Hey guys, My name is Patrick. I'm 15 years old, and will be 16 late December. Anyhow, I just purchased a 1995 300zx 2+2. Its cobalt green with black leather interior and an a/t. The only major "flaw" is the mileage (168k)
This is my first car and I have beena avidly researching and looking for one, for about a year now.

I've got alot of plans for it, just need some more money first.

If anyone knows of any good shops in Fairfield County or within a 45 min driving distance, I'd greatly appreciate. I'm looking at doing a 120kmi service, so I know everything is A-ok.


Here is some pics from the dealer:

Welcome Patrick! You may be one of our younger members, glad to have you in the club. Congrats on your new purchase.

Rich Amatulli runs RDZ (Research and Development for the Nissan Z) out of the Danbury area http://www.rdz300.com/

You may have noticed, the rear wheels are on backwards from the dealer shots, just need to be swapped as long as the tires are not uniderectional. Otherwise a very clean looking Z.

See you around, enjoy the club.

_________________
Keith Hultmark
2009 370Z Touring - Sold (5 years owned)
1993 300ZX - Sold (5 years owned)
1976 Porsche 912E. #163 of 2200 - SOLD (3 years owned)
2018 BMW 330i GT xdrive daily driver
2004 BMW Z4 3.0i ….it is a Z

NICE CAR!!!

Now THIS is exciting ~ your first car is a Z! I am SO jealous! My first car was a 4-door 3-ton Oldsmobile 88 with rusted floors and no trunk and barely any brakes! You sure choZe a great way to enter the automotive world.

WELCOME, Patrick. I'm really happy for you (but as a father, I'm also a bit worried about you ~ this is really a hot machine. Some guyz twice your age find these 300ZXs too hot to handle). But I guess if you can afford to pick your own first car, you might as well buy a real "Chick Magnet"

When I was in Junior High School, one kid in our class was a real dork, but his big brother went off to Vietnam and left his GT-350 Cobra Mustang Fastback for his little brother to drive to school. The kid became Class President and everyone wanted to sit with him at lunch. You'll know what I'm talking about the first day you drive that beauty to school ~ trust me.

So, how did you find us?

Z ya!
Frank Thomas
Membership Director/CTZCC
1970 240Z

Welcome Patrick!! I too am jealous of your first ride!! Please respect the car and it will keep you safe and secure for many more miles. I second Keith's suggestion to have Rich at RDZ perform your 120k checkup. He knows his stuff. Please don't pay dealer prices.

Please join us on the 31st for our BBQ in Darien. You'll get plenty of motivation!!

Phil

Thanks.

Yes, I know about my wheels. I had it up on the lift at my grandfather's garage last weekend, but one of the lugnuts on each wheel was special and my grandfather didnt have the right tool to get it off. (strange as he has 2 of every other tool known to man). I plan on getting 18" g35 wheels to replace the stock ones eventually.

Yeah, I couldn't have picked a better car. I originally wanted to get a 65 mustang with a 289 v-8 or a 70-71 torino gt with a 351W, but I dont have the time or money to get one into good working condition and get rid of the rust that most of them have. So I stumbled upon Nicoclub about a year ago and fell in love with the z.

Frank, to answer your question, I was on Nico and saw all the events, but all were in the south or out in CA. so I started looking for a club closer to me where I could go to some shows, meet some people, and gain some knowledge, and I found CTZCC.

I was Looking for G35 wheels for my 300, but came across 18" 350Z wheels instead for about $300 so I gave them a try. You'll see a few Z's in Member Ride's with the G35 wheels.

Don't forget to post some photo's up in Member Rides.

_________________
Keith Hultmark
2009 370Z Touring - Sold (5 years owned)
1993 300ZX - Sold (5 years owned)
1976 Porsche 912E. #163 of 2200 - SOLD (3 years owned)
2018 BMW 330i GT xdrive daily driver
2004 BMW Z4 3.0i ….it is a Z

I'm so glad to meet the next generation of Z owners! Patrick reminds me of me when I was a 16 year old AutoMech student ~ except today the kids have the internet and are LOTS smarter than we were. We had to learn all our stuff by reading car magazines each month. You could be smart, but it took a LONG time to learn when your classes only came along every 30 days!

Frank

Pat, I'm searching thru my list of recent new-joins and I don't zee you among them. If you haven't joined us yet, please go to the Homepage and press the Big Red Button. Fill out the brief info and you'll become an actual member instead of just a forum user. We're free ~ we'll never cost you anything.

If you've already joined, it just hasn't caught up with me yet.

Frank T
MbrshpDir

Frank, One step ahead of you. Joined around 6pm tonight.

Welcome Pat, and good choice for a first car. My first car was a 72 240z, are you jelouse now Frank, I was 16, but didn't drive it until I was 18, and by then the rust finished it off, I drove it less than a year until the passenger floor board dropped out, my friend at at the time ate some dirt. My second Z was an 82 turbo, black with tan leather and T-tops, now that was a chick magnet. For a 2 seater, I usally would have 2 girls share the passenger seat. At least you have back seats, so you can't get in trouble, (these days,) and you can have 3 girls in there legally.

