350Butcher

Just realised the car has come on a bit over the last year or so, here's the current specs as is today Chassis: MCS Motion Control Suspension 2WNR coilovers inc bearing top mounts all round SPL front upper camber/caster arms SPL rear toe links SPL rear camber links SPL rear traction arms SPL FK spherical bearings throughout SPL bump steer correction tie rod ends Eibach ARB with whiteline drop links Whiteline subframe and diff bushes Bespoke alignment @QPrep Nismo Rays 18" LMGT4 wheels Yokohama AD08R 255/40R18 front 265/40R18 rear Drivetrain: Xtreme clutch kit inc single mass flywheel and clutch slave cylinder fix B&M short shifter Mtec Industries shifter / detent springs OS Giken superlock diff with Millers CRX LS 75w140 NT+ Brakes: Front: AP CP5555 6 pot calipers with Pagid RSL29 pads / 343mm PF Performance Friction floating discs with custom BGdevelopments brackets and bells Rear: Standard Brembo calipers and discs with Pagid RS42 pads Goodridge braided hoses all round Homemade 76mm cooling ducting to front brakes PFC RH665 brake fluid Engine: Tomei ProCams (Exh and Inlet 272 degree / 10.8mm lift) Tomei valve springs Ported and reprofiled heads and inlet manifold CNC valve seat cut PPE long tube race manifolds with parallel merge collector Motordyne XYZ y pipe Tanabe medalion exhaust Boundary Gears billet oil pump gears R35 Injectors Stillen Gen3 long intakes with K&N filters HPS rad and heater hoses Koyo radiator and cap Mocal oil cooler with homemade cowling Millers CFS 10w50 NT+ (changed every 2 track days) 343hp@7250rpm (Dyno Dynamics)

Cheers! The front end is very good....I'll let you know how much better it is with these bits after tomorrows Anglesey Coastal track day which is a good front end tester!

Specifically the rod ends I’d change even on a all year round daily car the gains are so good. Replacement rod ends are available at £60ish for the pair and given you’ll have your geometry checked annually or every other there’s plenty of opportunity to bang on the new parts if they start going at the same time as that. Regarding the rest of the chassis, if the cars going to see salty roads through winter use etc I probably wouldn’t bother with bearings in the chassis at all, you’ll get a few years and then probably have to change it all again and the amount of work and cost involved in that is hard to swallow for the amount of gain you’ll actually have while just plodding around on the roads.

Holy S**T Dave!!...............Ever thought you need to see someone about this mate!!

Was just an idea.......might still be worth double checking it! You know what they say about assumptions! Frustrating when the light pops up.......If you've already got the UpRev license then you've paid for the expensive bit already, it'll just be a couple of quid to run up to Mark again and get him to tweek and sort it for you.

Just got back from getting the alignment done and as always the car drives perfect again but more importantly the SPL tie rods ends have been installed to correct the bump steer...........what can I say the difference in steering is massive! Firstly the steering feels lighter with the bearings installed (in a good way) but with so much more feel and connection, add in the rod ends installed it has taken away all the steering corruption that occurs from toe changes while going over surface changes and imperfections. Am really keen to feel the difference this setup makes on track now........roll on Anglesey Coastal on Monday When I was pressing on over rougher roads before the steering was pulling and tugging this way and that and I found myself gripping the wheel tighter and tighter as speed increased.....now that's all gone! Anyone lowering their Z needs to add the SPL rod ends to the list, you've got to get the alignment done after changing the suspension anyway so its a couple of hundred quid on top and you'll get a lot more benefit after! Link to parts from @Tarmac@TarmacSportz https://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/spl-nissan-300zx-z32-90-96-350z-03-skyline-r32-r33-r34-89-02-infiniti-g35-03-07-pro-v5-front-outer-tie-rod-ends.html Pics of parts installed and geo sheet

Agreed! Dave you are a cleaning guru...........wish I had the skills and patience to make my car half as clean n shiny!

