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ZBUM's Z31 Differences Page Some key differences in a few parts of the Z31. Click images for a larger view. Turbos | Hoods | Head Lights | Bumpers | Fenders | Side Skirts | Hatches | Spoilers | Tail Lights T-Tops | Doors | Steering Wheels | Instrument Clusters | Center Pods | Nose Emblems | Floor Mats | 300ZX Keys Turbo differences. 84: T3, oil lubricated, air cooled, ~6.7 psi. 85-87: T3, oil lubricated, water cooled, ~6.7 psi. 88-89: T25, oil lubricated, water cooled, ~4.5 psi. Garrett T3 is bigger than the Garrett T25 Hood differences. All year and body style (2 seater vs. 2+2) hoods will interchange within their year range (84-86 and 87-89) with no problems. The problem arises when you try to put a later model (87-89) hood on an early model (84-86) car and vice versa. The hoods are the same length and overall the same basic shape. But because the 87-89 models have narrower head lights, the part of the hood between the head lights is wider. The 87-89 hood is exactly 30" between the head lights. The 84-86 hood is 27-11/16" between the head lights. The only difference in the 84-86 hoods is the turbo hoods in 84 and 85 had hood scoops located just above the turbo to help force air over the turbo to cool it. Basically, you can try trimming the 87-89 hood to fit the early models, or you can just put the 84-86 hood on the later models and leave over an inch of a gap. But what it really boils down to is you need the hood, head light assemblies, and front bumper to make everything look right. 84-86 hood 87-89 hood back to top Head light differences: There are only two different style head lights. The 84-86 head lights had both the high and low beam in a standard sealed 6054 headlamp. Right next to it is the fog/auxilary light that uses an H3 bulb with a spade connecter instead of the bullet connecter (or is it the other way around?) you find at major auto parts stores. The 87-89 used a replacable bulb in a much larger headlamp. The fog/auxilary driving lights were moved much lower into the bumper. Head light covers back to top Bumper differences: Front: All year Z31 bumpers will interchange with little to no modifications. The front bumpers should be kept with the same year range hood to maintain the proper look and finish, unless you are trying for that big gap look. All 87-89 front bumpers are the same. All 84-86 front NA bumpers are the same. All 84-86 front turbo bumpers are virtually the same. The only difference is the turbo models with automatic transmissions had a hole in the front passenger side of the bumper for the oil cooler. The NA bumpers and turbo bumpers will swap and bolt up with no problems. The problems are in the way the 84-86 turbo spoilers mount. The 84-86 turbo bumpers have notches cut in them for the front spoiler. The 84-86 NA spoilers do not. The silver bumper in these pictures is of an 86NA. The white bumper is from an 85 turbo. Rear: All year rear Z31 bumpers will interchange with little to no modifications. All 84-86 rear bumpers are the same. All 87-89 rear bumpers are the same. If you want to swap between the two styles, you will need to swap the whole bumper (this is the metal part), not just the bumper cover. back to top Fender differences: All Z31 fenders will interchange with little to no modifications. The problems arise in appearances and extra holes. All AE and 86-89 fenders have exactly the same shape (except for the Canadian SF models). So if you put any one of these years on any other of the years, the fender will look right on the car shape wise. All 84 non-50th AE and 85 fenders are the same shape (as well as the 86 Canadian SF models). So, what's the problem? The extra holes. All 84-86 turbos have holes in the front lower part of the fender for the front spoilers. All 87-89s have these holes as well, but they are in slightly different locations than the 84-86. None of the 84-86 NAs have any of these holes. The AE and the 86s have holes in the lower rear part of the fender for the side skirts. All 87-89s also have holes in the lower rear part, but there are more of them, and they are in different locations. None of the non AE 84-85s have any of these holes. The 87-89 also have an extra hole in the front of the fender where it connects to the bumper. Basically, if you have a problem drilling or filling holes, here are the available fenders: 84-85 NA 84-85 turbo (non-AE) 86 NA AE and 86 T 87-89 (all models) Front 84/85 + 86 SF Front AE + 86-89 Rear 84/85 + 86 SF Rear AE Rear 86-89 Coming soon These images show the difference between the 84AE/86T fender and the 87-89 fender. Front Lower Rear Lower Bumper Mounting back to top Side Skirt differences: There are five different side skirts. The 1984 50th Anniversary. The 1986 2 seater. The 1986 2+2 seater. The 1987-1989 2 seater. The 1987-1989 2+2 seater. The only difference between the 2 seater