James Junior

Thanks GM Ballistic and Sipar, very kind of you to say. Halfway through I realised that I had written rather a lot in the thread, so glad it didn't send you to sleep!

Thanks Ceejay - I know it can be too easy for Modzilla to set in sometimes and before you know it you go a bit far! I think I might try dialing down the coils one notch when the car goes in for its MOT but if it looks too low will put it back to the recommended setting as it is now. How come you chose Monosports in the end? In terms of wheels, I had been considering either a set of BBS CHRs or CHR-IIs in black with the polished rim: However, I am taking delivery of an MR2 Turbo soon too which I may want to make a few tweaks too, so will leave the wheels for a while I think having only had my black Rays for a few months. I think a wheel change can be a nice way part-way through ownership of a car to give it a freshen up anyway and I intend to keep this one for another two years.

If you fancy it, here is the website for the tour operator: http://petrolhead.tours/tours/ I am booked on their weekend tour of Wales in May and in September I am doing their Scottish Highlands tour and Alpine North. I think they are fully booked for most of the tours for 2016 now, but Pete mentioned he might have a few spaces available for the Alpine South tour still which is the one I did last year. Unlike many of the European rallys, where each morning they give you your days destination and everyone just splits off at brake neck pace, Pete's tours are so well organised. Most of the attendees are regulars who do the tours year after year so there is a real community feel. At the start of the tour you are each given a satnav with routes, way points and even fuel stops meticulously planned and a radio so you can all chat whilst out on the road. You tend to keep together as two packs; the front pack is lead by one tour leader and is for those that want to go maximum attack when out on the open roads and passes and a second group with a second tour leader, for those that are less confident or want to go at a mre leisurely pace. Each day you all meet up for lunch and then again for dinner at your hotel so have chance to banter and laugh about the event sof the morning or afternoon. Everyone looks out for one another and when not on the deserted mountain passes and real driving roads, you all adhere to the local speed limits and behave yourselves, as you make for a pretty conspicuous convoy! It is great fun just seeing the reactions of children and Joe public as everyone wants to take your picutre and give you a wave. I am also on the interest list for Norway in 2017 and will probably look to do another Alpine tour that year too. Have a look and see what you think and if you have any questions feel free to send me a PM.

Just a few finishing touches needed now I think. The next job is to source a set of Motordyne ART pipes to try to reduce the shriekiness of the exhaust around the 3k - 4k range and hopefully get it further within tolerance for track days so I am not worrying about wasting my booking fee when I arrive for the noise test. I also want to drop the KWs one click on the rear of the car, as there is just a touch more arch-gap there than I would like and then will have the geo reassessed just to make sure everything is set up properly. The car is already pretty low - the other day when I went to the Arndale Centre in Manchester I parked it in the lower floor valeting section and paid extra, even though it was already clean and raining outside, just to try to avoid tangling with the ramps! However, I think just one click more on the rear would be perfect without going silly-low. Finally I have been looking at rear lip spoilers, as I think a very subtle gloss black lip to add to accentuate the tail and key into the other gloss black parts would look spot on. Just trying to find the most subtle of those available at the moment. So far the Mines rear lip spoiler is looking like a winner, but open to suggestions!

Hi guys, Thanks for your kind comments. I am really pleased with where the car is now. Here are some better pictures taken during an evening run over Woodhead Pass the other day.

Hi Niki, Car is looking great, was good to see it in the metal the other weekend after the latest round of upgrades. I see you're having a rest from modifying for now. I'm sure it won't last.... About those headlights...

Saw your car the other day Josh at a meet. Hope you are well mate.

Car sounds great now John. Will you be joining us for the next BHP Breakfast meet? Will be good to be out on the road with you again.

Parked up at Kirstie's the other night and went back out that evening to get my iPod from the car and found it looking very menacing under the pale street lighting : Also snapped a shot from up above from Kirstie's upstairs window the next morning: I am made up with the look of the car now and the amount of attention it gets is insane. People stop and gape at it in the street, heads turn and children go nuts when they see it. Numerous people have stopped to ask me about it and complimented the car, whilst the guys at the local valeting centre have become very accommodating, though I am there twice a week to be fair! In Manchester the other day we even had some Chinese tourists stopping to take pictures of it. Though admittedly on that day Kirstie was driving, so they may have been taking pics of her too, she is pretty hot!