Did you confirm the CEL light was on due to emissions? If it was, get the car UpRev'd and have it mapped out. If its on for something else, then your spending money and time trying to fix a problem that's somewhere else

Great choice!! I used to have a ST150 till a couple of years back. I had to resist the urge to mod it as it was the Mrs car to just run around in. Did manage to sneak on the focus st brakes as an upgrade which really did make an improvement. I see someone very sensibly has fitted some nice lightweight OZ wheels to yours, think the Ford made the originals from cast iron!! They were the heaviest 17" wheels I've ever lifted I think!! Used to love driving it down a twisty B-road! Feels like 200mph at 70mph, good little chassis but as you've said the engines are so choked up from the factory which is a shame. I had no issues at all with my car for the 2 years I ran it, my only criticism was how short the gear ratios are......you're in 5th from 40mph driving normally so its screaming on a run up a motorway when you have to do that which did get tiring. Regarding issues with them, when I did my homework before buying mine the only thing I kept reading was about gearboxes sh**ing themselves............although I suspect this was more down to all the side stepping the clutch at 6000rpm at the traffic lights their whole lives rather than it being a really bad 'box! My mint little Fiesta ST150

If all the issues where AFTER fitting some nasty no name decat pipes then all the more reason to not start cutting up a perfectly good and expensive exhaust! Sounds like a change of decats would fix it.........and another spot of welding of course. Best thing would be to fit an oem set of cats and then you’ll know exactly what’s in and out for correct fitment.

Regarding your exhaust.....if it fitted everywhere perfect and just the 2 bolt flange angle was slightly off I'd say it could be faulty weld there, however given it doesn't fit anywhere and is pressed against the underside of the car in a few places I'd say it's not been correctly installed.....maybe some pipes are upside down / wrong way round?? Seems very odd........cutting it up and welding it wouldn't have been my first move! Surely its vibrating and banging under the car as you drive down the road too? Also..........can everyone start being a bit nicer about my old 19" LMGT4's!!! In all honesty though, your car has swollen up around them a bit and I agree there are styles that would better suit what you're doing with your car.........they'd still fetch the £££ if you parted with them which is always a result! Good luck with it all!

Still available if anyone wants the best discs available for their Zed?

Bearings all installed...........forgot how much of a job that all is to be honest! The rear knuckle is a bit of a faff given there's 4 in that and they're at odd angles etc The quality of the SPL parts is great and the fitment on reassembly was perfect.....as you'd hope and expect. Sadly I wasn't able to get the Geo done on Saturday but it's booked in next Saturday and I'll get to test it out on Welsh roads from Sunday and Anglesey's fantastic (and hopefully dry) Coastal layout on the 17th. I've only driven it for 5mins down the road but straight away the initial impression are very good, only a slight increase in hardness to the ride but a lot stiffer chassis feel with much better sense of connection to the road surface which I'm pleased about. The steering also feels lighter but with a better sense of connection now all that feedback can get through to the wheel.......things will improve further when the rod ends are installed and its all setup again Shame that in 3-5 years they'll all be knackered and I'll have to replace them all again!!!! Lots of pics!......... Rigged up all sorts to press them out Rear Knuckle Rear Upper arm Huge Bearing for compression arm!! Front arms Installed on car

Cheers, interested to know what they've specced for you. Glad to hear they are feeling good......after a proper alignment it'll handle better again! Keep us posted!

Very very nice!!! Out of interest, what spring length and rates have they specced for you?

No problem!! Happy to help. 1) I made sure they were a snug push fit anyway then added a bead of black silicone and pushed the hose clamps up from behind too so they aren’t going anywhere. 2/3) It’s only 1mm sheet steel, I really wanted to press in some swage lines to make the sheet more rigid but it’s plenty good enough as the ducting hose weighs nothing. 4) The outlet duct has a 15mm flat flange on it so it drilled through that and the sheet metal behind and put in a couple of very small self taper screws (couple of small rivets probably better) I’m under the car in the evenings this week so I’ll take a couple of pics of these particular areas and post them up for you Cheers

Thanks Neil! Here's a list of the parts I used and the brackets themselves that secure ducting to arb drop link mounts I made from sheet metal Re cutting, from memory an 80mm hole cutter straight through the very bottom edge of the front panel and then some very minor trimming to the plastics around the inner arch Sussing out what I was going do to took a while but actually making this up was OK (fiddly but OK) and its very tidy install without removing any strength from front panel at all which I like............biggest plus of course is that it really works, I have no issues at all with brake temps (even at Spa when it was about 30degrees) since installing this ducting!!