Hey, Pat!

Hope you don't mind hanging out with old goats, (not talking about
Pontiac muscle cars!) There are a few of US around, too. Well,
according to the calendar anyway; I still FEEL like a kid. If that ever
changes I might as well croak right then and there, 'cause it won't be
fun living anymore.

Amen to what all the guyZ above said. My first car waZ a used '57
Karmann Ghia, because I wanted something sporty but something I
could afford to drive. And that was at age 21! Wish I still had it for
a collectors item, there weren't many made. How sad, now I have
to make do with Z Cars............

I must still be in the Stone Age, I didn't see anything wrong with your
rear wheels! I know about rotational directionality and all that,
but there must be something I'm missing. The wheels all look the same to me.

All that aside, welcome to the Club. We have so much technical
knowledge and experience within the Club to draw upon it can be mind
boggling. And if you don't mind having a good time once in awhile,
then you've come to Z right place!

All Z Best,.................Kathy & Rick

_________________
All Z Best,.......Kathy & Rick

1969 Z.CAR (#00013 10/69) 8/30/76
1969 ITSA.Z (#00171 11/69) 8/24/73
1970 OLD.Z (#06289 6/70) original owner
1971 510 2dr since 12/31/75
1969 1600 rdstr (our 160-Z)
1971 (#19851 1/71) sold
1975 75.Z (#01343 1/75)

*(Yeah, Rick ~ the scallops on Pat's rear wheels are supposed to lead the spokes, but they're trailing them instead. Someone pulled the rear wheels off and remounted them on the opposite sides, or maybe just rotated all tires and got lucky with a couple of them.

It would be an easy fix to just swap them back where they belong, except that most radial tires today are designed to rotate in one direction. They have arrows on them which indicate the intended rotation, and the tread is designed to give best traction and throw most water when rolled in the direction indicated. If you roll them even a few hundred miles in the wrong direction, they tend to separate from the belt prematurely.

Even if they are non-directional radials, running them in one direction for a few thousand miles then swapping them to the other side of the car ~ such as in routine tire rotation ~ can cause them to separate prematurely, too).

Welcome to the New World of Automotive Technology! The basic rule of thumb seems to be: If you remember how to gap distributor points, your time has passed!

You can count me among those Dinosaurs! I still remember how to adjust float bowl levels!

Frank

Hi Patrick:
It is rare to see a 15 year old do so much research related to buying a First Car. Good for you! The Mustang was a good idea as well, if you could have found one in good shape at a reasonable price.

So of course this leads to "First Car" stories. Like a few other things, guys always remember their "First Car". It is an extension of the personal freedom and individual power we are blessed to have in this Country. If you happen to have a "First Tour Of Duty" that takes you places you would otherwise not have gone - you'll understand more fully what I'm saying.

Nonetheless - My First Car was a 57 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible. That would have been in 1961 and the Pontiac was four years old in Ashland, Ohio were I grew up. I grew up around cars in Service Stations, so I thought I knew something about them. That turned out to be not so true - as my beautiful Pontiac was really a complete rust bucket that a used car dealer had bondo'ed and painted... It was rusting everywhere within a six months and the bondo was bubbling up on the rear quarters.... So I took the loss and sold it. Live and learn.

My next car was a 58 Olds 88 Convertible - which I ask my older brother to help me find and then inspect it before I put my money down - it was a cherry!! Complete with the J2 package of triple carb's...

Both of my cars were four or five years old when I got them - I see your 300ZX is 14 or 15 years old now. Nonetheless, I'm sure it is in far better condition than mine were back then. The evolution of automotive design and production has been amazing. In the 50's and early 60's a car with 100K miles was all but worn out - today a newer car with 100K miles is barely broken in. Bias ply tires used to last about 8K miles if you were lucky - todays radials run at least 40K miles and they will do 60K miles if they are of slightly higher quality. The old drum brakes on the cars used to last about 10K miles and today most newer cars don't need brakes replaced until close to 100K miles.

If your 300ZX has had good care - you should only need routine wear/tear items replaced. Things like brake fluids changed, belts and hoses, tires, clutch etc. Looking at the pictures of your ZX the interior looks great as well.

I think you have exercised good sense in selecting a first car - and I hope you'll use just as good an amount of common sense driving it. It is an easy car to let get away from you.

good luck,
Carl B.

Carl, those pictures are priceless!! There is a post on the forum (See below) where a few of us posted pictures from our early years. Yours definitly need to be posted there!!

http://forums.ctzcc.com/viewtopic.php?t=3233&start=0

Phil

Wow ~ a '57 Star Chief ragtop! A highschool buddy of mine had a '58 with the J2 tripower engine. He spent hours outrunning the police one night and wrecked 8 Syracuse police cars. Wrecked the car, lost his license, went to jail, dropped out of school. Made the front page tho ~ his minute of 'fame'. He should be about 60 now, still grilling hotdogs at PZOs in Liverpool NY for his 'career'.