Meanwhile back to the suspension, another Z owner was asking me for advice regarding spacers and ride height, so I took a few of my stance to show him. I am mostly very happy with how the car sits, but would just like to take the ride height down one notch at the rear as there is still a little too much arch-gap for my liking. Please excuse the dirt, she hadn't been washed for a few days and it was raining (as usual - I live in Manchester!):

Hmmm seeing that last picture up close reminds me that I really must get some proper headlight polish as mine are a bit pebble dashed! So this pretty much brings the thread up to date as to where I am up to with the car. The only other mods I haven't mentioned yet are a pair of custom number plates from FourDot designer plates. These guys design custom number plates for all kinds of cars and their website is brilliant, with a tool that lets you customise the look of your plates extensively. For me the main thing was finding something to fill the rear number plate area as the standard plate looks a bit lost in the oddly shaped recess. When I contacted Four Dot, Camilla told me they didn't have a set for the 370Z, but would go away, find a template car and take the measurements. They then produced a design to fit the rear recess of the 370Z which can now be found on their website https://www.fourdotd...nerplates.co.uk . So my new number plates came, and my front one had some extra gloss black on it to reduce the size of the plate itself and key into the rest of the black bits, whilst my rear plate now fit the recess perfectly, also with a gloss black surround. You can see the front in the pics above, whilst the rear looks like this - you can also see the smoked rear section of the rear clusters in this shot:

So now the car had reached a point where my gloss black modern twist theme was really coming together. However, there were some finishing touches I wanted to make to finish bringing it all together. The biggest thing that remained that really bugged me was the headlights. Now that almost everything on the car was either grey or black, the silver of the headlight inserts really clashed with the rest of the car. I knew you could do a DIY job to paint the inside of your headlights, but ever since a nightmare job fitting a rewiring a set of MR2 clocks years ago I have vowed not to mess with jobs like this. This applied double in this case given the cost of replacing a headlight unit! So I did some research and with some help from Jonnymonno, found a company called ONEighty in New York who are specialists in headlight conversions. They provide some really bright looking halo kits which I liked and all kinds of conversion options in terms of colour options. They offer both a single halo per light cluster and a twin option, with a second halo ring around the indicator shroud. However looking online I thought these made the Z look a bit googly eyed, as they seem to point in different directions! However, I didn't want to send my headlights off to NYC for god knows how many weeks and their charges were pretty significant. So instead I had a chat with Matt at RSV Graphics, who hosts of the BHP Breakfast meets. I told him what I wanted to achieve and sent him some pictures and he wasn't phased, agreeing to do the work to split the headlights, fit and wire up the halos, paint the inserts in gloss black and put it all back together again. It was pretty tense choosing what look to go for as this is definitely not a job you want to do twice, but in the end I settled for a pair of white halos around the headlight shroud to be wired up to work as sidelights, with the full insides of the headlights painted gloss black, leaving just the projector shroud in grey to add some detail and key into the body colour of the car. So a new project was very much on! Whilst the car was in with RSV I also had the rear window and rear quarter panels tinted and a subtle smoke applied to the clear strip of the rear lights, as again the silver insert was clashing with the rest of the car. The boys at RSV had the car for a week and very kindly supplied me with a courtesy car whilst the work was done. Then came the time for the big reveal - another nerve wracking moment! Thankfully I was delighted with the finished article. They did such a great job!

So, one modification that I forgot to mention, was before I fitted the KWs, I fitted a set of 25mm spacers all round. Another part I picked up courtesy of Jonnymonno! Having previously had spacers on my Alfa Spider, I was a bit hesitant, as whilst they increased cornering stability, they also gave the car a propensity to tramline and go snuffling out odd cambers in the road. However, man I hate how recessed the wheels are in the arches as standard! So on the basis that its a pretty cheap modification and I could always sell them on, I fitted the spacers... ...and was very impressed! Greater stability in the corners and no negative side effects. They also filled the arches near to perfection. Whilst I am absolutely not of the Stance Nation crowd (YO!), in fact dare I say it, 30mm spacers might look even better.

Edster - it is quite interesting to compare the Z4 Coupe and the 370Z. They are more different to drive than you might expect. In the Z4 Coupe you sit far back and low, almost over the rear axle, with a long bonnet reaching out in front of you - I must have been compensating for something! Mine was the 3.0 Si, not the full fat M. I looked at the M but it was manual only and the clutch was very heavy. Due to a knee injury at the time I needed an auto and the only paddleshift auto available was in the Si, so that was my choice. Nevertheless it was a great car and still damn quick, with a lovely smooth power delivery from its straight six. One over exuberant drive on Snake Pass earned me a court appearance and five points...whoops... Lets just say watch yourselves on the long, well sighted straight as you drive towards Glossop with the reservoir to your back, they like to put a speed camera van in the treeline.,, There is a great Evo review online where they describe the Z4 Coupe as being like a Caterham with more toys and that is a great analogy really; great handling and fast enough to have real fun with. When I first got the Z the additional torque was immediately apparent but the driving position messed with my head, as whereas in the Z4 you feel like you're sitting almost in the boot, in the 370Z you sit very centrally within the car. The front overhang seemed incredibly short for a while in the 370Z and it took me a while to learn how to hook the front up as I got used to the different dimensions. I am now very happy with the upgrade however and it is definitely the quicker car. I just love the way you can lean on the fat torque curve to come slingshotting out of corners. Lovely. Ceejay - the Z4 Coupe was certainly a looker, though I think some angles were better than others. Like the Z, its big beautiful booty is its finest feature! We're all car enthusiasts here, so here are a few more pics just for you (these will be the last to keep on topic!). The Z4 Coupe is definitely a future classic. Fantastic cars.

Right thats all from me for one night, I am bushed. More to come tomorrow!

A few more pics at another BHP Breakfast meet:

However, when I came back later that week when everything was finished properly, after initially being taken aback due to the scale of the changes, I was soon absolutely smitten - I loved it!

At this point winter was setting in, so it made sense to start the next phase of the modifications. After many nights researching I finally made a decision on what body mods to go for... After a lot of planning I had chosen the following: - Stillen front lip, to be painted gloss black and lacquered - Tarmac side blades - Zele style rear diffuser - Standard Rays wheels to be refurbed and painted gloss black - Gloss black 'Z' badges - Gloss black door handles - Yellow calipers with black Nissan decals The changes I had planned were quite extensive and the car was with my local bodyshop for just over a week. I popped in halfway through to see how they were getting on... I was nervous... I knew what I was hoping for in my minds eye. OEM+ and subtle, but with a modern twist. Would they look okay or would they look @*!# and chavvy? Had I gone OTT?!

After my experience on track and as the arch gap was driving me crazy, I did a lot of research into suspension. I have previously tried just Eibach springs on my old Alfa Spider, whilst on the Z4 I went for an Eibach spring and Bilstein B8 damper combo which was really good. I was intrigued by coilovers however having never had them before. I knew they were more expensive, but information seemed to be conflicting as to whether they were harder, or more accommodating than a spring/ damper combo. I wanted to have my cake and eat it - I wanted sharper handling, a good drop but still nice ride comfort! After a LOT of research on forums I eventually decided to go for a set of fully adjustable KW V3s. These were pretty expensive, but I do like to do things properly and they seemed to fit the bill. So, like so many mods, I took my brave pills, ordered a set and hoped for the best! Research can only get you so far before you have to man up and get your wallet out and just go with it! At this stage I should really give a shout out to Demon Tweeks who sourced them for me. I had noticed that because of the Sterling/ Euro exchange rate I could buy a set direct from Europe for around 25% less than the typical price (circa £1,600). However, I didn't fancy buying such an expensive part from an unknown in case of any issues. I called Demon Tweeks and asked if they could do anything on price. They were really friendly and professional and within 24 hours they came back to me to say KW were willing to give some pricing support, so ended up doing me a cracking deal for around £1,350 for the set. They also offered to fit them and set them up with a full geo for a really good price. This was ideal as I have petrolhead clients in Wrexham anyway, so i dropped the car off one morning, my client came to collect me from Tweeks (after a good look around their shop!) and then dropped me back off later that day when the car was ready. I was very apprehensive at first, but within a few miles I was smitten. The KWs seemed to have achieved the impossible. The ride height was dropped around 25mm all round, but they somehow felt more comfortable than stock! After plenty more extensive testing I can confirm they are the single best mod I have ever done, to any car. They are sublime. The car handles so much flatter and feels really grippy and confidence inspiring. There is almost no pitching and yawing and the nose dips less under braking. On the standard settings the drop is pretty much perfect to my eye and they are so comfortable its almost surreal! The only time they get a bit scrappy is over badly rutted or broken surfaces really. So a big thumbs up for the KW V3s from me and also for Demon Tweeks - great guys who are true enthusiasts, an amazing facility, total professionals and excellent value!

