vibration I felt at 65 quite a bit, and it is even milder than before, like a tire needing balanced. I took my hand off the wheel going down the road today and it went straight as an arrow. I have driven this car 150 miles since I got it road worthy, and the car just keeps getting better. I worry that sometimes my descriptions are too lengthy or too detailed about the negatives, but it really is important to me a buyer knows exactly what to expect when they pick up their car. I took my wife for a drive in it this afternoon, and she really liked it. She's not a sports car nut and is typically more cynical about a car than me, so I took her impression of it as a real compliment. She even said it rode real well for a little car, and she has had a back surgery. Well that's all for now. It's the home stretch! Only 24 (ish) hours left! Happy Bidding! Thanks again!James