1993 Nissan 300zx NA

Funny thing is.. ^ That WAS my first car : )

Z32 300zx NA - Cross Secition ^

-

My 300zx started a revolution in my life. Suddenly, I was all into cars and stuff. I just loved how the car looked. Amazing.

My 1993 Nissan 300zx was a Naturally Aspirated car, with about 230HP. It was bone stock. The only aftermaket parts wer the seats and the stereo system.

Pearl white, wheels were sprayed black by the previous owner, tan interior with black accents, 3.0 Liter V6 and Rear wheel drive with viscous LSD - It was perfect! I couldnt ask for more.

My step-dad would say, that it was "too much car" for my 1st car...

Long story short, the engine threw a bearing and It was done. Me and my step-dad decided to tackle the problem by fixing it outselves. We went online and did our research. We thought a couple of the lifters went bad. The car would run normal, but it would have this TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA noise. It would dissapear at higher RPM.. Anyway, we purchased lots of goodies, including a new timing belt kit, and new hydraulic valve lifters (at around $30 a piece and I needed 24 of them, very expensive!)

At the end, we replaced the timing belt, pulleys, thermostat, water pump, lifters, etc - and the car was HAD THE SAME PROBLEM! So after an additional $1200 loan (that i had to pay..) I was very frustrated.

We ended up taking it to a local shop and replacing the motor for a low-mileage JDM motor. I obviously did not know anything about cars, and I even paying a "local shop" to do all the work...

The final price of the motor swap was $2500 and it took about 2 months. I was very happy once I got the car running again.

My debts were accumulating and I had to pay my step-dad about $300 a month. Huge mistake, I could have easily gotten a new car and pay the same amount minus all the problems. Thankfully my dad back in Peru was helping me out also. You see, I moved here because of college. All my family was back in Peru except for my Mom and my younger brother who were living with me at my step-dads house (who married my mother).

*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*

But thats not it. I had WORSE NEWS COMING. One day, I was coming back from my girlfriends house and the unthinkable happened. It was late at night ..I was driving on the freeway - no cars around. I was spontaneously like noddin off, I opened my windows (it was freezing cold), turned up the volume, but that did not help... I sideswiped the side of my car against a concrete barrier. It wasnt too bad, thankfully I wasnt asleep, as I had time to react before impact. The car was running fine, but my side mirror was gone, and my driverside's fender was all messed up, as well as part of the front bumper, side door and quarter panel. I drove the car home and did not sleep that night. SUCKED!

I learned my lesson.. Please, if you are drowsy, sleepy or whatever, pull to a side and rest. Or do not drive at all. I will never let this happen again, as I could have caused an accident, or even worse, kill myself or others.

So one more headache for my 18 year old ass. I was so stressed out.. Luckily, I had a full-time job and out of high school. So.. I went to MAACO auto paint & and repair (since they offered the cheapest prices) and got a new paint job, used mirror, new bumper, and fixed up the dents and scratches. The total price was about $700. The car's frame was fine. It was just body stuff.

One thing to note: MAACO SUCKS. Never on time (i call em lag masters), they SPRAYED MY INTERIOR!!!, paint was shitty quality, etc. Oh well, I guess to get what you pay for. At the end, I tried my best to talk to the owner - I even had to threaten him to fix my car.... So after several trips to MAACO ... and after several touch-ups, my car ended up like this: