Sainz92

Was this pic taken on the Severn Bridge by any chance? Lovely looking car by the way!

Sorry, just noticed ho negative that sounded. These are amazing cars and one in decent nick is especially nice so take your time to find the right one in the right spec for you. Also as you've already found the 350z community is also amazing so it's not just the car you'll be getting into. Good luck with your search. You won't be disappointed.

My advice is to not go for a cheap 350z unless you can work on them confidently by yourself or with friends in the trade. Make sure that you can get a good look under it at the W brace and rear crossmember stays (kidney shaped) to check for rust. I paid £4250 for mine nearly 2 years ago (80000 miles) and it failed its first MOT due to rust 5 months after I bought it (car was sitting low on HSD coilovers so I couldn't get a good look under the car when buying it). Luckily they were all bolt on parts, but still set me back £400. Along with that the rear brakes needed changing (pads, disks and handbrake shoes) which set me back around £250 for the parts, but I changed them myself. My Banana arms need doing too so that's going to be around £250 fitted by myself, I've also done the front and rear drop links at £100. It's not only the big things with the Z too, there are a lot of small niggly bits that need sorting (unless you're not too OCD). All of the parts mentioned were not in my plans at all for the car as I wanted to spend money on the aesthetics rather than mechanics. Sorry for the slight thread hijack, but I wanted to share my personal experience with you so that you don't waste your money on a poor example.

On 15/05/2018 at 10:03, MDMetal said:

Awesome I heard "Torqen" is also a pretty awesome  I need to underseal mine when I get it split up a bit later in the year, keep putting it off  what did you do for the job?

They have pretty much anything you need! I went down the Waxoyl route, I paid £25 for 6 spray cans and they give a really good coverage. I know it's not the best stuff on the market, but it still does a decent job. 

Apologies for the lack of updates.

After many cold evenings and a bit of blood, sweat and a busted thumb (5lb lump hammer vs thumb) I managed to sort the rust issue and got the car through the MOT and back on the road in December. Luckily all of the rusted components were bolt on parts which were pretty easy to replace (apart from one rounded nut which caused havoc and had to be split, but was in the worst possible place with literally no access). 

 before

 after

When the car was on stands I took the time to Kurust any signs of developing rust and then undersealed the under body of the car the prevent another ball ache.

The parts were bought from Torquen, who were excellent and provided a fast and easy service!

On 21/11/2017 at 18:11, Tom_K said:

Not to step in and put someone off a purchase but I will say that that the connecting part mentioned above is a big job to replace!

Plus, in my humble opinion (and I'm sure the 'nissan engineers know best!' argument will come up) I don't think it does all that much, having studied where it mounts etc. If anything, it looked like an assembly aid to hang various other bits off in the factory.

When I say 'hang' I literally do mean hang; when un-done, it's suspended with some small plastic straps.

Spot on mate, I ended up cutting it out and not replacing it, there is no way that it could be structural as its very thing metal and as you said, suspended by plastic straps. I didn't realise that I would have had to drop the rear sub frame to fit it. It's only connected to the 2 sub frame stays. 

10 hours ago, Winehouse said:

It does look nice, not a colour I thought of before but I like it. 

 

The guy guy says it has no rust and a full MOT, it’s got FSH too so I’m hopeful.. 

 

ill have a look here too

 

thanks.

One thing I would suggest is to make sure that you get on your hands and knees and have a good look under the car as they're notorious for rusting. I didn't (due to the car being slammed on some HSDs) and it failed the MOT due to having rusted sub frame stays, even though there was no history of rust on previous MOTs and the previous owner assured me that he has had the car on a lift and there were no signs of rust. The stays are located just in front of the rear wheels and look like kidneys, so they're pretty easy to see and should give a good indication of the condition of the underbody. I hope that helps  

crisis averted its sorted.

Hi guys 

As the title suggests, I've been having an absolute mare trying to get one of the subframe nuts off. I took the one off and changed the crossmember stay without issue, but the opposite side has been nothing but trouble. I started by tightening it by accident and then i rounded the nut off . I've tried whacking an 18mm and a 17mm socket onto it without much luck as they dont get the purchase and end up rounding it off more. I've tried cutting it, but im scared of destroying the thread so I wanted others opinions before I go through with completing the cut. I'll post a pic below of the nut in question. I've bought locking wheel nut removers too but they aren't deep enough to grip the nut with the breaker bar attached as the stud touches the bar, so i was thinking of cutting the bit of metal beneath the thread to give it some more clearance. 

Sorry forgot the pic haha, it's the connecting part that I'm after too. 

On 18/09/2017 at 18:35, Adrian@TORQEN said:

Most welcome. The brackets come with brand new hardware, the W brackets doesn't come with hardware, but you can buy it separate, all products are listed in link above. Shout if you need any more info

 

Thanks mate! Should be ordering next week when I get paid. Do you have the rear floor partition (I think that's what it's called). the part that connects the 2 stays, I'll put a pic below. If not do you reckon its structural/needed? 

Thanks

Thanks guys! You absolute legends! 

Hi all 

I'm not sure whether I'm posting this in the right place but basically my car failed the MOT on Friday due to a rusted rear cross member and brace. So I was wondering whether anyone else has experienced this and whether anyone has had any experience changing one of these out? 

I'm having a bit of trouble sourcing the parts at the moment, but I was hoping to perform the change myself over the next couple of weeks/months. Pictures of the rot is below.

That is stunning!! 

On 7/29/2017 at 16:14, Kev said:

Nissan dealers should have a master key. 

 

You can't identify by looking at it. It's like a key hole. All look similar. 

you were right mate, i took it to one yesterday. Fair play they took the old ones off and put a new set on all for £28. Couldn't fault them! 

cheers mate 

1 hour ago, Zeezeebaba said:

 Excellent choice mate enjoy.

love that! cheers mate 

Thanks Guys!! 

Hi guys

As the title says, I've lost my locking wheel nut key. This happened after raising the suspension on my car and then taking it for a test drive with the locking wheel nut key still on the nut... Safe to say that it's long gone. 

I have attached a picture below, I understand that Nissan only use so many locking wheel nut combinations, so I'm hoping that someone has the same pattern and could let me know of the code on the key so that I could order a new one. 

Thanks Guys 

Hi guys!

Well I've finally gone and bought a 350z, a 2004 GT and I couldn't be happier. She's a little rough around the edges, but that was the idea, to buy something a little rough and turn it into something of my own. It needs new rear brakes as they are juddering a bit, the tracking needs to be sorted, as well as a full alignment job in the near future. Apart from that though, everything else is purely cosmetic. It has adjustable HSD coilovers which I've had to raise as it was absolutely slammed when I first got it (lost the locking wheel nut key in the process) and a carbon fibre intake vent.. That's pretty much it in terms of mods at the moment, but there will be a lot more to come in the near future. Ever since I saw my first 350z I knew that one day I would own one and now that day has come, it feels amazing. I look forward to being a member of this forum.

Thanks Guys

Here she is (after a quick clean)