and 2+2 of the same year is the added length. Comparison shots between the 84AE and 86 side skirts. back to top Hatch differences: All 2 seater hatches will interchange with each other. All 4 seater hatches will interchange with each other. The 84 and 85 hatch had no 3rd brake light. The 86 hatch had a 3rd brake light built into the spoiler. the 87-89 hatch had the 3rd brake light built into the top trim piece with the window sprayer. You cannot use a 4 seater hatch on a 2 seater. You cannot use a 2 seater hatch on a 4 seater. The other differences lie in the spoilers. The 86 spoiler is unique in that it has the 3rd brake light built into it. Nissan wanted people to be able to change the bulbs in the brake light without having to remove the spoiler. Because of this, there is a hole in the trunk lid to allow easy access to the bulbs. Because of the third brake light and this hole, the spoiler is a different shape than the other years. It also uses it's own rear wiper arm. The 86 rear hatch: All other year rear hatches: back to top Rear Spoiler differences: There are 3 different spoilers used on the Z31. The only NA to come with a rear spoiler was the 1986, because it was designed to hide the 3rd brake light. The 84 and 85 spoilers used a metal subframe with a padded cover and a smooth skin. These spoilers tend to warp when the metal underneath starts rusting. The 86 spoiler was plastic and the same basic shape except altered slightly for the 3rd light and wiper. The 87-89 spoilers were slightly taller and returned to the horizontal rear wiper and made of the same plastic as the 86 spoilers. These spoilers are also two pieces and have a seam where the back portion joins the top portion. back to top Tail light differences: There are really only two different style taillights. The 84-86 taillights are two rows of lights with the brake lights in the top row and the turn signal (outside), back up light (middle) and rear reflector (inside) on the bottom row. The 84-86 tail lights are separated in the middle by the license plate area. Above the license plate area is a panel that connects the two sides. The panel is red and reads "300ZX" for all 84s and the 85-86 NA models. The panel is grey and reads "TURBO 300ZX" for the 85 and 86 turbo models. Also on the 85 and 86 turbos, the tail lights were slightly smoked to try to match the center panel. The 87-89 tail lights are a single continuous piece that spans the entire width of the car broken only by the keyhole area. From outside to middle, it is turn signals, brake light/running lights, reflectors, back up lights, and back out again. 84-86 NA 84 turbo 85-86 turbo 1987-1989 back to top T-Top differences: All year Z31 2 seater t-tops will interchange with all year Z31 2 seaters. All year Z31 4 seater t-tops will interchange with all year Z31 4 seaters. You cannot put 2 seater t-tops in a 4 seater. You cannot put 4 seater t-tops in a 2 seater. The T-Tops that came with the 1984 models did not have a lock built in to them. The T-Tops that came with the 1985 and 1986 models had a built in lock that used a slightly smaller key than the regular door/ignition key. The T-Tops that came with the 1987-1989 models had a built in lock that used the same key as the ignition and doors. I don't believe the valet key would unlock or lock the t-tops, but I could be wrong. The color of the trim of the t-tops matched the rest of the window trim of the rest of the car. 84 interior t-top trim 85-86 interior t-top trim 1987-1989 interior t-top trim Pictures are forthcoming. back to top Door differences: All year Z31 2 seater doors will interchange with all year Z31 2 seater doors. All year Z31 4 seater doors will interchange with all year Z31 4 seater doors. You cannot put 2 seater doors in a 4 seater. You cannot put 4 seater doors in a 2 seater. All door dimensions and mounting points are the same for the same number of seats. The interior handle/lock piece is higher in the door in the 84/85 models than it is in the 86-89 models. Some of the later model 85 doors had both mounting locations for the interior handle. All of the 86-89 doors had both mounting locations for the interior handle. All years, all number of seats can use any door handle. All years, any number of seats can also use any door arm rest. Pictures are forthcoming. back to top Steering Wheel differences: Only four different steering wheels came on the US versions. All 84 models (except the AE) and all 85 GL models had an open top steering wheel. There were no radio or cruise controls on any 84 steering wheel except the 50th Anniversary Editions. For the 84AE and 85 GLL models, the steering wheels got the radio and cruise buttons. The 86 models saw a change in both model (GL and GLL) wheels. The GL got a nice three spoke wheel with an upside down triangle for a horn. The GLL models got a nice four spoke wheel with the radio and cruise buttons integrated into the horn. All Z31 steering wheels can be installed on any Z31. The only issue is the buttons will not work on the GL models unless you replace all the electronics with them. But putting a GL steering wheel on a GLL will effectively remove any steering wheel controls. All Z31 steering wheels are fifteen inches. US Z31 Steering Wheels JDM y0! 