Thought I'd attempt to improve the audio quality in my track vids as they do lack what its like in real life and it pics up on wind noise if the windows are down. Did a bit of homework and bought the Rode VideoMicro which comes with "dead cat" windshield and thought I'd give it a test on a cold start getting the Z out the garage..........think it captures a little more (but not all) the anger of it when its fired up............thought I'd share it anyway Sadly my track day tomorrow looks like it'll be a wet one so not sure it'll be the best test hopefully it'll be drier next time out.

Thanks to the guys at @Tarmac@TarmacSportz I came home to a very welcome delivery today! After having this going through my head for a while and with some great results installing bearings in place of bushes throughout my Brothers Vxr220 I ordered the remainder of the SPL offerings missing from my chassis. In my opinion, although the Whiteline bushes currently fitted are great quality and do a fine job of keeping everything tight and maintaining geometry even under the loads of track work, they do offer a significant undesirable resistance in the travel of the wishbones and lower arms, This tension/spring energy stored in the bushes during the suspensions travel works against the dampers in both compression and rebound with negative results. Certainly in the case of my Brothers car the difference was immediately noticeable with all the movement in the chassis components now being controlled by only the dampers free of any interference from the load from the bushes. I'm sure my MCS dampers will be very happy to get these installed! I also ordered up the SPL track rod ends to correct bump steer that my car suffers with.........the car is booked in for full geometry again on the Sept 8th, looking forward to the drive home already!

As the original clutch/flywheel assembly weighs so much more it maintains more rotational inertia which smooths the revs during gear changes. As the flywheel is dual-mass it also cushions the drivetrain from the engine during gear changes too (hence why the gearbox rattles when you fit single mass...no cushion) The viscous diff is also "softer" than a plate lsd. Throw in a slight crest there too to make the car go light. Hope you crack it!!

Fair play to you for committing in such horrible conditions! As long as there's no standing water these track day tyres still hang on better than "normal" road tyres.......not that I speak for these particular Nankangs as I've not used them Shame about the prang.....hope it does fix up OK and there's no surprises when you closer inspect everything. Looks like you just dropped the clutch a bit too harshly engaging 3rd and shocked the drivetrain enough to break traction.

Time to start enjoying all the hard work!

Top job Ross! Bet you’re well pleased to have it rolling under its own steam again. The engine sits in the bay so well it could’ve been a factory option! So is this now a Nissota 250z “t”

I thought that would be the case but thought I’d ask in case there was a way round it. To be honest on track I’m concentrating on other things than the lights but see them in the vids when I watch them back, plus on occasion I leave everything off on the road where I notice the lights being on a lot more. I only asked as I would say the VCD starts to interrupt at about the same level as the ABS starts to make itself known. If you drive underneath this level then it’s only the TC that really interrupts progress or enjoyment of a bit of oversteer and Nissan have already provided a switch to turn just that off. As always these things are personal and there’s clearly people who want it so I wish you well with your well invented solution to provide this for people.

Just seen and read all this. Good electronic skills sussing all this out and making it work! While I personally have no issue at all in pulling a fuse so easily accessed, I see the appeal of having a tidy control in the car to turn off these unwanted aids. Couple of questions: 1) Is it possible to turn these aids off without having the light up on the dash? Have a status light on the control to indicate if its active or not instead? Not having the dash lit up like a christmas tree on track would be nice and 2) Why do you want abs enabled? Its intrusive on track and undesirable. The Z's system cuts in very early and is a slow operator, you can brake far harder and later with it off. Could you make a control that includes abs control too?