Then an opportunity came up for a cover star interview (their words, not mine!) with my industry press. They wanted to get some pictures of me indulging one of my hobbies, so I booked some track time at nearby Oulton Park. I didn’t want them taking any pictures of me in my car though in case it came across as crass, so got them to snap me in the MSV car instead as this was all stickered up and clearly not my own car, which I used for some tuition early in the day. I really enjoyed blasting around in MSV's Peugeot RCZ-R which was surprisingly decent, though the little blown 1.6 4 banger did feel a bit labored on the track. The instruction I received was invaluable and great for learning the best lines and braking points. Once the press photographer had finally gone I then took the Z out on track and had another 20 minutes with an instructor, just to get my bearings on the track in my own car. It was so loud we only marginally passed the noise test! I am still not convinced it would have done if I hadn't had the instructor in with me who gave the marshal a nod! Out on track it was so bloody loud I could hardly hear the instructor, but when I apologised for the noise he just grinned and said 'sounds good though doesn't it?'! I wasn't sure what to expect from the Z out on track, but it performed brilliantly with loads of punch, predictable handling and was surprisingly resistant to brake fade considering it was on standard stoppers. It felt much better and more exciting than the RCZ-R and once I was flying solo, I kept building on what I had learned in the morning session and was able to put in some pretty quick laps, soon finding myself reeling in and overtaking all sorts of cars that were supposedly quicker on paper, with only the dedicated track cars coming past me. Not making out that I am some sort of driving god by the way, it was all because of the tuition! I had a blast and even stayed out for a while when it started to rain and was still passing all sorts of other cars, including a few scoobies which surprised me given the wet conditions. I began growing concerned that was perhaps driving on the edge of my ability at this point, so decided to call it a day. Oh and here's the magazine cover picture, replete with cheesy driving pun (groan!):

Then came the most important mod of all: That's right bitches! The legendary GTR starter button, proven to add at least 10 bhp!!

After getting back from the tour, I watched some Go Pro footage from one of the guys and thought the car still sounded a touch reserved, so I bought a Stillen G3 intake from forum member and top bloke Jonnymonno. Research on HFCs and test pipes meanwhile suggested that HFCs would be marginally louder than the stock cats, which sounded ideal. So I bought a pair of Cobra HFCs, with the expectation that they would work well with the Cobra exhaust. Unfortunately the result was way too loud for me. They sounded epic and the power delivery definitely felt burlier with them fitted, but the car sounded like a bloody fighter jet and was too much given its daily duties. I tried switching these for a set of Berk HFCs instead, which dialled down the noise a tad, but the car was still very loud. I decided to live with it in the meantime and plan my next move. I then took the car to a few events, including the first BHP Breakfast meet at Severn Valley Motorsport (now held at RSV Graphics) and the Z car meet at Ace Cafe.