84 GL/GLL & 85 GL 84 AE & 85 GLL 86-89 GL & 88 SS 86-89 GLL 200ZR-I back to top Instrument Cluster differences: There are essentially five different instrument clusters that came on the Z31. There are no differences in the main clusters between turbo and non turbo. There are two analog clusters and three digital clusters. The 84 to 86 analog instrument cluster is orange. The 87 to 89 analog instrument cluster is white, but when lit appeared orange. The analog clusters contained the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauges, and coolant temperatures. The 84 to 86 digital cluster contained all of these plus the oil pressure and voltmeter. The 87 to 89 digital cluster dropped the oil pressure and voltmeter and relocated the trip odometers. The 84 digital clusters have unevenly spaced tachometer RPM markings. The 85-89 digital clusters spaced the RPMs equally. In the digital clusters, the height of the tachometer bars signified boost. Full boost (0 psi for NAs, 6.7 psi for 84-87 turbos, and 4.5 psi for 88-89 turbo) is the top row. Full vacuum (-21 inMg) is the lowest row. Anything in between is purely a guess. Analog Digital 84-85 86 87-89 84 85-86 87-89 back to top Center Pod Gauge differences: There are seven different center pod styles that came on the Z31. There are four analog clusters and three digital clusters. There are differences in the clusters between turbo and non turbo analog clusters. The 84 to 86 analog turbo models had a boost gauge and dual oil pressure and oil temperature gauges, while the 84 to 86 non-turboss only had oil pressure and volt meter. The 87 to 89 digital cluster is not really digital, it's analog. But they both (turbo and non) contain the combination oil pressure and oil temperature gauge. The turbos had the boost gauge in the other slot, while the non-turbos had the volt gauge. The 84 to 86 analog instrument cluster is orange. The 87 to 89 analog instrument cluster is white, but when lit appeared orange. The 84 to 86 digital cluster has an accleration gauge on the left and a compass on the right. The 87 to 89 digital cluster is the same as the analog except it's green with red needles.   Analog Digital   NA Turbo NA Turbo 84-86 87-89 back to top "Z" Logo badge differences. The "Z" logo varied over the years on the Z car. The S30 (240Z/260Z/280Z) had a "DATSUN" logo badge on the hood, although some may have come with a "Z" logo. Motorsport Auto sells a replacement that features the "Z" logo found in other spots on the car. The S130 (280ZX) came with a "Z" badge. The Japanese 10th Anniversary model came with a special shield shaped badge. The Z31 came with two different nose emblems. All models (200Z, 200ZS, 200ZG, 200ZR, 300ZX, and 300ZR) came with the same badges for their respective years. The 1990 300ZX (Z32) came with no badge. The 1991-1996 300ZX came with a NISSAN hamburger on the nose and no "Z" emblem on the exterior of the car to speak of. The later years (1998?) came with either a red or a black "Z" nose emblem. The 350Z featured a large hamburger on the nose and a "Z" badge on both front fenders just behind the wheels. S30 1970-1978 S130 1979-1983 S130 Special Z31 1984-1986 Z31 1987-1989 50th Anniversary Z32 1991-1996 Z32 1999 Z33 2003-2008 (Fender) back to top Floor mat differences: There are several variations of the floor mats. These are determined by year. Colors also varied slightly by year. There are basically 7 designs. They all had the same shape. The mat on the left is the driver side mat. The mat on the right is the passenger side mat.   84-85 86 87-89 non-turbo Coming Coming turbo 50thAE     back to top 300ZX Key differences: The Z31 model 300ZX had only one special key, and that was the 1984 50th Anniversary Edition Gold key. All 300ZX models can use the same key styles provided they are cut to the proper key codes. The Z32 models had a key with the same groove pattern, but an odd shape. These keys also had "300ZX" embedded in the head. The 1984 Z31s had no keys for the t-tops. The 1985 and 1986 models had a smaller black headed key for the t-tops. All other 300ZX years used the main key as the key for the t-tops. All 300ZX models included a regular primary key and a secondary "valet" key. The valet key would only operate the doors and ignition. The regular primary key would operate all lock cylinders in the car. Any of the keys for Nissan vehicles made from 1984 and on can be cut to work in a Z31. This means the Z32's "300ZX" key (including the titanuim key) and be cut to work in the Z31. 300ZX Keys back to top