shadowman
Well-Known Forum User
Hello guys,
First of all...apologies for the rather long story that follows...
I just want to put a question out there and hear your thoughts. I have a 1992 Fairlady Z (imported 300ZX). I've had her for around 10 years now and she has served me very well. The last few years she has been suffering from an oil leak which wasn't so bad i the beginning. That first appeared when I pushed her a little hard one day on a clear M3 to bracknell on the way to work. I stopped the car and could smell burning oil and a plume of wispy smoke coming emanating from under the driver's side door. It seems that oil was leaking and found its way onto the hot exhaust hence all the smokey fumes coming from underneath. It sounds bad but it wasn't that bad really unless I pushed her hard. Normal driving she was fine. Also it was only noticeable when driving for a long period normally on a hot day. A bit embarrassing when in a queue of traffic. As the leak seemed to be coming from the back of the engine I was told it was a ruptured seal.
Anyway I decided to leave it knowing that one day it would need attention but as it wasn't so bad I put it on the back burner...so to speak. This was around 5 years ago.
Fast forwarding to the last 3 years (a year of which she was on the driveway due to concerns with low oil pressure as we now) she is bleeding a larger volume of oil and I fine I am topping up oil a lot more frequently. This combined with low oil pressure ( which could just be a faulty sensor). Currently, the car is with my local mechanic who has seen and worked on her several times previously. However, this time they can't seem to move onto my car long enough to do the necessary work. They did try to locate the oil leak initially and seemed to have given up when they couldn't locate it. I did tell them the plenum would need to be taken off which I don't think has been done. The car has been with them since July last year now and they keep apologising, saying small jobs had become big jobs which has delayed them getting back to my car, all which I am sure is true. They are all old guys there and work on all kinds of stuff. A 300ZX is not the easiest of cars to work on but I wish they would just give me new news other than there have been further delays.
My dad always kept asking me if I had spoken to the garage about my car. My dad was never a car man but he loved my 300. My dad had a thing for V8's and land rovers and he always said my V6 sounded like a power boat. Since they've had the car my dad passed away. So I want my 300 back more than ever, not just because she is a great car but much more for sentimental reasons. I just want my beloved car fixed and back on my driveway or on the road where she belongs which I know would make my dad happy. I've been without her too long.
So I did some thinking and I am wondering if this is a good time for an engine rebuild? Considering the age of the car with only around 70k on the clock is it worth rebuilding the engine, changing out old parts for new, perhaps even increasing the power. I thought about doing this myself as a project but I don't have a garage or the space, just a shared driveway. So I am looking for someone to do this work.
I know the original power would restored after a rebuild but I might take the opportunity to get a little extra power out of her. I don't want to go crazy and turn a reliable strong engine into a problematic one with mad power output but maybe an increase from stock power to something like 400 or 450BHP? I don't kow what kind of cash it would take for such an increase but I thought why not take the opportunity to revitalise the old girl and bump up her power as well.
Can anyone tell me what sort of price range for a normal engine rebuild would be?
A rebuild with power increase would of course be a lot more expensive but as I said I'm not looking for anything crazy like 700 or 1000BHP.
And can anyone recommend a good garage who can do this work for me?
Does anyone think this is worthwhile?
Thoughts and comments appreciated.
Thanks everyone.
First of all...apologies for the rather long story that follows...
I just want to put a question out there and hear your thoughts. I have a 1992 Fairlady Z (imported 300ZX). I've had her for around 10 years now and she has served me very well. The last few years she has been suffering from an oil leak which wasn't so bad i the beginning. That first appeared when I pushed her a little hard one day on a clear M3 to bracknell on the way to work. I stopped the car and could smell burning oil and a plume of wispy smoke coming emanating from under the driver's side door. It seems that oil was leaking and found its way onto the hot exhaust hence all the smokey fumes coming from underneath. It sounds bad but it wasn't that bad really unless I pushed her hard. Normal driving she was fine. Also it was only noticeable when driving for a long period normally on a hot day. A bit embarrassing when in a queue of traffic. As the leak seemed to be coming from the back of the engine I was told it was a ruptured seal.
Anyway I decided to leave it knowing that one day it would need attention but as it wasn't so bad I put it on the back burner...so to speak. This was around 5 years ago.
Fast forwarding to the last 3 years (a year of which she was on the driveway due to concerns with low oil pressure as we now) she is bleeding a larger volume of oil and I fine I am topping up oil a lot more frequently. This combined with low oil pressure ( which could just be a faulty sensor). Currently, the car is with my local mechanic who has seen and worked on her several times previously. However, this time they can't seem to move onto my car long enough to do the necessary work. They did try to locate the oil leak initially and seemed to have given up when they couldn't locate it. I did tell them the plenum would need to be taken off which I don't think has been done. The car has been with them since July last year now and they keep apologising, saying small jobs had become big jobs which has delayed them getting back to my car, all which I am sure is true. They are all old guys there and work on all kinds of stuff. A 300ZX is not the easiest of cars to work on but I wish they would just give me new news other than there have been further delays.
My dad always kept asking me if I had spoken to the garage about my car. My dad was never a car man but he loved my 300. My dad had a thing for V8's and land rovers and he always said my V6 sounded like a power boat. Since they've had the car my dad passed away. So I want my 300 back more than ever, not just because she is a great car but much more for sentimental reasons. I just want my beloved car fixed and back on my driveway or on the road where she belongs which I know would make my dad happy. I've been without her too long.
So I did some thinking and I am wondering if this is a good time for an engine rebuild? Considering the age of the car with only around 70k on the clock is it worth rebuilding the engine, changing out old parts for new, perhaps even increasing the power. I thought about doing this myself as a project but I don't have a garage or the space, just a shared driveway. So I am looking for someone to do this work.
I know the original power would restored after a rebuild but I might take the opportunity to get a little extra power out of her. I don't want to go crazy and turn a reliable strong engine into a problematic one with mad power output but maybe an increase from stock power to something like 400 or 450BHP? I don't kow what kind of cash it would take for such an increase but I thought why not take the opportunity to revitalise the old girl and bump up her power as well.
Can anyone tell me what sort of price range for a normal engine rebuild would be?
A rebuild with power increase would of course be a lot more expensive but as I said I'm not looking for anything crazy like 700 or 1000BHP.
And can anyone recommend a good garage who can do this work for me?
Does anyone think this is worthwhile?
Thoughts and comments appreciated.
Thanks everyone.