A quick stop off so one of the guys could top-up the oil in his R8 en-route to the Swiss Alps: Possibly the most amazing petrol station ever conceived - stunning views over Lake Livigno in Italy and 100 RON fuel: At Hotel Folgore at the top of the Stelvio Pass: Also near the top of the Stelvio: The next morning was an early start after a night at the Folgore - that is a puddle of pure ice in the foreground next to the Lotus 211. Focuses the mind before setting off at speed back down the pass: Waiting to enter the tunnel to head back to 'that' fuel station at Lake Livigno for a second tank of super 100 (I will also post a video clip of the Zed roaring through the tunnel in the exhaust section): More Lake Livigno: Just about to set off again for a play with the 911 - the Porsche and the Nissan were surprisingly closely matched in terms of performance: Parked up by the fuel stop waiting for everyone to fill their tanks: There were a lot of very nice cars on the tour - the 370Z was definitely the underdog in this company but throughout the tour kept many more capable cars honest: The whole group gathered at the foot of the Saint Bernadino Pass to cool down after a very fast run over the top - the Zed did a good job of sticking with the 911 and the Murcielago which was at a disadvantage on such a winding road: Chasing a Mclaren MP4 and Murcielago LP640 down Grimsel Pass with a 911 hot on my heels: Top of the Nufenen Pass: One lunch stop had no more room for parking, so a couple of us parked up in the neighboring campsite. The campers didn't seem to mind: Lotus 211 hot on our heels as the convoy headed out again: High on the Petite Route de St Bernard: On the Col D'Liseran (sheer drops scared the crap out of me!): About to head off on the 'Dawn Raid' - a dash up mount Ventoux in Provence as the sun was coming up: Amazing views when we reached the top: Underneath the Millau Bridge: In the heart of the Pyrenees: Great service at a filling station in Jaca: Kirstie enjoying my driving as always: Just kidding, of course she loves my driving:

Soon after that the modifying began! I had noticed that many new sports cars being released such as the Jag F-Type and Mercedes GT, were featuring gloss black roofs, lip spoilers, wheels and other addenda and really liked the look. So using this as inspiration, I began my modifying journey with a clear brief of keeping things looking OEM+ and trying to reimagine what a Z might look like if it had just rolled off a factory line today. Firstly however, I had to do something about the way it sounded, so first modification was a Cobra Y pipe and cat back exhaust from Mitz at Cougar Store. This gave the car a lovely burbling exhaust sound but with zero boominess. Perfect. After that it I had the roof, mirrors and rear valence wrapped in gloss black and the fangs painted in gloss black, with the expectation that vinyl would not survive the inevitable pebble dashing it receive low on the front bumper. After this was done, I took the car on one of the Petrolhead Nirvana tours across Europe, where it did a great job of keeping up with some significantly more expensive machinery. I wrote a post about it which has some pretty spectacular photos, but on rechecking it all of the pictures seem to have disappeared, so will repost the highlights below…hold on...

Hi all, I thought I would put together a progress thread for my 370Z for those who are interested. I bought the car in May 2015. After two fun years with a Z4 Coupe I was looking for something with a bit more outright performance. Since selling the Z4 I was using my old Alfa 156 V6 as a daily whilst looking at M3s, RS5s and Evoras. I was however a bit uncomfortable spending so much on a car at that time, as I had not long since set up a new business. Then I remembered to have a look 370Zs and found them to be just what I wanted from a car – quick, leftfield and great value. I must admit I had never been particularly struck on the styling, preferring the 350s, but when I viewed a 370Z for a test drive I was surprised to find the cars look a lot better ‘in the metal’. After looking at a few locally, I ended up buying a 370Z GT with the paddleshift gearbox from the other end of the country. I was very excited the day it arrived and a bit apprehensive, as I had bought it unseen after a mate did a viewing for me. When it arrived on the back of a low-loader and I had a chance to inspect it I was absolutely amazed – the condition was literally like-new, with not a mark on it inside or out. It took me a while to learn to drive the car, as whilst the auto is great around town and on the motorway, for any sort of enthusiastic driving the paddles are a must. Their left-downshift, right-upshift layout was different to my Z4, which allowed you to change both up and down with each paddle depending on whether you pushed or pulled. A few good evening sessions on nearby Woodhead and Snake Pass soon got me comfortable with the car and I was very impressed with its fat mid-range torque, brakes and weight distribution. It is safe to say we clicked.