Well let's see... back in 2000 I'd just left a consulting job that required a good bit of driving, for a job in NYC that I could use mass transit to commute to. Along with that job came a good boost in pay. So I decided I could finally afford a car that was more than just transportation. I'd been thinking about Porsche 928s, but my dad talked me out of 'em, because parts and maintenance costs on those, make Z32s seem inexpensive. Like I said I could get a car that was more than just transportation, but it needed to serve that purpose too. I already had 2 kids, and as this was going to be the second car in a 2 driver family, I needed a 2+2. I had to get an auto, so my wife could drive it if her car was in the shop. I'd been searching the web for about 6 months. One of the first questions I posted was on an old 300zx forum was, "Can you convert a 2+0 into a 2+2?". At that time, I didn't know that the chassis were different. I'd looked at a bunch of cars, most were higher mileage, and looked it. I ended up finding a car at a dealership in Hartford, CT, 110 miles away. A '95 with 47K on the clock, and in great shape. The fact that is was a '95 and had dual air-bags was a plus, so I was very excited. The sales guy at the dealership said that someone had a deposit on it, but that their credit was shaky. I told him I didn't need financing, and left my number so they could call me if the other deal didn't fly. About a week later I got a call that the car was still available. I gave them a deposit via CC over the phone, and went up the following weekend to pick it up. Most of the suspension mods were done after the first year or two of ownership, after that there were some minor cosmetic modifications and basic maintenance. Then in 2007, I went to a friends down in NoVA and we did the TwinTurbo swap. The 2+2 wasn't available as a TT here in the US, and with sedans coming from the factory with 300+ HP I felt my sports car should have more than the 220 HP it came with from the factory back in '95
That first TT motor turned out to be a bit of a lemon. The compression numbers were not what I'd expected (was told they were), and there was an incessant leak from a journal between the block and the oil-pump
I'd pulled that motor twice trying to fix the leak. The first time my buddies and I thought it was just the oil-pan. So We pulled the motor on a Saturday, dropped the pan resealed it, and put the motor back in on Sunday. When we fired the car back up it became evident that the leak was from just above the pan, at the pump-block interface. So a few weeks later, I pulled the motor again, this time dropping the oil-pan and also pulling the whole front off of the motor, to get the oil-pump off. I re-assembled with fresh gaskets, torqued everything to spec, and it held for a few months, but then the leak came back. Well I wasn't going to mess with this motor again, and began a search for a new motor. After a couple of months an event of mixed blessings occurred, A friend of mine was in an accident in which no one was hurt, but his TT-Z was totaled, so I purchased that motor, added a few new goodies, and am now really enjoying my high-HP sports car
I've been on Watkins Glen, The Skip Barber course in Daytona, and Little Talledega with it, and plan on doing some more track events too. Turbos are stock, as is the transmission, and I don't have a dyno with the current motor and go-fast mods but it was about 325 at the wheels with the ill motor. I'm expecting close to 400 at the wheels now, and should be getting on the dyno in a month or two. The one-piece drive-shaft is simpler and lighter than the factory two-piece unit, and also less expensive. Since I needed a new drive-shaft for the swap I went with that.
