88’ 300zx Shiro special

I thought I would make a post about my newly acquired project. 
I've always been a Japanese diehard for some time now, and always on the look for a decent little car to get back into it. 
I found a 1988 Nissan 300zx turbo limited edition "Shiro special" on Kijiji. 
the post was very basic with little to no info. 
It was posted for 20mins on the local buy and sell and I raced down south 1.5 hour drive to check out the car. 
 

the owner acquired it through a lien from his towing company, and its sat in his locked yard since 2002. Untouched, and unmoved. 
For those that don't know about the Shiro, there were only 75 ever produced and sold in Canada, so there extremely rare. This is #3 of 75 and a 1 owner. 
this one was rough- as you can imagine for sitting for so long. 
I gave it a quick once over- as best I could, but couldn't pass up the deal even given the frame rail rot, and rust in general. So I handed over some cash- and arranged a delivery. 

the car immediately was up on jack stands and the tear down began. 
I pulled the fuel tank, and replaced it, installed a new walbro 255 and new fuel lines along with a z32TT fuel filter 

I purchased a welder, and began cutting out most of the rot, and welding in new metal. This was a learning curve having never done much fab, or body work. 

Once the rust was under control on the undercarriage I undercoated the whole thing as best I could. 
I then began disassembling everything one by one. The whole front suspension was removed, new ball joints, tie rods, rotors, pads and calipers. 
Removed the ac, and began working at the engine. 
I refreshed the engine, with a full fluid change, spark plugs and wires and decided it was time to see if this baby would run. 
after a couple primes she fired right up! It was alive. 

Once I determined I had a healthy motor (and a spare complete vg30et) it was time to move to the back. 
I dropped the rear subframe, and rebuilt the vlsd diff. Replaced the worn subframe mounts, and added a Polly diff mount and subframe bushings. Replaced the rear calipers, rotors, and pads along with all new brake lines. 

now that I had the bodywork under control, I started on building it up with a few goodies. 
I added a grip royal wheel, a custom intercooler, a tial blow off valve, a boost gauge, a boost controller and a gates racing timing belt. 
I replaced the water pump, thermostat and rad with a 3 row aluminum and got rid of the stock clutch fan for 2x 10" electrics. I also added a full 3" exhaust and high flow cat. 
I bought some s13 Megan track coilovers and am in the process of making these fit. 

that sums up where I'm at. I bought the car in April, the goal is to have it on the road this May long weekend. 
I'm going to be doing the paint myself in my garage, which will be another learning curve. 
the plans for the car are a weekend cruiser, with plans to attend the odd time attack event just for fun. 
it's been a great experience with a lot of frustration as parts for these cars are mostly no longer available. 
 

thanks for reading! Stay tuned for updates. 

Ooh, cool car! Rust sucks, but it looks like you've done a great job fixing it.

awesome!  always had a soft spot for these since my uncle used to drive me around in a Z31 as a kid, and the shiro is like the ultimate version.  great work so far.  i've been out of the VG engine game for a while but my understanding is that it doesn't take much to just about double their horsepower.  looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

In reply to ScottyB :

Thanks! Yes there pretty easy to make 350 with pretty much the mods I've done. I'll be excited to get it on the dyno and see where I sit. I would be thrilled to see 300ish at the wheels. 
I plan to do new fuel rails and injectors as well as a stand-alone. But that may be next winters job. 

Yeah nice score. It is already looking really good.  Only 75, so rare.

I have loved these since Blind Date.

Man, that's quite the z31 unicorn... Congrats! Don't those have the Uber rare clutch type LSD? That and vented rear rotors, slip on front rotors... That car has the best of everything. 

Extremely cool, and nice job saving it!

Awesome!  

I had a 87 2+2 Z31T auto. Had an exhaust on it and some other things.  Never really drove it much but I enjoyed it. Awesome find and great job saving it!

In reply to MaxC :

Yes you are correct. It has a vicious limited slip, that was only available in the shiro special editions. 
very rare- same with the axles. So if I brake one I'm E36 M3 out of luck lol

In reply to bonylad :

thanks! It's kept me busy that's forsure  

First 2 coats of high build is sprayed  I had a lot of problem with my gun jamming due to rookie mistakes. Hopefully the last two coats go on better. 
hopefully get some color down next weekend.

In reply to munmin89 :

I'm not sure what your talking about?

In reply to Lakeview :

He's just a spam bot. Ignore it.

Nice work! I love seeing a car restored in a "No aftermarket sheet metal patches? No problem!" manner.

Well I got the paint finished up this weekend, three coats of Nissan "super white" and three coats of clear. Turned out pretty good for never spraying before. 
also got the front coilovers finished and mounted. 

Always loved these. Does it still have the Recaros?